Why am I skinny?

[Anonymous]

Just turned 50 and finally it is catching up with me. I have put on 5 pounds over past year. No diet or exercise changes. It is isn’t a huge amount so figure it is just hormonal. I am not particularly worried about it although if it still creeps up every year maybe I will!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's great that you are skinny. My aunt was skinny and ate tons of processed food. Dropped dead of a heart attack at 50.

+1
You might be skinny fat. You guys are a huge health problem but no one cares because “health concerns” about fat are made up; people just hate fat people. I’d get tested to make sure you’re not skinny fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just turned 50 and finally it is catching up with me. I have put on 5 pounds over past year. No diet or exercise changes. It is isn’t a huge amount so figure it is just hormonal. I am not particularly worried about it although if it still creeps up every year maybe I will!!

I love this thread for the functional repudiation of CICO.

[Anonymous]

I was you until 48. After a lifetime of eating however much I wanted (which was always large amounts) I gained almost 10 pounds in 6 months, even after seriously cutting back on the amount of food I was eating. It coincided with period irregularities so I’m certain it’s hormonal.

However, I did start to try to make sure I was eating healthy meals in my 30s (although still with a lot of desserts and sweets), around when I started trying to have kids. By my 40s I definitely noticed that even if junk foods didn’t make me gain weight, they affected my energy levels (and I’m sure my overall health). Also true of alcohol, and I now rarely drink. I do feel lucky I was able to go so long without worrying about weight though.

[Anonymous]

My mother was skinny until her 40s and got bigger after a late pregnancy (43). I was skinny until my mid-late 40s but now in my early 50s I'm skinny again just having doubled my physical activity and watching what I eat. It's not hard to maintain your skinniness through life, it's when you make changes that it goes away.

[Anonymous]

I was like you. My dad was tall and very thin my mom was short and overweight. At 39 things changed. I did have early menopause, so that might have affected the age, but basically at 39 I gained 10 lbs overnight. My diet was crap. Pizza, cake, cookies. I was reliably 115 at almost 5’7”. Then over the next few years I’ve gained another 5-7 lbs. I’m still a size 2-4 at 130-132, but I am not as thin as I was. I also didn’t have to work out before. Now I do. So, I think age will catch up with you. I would try to change your eating habits now bc I still love all of that stuff, but I can’t eat it as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's great that you are skinny. My aunt was skinny and ate tons of processed food. Dropped dead of a heart attack at 50.

Yep - be careful what you eat b/c it can do a lot of damage that you can't see until you have a health problem. Like clogged arteries, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is going to come off as a humblebrag or just a brag, but I'm thin and I have no idea why.

I'm 32. Size 0/2. Yes, I work out and love to exercise, but we always say you can't outrun the fork. I love food. I eat like a horse. I have a mega sweet tooth. I love everything that's bad. Cheeseburgers. Bacon. Ice cream. Chocolate. Beer. I really like beer. And pizza. Pizza and beer especially. I eat a lot of carbs.

There are times when I eat better and times I eat worse, but it makes no difference. I usually work out a lot, but even when I was injured, my weight never changed within five pounds. As for genetics, I guess everyone in my family is thin, except my mom. She is very overweight and blames me (tongue-and-cheekly) because she gave birth to me at 39. Before that she was 5'8 and 125 lbs. My sisters are both thin after giving birth to three kids. But my mom IS overweight. So when is the other shoe going to drop? Can I keep up my beer-drinking, pizza-eating ways and rely on offestting it with being generally very active, or am I going to get fat overnight in 15 years when I go through menopause or whatever. I really like pizza and beer. I also like being a size 2. I'm honestly not sure which I like more. Probably pizza and beer.

Have you had kids? This was me until I had kids. The hormones totally changed my body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's great that you are skinny. My aunt was skinny and ate tons of processed food. Dropped dead of a heart attack at 50.

Yep - be careful what you eat b/c it can do a lot of damage that you can't see until you have a health problem. Like clogged arteries, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.

Agree with all these people. Sounds like OP is looking more at the cosmetic side of things. With that diet, I would make sure you have annual physicals and do blood work. Maybe eat a salad or two?

[Anonymous]

Your lucky. I think you should start to dial it back though. A healthy diet is good for everyone, even skinny people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's great that you are skinny. My aunt was skinny and ate tons of processed food. Dropped dead of a heart attack at 50.

+1
You might be skinny fat. You guys are a huge health problem but no one cares because “health concerns” about fat are made up; people just hate fat people. I’d get tested to make sure you’re not skinny fat.

At least in my case, my numbers are excellent my Md says. I have very small bones but am fairly muscular.

[Anonymous]

I was like this until around 50. Skinny little kid and teen. Put on some muscle as an athlete but remained a size 0/2 even after two kids. I consistently worked out but consistently ate terribly. Tons of carbs, fatty foods, alcohol, not enough vegetables. There was a stretch of years where I was too busy to work out but I continued to eat not that great (although I always made most of my own food). Still remained a size 0/2 at 5’7”. But around age 50, weight started creeping up and cholesterol levels were really high. I started working out again and became more thoughtful about my eating. I still eat some junk (total sweet tooth) but mostly increased fruit/vegetables greatly and decreased meats and eliminated alcohol. Im back to my high school weight, feel strong, and waiting to see if my bloodwork has improved next week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's great that you are skinny. My aunt was skinny and ate tons of processed food. Dropped dead of a heart attack at 50.

Yep - be careful what you eat b/c it can do a lot of damage that you can't see until you have a health problem. Like clogged arteries, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.

This right here. I'm like you, op,but 51. I'm still thin, but my bloodwork is starting to betray more crap diet. I used to think looking skinny was the only important thing, since we're all gonna die anyway. Turns out, what you eat has a direct impact on your health. One more cheesecake for me, lots of holidays treats and then I will clean my diet up over the next year.

[Anonymous]

You say you eat like a horse, but do you really?

I have friend who eat everything and anything, will eat a burger and fries and so forth, but the difference between them and someone who is overweight it that they indulge, but still eat less overall. They don't feel the need to finish everything on their plate. They stop when they are full. If they eat that burger for lunch they are full the rest of the day and will skip or eat a small light dinner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You say you eat like a horse, but do you really?

I have friend who eat everything and anything, will eat a burger and fries and so forth, but the difference between them and someone who is overweight it that they indulge, but still eat less overall. They don't feel the need to finish everything on their plate. They stop when they are full. If they eat that burger for lunch they are full the rest of the day and will skip or eat a small light dinner.

This OP.

I am 48 and have always been naturally thin. Had 2 kids. Weigh what I weighed in high school.

I eat whatever I feel like but I don’t necessarily over eat either.

I have noticed a slight shift in the direction of holding on to belly fat in the last year or so. Less weight gain and more body shape change.