Why aren't I fat?

[dethfire]

I don't eat particulary well, nor do I exercise. However I am 6 feet tall and only 135. And i'm 19. Two years into college. What keeps me so skinny. Isn't my metabilism supposed to slow down? I certainly am not complaining, just curious.

[aman]

I can picture your situation since I'm 6'5" and I've been down to 145lbs in the past. When I got to 24 yrs I was such a hunk you wouldn't believe it at 175 of solid muscle. Start with a weight class in school and let the teacher bully the hell out of you. Or get a real physical job and make money while you could be lifting weights for nothing. Ya got a great future since you were lucky to be born with less of the fat collecting cells than the average person unless your just not eating enough. A lot of it depends on your eating habits. At least take vitamins since some of the other threads here show if you don't have the certain elements in your body a lot of processses can't take place.

Just aman

[fafalone]

Obesity is influenced by genetics to a varying extent. Think susceptibility (another concept blike doesn't understand )

 

For me unfortunately this extent is quite high and proper diet and 4 hours of daily exercise do NOTHING. I'm not that fat, but its nearly impossible for me to lose weight.

[aman]

I keep telling you Fafalone. A Mexican prison will do it but just wait till the Egypt expedition, You'll get really skinny in an Egyption prison. I figure about two years and you'll come back a hunk.

I don't recommend it to you, Greg for at least another two years so you can bulk up. Don't make an effort on anything else but vitamins and kicken butt. Take some martial arts. A good teacher will point you in the right direction, but get a good teacher.

Just aman

[grazzhoppa]

The goal shouldn't be to lose weight, it should be to feel like you can carry yourself without huffing and puffing...feeling healthy should be your goal or just to look good. I've given up on worrying about how much I weigh. The good things I do for my body are to make it look better or feel better.

 

I had a strict excerise program for 3 months. Every other day running for 1 hour. The days inbetween lifting light weights (talking 10-15 lbs.) and an ab workout (what a killer! ). Streched every day...that's something I continue to this day. I didn't miss a single day...and on top of that I had cut out little things like regular sugar...less salt...a little less ice cream. I didn't lose ONE POUND but I felt unbelievably good. In fact I gained 10 lbs from the muscles I gained....too bad I didn't keep it up.

 

Anyway, as long as you don't stuff yourself at meals you wouldn't gain weight. The way you were raised affects it...what you consider not particularly well might be considered good to someone else. But yea, genetics has a lot to do with it....some people have a high metabolism naturally.

 

At 19, your body isn't as needing of calories as it had been, but relatively your metabolism is still running full speed. I think around 30+ you will start to notice it slow down, I may be wrong about that though.

[Radical Edward]

I get that too. I had a great experience when I signed up to a doctor and had to have a regular health check. she pointed at the chart and said to me that I was underweight, and should eat more. so I told her what I normally ate... and suddently she puleed thes "I'm Jealous" face, which women nearly always do, and just said 'well some people are naturally thin'

 

it was ace.

[spuriousmonkey]

they made these transgenic mice that could eat all they want, stay thin, and live longer...

[Radical Edward]

I wish I was one of those mice. who says genetic engineering is bad?

[spuriousmonkey]

these mice show that it isn't so much that eating less increases your life expectancy, but the lack of fat tissue...or something like that...

[the GardenGnome]

Originally posted by Greg Bernhardt

I don't eat particulary well, nor do I exercise. However I am 6 feet tall and only 135. And i'm 19. Two years into college. What keeps me so skinny. Isn't my metabilism supposed to slow down? I certainly am not complaining, just curious.

 

If you haven't been eating any Mcdonalds that's probably why.

[fafalone]

I eat fast food at least 4 times a week and I'm losing weight.. must be the 3+ miles of walking back and forth to class every day.

[MajinVegeta]

Originally posted by Greg Bernhardt

I don't eat particulary well, nor do I exercise. However I am 6 feet tall and only 135. And i'm 19. Two years into college. What keeps me so skinny. Isn't my metabilism supposed to slow down? I certainly am not complaining, just curious.

 

I know what you mean Greg(you're from PFs, right!!??So am I!). I am 13, 5'4 and still weigh 90-95 pounds. My sisters are slightly older than you, and weigh the same as me. I have two explanations for this: good metabolism(in short) or it's just hereditary.

[YoungStrife]

Well congradulations, you must be the new generation of humans. We used to need fat when food was scarce and unreliable but now in todays society it is only a burdain to whoever has an excess amount of it. I do not exercise very much, and am only 120 pounds.

 

I think I am of a new biological adaptation since I have the greater or equal strength of any man I know (I know MANY people) that is up to 160 pounds, and some that are 200. (One who is 350, but he is just fat)

 

What judges fat is 3 things; GENES (there are two chemicals controlled by genes that 1 determines hunger, the other controlls the way food is burnt/converted),

exercise (the reason for obesity today is lack of exercise), and intake (you are what you eat )

[MajinVegeta]

wow, that's pretty cool. But does "0" fat=muscle?

[DocBill]

The main reason some people get fat isn't because of genetics or how much they eat, it's because compared with thinner people they snack more often during the day and move about a lot less.

The best way to slash the country's skyrocketing medical costs associated with obesity is not through dieting but by persuading people to exercise more. The government should take a more aggressive role in ensuring that employers offer workers more opportunities to stretch their legs and exercise and provide more noncompetitive sports for children as well as after-school programs in inner-city neighborhoods where children often can't play outside safely. Forget dieting--it just doesn't work.

