The real secret to being thin

I'm on this new diet. Well, I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint I eat a cube of cheese. I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.

Well, shit.

There's a whole bit that Dennis on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia does about this. He says that he maintains his body by barely eating anything all day.

NOW you tell me!

[quote] Do you see all those skinny people around you? Guess what? They don't eat.

Not necessarily. It's also about your metabolism (not that that's much help to you.)

I eat cheese, white bread, and chocolate practically every day, and have a BMI of 15.5.

O is right. A hunky slender straight friend has a power protein shake for breakfast, rice cakes and an orange for lunch. No soda, bread, meat, few carbs. Crazy shit.

Model Kate Moss said that at the height of her thin/model years she lived on champagne and cocaine.

My mother now passed was thin her entire life yet she guzzled sugary pop and ate normally, she had a sweet tooth and would constantly bake cakes and pies which she would eat portions of. Nearly every meal she cooked for us growing up included fatty meats, potatoes, bread, gravy which she would eat. My father got fat, I was not fat was never any where near skinny growing up, my brother the only other sibling was just as skinny as my mother.

The people I have known who are skinny are not skinny because they don't eat, but because they simply can't sit still for 2 minutes. They sit down to watch TV and 2 minutes later they are up moving around doing something. They simply can't sit still.

If you eat cooked veggie diet with fish, eggs and white meat, you will have enough calories + will feel full at the same time. No "starvation mode" necessary, that's some fatty logic and excuse as to why they don't even try. Any 100-200 calories of junk food can be negated by exercising on daily basis. Though I personally can't see why people feel the need to eat junk food daily, sounds like some kind of addiction or a mental issue to be honest.

Command Central, we've got one that can see the truth! What are your orders?

Shhh! It is our most closely held secret!

Bullshit.

Everyone in my family is thin, including me. Even my menopausal mother. Even my 90 year-old grandma, who just broke her hip.

We're all thin, and all eat what we want.

I have a female friend who is super skinny at 46 and after 3 kids. She says she eats everything but truth be told she'll take a few bites of whatever her meal is and say she's full. She's in love with her body and is judgmental of anyone who needs to lose a few pounds.

I was always skinny. It was my metabolism, which I inherited from my mother's side of the family, and we were all thin growing up despite eating mostly what we wanted. We did eat mostly healthful meals. My mother insisted on a tossed salad with every dinner. My metabolism changed in my late 30s first, then again in my mid-40s. Now in my late 40s, it's hard not to gain weight and difficult to lose it. I have to watch what I eat AND drink. Alcohol is the ultimate empty calorie and does things to your body to make you gain weight. Exercise is important, too. I always had a lot of energy and still do. When I exercise and stay on a health diet with occasional splurges, I'm fine. When I indulge too much, I gain weight.

OP is stating the obvious. I have been around thin people and watched what they eat. They dont eat 4000 calorirs per day or they too would be overweight.

[quote] She says she eats everything but truth be told she'll take a few bites of whatever her meal is and say she's full

This is the key.

I see all these people trying to diet, eating special "diet foods" and cramming themselves full of foods they can't stand.

Americans get fat because our portions are so big and we get used to eating that much and so don't feel full on normal amounts.

It's much better to get a scoop of real full-fat ice cream and have a few bites than to eat a tub of ice milk or froyo and feel like you've been cheated.

What naturally thin people don't realize is "eating whatever they want" for them adds up to less calories than people who struggle with their weight are inclined to consume. There is nothing magic about it.

OP is a lazy, fat person who has never set foot inside a gym and won't... instead he'll just keep seeking excuses as to why he's fat.

"OP is stating the obvious. I have been around thin people and watched what they eat. They dont eat 4000 calorirs per day or they too would be overweight."

Not true. I exercise, and eat well over 3000 cals a day.

It's like having a killer ass. You have to go without and feel hunger to really appreciate what you put in there.

And of course OP is the Troll that posts dozens of threads and doesn't reply to a single one of them.

I just eat dirt.

OP is wrong. Never go into starvation mode. Your body will start storing fat thinking you won't get food for a long time.

Eat many small portions of food throughout the day as opposed to three large portions of food during the day. Eating multiple smaller portions gives you more energy because your body isn't struggling to digest a huge meal.

Eat healthy, fresh food and not junk, drink lots of water and try to exercise daily.

The biggest cause of obesity is overeating. So many people just don't know when to stop. I used to do this, but I trained myself to stop eating once I felt full.

Losing weight is not rocket science.

I was very thin when I was young. I noticed that when I got older, I started to gain weight even though I ate the same sized portions as I did when I was thinner. But the big difference is that the same portion sizes made me feel bloated, like I had overeaten. Once I started to cut the portion sizes in half, I didn't feel bloated and I lost weight- even though I was eating the same foods.

