How do people stay thin?

[tahrey]

Doing more, eating less. That's the usual way.

Though I must say I'm starting to wonder about the metabolism thing as I'm not eating to excess in any way - in fact as the cold weather's come on I'm ended up starving hungry at random times in the day despite having normal mealtimes, I'm considering carrying a bag of celery around with me so I don't have to get crisps out of the workplace vending machine - and though I don't have a particularly active lifestyle, I'm not slobbed out on the couch 24/7 either, and I'm awake a bit more than I should be (sleep = very low energy consumption). Plus if I exercise, that just makes me hungry after.

But I can see myself continually gaining weight for the next 3-4 months and not losing much of it next summer. Cuz with all the starvation (and occasionally caving and having... oh, like a piece of toast, or something else fairly lightweight to just fill that hole), my trousers still don't seem to be under any less strain than before.

 

[Skoosh]

Weight loss is easy. Eat less, do more stuff.

People saying it's just magic metabolism need to look that up some more. Metabolism is just essentially what your body is burning, people that exercise have a higher metabolism. People that are jittery will burn more than someone sitting still. My friend will drink 4 cups of coffee and not move at all in his seat. I will always tap my foot or leg or whatever, spin a pencil in my fingers, whatever. Little things like that add up a little over the course of a day.

Also a lot of the people that are thin and seem to eat a lot probably aren't eating as many meals or snacks. I'll have maybe 1 big meal a day, then a small meal and a snack, but if you just came over for dinner you'd assume I ate a ton, only seeing the 1 big meal. A lot of overweight people have trouble knowing exactly how much they are eating too. They underestimate the amount of snacks and such they are having. Write everything down, even that jolly rancher and half a soda that shouldn't amount to much.

Rigidly follow your calorie intake and exercise more and you'll lose weight. To maintain that weight, just ease up on it a little but continue watching what you eat/do. And you've got time, don't do it all at once if it will scare you away, especially with exercise. And make sure you're staying hydrated with water, not Dr Pepper. Replacing drinks with water is one of the simplest ways to start losing weight.

 

[Ayjona]

Fortunately, weight loss is no mystery: reduce your calorie intake below your daily calorie burn (estimated to be between 1800 and 2300 for most adult males, not counting exercise), or increase your burn above your intake. With the help of any calorie/exercise tracker (tons of apps fot this for iOS and Android, as well as many websites), it is easy to keep track of both gain and loss of calories, and thus ensure that you stay below the required intake.

7000-7700 calories respond to 1 kilo of weight (whether from proteins, carbs, fat, etc). This means that if you create a ~7000 calorie deficit, you will have lost 1 kilo. For example, staying 500 calories below your daily calorie burn will lose you approximately 0,5 kilo each week, since 7 days X 500 calories = 3500 calories = half a kilo of fat (which, incidentally, is the normal upper limit for weight loss as recommended by most doctors, though a 7000 weekly deficit (corresponding to a 1000 daily loss) has been known to be acceptable as well).

Yep, really that simple. Then why is weight loss guides one of the most common and popular forms of guides in the history of man, next to Windows support guides? Because while the theory is very simple, and the practice is just as simple in theory , what people find hard are following the two principles that are key to weight loss: 1) Eat less and more importantly eat right. 2) Exercise.

So, the vast majority of weight loss guides that have any basis in science, deal less with the nutritional principles behind weight loss (or they explain them as quickly as I have, above), and more with motivational factors, ways to stay on target and uphold self-discipline, and ways to gain exercise and reduce calorie intake that might not be directly obvious, but are still based on the simple principles above.

It's always interesting to see all these replies touting a fast metabolism as an answer, when nutritional science is very clear on that calorie deficit versus surplus is the rule for weight loss and gain for damn near every single living human.

 

[sean360h]

I have the other extreme i cant put it on one week i took in 4000 calories a metric shit tone of fat every day and i didn't gain an ounce

 

[Tonimata]

In my case? Crohn's disease.

Think about me next time you get told to finish your plate. Because I would want to, but I probably can't.

 

[latiasracer]

Magic, It's the only possible way.

Nah, It's metabolisms freind, My brother can eat an entire cow and not put on anything. For me however - If i even think about a Jaffa cake i put on 2 stone...

 

[Hyper-space]

Metabolisms my boy, metabolisms.

This, I eat like a pig and hardly work out (except a 1-hour basketball session with my friends every week), yet i'm still thin as fuck.

 

[ckam]

High metabolism, very small budget that would be 10 meals per week, sign onto a religion that has fasting as one of their practices to make an excuse about the weekends, ride bike on weekdays.