 

Cornell did an obesity expert and made these same points to a meeting of nutrition professionals at a program on obesity, presented Jan. 21 at the Southern Tier Dietetic Association in Ithaca. It was a great meeting (another story perhaps). Dr. Levitsky's studies with undergraduate students seemed to strongly show that when people are not allowed snacks, they still eat about as much at mealtime as when they do snack. And people who skip a meal or don't snack do not compensate at the next meal by eating more. That means that the less often you eat, the fewer calories you consume, he explains.

 

America, he says, needs to slow the trend of adults and children becoming fatter, and to achieve this he has several messages, ones that I, unforunately must agree with as a "fat" person:

 

1. The popular high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are just gimmicks. They work temporarily because they are comprised of fewer calories, but the weight comes right back because the diets are nearly impossible to stay on indefinitely. Such diets, on a long-term basis, could be linked to higher risks of cancer, heart disease and kidney failure. Not good.

 

2. Forget the "ideal weight charts." These send the wrong message to consumers; it's not your weight that counts but what goes into your weight." In other words, what's much more important to health are indicators such as blood pressure and cholesterol and healthful lifestyle habits, such as a low-fat diet and plenty of exercise. "Recent studies show that shorter mortality is more related to inactivity than to body weight."

 

3. What you weigh matters to your life, though. Studies show that obese people experience discrimination in jobs, housing, education, dating and marriage.

 

4. The popular set-point theory -- that your body regulates your appetite and body weight -- seems to be losing ground as new research fails to support it.

 

5. Americans are getting fatter because they are consuming about 1,000 calories more each year than the previous year. That is less than 10 calories a day. To burn off that extra energy, the average person needs only to walk or clean house about 17 hours more a year, power walk, bike or dance about eight hours more or engage in vigorous exercise (walk uphill, play basketball or jump rope) about three more hours a year.

 

6. The benefits of exercise include not only more calorie expenditure, but also lower cholesterol levels, greater muscle mass (which uses more calories for fuel than fat cells do), smaller fat (adipose) cells and changes in brain chemistry that induce feelings of well-being and a greater sense of control over one's life.

 

And....Levitsky's final advice on the best way to control weight is to "move your body whenever possible while reducing calories from fat. Eat only when you have to, which means at meals, and finally, accept your body size. Be happy even if you think you're not thin. The major problem with body size is on the outside -- from society and the media -- not within you. Take back the control about food and body size."

 

I personally workout each day with 60 min of cardio, and 45 min of weights. I went from 240 with a Whole Blood Glucose of 380 to a weight of 206 with a WBG average of 150 in 2 months. The diet..which means I actually eat wiser not less..is the big factor.

 

Hope this helps answer the question;

 

Bill

[eric]

I've come on my 6th month working at Domino's Pizza, where I eat chicken wings, chicken kickers, all kinds of pizza imaginable, and anything else I can find to make a good meal/snack. Anyways, I've actually lost 2 lbs within that time period while working there. I'm sure my weight has changed a lot, but I from what I can see after a 6 month period, I've lost 2 lbs.

 

I'm now 6'3", 158 lbs.

 

I used to be kinda "chubby", so I can't explain the whole metabolism thing. It must be from all the work I do there when I'm not eating -- we get pretty busy sometimes.

 

For those who talk to me on a regular basis:

I should be back next week, I dunno yet.

[fafalone]

Answering phones and taking orders doesn't exactly burn alot of calories

[eric]

During the rush, stretching 300 pizza doughs and running back and forth from the cooler (walk-in) does, however.

 

Nice try at the sarcasm though -- how do you get your money again? Oh yeah, Mommy. Who pays for this website? Oh yeah, Blike.

[YoungStrife]

The truth is, it doesn't matter as much what you eat as it does what you do with it. If you work hard, and spend much energy then the food you eat is more likely to turn into glucose than fat, and the fat you have is likely to build uop INSIDE your muscles...so it woulkd burn quicker.

 

Protein is one, very good example, it's main function is to be the stuff your body rebuilds itself with, (along with vitamins) but with not enough exercise...it turns into fat

[scman]

I think I am of a new biological adaptation since I have the greater or equal strength of any man I know (I know MANY people) that is up to 160 pounds, and some that are 200. (One who is 350, but he is just fat)[/b]

 

 

I find that hard to believe youngstrife,how much do u bench/squat etc?

[Squintz]

Im not obeist but i am over weight for my height and i havent exercised in about 3 years. I feel like crap and i cant seem to get motivated to run or lift weights. I thought of taking the easy way out doing a little lipo but that seems to be very expensive for the little bit of work the doc has to do. I think i seen prices of $10,000 and up. Like i said im only overweight so i dont even think im an ideal canidate. If i were to change one think with lipo it would be to get rid of my "man boobs" Sobody kick me in the ass and get me off this computer. I need to work out!

[Duke]

I read somewhere that people with slow metabolisms lived longer.

[iglak]

i'm 16, 145 lbs, and eat okay (don't try to eat healthy, but sorta do anyway).

i am stronger than the average person around where i live, but the only time i ever lifted weights for more than one day was during P.E. last year for one heximester.

i am a better swimmer than most, but i don't swim much.

my junior black belt friend says i am better than most green belts, but i don't even have a white belt.

i get A's and high B's on tests, but i don't really study (unless it's history).

 

i'm kinda strange that way.