Growing up in the '70s and '80s, you almost never saw a seriously obese person and I only remember a couple "fat kids" from school. I don't think we were starving ourselves back then, certainly not in the midwest where I grew up. I think people were more active in general & they hadn't started putting HFCS in everything. I wish I could get that skinny again and I eat pretty healthily, but I'm still a few lbs over what I'd consider ideal. It seems like it shouldn't be that difficult to lose 10 lbs., but I guess it's middle-age metabolism creeping up. I hate it.

People used to cook their own meals, not open a box or package. HFCS is certainly part of it, so is all the rest of the food that comes in a box.

We have poisoned ourselves with synthetic food, and "diet" foods to lose the weight they put on us as we sit on our asses and watch TV after driving to and from work where we sit on our asses in front of a computer all day.

[quote]A hunky slender straight friend has a power protein shake for breakfast, rice cakes and an orange for lunch. No soda, bread, meat, few carbs. Crazy shit.

I wonder how he remains "hunky" on that diet, which seems rather protein- and calorie-lite.

Life's too short to worry about who you put in your mouth.

The real secret to being thin is to hang out with fat people.

R23

Starvation mode is a myth. If it existed nobody would die from hunger ever.

If starvation mode were a thing, then concentration camps would have been full of fat people.

It really is about what you eat. I follow a mostly whole food plant based diet plus eggs. I eat all the time but I am considered thin. I eat a lot of veggies and fruit.

I find the little tykes just love a bit of pineapple before die...I mean sleeping. It keeps their figures pageant-ready at all times.

Um, R6....rice cakes and oranges ARE carbs. So your "friend' eats a high carb low calorie diet according to what you posted. Oh and a "protein shake" which does not really even count as food. Read what's in the ingredients list on the average protein powder.

[quote] She says she eats everything but truth be told she'll take a few bites of whatever her meal is and say she's full.

A lot of anorexic women do this.

They pretend that they each SOOOOO much food, by nibbling on a variety of things, but in the end, they may have eaten only 3 or 4 spoonfulls of food in total. It's all an illusion.

Watch Jules, Bethenny, and Carol on Real Housewives of New York. During every meal, they act as though they are feasting, and surround themselves with food. But in reality, they are barely eating anything.

It's kind of twisted.

[quote]The people I have known who are skinny are not skinny because they don't eat, but because they simply can't sit still for 2 minutes. They sit down to watch TV and 2 minutes later they are up moving around doing something. They simply can't sit still.

This is true.

[quote] What naturally thin people don't realize is "eating whatever they want" for them adds up to less calories than people who struggle with their weight are inclined to consume. There is nothing magic about it.

Bingo R17

My friends always tease me about how much food I leave over, but most restaurant portions are ridiculously large and I'm not a big snacker. I don't eat a lot of crap either, try and stick to foods that aren't processed, but I'm not a fascist about it.

Nothing worse than a former fattie who is always policing everyone else's food intake.

[quote]I'm not a big snacker

Which is another big thing. I had a roommate that would eat pretty big meals, but would never eat anything between them, didn't even keep snacks in the house.

These thin people that you think eat a lot, if you really followed how much they actually consume versus how much they expend, it will always make sense why they are thin.

CACO: Calories in, calories out.

"Starvation mode" is a myth.

Losing weight is 80% the result of what you eat.

You cannot exercise yourself thin.

It really is that simple. Get smaller plates, eat slowly, chew each bite more, and drink water with your meal. Hunger will decrease. Once momentum starts, it gets easier and easier to get down to a healthy weight.

Problem is, America is all about selling stuff, so Weight Watchers, etc all just want to sell you books and devices, and special foods. Don't buy it.

It's very simple; it just is not that easy to start losing. Great thread, thanks OP and all y'all.

My mom was one of those enviable skinny people who could eat whatever she wanted without putting on weight. I think her secret was the three packs of cigarettes per day. Maybe I should take up smoking...

You could've just said the "all air" diet OP.

*CACO: calories added, calories out

Drugs. They are all on drugs!

R28, my friend is slender muscular and 6'2" or so...he is not roided out, kind of a basketball player or swimmers build. He's very cute too, vaguely looks like Ewan Mc gregor only his face is much more handsome. Could be genetics, but I know his one brother who lives around here and he is sloppy chunky, not obese, but needs to tone up and drop 30 pounds.

When I read the OP, I imagine a person who does not eat to deal with their hunger and nourish their body, but a person who eats to feel like their insides are packed full of satisfaction and contentment. It's as though you're afraid you would faintbif you had the small size of anything. You probably think that anything less than a burger, fries, and sugar drink for lunch is a starvation diet. You probably retch at the thought of fruit and vegetables.

