What do skinny people do with all that free time???

 (if you are skinny, don't be offended, I'm just jealous)

As I was biking today I was thinking "boy I wish I was skinny and didn't have to do this" then I got to thinking "what do skinny people do with all that free time, not having to weight in,count calories and all that weight loss stuff." I'm looking forward to the time when I too am skinny and have more free time.

lol....they have other issues to take care of. I think the same too because most of my time is consumed about thinking of calories and food , it will be so nice to be naturally skinny.....maybe, maybe some day....

It's good to know i'm not the only one

I used to be one of those skinny ppl. The thing is I exercised all the time without thinking when I was younger. When I went to college I got lazy and depressed and stopped. Now i have to conciously think about getting exercise.

Lots of those skinny people do the same things you do, such as count calories, weigh in, etc. Some people are naturally skinny, yes but some people do have to work at it and that's why they are that way. I'm 5'4" and now about 123 lbs, pretty average but if some people heard I count calories they would think i'm crazy. But I gain weight really easily if i'm not careful.  

I got skinny and I still do it, lol.

WWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT???????????

YOU MEAN THAT AFTER ALL THIS WORK, I MIGHT STILL HAVE TO WATCH WHAT I EAT????????????

I THOUGHT I WAS DOING ALL THIS WORK SO I COULD EAT WHATEVER I WANTED!!!!!!!!!!!

Just kidding... sort of!! ;)  I seriously used to walk (and I do mean wwwaaaaaallllllkkkkkkk<she says in slow motion>) and turn on the "calorie setting."  I would burn, say, 80 calories.  Later in the day, I would eat a Snickers bar because, "Hey, I did work out today!"

I know the future holds some "being careful"... but I'm looking forward to a *little* more freedom.  Yayyy!

Here is my take on being thin. Yes I believe some ppl have a natural ability to just stay thin and not even think about it from metobolisms or what have you but for the most part I think thin ppl are just able to eat what is neccesary to feel full and in return they do, unlike heavy ppl we just dont know when to shut it off we eat and eat and never feel full. Any one person that is thin could come over to the fat side if given that feeling of emptyness in the tum tum and wanting to eat all the time. They either just tell themselves to stop and are very disciplined or they just dont feel that need at all.

When I was thin I never felt the need to be eating all the time I was kept busy and once i was full that was it I felt full. When I went past that feeling full stage and was never satisfied is when i gained all the weight trying to make myself satisfied with whatever it was i was shoving in my mouth a lot had to do with depression and anxiety.

I agree with the prior posts.  I have a BMI of 19.5.  Maintaining for more than a year and a half.  I still count calores, though do a quickie method on scrap paper, two minutes a day.  I still go to the gym three days a week, some other days hike or cycle.  When I am not doing those things I am surfing the web for articles on nutrition or weight loss... or I am here. ;-)

To maintain, you have to do all the same things, you just get to eat a few more hundred calories a day.  Because you weigh less, your body needs fewer caloires... about 100 less per every 10 pounds you lose.  Because you have to forever eat fewer caloires, those calories really have to count nutritionally... I'm pushing 52, so the older I get the more  important it is to pack in the good calories.

I have been accused of being "naturally slim." But the truth is that when I am not working on this, I am gaining weight... or maintaining a weight much higher than I would like.

There's a pretty good book that addresses this called "Secrets of Skinny Chicks."  It profiles 21 thin women, explains what they eat, what they weigh, how much they work out, and their favorite strategies. The point of the books is that many slim women work very hard to stay that way.

My step dad has always been skinny he used to weigh 140 at six feet tall. He had cancer and now weighs 125 on a good day. He just naturally stays Very thin. Mostly he spends a lot of time watching tv or on the computer.

Frankly I'm jealous of those people who are just natually skinny and don't have to watch what they are eating at all. But those are very rare cases. Of all the skinny people I know, they either do watch their calories, or they just have a really small appetite.I remember this one time when I had dinner with some girl friends(they're all super skinny in my view, 5''5 or 5''4, and around 100lbs). After they had their tiny portion of food they were all saying "this is delicious and I'm sooooo full", and I'm not even half way through my big plate:( After that, I know they are skinny for a reason

What are skinny people doing?  Eating!  They are eating all of the things that YOU want to eat.  I swear, all of my skinny friends eat WAY more than I ever did, and let me tell you, they are NOT working out! 

But like people said, once you lose the weight, you will have to maintain it.  You either continue to work out or continue to count calories (I don't think you have to do both for maintanence, but obviously that doesn't mean that you should pig out every day).  For me, working out it easy, it's the calorie cutting that's hard.  So, once I lose the weight, I will continue to work out but will eat that ice cream I've always wanted!

I think about this a lot too!

I always think that I'll probably live a lot longer than "naturally thin" people, since I've had to work at staying at a healthy weight for most of my life, which means - egg whites instead of yolks, whole grains instead of bleached enriched flour, veggies and hummus instead of onion rings, and berry sorbet instead of Rocky Road! 

