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Naturally thin: a myth?

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Reply 140
Original post by heyAmy
So you hear of these people who 'eat loads' and 'do no exercise' but claim that their slim physique is natural and they've got good genes.
Personally, I have no idea how this could be possible.
What do you think? Can this be possible? Is there such thing as 'naturally skinny'?


yes I am proof
I think it's possible, but not just due to having a fast metabolism. There's a condition that runs in my family called "Marfan's Syndrome" one of the main features of it is being very tall and skinny with long limbs. People with it can't retain fat and muscle as well as people without it. I don't have the condition per se, just the tall and skinny part so although I do gain weight, I tend to lose more quicker.
Yes, I think it's definitely possible. I have a friend who is well known for eating a lot (at Parents' Evening, a teacher commented on how into her maths she was getting, so much so that she "didn't even stop for cookies", and another teacher once commented on how she thought that my friend's hat was a way of storing food), yet being skinny. She plays a lot of tennis, I admit, and probably has a great metabolism, too.
I think one can be naturally thin. I know some of my friends eat a crapload of junk food and are so thin. There is this girl in particular who always eats chocolate and crisps during all of my classes and she never worksout. She is bone thin :biggrin:. Her metabolism must be sky high but it will catch up with her when she gets older.

You can be naturally thin, it just depends if you are fortunate enough to get those genes. Other people just need to work hard to maintain a healthy body.

On the otherhand there is no such thing as being naturally bigger. I read an article in a magazine the other day about these size 18 girls who claim to be "naturally bigger". Never read so much crap ever!
Original post by Super Cicero
A typical day for me in terms of food consumption would be:
7:30AM Breakfast - 2 weetabixes, 2 slices of toast + boiled egg
1PM Lunch - 3 ham, cheese, and lettece sandwiches, packet of crisps, two chocolate bars, banana
5:30PM - full dinner (e.g. curry, spaghetti bolegnase, sausage and mash, fish and chips...), then cake or apple pie or custard slice or strawberries and ice cream or something for pudding
8PM - packet of crisps, apple

Does this seem like not enough? Because this is a typical day for me, and I am really really skinny. Also, I do little to no exercise (though I plan on starting to go to the gym when my A2 exams are over).



Yeah this seems like a sufficent amount of calories for you. You are very lucky to have such a quick metabolism but you might want to add some more nutritious foods to your diet more often.

Starting up at the gym is good- it will help you build on a little muscle and lose fat (not that you are :smile:). You will get a nicely toned body if you work hard.
It is perfectly possible, I eat loads, too much in fact, and am skinny, although I am pretty tall and have no muscle, at all, despite my best efforts.
I'm not particularly skinny at the moment (for my normal size) but given what I eat, I'm absolutely tiny. I know I eat a lot, because everyone who knows me jokes about my appetite and can't understand how I am the size I am. As soon as I drop back to a 'normal' diet (i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner and maybe a pudding or a snack) I'll start dropping about 1lb a week. that's until I hit 9st and then I'll even out and stick there. Atm I'm about 9st 10lbs (at 5'6") and wear size 8/10 clothes due to my hip bones. So I don't look my weight.
I know there's nothing wrong with me in terms of thyroid etc (I've got other health issues which don't impact my weight, except for the fact that I'm limited in what exercise I can do and sleep a lot)
(edited 11 years ago)
Well I'm naturally thin in the sense that I naturally don't eat much. I don't diet or monitor my weight to be this way, I just eat however much I want. I'm also really small boned. The way I am now is my natural weight without interference. :h:
It's perfectly possible. I'm naturally slim at 5'2 and 108lbs. I don't exercise and my diet is pretty bad. I can't eat much in one sitting but I snack a lot throughout the day. Some of us just aren't prone to weight gain.
I used to think I had a fast metabolism until I was diagnosed with the opposite, underactive thyroid which makes poeople put on weight. I have always been quite thin, 7 stone 7-11 for about seven years and my BMI was usually about 17.5. I do no exercise and never ever skip meals, I have a good hearty breakfast, lunch and dinner and snack and eat rubbish in between. When I am ill I lose weight bigtime and find it takes months to get back up to the level, but no further. 2 years ago I dropped from 7 stone 10 to 6 stone 4 and could barely move when I was in a lot of pain and couldn't eat properly- IBS diagnosis. My thyroid results are never 'normal', it's always under. Usually controlled well with meds so that it's not too bad but it flares up every year or so and makes me so tired I can't leave the house at all. I never gain extra weight though.

