Anonymous wrote:I never thought of it that way.

I eat when I am hungry and I don't eat when I am not. I stop when I feel full.

Do many people not do this?

Indeed, some of us just like to stuff our face or have a tendency to eat our feelings or eat mindlessly under stress. I am that way, so I am constantly shaving off the same 10 pounds. I am a pro at dieting though so I never have a problem to get to my preferred weight but I definitely am not able to keep it without consciously watching my calories.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone can gain weight if they eat enough. even very thin people. Thin people just tend to stop when they are full and have smaller appetites, where overweigh people don't.

I listened to a podcast once and the guest was a guy who was naturally an ectomorph. He ended up putting on something like 50 lbs of muscle. but in order to do so he had literally to force himself to eat even when he wasn't hungry and be very intentional about eating more.

My husband's highest weight was towards the end of boot camp because they had very structured meals and he put on muscle. His diet is utter crap, but he can also go a full day or more with just forgetting to eat anything because he just doesn't feel hunger. Two of our kids inherited his metabolism, especially our first who hovered around the 1st percentile BMI for most of his childhood. And we just had the conversation with the ped about strategies to get DC#3's weight up. Unfortunately, DC#2 inherited my metabolism and struggles with not being able to eat like his brother without getting fat.

You think you eat a ton, but actually don't. That is it. Your idea of a ton of food is different than that of a person that is 300lbs.

I never thought of it that way.

I eat when I am hungry and I don't eat when I am not. I stop when I feel full.

Do many people not do this?

Anonymous wrote:I’m 34, 3 kids, and am also thin despite eating whatever I want and exercising moderately. What I’ve noticed is that, while I eat whatever I want, I have pretty good hunger cues and, since I don’t restrict anything, I don’t binge on foods or eat excessively. I have no idea how many calories I eat in a day but I’d wager it matches my activity and matches my caloric needs over the long term. So maybe I eat “too many” calories one day but the next I’m not as hungry and naturally want to eat less

My skinny friends are like this. They have good hunger cues. I am an emotional eater and even though I am not fat (thanks to exercise), I am also not skinny.

OP, you must likely have what is referred to as adaptive metabolism. Even if you eat more than normal every now and then you subconsciously compensate for it with increased activity, such as walking around or fidgeting. You probably also have better hinger cues than people prone to gaining weight. CICO is still very much in play here.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Lolol what is the test for skinny fat? You sound jealous of op.

“Lol.” Proving the point that fat shamers never read links.

I’m 34, 3 kids, and am also thin despite eating whatever I want and exercising moderately. What I’ve noticed is that, while I eat whatever I want, I have pretty good hunger cues and, since I don’t restrict anything, I don’t binge on foods or eat excessively. I have no idea how many calories I eat in a day but I’d wager it matches my activity and matches my caloric needs over the long term. So maybe I eat “too many” calories one day but the next I’m not as hungry and naturally want to eat less

Anyone can gain weight if they eat enough. even very thin people. Thin people just tend to stop when they are full and have smaller appetites, where overweigh people don't.

I listened to a podcast once and the guest was a guy who was naturally an ectomorph. He ended up putting on something like 50 lbs of muscle. but in order to do so he had literally to force himself to eat even when he wasn't hungry and be very intentional about eating more.

I just ate breakfast and feel guilty for eating (I try only to eat twice a day). I’m not fat but not thin. Anyway these things are genetic and also epigenetic.

I’m trying to change my gut microbiome. I have bacteria that is associated with greater “fat extraction” from food (supposedly) and lack a lot of bacteria associated with leanness. Interestingly I was a very thin child and got sick, was on multiple rounds of antibiotics and after that the opposite, became chubby.

Anonymous wrote:A question about being skinny-fat:

Can someone be skinny-fat, as in bad blood panel that shows the usual risks normally associated with obese people, but also have a good body composition? This relates to "outrunning the fork." When I think skinny-fat, I usually think of people who appeal thin but are soft and have no muscle tone. Could you be lean, muscular, and athletic, but also be unhealthy because you eat a lot of crap?

You can, but it's less likely because of the work it takes to build muscle. If you're working out enough to build muscle, you're probably doing well on cardiovascular health. But food still matters - I know a slim yoga fanatic who got gout in her early thirties because her diet was so rich and alcohol heavy (she's since changed her ways).

A question about being skinny-fat:

Can someone be skinny-fat, as in bad blood panel that shows the usual risks normally associated with obese people, but also have a good body composition? This relates to "outrunning the fork." When I think skinny-fat, I usually think of people who appeal thin but are soft and have no muscle tone. Could you be lean, muscular, and athletic, but also be unhealthy because you eat a lot of crap?

Me too, OP, still at 51.

It's lucky genetics (including low bp and cholesterol), but in my case, balanced out with family history of cancer, so I take what I can get.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Lolol what is the test for skinny fat? You sound jealous of op.

DP (who certainly is jealous of OP, because I work out constantly and eat very healthy and am still obese; it would be great for the coin to have landed on the other side where you can act like a frat kid but still get credit for "taking care of yourself"), but the test for skinny fat is basically a blood panel. Plenty of people have "healthy" BMIs but show high blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol, etc on a full workup.

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.

Lolol what is the test for skinny fat? You sound jealous of op.