I can eat “what i want” and be thin/not gain but it isn’t a very great looking skinny. Low muscle definition, soft, skinny vs. slender and fit. It just looks better when I work out and prioritize nutritious food in moderation. Weight wise I would be exactly the same but composition wise it would look very different. The people who eat whatever they want and stay thin don’t look strong, fit, healthy, toned ... just kinda soft and no definition. It’s fine if that’s the look you prefer but for me it isn’t.

Yes. Very, very few that have seriously messed up thyroid, hyper. Usually even for them, with age, it regulates and they have to watch it. If you are asking if regular people without some illness can eat as much as they want and not gain weight, the answer is no. Not even Michael Phelps. If he burns around 10K calories a day, but eats 15k calories a day, he will gain weight. More active people can eat more and not gain weight, as long as they are in an equilibrium of calories burned vs calories eaten.
Those that say I can eat what I want and still be skinny have a very different idea of whatever I want means. For example, to me, it means burger without a bun and french friend and water if going out. To my friend it means burger with a bun and fried and sugary soda, plus a salad and maybe a glass of wine. We are both eating as much as WE want. I might have a desert at home, and she probably won't. Eating how much I want varies from person to person. So, if you are asking if there is a person that is moderately active, eats 10K calories per day and is skinny, the answer is absolutely not.

I say this every time this comes up, I have found that the people who can "eat whatever they want and not gain weight" are also the people who naturally have good internal regulators in terms of appetite and their taste for high calorie foods. I have a thin friend who loves ice cream and eats it every night. The thing is, she is capable of taking a regular portion in her bowl, eating just that and being satisfied. She doesn't pile it in there or go back for seconds. Whenever i have eaten a meal with her there is always food left on her plate, even when it was an incredible meal. She never eats past the point of feeling full.

I also listened to a podcast once with a guy who was body builder. He talked about how when he use to be very thin. He is naturally an ectomorph (thin, lanky, low muscle) in order for him to gain weight he had to consume a lot of calories and eat past the point of feeling full. But doing so he was able to put on something like 30 or 40 lbs of muscle.

With enough calories and eating past the point of feeling full anyone can put on weight. Some people just naturally stop when they are full. My kids are like that. If I give them ice cream they will leave a few bites if they hit the point where they feel full. They never feel the need to keep eating for pleasure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Skinny fat refers to a normal weight and BMI for their height, but more fat than is optimal for health especially heart health.

So to answer your question OP, no - I eat what I want but don't fit that definition of skinny fat. I'm in shape.

How do you know how much fat you have?

You can measure your body fat.

That’s what I want to know. How do you measure body fat without any fancy equipment?

Didn't they do a study about this on prisoners? They offered some kind of incentive if they could gain xyz amount of weight, and gave them free access to as much food as they wanted. And 10% of people just couldn't gain weight. However much they ate, their metabolisms just adjusted.
I will have to see if I can find it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I TOTALLY believe pregnancy messes up most women’s metabolisms in a bad way!

I mean, for one thing, look at all the women who never lose their baby weight and gain 5-10 lbs. each pregnancy.

Of course this isn’t much studied because men don’t get pregnant so don’t care to know or fund research studies on it.

That’s me.

My mother in law always said:

Baby 1: you’ll lose all the weight and then some
Baby 2: you will get rid of all but 10 lbs you keep forever
Baby : you’re keeping the last 20 lbs forever

Truly, she’s right

Not true for me, though it did take me longer to shed the weight after kid #2 (6 months as opposed to 3 months). I'm an old mom though (both kids born when I was over 35) so it could be just due to aging.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Skinny fat refers to a normal weight and BMI for their height, but more fat than is optimal for health especially heart health.

So to answer your question OP, no - I eat what I want but don't fit that definition of skinny fat. I'm in shape.

How do you know how much fat you have?

You can measure your body fat.

Anonymous wrote:Skinny fat refers to a normal weight and BMI for their height, but more fat than is optimal for health especially heart health.