I think that I remain thin because I don't obsess over what or how much I eat. I only eat when I feel hungry, and I'll only eat until I feel full. If I don't clean my plate...oh well.

Sometimes I might only eat once or twice a day. This includes snacks. Maybe a regular sized meal and a snack to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings. And that's it for the day. What others stated ^ is true for me. I eat far less than most, I indulge myself with carbs or sweets sparingly, and don't gorge myself. I'm 6'1" 165 lbs. Even after a 70 lb gain & loss 20 years ago, I've maintained my current standard without dieting or much effort.

Hcg? Vitamin b complex?

OP, it's not 1/10. That's nonsense. Eating 150 to 200 calories a day will kill you.

The only real secret is to burn more than you eat, but don't go all fucking anorexic and starve yourself. That's it, end of story.

I used to be poor and couldn't afford 3 meals a day, so I only had about 1 and a half. I was thin then. Most of what I eat today I don't need, it's just pleasurable.

Yep. 100% OP. Period. The end.

Fat-shaming is the typical Datalounger's crack pipe! No one here has a complete day without talking about getting fucked, ragging on minorities or insulting the obese!

R52, we used to have regular rounds of "Do fat people feel pain?" and "Are fat people human?" interspersed with "A vegan ruined my dinner party," threads. Some posters here are fucking OBSESSED with other people's food.

I agree with the above posters who say the secret is portion control. I try to follow the Asian philosophy of "hara hachi bun me" -- you eat until you're roughly 80% full, no more. Or, as a friend once told me, "Don't eat until you're full. Eat only until you're not hungry."

I'll have to agree with OP. I've always had a big appetite and couldn't lose weight so I started taking phentermine and lost 15 lbs in a month . It just killed my appetite and I would barely eat, and it made me hyper as hell .

I know three formerly fat people who lost weight and kept it off for years and all three eat like birds and exercise at least two hours per day everyday. One guy only eats raw vegetables and very few fruits and hasn't had bread or meat or dairy in over 10 years.

OP = Captain Obvious

My stomach area is larger than any three of yours combined. It's different for me.

It's pretty simple. If you consume more calories than you burn (resting metabolism + exercise) you will gain weight. 3500 calories=1 pound. It's a lot easier to eat 3500 calories than it is to work them off. Everyone's basal metabolism is different, so it's easier for some to lose weight than it is for other. The math is the same for everyone though. Eat fewer calories than you burn and you will lose weight.

[quote] OP = Captain Obvious

If it was so fucking obvious, everyone would be thin and gyms and weight-loss programs would all go out of business.

Asshole.

People need to poop more!

Drinking a lot of water is also key-- if you are dehydrated you will also feel hungry a lot.

Every time I see these weight loss threads I think about that SJW organization where they were ticking off the oppressed minorities in their office and ended with "one woman who self-identifies as fat."

That still makes me laugh.

You just don't eat sugar. Alec Baldwin swears by it, saying he lost about 30 pounds just cutting all sugar from his diet

Never thought I'd see this kind of fat logic on the DL.

Word of advice: "it's all about metabolism", "starvation mode" and "that's just how my body is" are not real. CICO reigns supreme. Do not listen to fat activists.

Some people are naturally thin. It's just their body type. Some people can eat a lot and don't gain a lot of weight. But I think it's true that for most people if you want to stay thin you have to barely eat anything and exercise in addition to that.

R66 Not true, unless you suffer from some kind of condition. Body shape? Sure, that's mostly hereditary.

What fat people don't seem to understand is that they think they know the full routines of the thin people they love to use when recounting anecdotes. They see their friend/cousin/acquaintance eating 4 slices of pizza for lunch every single day and that's enough for them to conclude they're just naturally thin. What they don't see is that this person will usually skip breakfast and have a very light dinner, which pretty much balances their calorie intake. Thin people, too, are guilty of fat logic every time they say things like "oh, I eat a whole bunch of garbage and stay skinny!". Try counting your calories for a week and you will notice you are not really eating that much.

And r67 is right of course. IT'S NOT MAGIC PEOPLE.

I don't know how many times people have to hear that before they will accept it.

The problem that fat folks have is this: they have more fat cells "adipocytes", and you can never get rid of fat cells. What you can do is try to shrink them by dieting. However, the fat cells become unhappy when they are being starved. they release a host of chemical messengers - "cytokines" that cause folks to feel hungry and leads them to eat more, thus pleasing the angry adipocytes.

I've said on another thread that I eat one meal a day and have been doing that for over a year now. I can "eat whatever I want" and stay skinny without starving myself. I get to eat one satisfying meal that holds me over until the next day.

