How do people stay thin?

[Mastodonic]

How do people stop being thin, seriously? I can't gain weight no matter how much I try. It took several months at the gym just to put on 5 lbs in muscle and I can't seem to gain any fat.

Did you change your diet? You won't put on any weight if you don't consume the protein required to do so. You should be eating 1g of protein per pound of body weight minimum a day. Also 5lb of muscle in a couple months isnt terrible. It's actually kind of decent. You need to understand that putting on muscle bulk isnt something that happens in the space of a couple months, no matter what those ad banners say

 

[NoNameMcgee]

I skip meals, I'm never hungry enough for 3 meals a day. I guess thats probably how I stay so thin, and thats how I like it. When I do eat, I have meals that I home cook myself (not frozen crap) so they are fairly healthy even if its steak or something. I have the occasional snack during the day, sometimes crappy junk foods but often fruits.

 

[StBishop]

ITT: Coming to the Internet for advice on weight loss.

OP, assuming that you are reading this far back, how about PMing someone who is studying this shit at university and is really fucking good at it.

I know this guy personally and he coaches basketball, Is a pre-service PE (gym) teacher, was short listed for the 2012 Olympics, and use to represent his state for Judo.


This guy.

 

[Particulate]

Eat less, eat better, move more.

It's not that hard

 

[thom_cat_]

I dunno, I don't do anything.
I generally run everywhere because I can.
I did long distance running as a child so I've always been fit and in shape. I've never really had any fat on me. I don't eat too much, yet I don't control that. I eat when I want and what I want.
That's how I do it. I just do it

 

[Wintermoot]

metabolism and the type of jobs people have a CEO of a big company get,s less exercise then a construction worker.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

I've found that having a terrible sleeping schedule tends to work.

I've eaten one meal a day for the past week because I keep waking up at 5 in the afternoon.

Of course a poor sleep schedule leads to amplify depression and malnutrition tends to also mess with your head. The things I go through to stay beautiful.

And running. It's one of those obvious answers that stares you in the face because people tend not to realize just how difficult long distance running is. Running three miles everyday will make you lose weight faster than any diet. Though if you actually manage to maintain a running schedule, I give you props.

 

[Alphavillain]

I have a real problem with overeating, but what I've done successfully for the last five or so months is to simply replace the fatty and sugary food I love with healthy food I love.

The key I think is simply finding healthy food you enjoy. With me it's Total 0% Greek yoghurt on rye bread *salivates*.

 

[sibrenfetter]

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?

Look, you will receive an insane amount of crazy replies on this, but in the end it all comes down to one fundamental: If you want to lose weight you have to use more calories then you gain through eating. Now this comes down to basically 2 steps: 1. exercise so you burn more, 2. eat responsibly so you don't gain too many. If you do not lose weight and you are doing let's say real sports 3 times a week, you're eating too much (I'm talking from experience here). The hard thing in this is a. admitting it, and b. doing something about will take effort. Now one very big tip: Do not diet, diets do not work in the long run as they are not made to be sustainable. What you need to do is change your general consumption patterns. This is often difficult as we often do not realize what foods and drinks are the biggest culprits. I would suggest to you the weightwatcher program as it is not a diet, and it aims at giving insight into and improving your daily food intake. I think you will see when you fill in the diary of ALL your consumptions that you will exceed the max. number of points easily. Go for it, don't make excuses, do NOT look at other people (it's about you), and sport sport sport.

 

[Lucifus]

Put down the fork and exercise.

Eat smaller portions and watch what your eating. Cutting snacks out helps amazingly.

 

[Deadyawn]

It really is just luck. Some people are born with fast metabolisms and others aren't. I was and despite my lack of exercise am of a standard build. I'm really unfit though.

 

[Eddy Cowdrey]

I went from 100kgs (around ~220 pounds) to 70kgs (~150) in the space of 3 months. I didn't change what I ate whatsoever (My average day involves at least one meat pie & a considerable amount of chicken).

The only thing I started doing is working out. 1 hour a day, 4 days a week, doing entirely weight training (my father in law was a body builder, so I took a lot of advice from him, but a trainer should be able to get you on to a similar routine).

