Why Thin People Are Thin

How often do you think thin people have a fast metabolism and can't put on weight or are they thin because they just eat healthily.

I know a couple of guys who are really skinny and say they don't put on weight but neither eats much. Both will often just leave half their meal when we go to restaurant.

I was always pretty thin growing up and I always ate a ton but I was really active too, which balanced it out. On the other hand, I have a friend who's very thin but not too active and she just eats like a bird. So i think it's different for different people.

people who have a habit of eating when hungry, stopping when full, tend to be skinny - they also dont obsess much over overeating or think about calories all the time.

For the past few weeks I've been watching a really skinny friend of mine - she doesnt exercise, and it seems like she eats all she wants and doesnt gain at all. But i realized she eats anything she wants, and stops when shes full. there are days she may eat something like 3000 calories, but also days when its closer to 1500, depending on the situation and whats available. when she overeats, she'll tend to eat less later, not to compensate or anything (for i doubt she ever thinks about health/weight/calories) but just because shes more full.

i agree with sk33ny--people who don't feel obsessed with food and who have a healthy relationship with it tend to follow their body's natural signals and that in turn keeps them at a healthy weight.

i used to work with a woman who was constantly on an unrealistic fad diet, hated veggies and was overweight. she would look at our thin coworker and say 'how can she be eating salad, if i was that skinny i'd eat cake for lunch!' but i think what she is missing is that when you're allowing yourself to eat what you truly want...sometimes you want vegetables.

Original Post by sparkle7c:

 but i think what she is missing is that when you're allowing yourself to eat what you truly want...sometimes you want vegetables.

 I can't stand vegetables or salad either. Don't get why you would to eat them for any other reason than going on a diet.

I agree that most skinny people don't eat a lot.  A lot of skinny people I know, especially guys, really don't like the feeling of being too full.  Either that or other people I know really want to be skinny and enjoy being that way and adjust their diet and exercise accordingly.  Even my skinny friend who says she eats cookies every day only eats one or two each day and works out about 4 or 5 days a week.

Lol,  "...she would look at our thin coworker and say 'how can she be eating salad, if i was that skinny i'd eat cake for lunch!"

I would have said, "If she ate cake for lunch she wouldn't be that skinny."

Our office skinny girls eat well...but eat a ton of veggies and fruit.  they also very active and very young.

I remember being very active and very young and I was skinny too!

Alas I did eat cake!

Keeping in mind that not all the time does skinny = healthy... I know a great many people who are skinny by nature yet are out of breath by the top of the stairs/tired all the time (never having energy to do anything)/or just generally not in good health... its not always about whats going on with the outside (or the scale) that determines our health and fitness abilities! Just some "food" for thought next time you see that "skinny" girl eating a piece of chocolate cake!

I was not remotely interested in food until I was like 16 (not even sweet foods, I didn't like cake ever), so I think in my case it was a hormonal thing.  Then when I was 16 I had way more cravings, and suddenly was hugely interested in junk food.  I think it was my body trying to get me to put on fat (I was a skinny skinny kid). That might also explain why your male friends don't finish their meals, whereas women have hormones that make us want to eat a lot so we'll have a bit of fat.  I've also noticed with guys that though they have faster metabolisms,  they just don't always seem as interested in food unless they're really hungry.

i think its because they eat what they want in moderation, stop when they're full, don't obsess.... versus the dieter that will restrict and then binge on unhealthy stuff (which is my case lol)

Original Post by icesk8er02:

Keeping in mind that not all the time does skinny = healthy... I know a great many people who are skinny by nature yet are out of breath by the top of the stairs/tired all the time (never having energy to do anything)/or just generally not in good health

 I'd rather be skinny and unhealthy than fat and healthy though tbh

There's a really great book called The Ten Habits of Naturally Slim People which addresses this concept very well

Original Post by xavier7:

Original Post by icesk8er02:

Keeping in mind that not all the time does skinny = healthy... I know a great many people who are skinny by nature yet are out of breath by the top of the stairs/tired all the time (never having energy to do anything)/or just generally not in good health

 I'd rather be skinny and unhealthy than fat and healthy though tbh

You're asking for it.

hahahaha i know it is taboo to it these days but me too!!!!!!!

