Is this how thin people eat?

[Anonymous]

My stomach is smaller so I get fuller faster. I do not know how else to explain it. It is not that I am restricting calories, it is just that I get full pretty easily. I eat every 3-4 hours though and always have a snack before bedtime.

5'2" and 106. 47yo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Binge watch these 2 UK shows -- Secret Eaters and Secret Lives of Slim People. Explains a lot.

They are on Prime / YouTube.

Producers on “fat people” shows notoriously pressure them to overeat for cameras. Reality TV is not real.

You’d think in 2023 no one would need to be told that but here we are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My stomach is smaller so I get fuller faster. I do not know how else to explain it. It is not that I am restricting calories, it is just that I get full pretty easily. I eat every 3-4 hours though and always have a snack before bedtime.

5'2" and 106. 47yo.

Your stomach is most likely not physiologically smaller than an overweight person’s (I don’t mean a 600 lb person but a more typical overweight or obese person’s). It’s a hormonal response to eating.

[Anonymous]

I’m the OP of this thread and have found the replies really interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am thin and have a few friends who have some weight to lose. I wouldn’t describe them as overweight but they aren’t thin.

I have different eating habits than they do. But we eat similar foods and meals so I can see how they might claim I’m just lucky and we eat the same.

It’s the small differences that add up over time. They have an afternoon snack, when I don’t. They eat the chips when we have pre-dinner drinks. I eat half my burger and fries and they eat all of it. They have an entire bagel for breakfast and I have a very small healthier option.

The truth is the average adult doesn’t require a lot of food. Adults don’t need snacks.

Ugh you sound so judgey. Are your “friends” really even your friends?

[Anonymous]

I eat about 1300 calories per day and I'm slowly losing weight. I've got 3 more pounds until my goal weight and I'm 5'-1" I will need to ramp up my calories to maintain. It was a big wake-up when I started measuring my food and realized what a proper portion is. People tend to underestimate their portion sizes or forget to count snacks, and just overeating a little every day leads to weight gain over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am thin and have a few friends who have some weight to lose. I wouldn’t describe them as overweight but they aren’t thin.

I have different eating habits than they do. But we eat similar foods and meals so I can see how they might claim I’m just lucky and we eat the same.

It’s the small differences that add up over time. They have an afternoon snack, when I don’t. They eat the chips when we have pre-dinner drinks. I eat half my burger and fries and they eat all of it. They have an entire bagel for breakfast and I have a very small healthier option.

The truth is the average adult doesn’t require a lot of food. Adults don’t need snacks.

Ugh you sound so judgey. Are your “friends” really even your friends?

I’m not judging them at all. I’m simply using this anecdote as an example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do think there is something to the appetite thing. I’m thin and just don’t have a huge appetite. I’m more of a grazer and, while I don’t diet at all and enjoy healthy and less healthy foods when I want them without restriction, I don’t enjoy sitting down to eat 3 big meals a day like some do.

DH will have eggs/toast/bacon for breakfast, sub/chips/cookie for lunch and then a big helping of pasta and salad for dinner. And snacks! I just can’t eat that way, I don’t crave that much food that often

Sincerely, good for you for not making this a moral good about yourself like some thin people who think they must just be better at life since they manage to eat less. You’re right. It’s not that you choose to eat less, it’s that your body tells you to eat less. For some reason fat people’s brains stimulate them to eat more. Not a moral failing. Just a medical fact.

But you do realize a fair amount of this is nurture, right? Like eating until you are uncomfortably full, always eating before you get hungry or never letting yourself be hungry for even 5 minutes, eating all day, snacking after dinner, etc. TRAIN your body to tell you eat more. And if your parents do this to you when you are still growing, then you are even more screwed breaking the cycle.

[Anonymous]

I'm a healthy thin person, and honestly, I just pay attention to what my body wants to eat. Sometimes it wants to eat a lot, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it wants 3 meals a day, sometimes all it wants to do is snack. I just manage my food supply so all these options are available.

What I have noticed is that there are definitely certain times where it will crave certain foods, particularly after sickness or a heavy period. I don't normally eat meat, but there will be times when my body will want a bunch of meat. I figure it knows what it wants better than I do, so I just follow along.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My stomach is smaller so I get fuller faster. I do not know how else to explain it. It is not that I am restricting calories, it is just that I get full pretty easily. I eat every 3-4 hours though and always have a snack before bedtime.

5'2" and 106. 47yo.

Me again - I also have no idea how many calories I eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thin people eat normally, just smaller portions than the average slob

Agree...not with the slob part, but majority of people just eat way too much.

Thin people (women) will eat ice cream, but maybe half the cone then toss it. They aren’t ordering the triple scoop and finishing it. Or if they order burger and fries, they’ll eat half the burger and a couple fries. Generalization, but my observation is most thin people have a much better control of their intake amount.

Well, sort of. I'm a size 0/2 thin person. I will sometimes eat the entire ice cream cone, or the burger. (I can't imagine being able to eat a burger and also a portion of fries -- like I can't imagine actually getting it all in my very full stomach.) But then I won't be hungry for the rest of the day, so I'll probably nibble, eat some fruit or nuts or a bit of cheese or something.

One huge common denominator, I think, is that thin people EAT WHEN THEY ARE HUNGRY. We don't stick strictly to "3 meals a day." As someone else said, this sounds obvious but it's true

True but you’re missing that fat people will stay fat if they also only eat when they’re hungry.

Thin people are literally less hungry by nature.

This is why drugs like Ozempic work. They make you have the appetite of a naturally thin person.

