I'll bet this has something to do with it.... It's a quote from a great old movie with Danny DeVito called "Other People's Money". He's got a box of donuts, and offers one to this lady. She declines because "she's not hungry". And he says, "Since when do you have to be hungry to eat a donut?!?".

That's why I'm not thin!! LOL

I totally agree with thin does not mean healthy. Your weight as you know is not the only determining factor of health. My son is actually in the overweight category on the charts. He is 5'8", 179 lbs at 22 years old but his bodyfat is a whole 11%. He is a weighlifter. His BP and all his vitals are great. I have often heard of people on the news dying of a heart attack that were thin or of a healthy weight. I personally concentrate on my bodyfat now not the number on the scale. I don't even weigh myself on a regular basis. I have my bodyfat taken monthly and my measurements weekly. I also have a size 8 jeans hanging up and when I can get those on I know I have arrived. After wearing a size 24 that will feel great.

This is an interesting topic. My Mum and MIL are both tiny thin little women and they both eat like they are dieting, and always have. If my Mum ever gains a few pounds, and I do mean a few, she cuts down on her food intake for a few weeks until it is gone. I remember a few years ago in the lunch room at work a very thin co-worker was putting her lunch together which was a small salad and low fat dressing or something similar, and another co-worker wondered aloud why someone so thin was eating such a "diet" meal when she didn't have to. The thin co-worker replied "I stay thin because I eat like this". Ahhh.

Yes! I agree. I really do think there is a difference is our brain chemistry!

I have this experience with thin women and normal weigh women. I think that's kind of two different kind of people.

Normal weight women I know do tend to eat regularly and enjoy all kinds of food but they rarelly overeat. I know we all know what it's like to go to the fastfood joint and not just have the "meal" but order another tread on the side or another burger. It's like going to McDonald's breakfast always involved 2 sandwiches and 2 hashbrowns. One meal wasn't ever enough. Normal weight women do not feel the need to eat like that, it's already bad that they're eating fast food at all. And it's true they do correct when they gain 5-10 pounds. I think there are reasons for that. I know as I've lost weight that losing 30 pounds didn't really move my size. It seemed like the large sizes accommodate more weight. Now, that I am a size 10, 5 pounds, 10 pounds make a huge difference in the way my pants fit. You notice it and you fix it, that's what normal weight women tend to do.

Thin women can come in many varieties, but I knew 2 very well. They ate what they wanted but again, didn't overeat. They also didn't eat every meal. To this day I am obsessed about not missing a meal. I can't think of anything more horrifying. I remember the first time I was asked to fast for a blood test, I really wondered if I would die of hunger. Thin women I've known well, skip meals all the time because they aren't hungry, their last meal was too heavy, etc.

Also both type of women seem more active than I ever was. I need to exercise because I am not an active person. I don't think hiking is fun! I like to sit around and watch tv and play on my computer. Thin women I know go hiking, ride their bikes, walk everywhere. They seem to enjoy movement and outdoors.

Anyway, it's all generalizations but I think it hits the core of things as I've seen.

I know that for me, I will never really think like a thin person - because I have never been a thin person. I will always be a former fat person who eats like a thin person - but has to really think about it.

I don't have that stopping mechanism fully enabled, although now I do not ever eat until I am stuffed, so something has changed. I always think about everything that goes into my mouth, and what its implications are for my body. I don't mind that, though. I am a control freak - so maybe this helps me, I don't know. For me, if I don't think about what I am doing - I will have eaten several handfulls of M&Ms or bought that giant pastry to go with my skim latte (and eaten it). I eat scheduled meals - and have backups in case my schedule gets out of whack. If I let myself get really hungry, I fall off the cliff and grab anything.
I always have an alternative plan of where and what to eat if I get stuck out. Works most times. NT people don't think this way, but I have to.