I'll admit that i'm not fit, I sometimes puff making it up the stairs to the gym, but physically I look awesome and am quite strong. Sport and cardio is good, but if you want to drop weight fast, lifting weight is the way to go. None of this Low Weight/High rep crap either, that will actually make you bigger, not smaller. I'm not up on the whole technical side of things, but those low-weight reps will result in big puffy muscles (that's why bodybuilders do it), Higher weights will increase muscle density but not so much size, and that's the kind of muscle building that burns calories.

It could just be me and not work for most, but my wife moved to a very similar routine to mine and dropped a lot of weight as well as putting on what I consider a sexy level of muscle.

 

[Safaia]

I wouldn't recommend the way I lost weight to anyone unless you really want gallstones and have to get surgery.

However, I've kept that weight that I lost from being sick off just by not eating a lot. I just have a very small appetite. The best thing I tell people is only eat when you're hungry. Some people just eat because it's there or they're with someone else who is or something but just eat when you're hungry.

Also a little indulgence is okay. If you have a craving for say ice cream buy one of those little single serving cups. If you ignore cravings they just get worse and you end up eating that entire pint of ice cream. Maybe that's just me though.

 

[Vankraken]

Its all body chemistry. If your metabolisms is high then you can eat a ton of shit and not gain weight but if your body chemistry isn't that way then you have to watch your food intake and exercise.

Personally I am 5'8 with a baseline weight of 125 lbs. If I skip meals i can drop down to 120 but in order to gain weight i need to eat like a loaf or 2 of bread a day along with my normal 3 meals plus between meals snacks. This is purely because of genetics and body chemistry and not because i have some magic diet or exercise routine.

Different people are built to have different food intake needs and body shape. Best you can do is eat healthy, live an active lifestyle, and make sure your getting the proper nutrition your body needs to function at a healthy level. Weight isn't as important as being healthy and that is what everybody (thin or heavy) should strive for.

 

[AngloDoom]

Don't throw around the word 'metabolism' as if it's the be-all and end-all of reasons. That only breeds complacency.

No, what it is for most people is regular exercise, cut out the snacks, and actually look at what you're eating. I know my friend who claims he has a slow metabolism has a habit of having food wherever he goes, so naturally it doesn't occur to him. When he does have food, though, it's often things such as a bag of nuts and mixed fruit. It looks healthy, but it's near-enough 1000 calories and that's just a snack-bag.

Exercise-wise, you do some muscle work-outs (basic stuff, just sit-ups, press-ups, and squats if you like) and actually increase the amount you do each time. That said, my ex noticed a significant drop in her weight just by walking everywhere and walking there faster than she usually did.

The key to any change in your body like this is consistency. If you don't keep up at something, you don't see the effects of it. I used to be 12st of muscle now I'm about 10st 7lbs of useless skin because I didn't keep it up.

 

[Jimmy Sylvers]

There is no secret, no quick fix, no silver bullet. Balancing your energy input to output through sensible eating and regular exercise is the only way to achieve this. Eat to live, don't live to eat.

PS I'm being a total jerk because I have never had weight problems, making it much harder to empathize.

EDIT: 'like' on AngloDoom's first sentence there.

 

[jowo96]

The idea of an "ideal weight" is a myth. If you have a healthy lifestyle and you are still fat it is probably more down to your somatotype than anything you are doing wrong.

 

[TimeLord]

Hilariously fast metabolism.

Seriously. I eat so much fattening crap, sweets, burgers, general shit and I still weigh just over 10 stone and have weedy arms xD
I do not look forward to the day it ends but I'm nearly 21 and it's still going strong!

 

[commodore96]

I eat a lot of food, but I go to the gym about two hours 5 days a week. I used to be fat in High School and the one thing I learned is workout or running only works as much as you put into it.

 

[00slash00]

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?

well starving yourself wont work. it will cause your body to store up fat and slow your metabolism. i have no idea how people would stay thin but ive started taking pilates to lose some inches off my waist and tone my body. i dont know about you, but ive never seen a fat guy who does pilates