Re. Watching Thin People Eat

I suspect you doubled a snippet and missed a snippet, JPB...

oops, so I did..

This is the other one.



There was a time that I added a four mile walk to my day and didn't intentionally change my eating habits. I lost about 3 lbs/month. I admit in hindsight that although I didn't "diet" I did pay closer attention to what I was eating. I liked the increased energy I was feeling from the additional exercise and loss of lbs and didn't want to sabotage myself with junk. I really have no way of knowing if the loss was a result of the walking or paying closer attention to my intake.

Wow, that's a real education for me...I didn't know as little as 4-5 pounds could make a difference.

I don't know that it's linear over a wide range because I've never been higher than 185 (BMI = 25.1 ) or less than 160 (BMI = 21.7) since keeping track of my bp.

At 185 my bp is 150/100 and drops 10/10 for each 5 lbs I lose down to 170 where it stabilizes around 120/70.

In my own experience, just exercise has worked. I've always eaten reasonably -- when I've gained weight because of food it's been because the food that is given to me (dorm food for example) was worse than my usual. I've never had an unhealthy diet, left to my own devices. I like ice cream and such, but have those treats occasionally, and don't think about them much.

When I've exercised to lose weight, my diet hasn't changed. It's impossible to say for sure, of course, but that's never been a conscious aspect of it. I learned early on that if I think about changing my diet I just start thinking about foods I "shouldn't" have more often, and then start craving them. If I don't purposely think about this stuff, my "naturally occurring" diet (when I'm responsible for feeding myself, rather than sitting down and eating what's put in front of me) is healthy.

However, if I've learned anything when it comes to various research on weight gain and weight loss, it's that people are very different. What works (or doesn't work) for one person may not work (or work) for another.

The article really just focuses on the 'calories out' part of the equation. I don't think anyone would suggest that exercise alone is the way to lose weight. I think the article mentioned that somewhere, but the emphasis seemed to be on the exercise portion.

I know that it take me 30 minutes of jogging to burn off the calories in a Snicker's bar. It is much easier to NOT EAT the Snicker's bar.

i think some people do have faster metabolisms but if u r not one of those fortunate ones and want to be smaller u need to exercise!! i hate when people complain about being fat but dont do anything about it .. u have to burn the calories u take in or atleast have muscle mass to burn when not in motion.....

and yes u can indulge sometimes if u r exercising .. life is too short but not everyone is lucky enough to have it handed to them.. i think bigger people have more of an issue with food also so have a tougher time saying no or stopping than a smaller person who does not see food as "something they shouldnt touch"

Well, I have a different perspective to this story. I've always been thin. I could eat pretty much what I wanted to and wouldn't gain much. I bounced around a little but the biggest I ever got was a size 8.

Then I had a baby.

I have a new respect for people who struggle with their weight.

I am now heavier than I've ever been and even though I've stopped eating like I am pregnant and started eating more "square" meals, I haven't dropped an ounce. I don't have time yet (or energy) to get to the gym so I can't say what exercise will do for me but I can say that minor food changes don't do squat. In order to lose weight, I suspect I'd have to really limit what I eat and frankly, I don't know that I want to do that. I enjoy eating an onion bagel with butter in the morning. Ok, so it's not the best thing to eat but it sure isn't the worst either.

Would I like to lose 30-40 lbs? Sure. Absolutly. I'd love to be back down to a 4 or a 6.

But right now, I don't have the motivation to work for it.

And that puts a whole new light on how I used to feel about heavy people. It made me realize; not everyone wants to sacrifice to be skinny.

What? Say that again? Not everyone wants to sacrifice to be skinny.

I don't particularly like the way I look but my blood pressure is perfect (110/70) and my blood work came back great so my extra baggage isn't causing me health problems.

I suspect that one day I will just get fed up with my body and start working out again but for now, I am content disliking my body but loving the time I'd spend at the gym with my daughter instead.

I don't find it particularly fair nor accurate to assume that someone that maintains a rather steady weight is necessarily having an easy time of it or that they are are 'just lucky' and can scarf anything.

I've heard that old complaint - aimed in my direction - for years and years from larger family members and friends.
And I've wanted to scream at them because they aren't paying attention obviously - our habits are far from even close to same, even though we grew up with a lot of the same environments and pressures.

It's just so not cool to hear this all the time. I could easily pack on the pounds, and I do if I am not deligent. I work extra hard as the years go on - and no one is clapping me on the back saying "good job staying a regular weight"...only hearing "oh god, you are so lucky".

Meanwhile, if you were to watch each of us day in and day out and what has been put into our bodies, when, and what hasn't, what we have been doing and what we haven't, there is no way you could sit there and complain saying it is all down to genetics and such.