My ex-husband had a hummingbird's metabolism. He had to eat much more than I did or he would start dropping pounds very quickly.

I was thin before I had children (still thin, just quite a bit of extra flab!) and I loved to eat. Whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted! I did eat healthy, but also loved my choccy and biscuits etc!

I miss not having to worry about food. I never thought twice about eating two or three slices of garlic bread with my meal, food was never a stress.

 But I think metabolism is the deciding factor. In time it slows, and we have to start watching what we eat. Sad but true.

Oh, and I never watched my portions, I actually used to eat fairly big meals. Oh, those were the days!!

I'm a male wit a bf% of 8 (which I hope counts of skinny despite the fact I'm 5' 11" and weigh 170) and I can genuinely say it has much more to do with diet than metabolism for me. That and exercise for sure. 3 days of gym and 2 of cardio per week.

I don't think a fast metabolism is the cause of someone being very thin in the majority of cases.   More usually they either eat less or they are more active or both.  My mother is a case in point... to the outside observer she is 'naturally thin'.  But I know that she never sits down at home.. always working the garden or tidying something up... never watches TV, for example.  She eats pretty sensibly... including a few cakes or a plate of fish and chips.  But she weighs herself every week and if she sees she's gained a few pounds she'll 'cut back on the potatoes'... never counted a calorie in her 71 years.

And don't forget the big irony when it comes to metabolism....  that the sedentary 25 year old 200lbs woman has an automatically faster metabolism than the sedentary 25 year old 120lbs woman.... simply because she's bigger.  

I was naturally thin, and it wasn't due to moderation or healthy eating- I ate junk and a lot of it. So for me it was metabolism.

It's crashed though, and now it's a struggle to keep my weight from going up. I've had to seriously change my eating and exercise habits, and in doing so I'm only maintaining, not getting back to my previous weight.

My mom thinks that I'm "too into" watching my weight, but I tell her that if I let it go, I'll find myself in the boat that she's in, 20 pounds overweight and facing the prospect of losing more rather than less. As it is now, I only have about 5 extra pounds on. I'm trying to put the brakes on sooner rather than later!

My highest weight ever was 130 pounds, which is actually a bit much for me considering I'm small framed and 5 ft 3, but anyway..I guess I qualify as a thin person, since I always was.

I maintained a weight of 110-115 from age 18-29ish. I'm 30 now, and just got back to 114..well, I was 113 yesterday, but everyone gains or loses a pound in water and whatever.

Anyway, I had no strategy or plan, I just ate whatever I wanted to, and never felt the need to empty a plate if I was full. If I was still hungry, then hey, sure..I'd wolf down impressive amounts of food, and bad stuff, too.

Life changed a little, my activity slowed down, and over the period of about a year or two, I slowly gained, ending up at 130.

All I've done to lose it is just kick up the acitivity somewhat..brisk walks, lunges, squats (my thighs are wayyy slimmer and more toned now) Push ups, etc. Just whatever I can do around the house because while I was a gym rat for a time, I'm not currently.

And of course, I count calories like a diet Nazi, too.

I've never been an emotional eater..on the contrary, when I'm upset or depressed, I lose all appetite and have been known to go 2-3 days with nothing at all. Not healthy, I know. It wasn't a diet plan, it was an effect of emotions that I did *not* eat. Thinking of food makes me sick if I'm severely upset.

In short though, yeah..different programming and attitudes, probably are what make thin people thin. Stopping when you're full, not obsessing over food, and just being able to leave the table feeling fine about it even if there is still half a plate.

All my very thin friends are that way. They will eat anything..nothing is off limits, they just don't really eat large quantities of these things most of the time.