This is much easier for me than counting calories and worrying about gaining weight. Most people who don't know about my diet think that I'm one of those naturally skinny guys. I wish.

People aren't naturally fat or skinny. It's a myth.

A large woman at work has lost a great deal of weight and now wears leggings. Her skin still forms huge bags stuffed into that poor suffering Navajo lycra...

Time-restricted eating works. Eat only between 8AM and 2PM. Go to bed hungry. The 18 hour daily fast keeps you from gaining weight as you age.

Alec Baldwin has been a fat slob for 30 years. Where did he lose 30 lbs.? Sure can't tell. He and his brothers look like white trash.

I've posted this elsewhere, but when I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, I immediately changed my eating habits, after watching so many people in my family struggling with the disease for years. I didn't want to go on medication. Also, in the health insurance world, being diagnosed as diabetic makes individual insurance expensive or impossible to buy, and it's almost impossible to buy long-term care insurance. I stopped eating fast food, stopped indulging myself when I got home from work with pizza or a plate of spaghetti, and stopped drinking soft drinks. I've lost lots of weight, my blood sugar and cholesterol levels have improved tremendously, and I only eat when I'm actually hungry. And.....my stomach has shrunken, so I eat less before I feel full. I've known a number of people who've had gastric surgery to lose weight, and it's amazing how many of them manage to stretch their stomachs back out, and then have further surgery. My brother always comments on how much food I leave on the plate when we eat out, but I just can't eat that much at one sitting anymore. I cook for myself almost all the time, and I let myself order whatever I want when I go out for lunch and dinner, and those are the rare occasions when I'll have a slice of cheesecake or pumpkin pie. The rest of the time, it's just simply prepared vegetables and a little bit of protein (fish, chicken, etc).

[quote] My brother always comments on how much food I leave on the plate when we eat out, but I just can't eat that much at one sitting anymore.

It annoys the fuck out of me when I hear people say shit like this.

Of COURSE you could eat more. The point is, you CHOOSE not to eat more.

It's bizarre to me how thin people wear their small sized meal portions as some sort of fucking badge of honor.

"oh, i couldn't eat another bite." "oh, that portion is much too large!" "oh, there's no way i can eat that whole thing!"

Fuck off.

You could and you would, but you just don't want to gain weight. So at least be fucking honest. It's not that you CAN'T eat any more. It's that you WON'T eat any more, and that's because you choose to be thin. You're not NATURALLY thin.

Eating is boring. I'd rather crawl on the carpet looking for stray bits of cocaine.

R75, Who pissed in your Cheerios? I don't eat huge large amounts at one sitting because it's UNCOMFORTABLE. I used to be able to demolish a whole medium pizza in one sitting. Now, if I order pizza, I get the smallest size, with a small salad, and eat the salad first, and eat only two slices of pizza at the pizza joint, and take the other two slices home for breakfast the next day. I'm very specifically, though, NOT doing what people who've had gastric surgery often do: force themselves to eat when they already feel full. Geez, simmer down, hon.

It's much more difficult for people who have been seriously overweight since early childhood to keep off weight lost. It's true about the fat cells. Once they're formed they are there forever, just waiting.

Also, R74, if the insurance companies are once again allowed to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, which can happen soon as it's part of the 3rd version of Trumpcare which the GOP is pushing to be signed into law in two weeks when the Congress comes back from hearing from their constituents (also coming back is the yearly and lifetime cap) Anyway if it's in your medical records that you were pre-diabetic, even if you're fine now. You will have a pre-existing condition. That diagnosis will follow you for your entire life. If a 14 old with a diagnosis of acne tried to get insurance when he was 30 in most cases he was denied as that is considered a pre-existing condition. Let's hope enough people call their reps this week and next telling them to leave the ACA and Medicaid alone or better yet, demanding H.R. 676 The Medicare For All Act sponsored by John Conyers.

R78, Thank you for elaborating. I work in health insurance, so I'm grateful that my current policy (through my employer) has no pre-existing clauses. Believe it or not, despite Obamacare, we still carry policies that have been 'grandfathered in" with pre-existing clauses. So I fear what may lie ahead for me if the Republicans have their way rolling reversing Obama's advances.

My older brother had Guillian-Barre Syndrome (sp?) years ago, and insists he will retire when he's 60, but I keep warning him that individual medical insurance will be cost-prohibitive for someone with his medical background. Too few people are educated properly about how health insurance really works, until it's too late, and they're struggling.

So I appreciate you helping explain why our health issues can affect our futures in ways that most people don't understand.

I drink Dom Perignon daily, and eat eight ounces of Godiva chocolate every afternoon. And I have a BMW from 2116.

R80 weighs 300 lbs.

"get smaller plates and drink lots of water". OMG that's IT. Smaller plates will help me be skinny! I'll just have to learn to pile up my Mcnuggets to they fit.