DP. This is really disordered thinking. There are some exceptions, but most people are not destined by nature to be thin or fat due to hunger cues. You can modify lifestyle factors to change your hunger cues. If you're not sleeping well you will be hungrier. If you eat lots of sugar and refined carbs it will make you hungrier. If you drink lots of alcohol, you will want to eat more. But I agree with you that the advice to only eat when you're hungry isn't helpful for people who are very overweight and need a diet and lifestyle overhaul.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thin people eat normally, just smaller portions than the average slob

Lol!! This is so not true. All my thin friends restrict calories and drink diet coke/sugar free coffee drinks.

Well one of the biggest sources of calories is sugar-filled drinks, so it's not bad to drink sugar free beverages. Of course water would be healthier but I would rather drink diet Coke than regular Coke.

This is poor advice, as all the recent research shows that consumption of sugar free drinks sweetened by artificial sweeteners actually drives higher consumption of calories overall. This is likely because the brain and gut system is much more complex than we even understand entirely, but certainly the taste of sweet tells the brain calories are being consumed but when no actual energy source hits the gut, it drives the brain to keep consuming to get the energy. So again numerous studies have shown that overall those who consume those types of drinks end up eating more. It is far better for health to learn to consume water or unsweetened tea (green is especially healthful due to the polyphenols etc.) rather than consuming any fizzy or other sweets substitute drinks.

Okay, then why are the thin people drinking diet soda, as noted by the PP?
I don't normally drink soda, but if I had to I would rather drink diet than drink a regular soda full of 39 grams of sugar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thin people eat normally, just smaller portions than the average slob

Agree...not with the slob part, but majority of people just eat way too much.

Thin people (women) will eat ice cream, but maybe half the cone then toss it. They aren’t ordering the triple scoop and finishing it. Or if they order burger and fries, they’ll eat half the burger and a couple fries. Generalization, but my observation is most thin people have a much better control of their intake amount.

Well, sort of. I'm a size 0/2 thin person. I will sometimes eat the entire ice cream cone, or the burger. (I can't imagine being able to eat a burger and also a portion of fries -- like I can't imagine actually getting it all in my very full stomach.) But then I won't be hungry for the rest of the day, so I'll probably nibble, eat some fruit or nuts or a bit of cheese or something.

One huge common denominator, I think, is that thin people EAT WHEN THEY ARE HUNGRY. We don't stick strictly to "3 meals a day." As someone else said, this sounds obvious but it's true

True but you’re missing that fat people will stay fat if they also only eat when they’re hungry.

Thin people are literally less hungry by nature.

This is why drugs like Ozempic work. They make you have the appetite of a naturally thin person.

DP. This is really disordered thinking. There are some exceptions, but most people are not destined by nature to be thin or fat due to hunger cues. You can modify lifestyle factors to change your hunger cues. If you're not sleeping well you will be hungrier. If you eat lots of sugar and refined carbs it will make you hungrier. If you drink lots of alcohol, you will want to eat more. But I agree with you that the advice to only eat when you're hungry isn't helpful for people who are very overweight and need a diet and lifestyle overhaul.

Your comments are true but so is my quoted post (except that acknowledging accepted science is disordered thinking).

There is a lot of evidence in support of the fact that overweight and obese people receive more hunger-triggering hormones. If it were otherwise, drugs that target those hormones wouldn’t work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do think there is something to the appetite thing. I’m thin and just don’t have a huge appetite. I’m more of a grazer and, while I don’t diet at all and enjoy healthy and less healthy foods when I want them without restriction, I don’t enjoy sitting down to eat 3 big meals a day like some do.

DH will have eggs/toast/bacon for breakfast, sub/chips/cookie for lunch and then a big helping of pasta and salad for dinner. And snacks! I just can’t eat that way, I don’t crave that much food that often

Sincerely, good for you for not making this a moral good about yourself like some thin people who think they must just be better at life since they manage to eat less. You’re right. It’s not that you choose to eat less, it’s that your body tells you to eat less. For some reason fat people’s brains stimulate them to eat more. Not a moral failing. Just a medical fact.

But you do realize a fair amount of this is nurture, right? Like eating until you are uncomfortably full, always eating before you get hungry or never letting yourself be hungry for even 5 minutes, eating all day, snacking after dinner, etc. TRAIN your body to tell you eat more. And if your parents do this to you when you are still growing, then you are even more screwed breaking the cycle.

None of this squares with my experience. Especially not my parents, who were full blown almond moms. Like you probably are!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thin people eat normally, just smaller portions than the average slob

Agree...not with the slob part, but majority of people just eat way too much.

Thin people (women) will eat ice cream, but maybe half the cone then toss it. They aren’t ordering the triple scoop and finishing it. Or if they order burger and fries, they’ll eat half the burger and a couple fries. Generalization, but my observation is most thin people have a much better control of their intake amount.

No, another PP was right. Thin people eat like crazy. I am thin and eat the whole ice cream cone, as well as the entire burger and most of the fries. It just doesn't make me gain weight. Thin people and not-thin people have wholly different metabolisms. Don't let a thin person ever tell you that they just have more self-discipline--that's a pile of rot.

This. Good lord, are there some crazy generalizations in this thread.

OP, the unfortunate reality is that bodies are genetically different, so what one person eats may not work for someone else. I have no idea how many calories I consume, because I seem to have been gifted a metabolism that keeps my weight stable whether I eat a salad or the burger and fries (still, in my 50s, and I don’t exercise). Not everyone is the same, because life isn’t fair.