How do people stay thin?

[Dags90]

I'd like to know more about this. Some of you are saying that metabolisms don't affect weight much, but I am 16 and weigh 110 pounds (I'm a guy). I don't have a certain amount of food I eat, I eat when I'm hungry.... which is all the time. I think it may be genetic, seeing as both my mom, dad, and uncle are unreasonably skinny as well.

You probably don't eat as much as you think, especially if you "eat when you're hungry". I rode the "fast metabolism" bandwagon for a while, but then I realized it was just how much/often I was eating. Sometimes I have a hard time telling if I'm hungry, and sometimes I don't get hungry when I should and I just have to eat.

Or (unlikely) it is metabolism because you're all suffering from hyperthyroidism.

Consider myself. At 127 lbs and 5'10", I should be eating 2,600 calories a day to move towards a healthy weight. [footnote]http://www.choosemyplate.gov/myplate/results.html?name=undefined&age=21&gender=male&weight=155&heightfeet=5&heightinch=10&activity=sed&originalweight=127&validweight=1&validheight=1&weightN=155&heightfeetN=5&heightinchN=10&&inputCal=2400&option=2[/footnote] I know I don't eat that much on most days, because it's hard for me to plan in an extra two-ish meals into my day.

 

[water_bearer]

I was not a overweight growing up, but after college, I noticed that I started to put on a lot more weight and growing a tire around the midsection became easier and easier as I got older, especially when I regularly consumed beer/wine/hard liquor.

I went to work in Japan for a few years and I got around to caring about my diet, partly due to necessity because eating more "western" foods in Asia usually cost more. It's been several years since then I'm happy to say that I figured out how to slim down and fight fat for my body. Maybe what works for me may work for you.

1. Avoid all forms of processed foods. This essentially means eating out very rarely, because restaurants tend to use the cheapest ingredients they can find. Processed sugars and oils are really hard for the body to burn, and even if you are active, if you're putting a lot of processed foods into your system, the best you can hope to achieve is probably just staying at your current weight.

2. Reduce sugar intake (this includes bread and all forms of alcohol), and increase fiber intake. Eat oatmeal, eat veggies, eat fruit.

3. Learn to drink WATER. Not soda, not juice, not energy drinks, not gatorade, get back to the most important liquid there is, water.

4. Be active to increase your metabolism. Work out, use weights so you can build more muscle, do workouts in the morning so your metabolism is "turned on" for more hours in the day.

5. Eat smaller meals more frequently. 5 or 6 meals a day, with portions about half of what you'd normally eat if you were eating 3 meals a day.

I think the hardest thing is definitely (1).
The reality of food in America is that so much of it is fast food and processed food, that when a person actually tries to eat healthier, unprocessed food, they will find it very inconvenient. Cooking oatmeal takes at least 10 minutes, eating more fiber means less sugar, less salt, and less fat and oils in your food too, and this can really take some getting used to. What do you do when you are with other people and they want to get pizza? Or worse yet, you just feel lazy and want to buy fast food?

I hope some of my ideas help give you a starting point. Good luck, I hope you find a healthier version of yourself soon.

 

[Mastodonic]

A great metabolism. I eat McDonalds at least a few times a week, and rarely eat healthy "It's been 5 weeks since my last vegetable..."

Rubbish. You burn on avg 2000 calories a day depending on your weight. A big mac only has 540 calories. So the avg person could eat 3 to 4 big macs a day and gain no weight. It has fuck all to do with "metabolism" and everything to do with MATH!

calories in - calories used = net loss/gain

The End.

 

[Kestor]

Yeah. I cut out soda and processed carbs and the weight melted right off. You'd be surprised OP.

This was me too. Just stop eating shit.

 

[Xanadu84]

Genetics. Diet and exercise can have a huge effect. Genetics has it beats. Without going to extremes that are unhealthy, genetics plays a bigger role in your looks then any other factor.

Of course having the biggest effect doesn't mean it changes how good you look the most. Genetics will decide if you are Fat or Thin, the biggest effect. But diet and exercise will have a bigger effect on if you are healthy, husky and spry or a big fat slob, or lean and healthy or spindley and weak looking.