I'm in Florida, and the people on the beach are appallingly heavy. Actually, many of them can barely walk. Lots of smoking too.

I thought they were able to laser fat cells without surgery and that the body would then eliminate them. I mean I know it would be hard to get fat cells inside organs like the liver and so on, but they can get the subcutaneous fat around the middle and the butt and thighs, I would think.

R79, how did your brother get Gullain-Barre Syndrome? GBS is one of the listed side effects of the flu vaccine. Was that it?

[quote]Smaller plates will help me be skinny! I'll just have to learn to pile up my Mcnuggets to they fit.

r82 you've got it all wrong sweetie. Smaller plates are about PORTION CONTROL. You won't lose weight if you fill a small plate with a skyscraper sized serving of junque food.

Like the post said upthread, CICO. Calories in, minus calories out.

I eat, but I also ride my bike and walk most everywhere.

I often have pasta for lunch, but fruit is my breakfast and dinner is often olives,salami, things like this.

I enjoy ALL that I eat just not too much.

I noticed thin people go on and on about how much food they eat "Oh my god I ate SO much today!" and it's like bitch please, you had an apple and a bagel.

I eat everything I want, I've been 155lbs for the last 25 years, toned, never gain extra, my key is I never sit, I'm always moving, except for one day a week when I never leave the house. Bingo!

drinking more water has helped me keep the same weight. I also agree that sugar really is a big factor

R77 and I share the same philosophy. I don't eat everything on my plate in one sitting because it leaves me feeling uncomfortably stuffed. I save the remaining portions to eat later.

I can and do eat whatever I like. But I'm not constantly eating or snacking either. If I eat a pint of Haagen-Dazs, I usually feel extremely full for hours and don't eat anything else. I never eat at least four hours prior to sleeping and only drink an Ensure or Boost for breakfast, not because I'm hungry only hours after waking, but to provide my body with the nutrients and energy I need to start my day.

The problem is you don't need nearly as much food as you think.

Your body needs about 11 calories per pound to maintain your weight. Thus if you want to weigh 170 pounds your daily intake should be 170 X 11 = 1,870

This is much below the "average of 2,000. This is why it's incredibly hard for small women to lose weight, some of the at 5 feet should be about 100 pounds which means 1,100 per day to MAINTAIN it.

R56' your friends sound like their life is a chore for sake of keeping weight off. How is that sustainable?

Sitting in front of computer screens. Sunrise to sunset. The silent killer.

What's it to you, if other people don't eat everything on their plate? That's like people who don't get why others don't want any alcohol with their meal. On the other hand, it sounds like humble-bragging, going on and on about how full you are when you've eaten only two bites.

[quote] You're just not allowed to eat

It's true. When ever I see a picture of a really rich businessman/celebrity and his wife or girlfriend I always think the wife or girlfriend gets that glorious life and she has to give up eating in exchange for it

"You see, Mr Scott? In the water I'm a very skinny lady."

Only if the wife or girlfriend wants to stay a size 2 or 0, r96. Then she can still fit into couture. If she wants to be a thoroughgoing pig, she has to wear a 4. If she has to go up to size 6, then all bets are off, and she's looking at total social ostracism.

This is crap. To lose weight, you need a consistent cardio regimen (I choose indoor cycling) and eat in a smart way. There are certain foods that should always be off limits except on very special occasions.

R99 is clueless.

And R89 is fucking annoying.

The less you eat, the less you poop

R85, My brother was working for a trucking company and was completing his certification for handling hazardous materials. And he was also a designated safety officer for his crew. His company paid for him to have a series of different immunizations (I can't recall the specific ones) and it was after that that he ended up with Gullain-Barre Syndrome.

About 'humble-bragging', for me, the issue is that so many restaurant portions are just too big. When I get a small pizza, I can take the rest home to eat later. But when I order a Cobb salad, I end up leaving half behind, and I don't bother to take it home because it won't hold up. I was raised not to waste food, so I'm actually not happy about not finishing my meal. Eating at home, I know how much to serve myself for meals and snacks.

Fuck off, R102.

Humble bragging cunt!

r103 hates kale.

High school girls have known OP's secret for generations.

For most (not all people), it's true. You really have to consistently control portions; even if you're exercising, sometimes really depriving yourself (or at least feeling that you're depriving yourself). But your body can adjust generally adjust if you have a well-balanced a diet.. What you specifically eat matters in terms of how hungry you are and obviously in getting vitamins and minerals.