That's the extent of my dietary habits. Though, when I think about it, I do eat a lot when I get a meal. Got to prepare for the weekend hibernation.

Actually, my youtube channel has a few videos to show people how skinny I am.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Metabolisms my boy, metabolisms.

Exactly, I eat nothing but crap. I ate steak, a medium chedder n bacon pizza, a few bags of buttered popcorn, tons of soda, 3 McDonalds double quarter pounders, and I think its called a pulled pork sandwich.

And thats just for this week. I don't gain anything. Its always about metabolism. One person doesn't eat for 3 days they lose a pound. I one time stopped eating for 3 days and lost 10 pounds.

So I guess in the long run when the zombies come I'll waste away into nothing while all the slow metabolism people take over the world.

 

[crudus]

Weight loss is easy. Eat less, do more stuff.

Don't say "easy", because it isn't. Say it is simple.

Metabolisms my boy, metabolisms.

That isn't how people stay thin. It is how they stay alive.

Metabolisms my boy, metabolisms.

This, I eat like a pig and hardly work out (except a 1-hour basketball session with my friends every week), yet i'm still thin as fuck.

What do you do for a living? I doubt you take in as many calories as you vaguely imply you do.

 

[dcrane]

Drink!
http://news.google.ca/news/url?sa=t&ct2=ca%2F0_0_s_4_0_t&ct3=MAA4AEgEUABgAWoCY2F6AW0&usg=AFQjCNH0AlnM0q7rZ-i0_tlo7NLbc_eDjQ&did=197664e20023c3ed&cid=8797762251655&ei=JCefTpjpBImjiQLcxgE&rt=SECTION&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theglobeandmail.com%2Flife%2Fthe-hot-button%2Fdrunkorexia-a-growing-problem-as-female-students-favour-booze-over-food%2Farticle2206213%2F
(not an actual endorsement of Drunkorexia)

 

[Johnny Reb]

i went on the paleo diet for 2 month and run 5 miles a day excluding sunday.

you wont find a single bit of jiggly fat on my now.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Am I right in saying that the entire metabolism thing is quackery? I'm certain that I read about it in an article about common misconceptions that basically explained why it could never happen and that it was mostly caused by bias in the observer.

Well, it's the only explanation I can think of as to why I eat three times the amount of food as my overweight and obese friends, and sit around playing videogames. I'm not skinny, but I am slim. I WAS fat at one stage, though that kinda fell off after high school.

EDIT: I weigh about 140lbs at 5ft10. I'd consider myself healthy. I also work at a retail stockroom which involves a lot of heavy lifting, so if I was underweight I think I'd have had problems by now.

Actually, I was just crunching the numbers (I'm the same height as you), and going by BMI, 140 is on the low end of the ideal range. Granted, that's BMI; body composition is actually more important. For example, in my case, I've got pretty broad shoulders, and 140 wouldn't be particularly healthy; I'd have to either have really wimpy muscles, or unhealthily low levels of body fat to get to that weight[footnote]you read that right, there is such a thing as too little body fat[/footnote]. 160, which is still within the ideal range on the BMI chart, is a much more realistic goal for me, but everyone is different.

I'm built very slight. I was unnaturally tiny.

Which is fine; like I said, 140 for 5'10" is within the ideal range. It's just that you have to be careful with weights that aren't clearly in the middle, because some people are built to be heavier or lighter than others; like I said, 140 would be emaciated for me. 160 would probably be a bit overweight for you. Both are considered healthy weights for someone who is 5'10" in height.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

Metabolisms my boy, metabolisms.

and running in fear from that face.
oh god that face.

OT: a combination of exercise and healthy food. or brown fat. that would work too.

 

[UltraBlumpkin]

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?

In case it hasn't been said yet, your girlfriend is probably 'working out' without your knowledge. If ya know what I mean...

 

[CrawlingPastaHellion]

I suggest you eliminate bread from your diet entirely. Every slice is around a hundred nutritional calories, if not more. Eat as few fats as possible and avoid sugar (even though that one I can't do, I love desserts, ice-cream especially). If you don't care for meat and like fish try building your diet around it instead. Tuna fish, for example, is low in fat and calories, but is rich in proteins. Also limit potato intake, too many starches. Some exercise wouldn't hurt either.