 

[guise709]

Genetics. Diet and exercise can have a huge effect. Genetics has it beats. Without going to extremes that are unhealthy, genetics plays a bigger role in your looks then any other factor.

Of course having the biggest effect doesn't mean it changes how good you look the most. Genetics will decide if you are Fat or Thin, the biggest effect. But diet and exercise will have a bigger effect on if you are healthy, husky and spry or a big fat slob, or lean and healthy or spindley and weak looking.

Genetics have nothing to do with weight it is pure broscience. Tell me if genetics does indeed affect weight then how come we have this obesity epedemic only recently? How come in the past 4000 years of recorded history the only people who were fat are the rich and wealthy who can afford bountiful feast? Clearly it must be genetics....

 

[Scytail]

Personally I switched to smaller (and healthier food) portions and a little bit of exercise. Little yoga and freeweight stuff and Ive dropped from 250lbs to almost 200lbs. Wasnt fast but I feel better about myself and life now. Oh, and water! sweet delicious water, cut out all soft drinks!

 

[Mastodonic]

Genetics. Diet and exercise can have a huge effect. Genetics has it beats. Without going to extremes that are unhealthy, genetics plays a bigger role in your looks then any other factor.

Link. Provide one link from any study that would suggest that your genetics has anything to do with your body mass.

 

[Dango]

I don't really know, I just eat stuff, and I rarely get any fatter.

 

[Erana]

I still jhave to point out that everyone has their own shape and weight that their body wants to stay at. I'm not saying that 250 lbs is someone's natural weight or anything, but me, at a pretty healthy state is still curvy. And unless I get seriously ill or something, I will never be skinny.
Yes, I have some wonky, mysterious health stuff going on now, but I doubt it is affecting me that much.

Once you get into a good healthy exercise routine and diet, alter your perception of beauty to suit yourself, because chances are, the media's narrow and photoshop'd image of what is right will not fit you, and you'll drive yourself mad fretting over an impossibility.
Remember that improving your health and fitness habits isn't about looking better, its about improving your quality of life. People who are overweight but are regularly active are consistently proven to be healthier and longer-lived than skinny people who don't take care of themselves.


And no, people, not everyone sheds the pounds magically by dropping the soda. My mother's career is telling people how to eat and such, and some people really aren't that lucky.
But it is still a good idea- nutritionally, soda should be a once a week dessert at most.

One of the biggest things about altering your diet is palette adjustment. Yeah, an apple probably isn't going to be as exciting after supersour extreme candy pops or whatever. You have to change that. Teach yourself to like vegetables.
Replace your usual snack with carrots and cucumbers. When watching a movie, munch on a bag of spinach instead of popcorn. Things like that. Just don't go and starve yourself. That's one of the worst thing you can do for your health.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

^^^ That and the fact that they probably skip some meals, as long as you get enough vitamins and minerals then you actually don't need the calories that three meals a day provide.

I hear that skipping meals can cause your body to store more fat, so that it can survive another long period without food.

 

[DRTJR]

I stay thin via Eating copeous anount of Fast food almost every meal, Walking almost everywhere I need to go, and a godlike metabolism.

 

[Fusioncode9]

There's no such thing as a secret for weight-loss. Most people who can eat whatever they want and stay thin are active. Likely, it's not even formal exercise, it's just their normal activities.

I for one am a big fatty who is in the process of slimming down. Here is my "secret":

If you drink pop, stop it. Seriously...when I first started my work-outs, I hurt myself right away (bad luck at Ultimate Frisbee) but continued to not drink pop as part of my workout. I went from 240 pounds to 230 pounds on that alone in a few weeks.

Now I've healed up and have lost another ten pounds in two weeks by including exercise every day. Twenty minutes with my Kinect and UFC Trainer (you don't need this, all the exercises in the game are things you can do on your own). I like the game because it gives me structure and a goal. If you need something like this to help, it's well worth the price.