R102, thanks for replying. Vaccine injury is real and can be debilitating. Oh, the irony of trying to prevent a disease, orly to get one literally injected into you and suffering -- and the medical community denies it happens. Back to being thin, I went on a weight loss-food program to lose 10 lbs, it was HARD to maintain 1200-1400 calories a day. I had to plan all meals ahead of time, write down what I ate, list calories and not go over. It was like dealing with a very tight daily budget. I was hungry all the time, after every meal. The way I maintain weight now is: don't eat after 7:30 pm, and say no to extra calories such as sodas, breads, potatoes, heavy sauces. An obese friend had a dramatic weight loss from one of those weight loss strip mall clinics. I asked how she did it. She said, "Let your body go into ketosis." She regained all the weight and then some.

Yup, OP. Pretty much. Been on the yo-yo my entire life, and the only way I lose weight and keep it off is by limiting calories. Of course, I have to supplement that with exercise, but it's really the caloric intake that does it. And it can't be carb calories - as soon as I start eating bread or pasta, etc., I start gaining weight, even if I don't overdo it. That's been my entire life, and it sucks.

White carbs and white sugar are the devil. Period. End of story.

Per R106's post, beyond counting calories, I often have success with the "daily fast" - basically 12 hours without food - 7-8:30 at night, until the same time a.m. the next morning. Since a large part of that time is sleeping, it's usually not too bad. This is something I generally do, but it's not EVERY DAY - maybe 5 days a week. The other two days, I'm usually not eating late, but I might be having a few drinks. Not eating late really helps.

Yes, I cut off my pie hole at 6 p.m.

R108, yes, pretty much so. Lots of people have bought into the idea that fats are the enemy, but fats are actually filling, and are important to brain health. I watch my carbohydrate intake pretty carefully. I keep bread in the freezer, and every now and then, have a piece of toast with a fried egg, or cream cheese and salmon for breakfast. I figure I'll be burning off the calories while I'm busy during the day. If I'm really craving some pasta, I only cook a very small amount, but start by first having a salad or steamed vegetables so I don't binge (which is so easy to do with stuff like spaghetti).

Can I drink a good amount on weekends if I diet through the week?

Op is right. I've known 2 people to have gastric bypass and they eat nothing. If they over eat they puke...lol..for real y'all!

My sister in law is 53, tiny and super thin. 5'1" and probably 100 pounds at most. She's also all muscle. I've known her since high school and she's always been thin but ate a lot more back in the day. Now for breakfast I see her only eat a banana with a small scoop of peanut butter on it with flax or chia seeds. There are no carbs in her life and if there's a birthday party or something she never has even a bite of cake. No dessert at Christmas. To maintain the weight at this age is great but comes with crazy sacrifices.

Bananas are chock full of carbs--I had to give them up at regular breakfast because they're too fattening.

I try to focus on the nutritional content of food, so that puts out bakery items, noodles, unhealthy fats. I eat a mostly plant based diet. I allow myself TJ dark chocolate 100 calorie bars as treats.

It's really difficult for women to keep weight off once they hit the menopausal years.

My purpose in being thin is to be able to stay active for as long as possible. I will be 60 in a few weeks and have 8 backpacking trips lined up for this summer. I travel, hike, bike, backpack and do yoga. The trade off is worth the food sacrifices and at this point, it really doesn't feel like much of a sacrifice since I've followed the practice for so long.

I'll outlive all those starving bitches who sneered at my curves, and wave to them in the boneyard as I cruise by with my curve-loving amour. The real secret to life is accepting yourself and being confident in your skin. Nothing is more attractive.

My mum used to eat abundantly when she was in the company of people from outside the family but otherwise had a cigarette and coffee for breakfast, cottage cheese and tinned fruit salad for lunch and a tomato on melba toast for dinner. Smoked through the day and drank gin. After a large publically witnessed meal she'd spend the next day swimming in the lake for four or six hours.

I believed she only weighed more than 120 pounds when she was pregnant (she was tall, 6'1") and loved getting compliments on being slender. In retrospect it was some form of anorexia.

Or you can have perfect lean genes as I do. Jealous?

I need to stop eating carbs.

Carbs even make me feel terrible but I keep eating them!

MY weight keeps fluctuating between 30 pounds. I lose it and then I gain it back

There are so many health benefits beyond just weight loss from time restricted fasting (ie, fasting from 13 up to 23 hours per 24 hour period).

Dr Rhonda Patrick has done several podcasts and YouTube videos convering research into a variety of different fasting approaches, and they are completely fascinating. For example, women who have been treated for breast cancer and fast for just 13 hours a day (that is, who habitually stopped eating at, say, 8pm and didn't eat again until 9am or later the next morning) have a 40% reduced chance of cancer recurrence compared to those who ate "normally".