The whole point is it isn't easier to maintain a weight. There is sacrifice. It isn't always fun. Sometimes it sucks.

But like Bella mentioned, it is a choice. It is worth it to you enough to stick with it or not.
To learn and to make those sacrifices day to day to day.

No one will argue that bodies are different. There is also age, circumstances (like your general health, are you a man or a woman, have you had babies, what did your body go through as a young child and what habits blah blah blah).

But at the end of the day, it is just a choice. Do you want it bad enough or not.

Size 14 is not such an unreasonable size. If you are happy with it now, why not let go of the guilt and shame? That is a choice too. You don't need to hate yourself just because you aren't a certain size.

I understand what you're saying, mushypancakes. It goes back to the fact that everyone's different, though. It really is easy for some people -- even if it's not easy for you. Bella talks about how it was easy for her pre-pregnancy. It's been easy for my husband his whole life -- he doesn't exercise at all, and sits around all day thinking, and eats whatever he wants (usually quite a lot of it), and he stays thin. He pretty much CAN'T put on weight, even if he tries. The only time he had a weight issue was when he got in the habit of grabbing something at Burger King every day on the way to work -- he stopped that, the weight melted off within a couple of weeks, and that was that.

So while I agree that people are dumb to assume that it's easy for you, that doesn't mean that it's never easy for anyone. Why not just respond with "Luck, schmuck, I worked for this bod"?

By the same token, of course, as hard as it is for you, it's much harder yet for other people. There are people who could work every bit as hard as you do and still not be able to maintain a reasonable weight. Not everyone who is overweight has bad habits.

Lots and lots of variety out there.

oh, i agree. truly voluptuous women used to be the ideal, now they're considered entirely unattractive? people are so arbitrary (and contrary.) it's good to see you're on, since you never replied to my pm i will assume you're no longer interested in quinn, but that's alright.

I think that size is a poor indicator of how "good" or "bad" a person looks. I look pretty icky at a size 12; lumpy, bumpy, roly poly. But someone else I know looks ok at a size 12. It's how your body is shaped, how you carry it, etc.

oh i think that's a very good point. aesthetically, there isn't a single ideal for every subject, let alone every observer. some people look very, very good when slender

No, No, No, NO. I speak for myself. I eat NO fast food, no sodas, no skin on my poultry, I very seldom eat bread. On days that I am very active I actually ,most of the time, put on weight. I just went on a womens retreat. In 1 day I put on 5 pounds. You could see how big the center of me had grown in those 24 hours. I was actually in pain. I had eaten 3 full meals that day. Now the amount of all those 3 meals combined would be about 1 regular meal for anyone else. Tiny, tiny portions.And I avoided most of the food that I really wanted to treat myself to on this special occasion and went for the healthier, less caloric foods such as turkey ( with no skin) and salad (with just a dab of dressing). If on any day I were to drink just 1/2 of a soda I would gain anywhere between 2-4 pounds. I am 49 years old and trust me I have done it enough in the past to know what I am talking about. I weigh myself every morning the first thing. Before I had my son, who is now 22, I wore kids clothes still. I am 5'2' and back then I weighed 105 pounds. I could eat anything at anytime of the day and not gain an ounce. And I was not thin. I was just petite. It is so frustrating to hear people say what you did. I battled for 17 years after having my son to get down to 117 pounds and I maintained that for 5 years but now, for the past 2 years, I had gone up to 130 and cannot do anything about it. I work for a supermarket and for years I was lifting and moving literally 2-3 thousand pounds a day-so much that my body gave out on me and I had to switch to checking. Plus all the walking I did in that store. Our store literally consisted of 1 city block. I was in the bakery at the front of the store and our freezer was outside behind the store in the parking lot so who knows how many miles I was also walking. So much that my body said no more walking so I didnt walk much for about 2 years. I know I am a rare case. And I have tried eating 5-6 times a day. That just made me gain also. Please be more considerate when saying what you did about people who dont eat much and gain. For some of us it is true. And it is frustrating to be this way.

I still stand by what I said sandyhogan.

You're talking about day by day fluctuations based on what you eat. That means nothing. Over the course of weeks/months/years it vitrually ALL comes down to calories in vs calories out.

I have gained weight (1 day to the next) on days where I literally ate ZERO food and only drank water. I have lost weight (1 day to the next) on days where I gourged on ice cream and McDonalds. Your "No, No, No, NO." argument, based on single day weight fluctuaitons is COMPLETLY FALSE, and unhelpful.


I challenge anyone who disputes what I say to be truth to keep a food journal for 30 days. At the end of 30 days if you accurately counted your calories and meals, tell me what you see in your weight gain/loss and compare that to the calories in/out.