However I think that I *might* be turning the corner now I'm getting older, I'm nearly 24. I'm 8 stone 1 with a BMI of 19.8- normal range! Obviously still thin but no longer underweight, so I'm thrilled. I'm hoping it stays that way and doesn't go back under the 8 stone mark and hopefully in the future with children I will be heavier from that. Not that I would have kids FOR that reason of course, but it would be a nice bonus.
Reply 150
I eat constantly, do a reasonable about of excersise but I'm still thin. Its brilliant.
Reply 151
Original post by Super Cicero
A typical day for me in terms of food consumption would be:
7:30AM Breakfast - 2 weetabixes, 2 slices of toast + boiled egg
1PM Lunch - 3 ham, cheese, and lettece sandwiches, packet of crisps, two chocolate bars, banana
5:30PM - full dinner (e.g. curry, spaghetti bolegnase, sausage and mash, fish and chips...), then cake or apple pie or custard slice or strawberries and ice cream or something for pudding
8PM - packet of crisps, apple

Does this seem like not enough? Because this is a typical day for me, and I am really really skinny. Also, I do little to no exercise (though I plan on starting to go to the gym when my A2 exams are over).


Pretty sure that would add up to under 2500 calories, you've lots of small items of low caloric value [apple (50), crisps (100-150), weetabix(130), an egg(80)] so you probably estimate you are eating much more than you are.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 152
hmm I am highly sceptical on these people who say they eat loads and never put on weight. Look at people who are overweight and look at what they eat - LOTS!

Most skinny people dont eat loads.

I doubt also the point about metabolism. Metabolism is likely to vary dependent on a lot of factors - people have a fast metabolism seems odd. That would mean their bodies are inefficient - eg they burn up loads of caleries when the body is not doing much. hmmm seems unlikely.

Look at thin people and see what they do:
1) don't eat to excess.
2) Do sport/exercise/gym.

Most people you see at a gym are not fat.
Reply 153
I'd say that's me to a tee, but it does catch up with you later in life.
My whole family is like that.. naturally thin :biggrin:
Count it as a blessing, whilst it lasts :L
Nah, it's not a myth. I'm naturally thin but I do think that it's down to being small-boned. Everybody has a natural body shape and thin is one of them.
Reply 155
Original post by Jono404
Pretty sure that would add up to under 2500 calories, you've lots of small items of low caloric value [apple (50), crisps (100-150), weetabix(130), an egg(80)] so you probably estimate you are eating much more than you are.


I think that seems like a lot.

Breakfast alone is probably around 500+ calories, if the poster has milk with the weetabix.

Three sandwiches, does this mean six slices of bread? Even at the lower end of the scale bread is about 80 calories a slice so there's 480 just for the bread, sliced ham and cheese perhaps another 400. Accompanied with a packet of crisps, say 125 = 1005

Two chocolate bars after lunch could also easily add up to about 500 calories depending on what kind they are, and then a banana 50


That makes lunch a whopping 1555 calories so this person is almost on their daily limit with only two meals.

Dinner with pudding looking at those selections is probably at the very least another 1500 calories with small portions but could be 2000.

Plus evening snacks, I'd put this more in the region of 4000+ calories which is a lot.

If this person is eating that many calories and still maintains a slim figure they are obviously doing something right, they say they do sport which could account for the number of calories they are burning.

Personally I would be concerned about the number of chocolate bars and crisps that they say they eat every day, they aren't very healthy, even if weighed against a good supply of fruit and veg. But if they need the calories than i guess it's one way to consume them as they are high in calories.
It's not a myth because I know a few people who are naturally thin, one lady is a mother of 2 and is still naturally thin. I'm in my late teens and i've always eaten loads of food and even more recently in order to gain weight but it just doesn't work :-( i'm under 7 stone and have a BMI of 17.
It's incredibly hard to gain weight but easy to lose it! Also i'm a bit of a couch potato and hardly exercise because i'm scared I might lose weight. It's hard being naturally thin especially when the media put us down but it doesn't matter what other people think... I'm happy with my naturally thin body.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my E10i
I'm pretty sure I'm not a myth. I don't eat badlly, just quite a lot, and i don't do masses of exercise apart from walking, but I still don't put on any weight. Hell, I spent 2 weeks in France eating all sorts of fatty foods and cakes and suchlike and still put nothing on. My boyfriends the same, he eats plenty and he's even skinnier than me
Reply 158
Original post by buildalegohouse
Its not a case of genes, but rather metabolism. If you have a good metabolism, your body burns up fat quicker etc. I'm not sure if metabolism is something you inherit, but to be honest, some people are naturally thin, so as far as I'm concerned, it isn't a myth. I know plenty of people who eat ridiculous amounts of food, try to put weight on, and never do.


Genes have their part to play in determining the metabolism of an individual.
Overactive Thyroid.

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