This thread is just so true... such an interesting read. I keep thinking about my naturally thin boyfriend, who can eat a whole block of cheese, and stay thin. Right now I am eating my lunch and trying to do it slowly... I have alwys been a fast eater. It's how I was brought up! My boyfriend will nibble at his broccoli while I eat the entire thing in one bite. He will take 2 or 3 bites per piece of popcorn. Just like everyone has been saying! And, he can "be too busy to eat all day" and come home at 6pm and not scarf down the fridge. I miss one meal (which is rare) and I think I'll die of hunger

I've been taking a class, Understanding Your Relationship with Food. We recently discussed how "normal" (healthy weight, etc) people eat. One thing that the teacher (Dr. G - PHD psychology - specialty is health) said is that even "normal" people gain a few pounds now and then - Christmas time, holidays, vacations - but, the difference is they say Oh - I've put on a few pounds, cut back for a few days or a week, drop down to their regular weight and carry on.

I hope I get there some day.

Wow! This is a great thread and interesting read! It sounds like a lot of thin people just follow Intuitive Eating naturally.

My boyfriend's sister is thin. I was watching her eat last night. A bite of this here, a bite of this there. She talked. Had some water. She would only serve herself a little bit, and if she liked it, she would get more, but only a small portion. She didn't make a big deal over food.

Anyone else's thoughts?

Your observations are correct. Becoming heavy or gaining weight is as much a mind transformation as it is physical.

I used to be naturally thin up until age 30. Now, I'm not but I am surrounded by people who are naturally thin. I have seen them eat while I eat along side of them. I know why I am fat today. My relationship with food is not as distorted as it used to be but I still have a way to go before I become naturally thin. One comment that I have often heard among the naturally thin people around me is "I don't want to eat what I don't like." I think that is a good yardstick.

My very thin aunt, who has been rail thin her entire life, was mad that she had finally (!?) gotten a small tummy after retiring 18 months ago at age 65. She did a physical job working in a hospital. Now, she isn't as active. Hmm, what have we learned about being active vs not being active?? Here's proof of that.

She mentioned that she was hungry for "something special". She said "I made a peach cobbler because, after all, if I want something special, I really want to eat it." She went on to say that she spent some time trying to decide what it was that she really wanted to eat and then she made it. She said "and, it was soooo gooood too".

How many times are we that particular about what we eat? How many times do we really and truly ask ourselves what it really is we want to eat rather than eat "whatever"? Or eat what we feel we "should" eat even if we hate every minute of doing so? What virtue is in that? What happens if we never develop an appetite for something? Does that mean we still are doomed to failure? I would hope not!

We can stand to learn a lot from our skinny friends, if we would just stop long enough envying them to actually figure out what they have that we want so badly, that is.

My normal weight sister and I once spent the day downtown. That morning she said "let's stop at Ghiradelli's for hot fudge sundaes later."

All day I waited. We had lunch. I waited for my sundae.

At about 3 I said "what about the sundaes?" "Oh" she replied. "I'm not hungry." I looked at her and said "what does hungry have to do with a hot fudge sundae?"

Unfortunately for me, hungry has had little to do with what I have eaten over the years...and lots to do with what and how she has eaten. (And she loves food!)

Now, part of my eating plan is to evaluate my food by asking myself...what would my sister eat under these circumstances. I echo those who say that naturally thin (or normal weight) folks aren't necessarily eating healthily, but they dont eat emotionally, and they exercise portion control without giving it much thought.

I do the same thing and my fiance just *can't* see why I can't always finish that last bite or two of food. I've gotten to where my stomach is smaller and I can't finish it all. Heh sometimes I don't understand it but that's the way I do it..

Only since I have became pregnant have I noticed a "stop.. I'm full" before I really stuff myself. I've learned over the past couple years to eat slower, but sometimes I just don't. I need to listen more to my body than I do.

I posted this in another thread but this is relevant because it is an in depth article about how Food Network's Giada de Laurnetiis stays so thin. Apparently, even she gained 15 pounds while a pastry chef in Paris on a bunch of croissants:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...0768-1,00.html