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

They are on Prime / YouTube.

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.

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.

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.

Same. Plus skip many meals. Often they’re naturally less hungry so don’t calorie compensate, but no they aren’t just eating normally but less.

This is true, my skinny husband eats lunch and dinner only and never ever snacks or second helpings. I have to eat even less than he does to stay thinner than him.

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.

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, it's true for me. And it's true for most people in my running club. We exercise a lot, eat lots of healthy food and skip or limit the junk.

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

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

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I should note that I’m not planning on eating like this long term…I’m just not quite back to full hunger yet so more wondering if there are people who really do eat like this forever.

Yes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The short answer is yes.

I'm a bit shorter and eat 1200 calories a day. I'm very active and was a D1 athlete in college. The person who said you can't get all the nutrients is wrong. You need to eat a wide variety of different food, mostly veggies and lean meat. Just control you portion size. Children, small people, and slim folks get all the nutrients they need and just have smaller sizes. In the end it's all math - calories in and calories out.

This has been debunked multiple times in the past few years.

Not exactly. It *is* calories in vs. calories out but different people have different metabolic rates. So two people could walk, sit, exercise, sleep, etc. the exact same amount and one will burn more calories than the other. If they eat the exact same amount, they will be different weights. Also, some people feel full far sooner than others, making it a lot easier for them to control the calories in side of the equation.

Anonymous wrote:The short answer is yes.

I'm a bit shorter and eat 1200 calories a day. I'm very active and was a D1 athlete in college. The person who said you can't get all the nutrients is wrong. You need to eat a wide variety of different food, mostly veggies and lean meat. Just control you portion size. Children, small people, and slim folks get all the nutrients they need and just have smaller sizes. In the end it's all math - calories in and calories out.

This is exactly right. Thin people, unless they are very tall or spend multiple hours daily intensely exercising, are the gas-sipping Toyota Priuses amongst us. Other larger people are F-150 pickup trucks or Range Rovers — for a given number of miles travelled, they use more gas — a lot more.

So if you want to be a thin Prius (and don’t have literally hours per day to exercise), you have to eat the way thin people eat.

If you are content being an F-150, you get to eat much more.

Anonymous wrote:The short answer is yes.

I'm a bit shorter and eat 1200 calories a day. I'm very active and was a D1 athlete in college. The person who said you can't get all the nutrients is wrong. You need to eat a wide variety of different food, mostly veggies and lean meat. Just control you portion size. Children, small people, and slim folks get all the nutrients they need and just have smaller sizes. In the end it's all math - calories in and calories out.

This has been debunked multiple times in the past few years.

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.

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.

Same. Plus skip many meals. Often they’re naturally less hungry so don’t calorie compensate, but no they aren’t just eating normally but less.

I'm 5'6" and 110 lbs and eat like that -- probably 1000-1200 cals a day.

I just hate to feel full and the second I do, I stop eating. Always been like this.

Now that I am older, I make sure to eat my protein and veggies first, so if I get full I haven't filled up on junk.