Not to mention the benefits of all the cardio and weights we lift to keep toned and keep our metabolism up!

I'll take longevity and less flab any day :)

I'm considered skinny now, and I do what you do. I am logging my foods so I stay skinny, I am running three times a week, and I am doing yoga or pilates three times a week.

Tell you what takes the most time -- chopping all those dang vegetables! GEEZE! Fixing that part of my lunch takes forever.

I think that a lot of it has to do with activity. There are probably those that don't have to do anything and can eat what they want, but I think that the majority are just more active. I used to always think that my brother was naturally skinny, because he was a stick and ate whatever he wanted. What I didn't really notice was that he was VERY active. He ran track, played baseball, was in marching band, played football. That was why he could eat whatever he pleased. The moment he stopped all that activity, boy did he gain, because he didn't change his eating habits.

I have to agree with Shiptona in saying that most skinny people probably have to do their fair share of work to remain that way.

Though, I think after a while, eating healthy and staying active just becomes habitual, so it feels less like work and more like life :P

I'm not considered skinny by any stretch of the imagination, but most people say I have an "athletic" build. I much prefer this to "big-boned" which I used to get all the time!!!

So anyhoo, I lost quite a bit of weight earlier in the year, and I was feeling really good and enjoying exercise and healthy eating etc.

So, having got almost to my goal of 140lbs, what did I do? Somehow in July, I thought it was totally fine to go back to poutine, cheezies, ice cream, pizza, chinese food, packaged foods, muffins, sweets, stop exercising at the gym (being busy with full-time work and full-time uni)... Well, you get the picture.

I'm now up 8 pounds from July!! That's not good, so really, I think no matter how you feel when you're at your skinny self, you still need to watch the intake, or at least up the output to offset it! Lesson learned.

Ren :)

I used to be a complete skinnie-minnie (as in people asked if I was malnourished/neglected haha). A lot of it has to do with the fact that I am tall and my bones are tiny, but I also used to have almost no fat on my body at all.

I think that during that time I didn't really eat a lot and I didn't really think about it. Also, I was rediculously active just with everyday things. Then as I got older, I kind of abused the fact that I was skinny and ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Sure I gained a few pounds here and a few pounds there. But I still looked really thin! So I didn't care.

Then lately I started to notice that I've been gaining about 10 pounds a year for the past 3 years. So now I count calories and obsess over food intake and am losing a bit of the weight I put on, but man is it ever hard to change my bad habits.

Basically, I'm agreeing with everyone that says that even if you're skinny, it's easy to fall into the gaining weight mentality once you start.

Edited to add:
I think that BMIs are big sucky losers (not childish at all :P haha). Mine always has and always will say that I am very underweight, just because of my frame. Also the reason people say I look thin, when I know that my body isn't what it could be in terms of being a healthy weight.

hahaha ashaya, i'm afraid skinny people do the same thing as people who wanna lose weight: eat really healthy and exercise regularly- how do you expect to maintain your skinniness if you eat junk and are lazy?

however,  there ARE a few exceptions. some people do have the metabolism of a humming bird- they just eat and eat and eat and don't gain weight. i used to be one of them until i turned 18 which is when i stopped growing. between 12 and 18 i went through a craaazy growth spurt so i needed all the cals i could get. now i'm 6' tall and finally stopped growing, but sadly i gain weight when i eat a lot. i gained like 20 lbs in one year and then i realised i had stopped growing and had to watch what i eat :(

so now i count calories and exercise and have almost lost all those 20 lbs again but i know that i'll probably have to eat like this for the rest of my life in order to stay skinny.

sorry ash, but 'no pain no gain' applies to skinny people too :(

I know this sounds kind of selfish, but I think that the naturally skinny people don't deserve there bodies. I mean really, because I know some pretty skinny people that just do nothing but pig out on all that good stuff you really want to just eat all the time! It's like they're rubbing it in my face about what they can eat and stuff, while I'm over here working out, NOT eating that stuff, and sweating like a pig! It makes me just want to give up sometimes, but I know I shouldn't, so it really bums me out. =/

Honestly, I don't know any of these naturally skinny people.  Oh, I'm sure that they exist.  There is bound to be at least a few people who can eat whatever they wish and not worry, but I think that they are much more rare than you might think.  Most people who are fit are that way because they work at it.  Just because you don't see them working out at the gym, or making sensible choices at breakfast and dinner so that they can splurge a bit on lunch, doesn't mean that they got that way with no effort.  I do not know one person in my life that can just do whatever they want with no consequences.

And honestly, it does not help me to envy people who have an easier time keeping their weight down than I do.  I have to work harder than some folks, I accept that.  That doesn't mean that I should be pitied.  People that have to work harder for something tend to appreciate it more.

I don't think that for most people being skinny is natural, more like being skinny is the natural result of their diet and activity level. 

I used to eat like a horse and remain stick thin, but I was a student, holding down 2 jobs and partying til sunrise.  Now I'm a 43 yo mom with a desk job and a preference for good books over most any other activity.  It shows.