[phantastica]

It's about more than that:

• I like having control over the amount of sugar. I buy the ten-cent packs and add my own sugar, which is usually 1/2 to 3/4 the requested amount.
  
• Kool-Aid doesn't have caffeine, most of my son's preferred sodas do.
  
• Kool-Aid is less appealing than soda. He drinks it only when friends are over, but if we have soda around he'd grab several cans a day, or drink a two-liter quickly because it goes flat so fast.
  
• Kool-Aid (the kind I buy, anyway) requires preparation. Often, lazy teenagers would rather just grab milk or water than make a container of Kool-Aid.
  
• I try to encourage my teenager to have simple tastes. When he's accustomed to drinking soda, he regularly spends $1 or $2 at a gas station on 20 or more ounces of soda. As a person who will soon be independent on a very low income, breaking the soda habit is not such a bad idea for him.
  
• I also try to minimize our use of plastic bottles.

My post doesn't have much to do with metabolism - sorry to be a thread hijacker!

[ennay]

My metabolism was slower when I had insulin resistance than it is now, and now I am fitter so that is helping too. For me it has a cascading effect, the fitter I am, the lighter I am so it is easier to move more and get fitter.

I think though there is an exaggerated impression on what fast and slow metabolism means...it really only takes a tiny shift to make a huge difference over time.

Outside of thyroid you could have 2 people both with "normal" metabolisms...but they could still run at slightly different speeds. 2% over 10 years would easily be 30-50 lbs. You add in minor differences in diet and minor differences in natural activity level (pacing, fidgeting, talking with hands) and it can add up to huge differences.

They have found that fidgeters burn 350 calories more per day than non fidgeters. That is 36 pounds in one year all else being equal.

What if the fidgeter also has a natural metabolism only 50 calories higher - and also eats one bite less food at each meal--maybe she doesnt scrape up the last of the cheese, or drink the milk from her cereal. She could EASILY have a 500 calorie a day deficit from the non fidgety friend but by all appearances eat the same and not exercise. 3 years of that is 150 lbs.

[NightengaleShane]

The idea of fidgeters burning more calories makes perfect sense to me, since when I was thin, I was a total fidgeter. I also was made of kinetic energy; I was ALWAYS hyper and never calmed down! I was that kind of hyper person that made some people almost uncomfortable. I ate whatever I wanted to and never gained weight, but I also had a hectic/busy schedule that allowed me to both conveniently forget to eat and get a lot of natural exercise (walked everywhere). I thought my metabolism just mysteriously "got fast" - I mean, seriously, I'd eat like a whole box of Hamburger Helper or a double stacked cheeseburger with fries and STILL stay thin. I was actually very happy with myself and thought, "Wow! I CAN be thin without eating disorders! Yay! I love my body!" Boy, was that short lived.

Basically, once my life slowed down and I became more laid back (AND more depressed - situational depression is now just something I'm fighting constantly), I packed on the pounds like nobody's business. I'm now trying my damndest to be that hyper little fidgety person again