So to answer your question OP, no - I eat what I want but don't fit that definition of skinny fat. I'm in shape.

How do you know how much fat you have?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I TOTALLY believe pregnancy messes up most women’s metabolisms in a bad way!

I mean, for one thing, look at all the women who never lose their baby weight and gain 5-10 lbs. each pregnancy.

Of course this isn’t much studied because men don’t get pregnant so don’t care to know or fund research studies on it.

That’s me.

My mother in law always said:

Baby 1: you’ll lose all the weight and then some
Baby 2: you will get rid of all but 10 lbs you keep forever
Baby : you’re keeping the last 20 lbs forever

Truly, she’s right

Not true for me or pretty much any of my circle of friends. I have three kids and gained 35-50 pounds during my pregnancies, but lost it all without effort.

I think it's harder for women who have pregnancies later in life though. Easier to bounce back in your 20s and early 30s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I TOTALLY believe pregnancy messes up most women’s metabolisms in a bad way!

I mean, for one thing, look at all the women who never lose their baby weight and gain 5-10 lbs. each pregnancy.

Of course this isn’t much studied because men don’t get pregnant so don’t care to know or fund research studies on it.

That’s me.

My mother in law always said:

Baby 1: you’ll lose all the weight and then some
Baby 2: you will get rid of all but 10 lbs you keep forever
Baby : you’re keeping the last 20 lbs forever

Truly, she’s right

Anonymous wrote:Before I had kids, I basically ate whatever I wanted and was always thin. I loved healthy food and ate a lot of fresh vegetable and "whole foods." I also ate as much pizza, french fries dipped in mayo or hollandaise sauce, melted cheese, etc that I wanted. I ate what I wanted to, when I wanted to and stayed thin.

Still I didn't eat much compared to now, post-kids. Now I provide three meals a day, snacks and desserts, so of course I eat regularly, too. And I'm no longer thin.

So yes, there are people who can eat whatever they want to and not gain weight. The key is what it is they want to eat.

Things is, that could be the kids and how you prepare food for them, or it could just be that you are that much older now than you were then.

Skinny fat refers to a normal weight and BMI for their height, but more fat than is optimal for health especially heart health.

So to answer your question OP, no - I eat what I want but don't fit that definition of skinny fat. I'm in shape.

42 and can still eat whatever I want. I do exercise regularly. One side of my family has quite thin women who remained like that into the elderly years (the other side is the exact opposite).

But the thing is, I might crave a Big Mac and fries for lunch but I rarely want something that high calorie very often, and if I had that for lunch I'd probably just skip dinner. It wouldn't be for a goal of losing weight, but just because I feel stuffed. And my desire for sugar really depends on where I am in my cycle - there are days when I simply don't want it and days when I can't get enough.

Anonymous wrote:OP was talking about skinny-fat people who could eat whatever they want, not exercise, and not gain weight in their 40s/50s. Most of the pps who responded that they ate whatever they wanted also ran marathons and are physically active one way or another.

If you're trying to lose weight, diet is probably more important. However, if your goal is to simply not gain weight, then diet is less important as long as your caloric intake matches your caloric expenditure.

I’m the marathon runner. I was skinny even before I got into running. 5’7” and 110-115. I think it’s personality too. I’m a fidgeter and constantly on the move even at a desk job. Maybe hyperactive? People always comment how I walk very fast, never sit still, up and about doing random things. Only now, I’m perimenopausal and must watch what I eat.

Before I had kids, I basically ate whatever I wanted and was always thin. I loved healthy food and ate a lot of fresh vegetable and "whole foods." I also ate as much pizza, french fries dipped in mayo or hollandaise sauce, melted cheese, etc that I wanted. I ate what I wanted to, when I wanted to and stayed thin.

Still I didn't eat much compared to now, post-kids. Now I provide three meals a day, snacks and desserts, so of course I eat regularly, too. And I'm no longer thin.

So yes, there are people who can eat whatever they want to and not gain weight. The key is what it is they want to eat.