The thing is, when we look at a very slender starlet and feel badly for not being able to do what she does, we're comparing two things that aren't normal.

She's not normal. To get where she is, she's been competing with other beautiful, naturally slender young girls in audition after audition. (I kind of think of it as being like the NCAA basketball tournament brackets.) All the other average, "normal," slightly heavy young women or women with fluctuating weight or weight issues have been winnowed away by the casting directors, and she's the only one left. She's one in how many thousand? When some celebrity gets through all these nets & auditions & still has an eating or weight problem (Oprah, Kirstie, etc.) , we read about it endlessly & see the unflattering photographs all the time.

And then we're comparing this one-in-a-thousand to us. And no, we're not "normal" either. We have issues. I agree. I think my struggle is going to be lifelong, like an alcoholic's.

But I don't want to make the starlet the norm. She's the other point in a polarity.

We're not even seeing the norm here in this conversation.

My brother-in-law is one of those people. He's my height, weighs 145 and eats like a pig. He never works out. Everything he eats is deep fried from a convenience store or take-out burgers and fries, unless he eats at our house. And the sweets...donuts (powdered, glazed, jelly-filled you name it), honey buns, Little Debbies, pies, cakes. And entire PINT of Ben & Jerrys at a time. The list goes on and on and on.

He's NOT someone who only does that every once in a while either. It's every single day. I'd be willing to bet he consumes far, FAR over 3,000 calories a day, every day. And not an ounce gained.

Oh, and his cholesterol and all levels on his last round of blood work were perfect. Some people are just genetically blessed.

It amazes me that some people can do that. I have come to realize, as well, that I'll never be that person, and do the best with what I have.

One of my brothers was honestly like that growing up: he could eat huge servings of anything and never gain a pound. He was always the skinniest in our family even though his after-school "snack" was two full bags of microwave popcorn, two pizza pockets, and three cans of pop. Then he'd ask my mom, "When's supper? I'm starving." Then he'd have at least two heaping helpings of supper. And then some more junk food before bed. He also was not at all physically active. He'd watch TV and play videogames, and his extracurricular was the drama club.

I used to think it was just not fair, but now I know it's because he has a much faster metabolism than I did. It's still sucky that he got a wickedly fast metabolism and I got one the speed of a sloth dragging a two-ton brick, but that's the way it is, and I have to learn to deal with the metabolism I have, not the one I wish I had.

Also, now that he's 30, it's catching up to him and he's got a beer belly. Ha!

LOL at the "sloth dragging a two-ton brick" metabolism...that is what I feel like. I think even if you are genetically blessed, eventually it catches up to you if you eat poorly. Your body needs food that is good for you to stay healthy, a balanced diet with fiber and vitamins. Maybe there are exceptions but I'm sure it catches up eventually (at least I'll keep telling myself that in an effort to not be outraged when people stuff themselves with junk all day long and don't gain an ounce).