In the end it's all a matter of habit.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Drink!
http://news.google.ca/news/url?sa=t&ct2=ca%2F0_0_s_4_0_t&ct3=MAA4AEgEUABgAWoCY2F6AW0&usg=AFQjCNH0AlnM0q7rZ-i0_tlo7NLbc_eDjQ&did=197664e20023c3ed&cid=8797762251655&ei=JCefTpjpBImjiQLcxgE&rt=SECTION&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theglobeandmail.com%2Flife%2Fthe-hot-button%2Fdrunkorexia-a-growing-problem-as-female-students-favour-booze-over-food%2Farticle2206213%2F
(not an actual endorsement of Drunkorexia)

That's actually kind of interesting. The whole reason alcoholics tend to have beer guts is because of the calories in alcohol. It looks like this eating disorder has turned that problem on its head, creating a whole new one. Assuming there's a grain of truth to anything posted on that very tabloid-looking site. Granted, it's only really in the US that tabloids print almost literally nothing true; international tabloids are like Fox News. American tabloids are like Weird Tales -- or at least the good ones.

Edit: Actually, I can't tell if it's a tabloid, or if their IT department is just terrible. The list of sections looks pretty legit, but the web design is some of the worst I've ever seen.

 

[Gamblerjoe]

i would really like to know what I said is incorrect considering I lost 30 pounds from January

Actually, it wasn't. mysecondlife and Zetion were pretty bang on about what to eat and what not to eat to lose weight, though I would actually recommend getting rid of all grains myself. Some aren't as bad as what's used to make the bread you buy in the store, but it's still not great for managing blood glucose, and there's no nutritional value you can't get elsewhere in your diet much more efficiently. Actually re-reading x EvilErmine x's post, they're not totally wrong either. There's no evolutionary reason to consume three meals a day. You can consume less or more and be fine. If you're eating the right types of food you will actually stay full a lot longer since your blood sugar isn't crashing two hours later and the fat content will give you plenty of energy to carry you for hours. So eating when you're hungry you may find that you eat less, or at least less frequently.

The only person you quoted who was actually incorrect about anything was Mallefunction when they said not to avoid carbs. Sure you don't want to avoid all carbs. vegetables and the occasional piece of fruit are fine. But you do want to avoid sugar, starch, and grains if you want to lose weight and be healthy. But he was right about not limiting fat intake. It's what will give you good energy throughout the day and leave you feeling full longer. It's also required for the proper development and functioning of the human brain and immune system. Limiting fat is only hurting you.

I can assure you that limiting carbohydrate intake is not some "crap people made up to sell books." Though eating as many carbs in the form of grains that the USDA recommends IS crap that they made up to sell you the grains they heavily subsidize.

ok. In all fairness, the OP only asked how to lose weight, not how to be healthy, so you got me there. If you want an over simplified explanation that will only work for a small percentage or people, but is guaranteed to be bad for your health, then by all means listen to all the the ignorant responses in this thread.

What is incorrect about those posts, from a health standpoint, is that you should not cut out entire food groups from your diet. Anyone who would follow the Atkins diet deserves the sharp decline in health. Cutting out dairy and forgoing the multivitamin can be countered if you have a perfect diet, but that would require the knowledge of a professional dietitian and blood tests to see what your body is lacking in order to compensate.

The main problem I have with most of the posts in this thread is that they try to oversimplify it. If someone oversimplifies something for you, they are trying to sell you something. In this case, it is a bunch of people trying to sell themselves, i.e. look smarter than they really are.

Yes, you should stay away from soda or anything else with high fructose corn syrup. Yes you should stay away from bleached starches. Of course you should stay away from most processed foods, especially processed meat (like slim jims.) These are not answers by themselves. You also have to watch your sodium, but dont cut it out completely. Stay away from the weed and the binge drinking. One beer a day has some decent health benefits, but it has its drawbacks too. A glass of wine is your best bet since it has benefits beyond the alcohol.

Everything I said is based on the advice of professional dietitians and has been implemented by many successful MMA fighters. When you compete at the top levels in that sport, especially when you cut 20-30 lb. for a fight and still have tons of endurance, you have to do it right. Every person is different, but there are people who devote their livelihoods to figuring out what the human body needs in general, and the stuff they have figured out, with only minor tweaks from person to person will work. (If you would like me to elaborate on what Im talking about with the weight cut, Id be glad to.)

Ultimately its up to the OP to decide who he wants to listen to, and how hard he is willing to work. Dare I be so bold as to suggest that my post was better thought out, and better worded than most.

 

[J4RD]

Personally, I'm one of those disgusting people who will regularly fast for a day or so simply because I forget to eat. However, I wasn't always this way, and cutting back on soft drinks helped me get here.

 

[The Funslinger]

Learn the one weird [http://www.choosemyplate.gov/myplate/index.aspx] trick to blast stubborn belly fat!

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