Just remember, you can exercise without having to do formal exercise. Find a friend and play tennis. Join a soccer league. Walk during your work break (my co-workers and I talk during this nice little walk around our building, it's business casual for us in Minnesota so no complaining that you can't do it)

Good job with the weight loss, but how does 20 minutes of exercise help you lose weight If I'm not mistaken, the first 20 minutes of an exercise is only burning carbs. And that doesn't help lose weight. It's only after the first 20 minutes that you start burning calories and losing weight.

I'm not trying to insult you or anything, I'm actually curious since I'm also trying to lose weight as well.

 

[Viral_Lola]

I cut out sodas and I also measure out my portions. Just eat right and exercise. There?s really no thing that works for everybody except for that. Every person?s body is different and you have to work with that. As for food cravings, I still have that one day of a week where I have one meal where I binge on my favorite delights.

 

[tippy2k2]

There's no such thing as a secret for weight-loss. Most people who can eat whatever they want and stay thin are active. Likely, it's not even formal exercise, it's just their normal activities.

I for one am a big fatty who is in the process of slimming down. Here is my "secret":

If you drink pop, stop it. Seriously...when I first started my work-outs, I hurt myself right away (bad luck at Ultimate Frisbee) but continued to not drink pop as part of my workout. I went from 240 pounds to 230 pounds on that alone in a few weeks.

Now I've healed up and have lost another ten pounds in two weeks by including exercise every day. Twenty minutes with my Kinect and UFC Trainer (you don't need this, all the exercises in the game are things you can do on your own). I like the game because it gives me structure and a goal. If you need something like this to help, it's well worth the price.

Just remember, you can exercise without having to do formal exercise. Find a friend and play tennis. Join a soccer league. Walk during your work break (my co-workers and I talk during this nice little walk around our building, it's business casual for us in Minnesota so no complaining that you can't do it)

Good job with the weight loss, but how does 20 minutes of exercise help you lose weight If I'm not mistaken, the first 20 minutes of an exercise is only burning carbs. And that doesn't help lose weight. It's only after the first 20 minutes that you start burning calories and losing weight.

I'm not trying to insult you or anything, I'm actually curious since I'm also trying to lose weight as well.

I don't know the science behind it and the twenty minute theory (though I've heard it before). Twenty minutes is also the low end, 20-30 is the norm. I also subscribe to Men's Health and a lot of their exercises are shorter periods daily of intense workout so I presume that twenty minutes is solid.

So anyway, I've heard that twenty minute thing but most things I see are about that long so I don't know how much I believe in the "twenty minute" thing. Not to mention that I can see my program working myself...

EDIT: Googled it, a few things that I found that might be helpful to answer that question. I always thought the twenty minute thing didn't make sense...

http://health.ninemsn.com.au/whatsgoodforyou/theshow/694570/how-much-exercise-do-you-need-before-you-start-burning-fat

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/busting-the-great-myths-of-fat-burning.html

http://femalemuscle.com/q_a/question16.htm

 

[chadachada123]

I've wanted to lose weight for a while now, and I have tried nearly everything (except diet pills and starving, I have my standards). The weird thing is that quite a few people I know tend to stay thin despite regularly eating burger king and such. I know some of them do work out, but some (like my girlfriend) somehow can stay thin without working out and despite apparently eating a lot (hell, I'm in much worse shape than my girlfriend, yet I have an easier time walking, thank you Mini-Boot Camp). I gotta ask, when it comes to those people, what's their secret?

OP, if I knew, I would tell you.

I, on the other hand, can not be fat, or even chubby, no matter what I eat or how little I work out. My body only ranges from "damn-fit" to "fit." I don't even become particularly skinny, except when a medical crisis occurs (I once became malnourished from sickness and got rather skinny). Otherwise, I'm just a regular, in shape, average-looking college boy.

I guess being an ex-swimmer certainly helped, but otherwise I'd say I have my metabolism to thank. I have no idea what it's like to have to control one's eating or training habits to stay in shape.

*Edit* Might as well include that 80% of my liquid-intake is in the form of Mountain Dew, and my food intake is crap as well, yet I'm still healthy as hell. I imagine my heart is probably going to explode within a few years, but otherwise, my body is basically perfect.

 

[SilentCom]

People stay thin by not getting fat. Nuff said.