Patrick has a podcast that I very much recommend, but I'm pasting a link to her YouTube videos, specifically the one with Dr. Ruth Patterson which is a good place to start, if you're interested in this kind of eating. There are other Dr. Patrick videos on the left that I recommend as well, esp. those with Dr. Satchin Panda and Dr. Valter Longo, about the scientific basis for and benefits of fasting (including weight loss and anti-aging)

What utter bullshit. Just because it's the cultural ideal doesn't make it right for everyone. This is the root of eating disorders and it's foolish. You need to eat to live, otherwise, you're just accelerating the aging process and quickening the approach to the grave.

But we are overfeeding ourselves r123. Obesity is the direct result of overfeeding (that is, eating excess to requirements). You can get obese on a mono diet of fruit, ffs. Whether your diet is exquisitely balanced or nothing but crap, does not matter if you take in more than you need.

The backpacker at r116 has exactly the right idea, go you, color me jealous. Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.

It's not always about calories. I was extremely thin until I hit my early 30s. Then without changing anything in terms of food, I gained 30 pounds. I couldn't figure it out, until my doctor ran tests and discovered I had a hormone problem. The worse the hormone problem got, the more weight I gained. From that point on, It's been next to impossible to get the weight off.

At physical maturity, your body is maintaining, not growing, so it doesn't need the high calorie, building foods any longer. As you age, you need less, so portion control and when you eat is critical. Eating the most when digestion is strongest, during the 11 to 2pm time period, is best. Americans tend to eat a larger dinner - the WORST time to try and digest such a heavy meal is at night. It's not only about what you eat, but how and when.

It is all about the calories. Poor genes/hormone "problems" may decrease your metabolism, and therefore you don't burn calories as easily. However, for every extra 3500 calories that you consume over what you burn, you will gain 1 pound.

I was skinny until my early 40s then with a sedentary, stressful job, evening adult education, endless homework, and sick and dying friends and relatives, I slowly put on weight. When I was growing up we simply did not have snacks and sodas in the house, ate three healthy meals a day that I only picked at (breakfast was very light, not hungry that early), and did not eat again after dinner. Because that was what I was used to I simply did not crave snacks and sweets as an adult. When traveling with a heavier friend I was surprised at how often he claimed to be hungry. I would buy fruit and he would buy sweets. To lose the weight I gained in my 40s I increased exercise and decreased calories. Now I'm back to a healthy weight (not skinny, but thin in a fit way) but I have to watch everything I eat and keep calories under 1800 a day or I'll gain. I have a repertoire of healthy low-calorie meals I eat at home and choose healthy for the most part when eating out, but I am able to splurge sometimes and have a big cheeseburger, fries, and onion rings with only temporary damage. I am just happier being thin and able to wear flattering clothes. I felt invisible when I was heavy.

You can eat pretty much whatever you want if you burn it off. I think most Americans are too addicted to their cars and tech to get out and run around.

Cosmo says Cancer helps

You need to learn the art of visual trickery and distraction. Why do you think fat girls often have lovely manicures?

OP I'm considered thin. More so now than in my 20s and 30s (I'm 41) I eat whatever I want. That being said, I don't eat many sweets or snacks. My favorite food is broccoli. While some people prefer eating a bowl of mac and cheese for dinner - I'd rather eat a bowl of broccoli.

I also don't eat breakfast. I don't know why. I'm not hungry at all until 1-2 pm. So I eat my first meal of the day then, and skip breakfast altogether.

I Don't drink much alcohol either. I use to be able to but ever since hitting my late thirties I just can't without feeling sick. I drink once ever few months at most. I'm sure that helps.

I do a lot of walking during work - (RE broker in the city) that also helps

I also go to the gym 4-5 times a week

Sport Dyke! (As we called them in the Nineties!)

Lovely manicures only remind me of bloody claws. This does not disappear fat.

I was one of those people (female) who could never sit still. I suspect I have a touch of add but I have always been a picky eater and never had the patience to sit through a whole meal unless I was away from home. At 18 I was 5'4 and 90 pounds and gradually settled at 110 for most of my life. I was always in constant motion and never dieted and ate what I wanted but what I ate was probably a lot less in portion size to other people. Now I am 67 years and have gradually gained weight (20 pounds) which I can't seem to get rid of and I have a back injury so I am sedentary. I still eat small portions. I suspect I will be 20pounds overweight for the rest of my life. The older you get the harder it is to get rid of especially if you have old age problems like back pain and other related problems.

It's good to eat proteins for breakfast, egg, sausage, etc. It will help you process sugar better throughout the day. It's also better to have more calories early on and less calories into the evening, giving you time to burn them off.

R133 - lol I've never participated in sports! I don't even watch sports in tv.

Overweight people ask, "What can I eat?"

Slim/normal people ask, "What can I do?"

I love to eat at night so much. Its like food tastes better to me when its late and I'm about to go to bed. I also "sleep eat", I wake up at all hours foraging for food and completely forget what I ate the next morning. Until I see the mess I have in my kitchen. I have lost a few pounds since March by getting off the drug called sugar, it took months for the cravings to stop. Im now eating seeds, yogurt and fruit during the day, and I have medium sized meal at night. The results have been good.

I just wish I could find foods high in fiber, that won't make me bloated like a blowfish, or gassy all day. I want a nice big BM every morning, but when you are eating like a bird, you really don't do it as much!

When I take vitamins I find I am less hungry during the day.

Sugar requires a detox, r139. Kicking sugar is hell. i find cardio helps the crash.

I was always thin as a stick and then I quit smoking.

Amanda Lepore has said her daily intake of food consists of one Kellogg's cornflake for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner. And she looks amazing!

She will develop osteoporosis and die of senility, R143. Watch as she gets more and more haggard.

Most fitness trainers, dietitians and weight loss companies DO say that, OP.

Stop blaming industries. You are the reason you're fat. Discipline yourself.

You're right, OP. Whenever I want to lose weight I just stop eating, or well.. eat very little, and it works. It's simple math. If you eat 500 calories a day and you need 1200 calories a day, of course you will lose weight. It might take some weeks, but if you stick to a strict diet you will notice a difference.

It's upbringing.

All my family are thin, but when we were growing up my parents were very explicit about the horror of fat, and would express their distaste of anyone who was. It was a matter of simple moderation and self discipline. When you've been brought up like that it's the most normal thing in the world to eat moderately and not eat if you feel you're gained anything. Most fat people aren't self observant --- you only have to look at the way that not each serving, but each mouthful they take is twice the size of anything normal. They shovel it in!

bring on the Muslims, who will take everything incuding food; then you will be thin. abd dead soon.

Never truer words have been spoken.

Thin people don't eat, and that's a fact.

They pretend like they eat tons, but it's all bullshit.

[quote]I just wish I could find foods high in fiber, that won't make me bloated like a blowfish, or gassy all day. I want a nice big BM every morning, but when you are eating like a bird, you really don't do it as much!

Kimchi. Or will that make you gassy?

Well, that's sort of obvious OP. There are basically three kinds of people:

1. Those who can eat anything and stay skinny (basically they won the metabolism lottery)- 10 to 20 percent 2. People who could eat most things, but around 30 start putting on weight unless they cut intake. This is probably 60 percent of people. 3. People who just are kinda chubby for life. I believe the kids call them "skinnyfats" - even when their weight is normal, they just have an extra layer of fat. Most of the time, they are just between overweight and obese for life. They could lose weight, but it's tougher for them than for other people. They exist so that gay kids that get picked on too much have someone to pick on. 20 percent.

Eat a "whole food plant based diet." No meat, dairy or oil. Eat all you want of starches like potatoes, whole grains, beans and veggies and fruits. Some nuts and seeds ok. You'll eat TONS and be thin and in much better health. I started this a few years ago and it changed my life.

Most people won't so it though, because bacon, or cheese, or you still believe protein only comes from animal flesh. Nobody wants to give up the pleasure of rich food even though you can eat all the whole plant food you want. Instead they'll embrace their obesity as "body acceptance" or blame genetics or aging, and convince themselves that anybody who is a normal healthy weight must be anorexic or otherwise starving themselves.

r152 eat all you want of carbs? that worked? Rice, pasta, bread?

Exactly, R153. R152 speaks nonsense.

^ yes, I eat CARBS.

If the carbs you are eating are high in fiber, they aren't really a problem.

Nah-sorry OP but they do eat. They just burn it off showing up for life

R8, correct.

R15, born with fat lazy genes.

R17 lazy fat gene.

R153 - R152 started his post with eating whole foods. When it comes to carbs when you eat whole foods you are upping the dietary fiber content. Which impacts how the carbs are metabolized by your body and also the rate of consumption.

In many cases, especially vegans who eat whole foods, people consume what the need not what they want, Add something like watching your sodium intake and you will be surprised how little brown rice without soy sauce you will eat compared to a bowl of white rice soaked in soy sauce.

Cut out as much sugar as you can and vary what you eat everyday.

Up until I was close to 40 I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain. I was always skinny. Past 40 I slowly started to gain until it started to get out of control. I was disgusted with myself. I was so used to eating what ever I wanted that I didn't notice my metabolism slowing down and my food intake increasing. I went on a doctor supervised diet and lost 50 pounds. I am not as skinny as I once was because I stopped losing when I started to look gaunt. Now I'm fit and healthy but my diet has totally changed. I have to watch every thing I eat or start gaining again. It's a pain but I feel so much better.

No bread and pasta or junk food