The skinny on skinny people. (muscle, yoga, reduce, gaining)

[Huckleberry3911948]

you dont go fat to thin or thin to fat overnight.
metabolism. also people that are heavy sneak eat, fool themselves. unconscious grazing.
many think a lil lean cuisine and a workout will do ya. not so.
draconian measures were nec for me to get and stay at this weight. special severe crazyman diets.
there has to be a motivating factor. just being thin wont cut it.
for me its a favorite sport at a ripe old age. i compete against teenagers.
fitness and speed are my edge.

[Ladybug24]

Originally Posted by WyattE

So, diet and exercise will only get an individual so far but should one focus on how to increase metabolism instead or is it all based on genetics?

Well, diet and exercise is how you increase your metabolism. It is like throwing good wood into fireplace and that's how you keep your metabolism going fast.

[pitt_transplant]

Anyone I met that is naturally skinny just eats for the amount they need. Metabolic difference are only 30%. So that is just like the three types of bodies: endo, ecto and meso.

I notice this metabolic syndrome in people that have a high amount of fat on the body and diabetics, no matter the weight. If you want to be leaning more towards keeping it off gain muscle and keep using it. It takes years to fix a body that got totally blown out.

When you talk about food making you gain...do you count your calories? Or just try to eat as healthy stuff as possible?

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Genetics play a huge role. Most of my life, I was around 150lbs. I always wanted to be bigger but no matter what I would stay at 150-155 pounds. I would eat any and everything, workout, run, do martial arts for hours, but would only get stronger and not bigger. No one in my family is overweight - mom, dad, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc are all normal weight. It wasnt until I started on the HIT routine that I really got big. I mean I peaked at 199.5 pounds at 6' 1". I felt that my speed and power in martial arts were being sacrificed, so I cut back and am now down to 177.

I hated being skinny my entire life. I was always a good athlete, just didnt like that physically, I looked so skinny.

[Pug Life]

Originally Posted by WyattE

Why are there many people who are skinny who never exercised a day in their life and they can maintain their weight and eat five times as much as me, yet one look at a piece of food whether it's junk or healthy and I would gain the weight and have to work my butt off each day exercising and have to watch what I eat. What's up with that? Can someone explain this to me?

Sorry man, but it's mostly genetics. I have two sisters, one is skinny and one is heavy. The heavy one really doesn't have terrible eating habits, but she's always been heavier than the skinny one. Even while my skinny sister was pregnant (and after having her kid) she was still able to keep her weight down.

Some people are just meant to be larger.
I'm someone who has tried to gain weight, but could never get over 175 pounds (I'm about 6 feet tall), even during a summer of taking creatine, weight gainer and working out with heavy weights, I still couldn't put on any weight. I fluctuate between my personal fat/skinny between 150-170 pounds, which for some friends of mine would be dangerously skinny on both ends.

What matters is not the physical appearance, but rather the interior health. Just because you're 220 pounds at 6' tall does not mean you're totally unhealthy if you eat well, exercise and don't live under too much stress. After all, plenty of skinny people have heart attacks or high cholesterol too.

[Mercury Cougar]

Originally Posted by Pug Life

Sorry man, but it's mostly genetics. .

That's a cop-out. Yes, some people require fewer calories than others, but saying that it's genetics is just an excuse to fail. I'm betting the OP consumes a lot more calories every day than they think they do.

[Ladybug24]

Originally Posted by Pug Life

What matters is not the physical appearance, but rather the interior health. Just because you're 220 pounds at 6' tall does not mean you're totally unhealthy if you eat well, exercise and don't live under too much stress. After all, plenty of skinny people have heart attacks or high cholesterol too.

Wrong. If you are 220 lbs with 25% body fat (for a guy) there is nothing healthy about it. If you are 220 lbs with 13 - 15% of body fat that is completely different. Muscles determine your metabolism, if you exercise and feed your muscle right the genetics won't matter.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by WyattE

Why are there many people who are skinny who never exercised a day in their life and they can maintain their weight and eat five times as much as me, yet one look at a piece of food whether it's junk or healthy and I would gain the weight and have to work my butt off each day exercising and have to watch what I eat. What's up with that? Can someone explain this to me?

In my case... genes
my dad's nickname was (translated) = "little wire"
but playing sports helps, too.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

Sorry I don't think this has anything to do with it. The south is the bible belt of the country and it is also home to America's fattest people. I don't believe in god at all, I am completely anti-religion. I lost my weight by changing my diet and exercise. Spirituality (or lack of) played no part whatsoever.

You don't have to believe meditation works in order for it to work. It's kind of the same thing with food. You don't have to believe eating healthy food will make you healthier. But if you do it, you will see the results for yourself.

I would also say that there is a difference between religious and spiritual. In the idea world, they would be the same. In practice, they are quite different. It's entirely possible to be anti-religion, yet quite spiritual.

There are even atheists who meditate.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Pug Life

Sorry man, but it's mostly genetics. I have two sisters, one is skinny and one is heavy. The heavy one really doesn't have terrible eating habits, but she's always been heavier than the skinny one. Even while my skinny sister was pregnant (and after having her kid) she was still able to keep her weight down

To say it's mostly genetics is a form of insanity. Go back one generation and look at the % of obese people compared to today. Go back two or three generations and you'll see only a small % of the population was overweight. Genetics don't change that quicky.

There are many parts of the world where the population is genetically predisposed to obesity, yet where there is very little incidence of it. That's because they don't eat the processed crap that passes for "food" in many parts of America.

Genetic predisposition is one thing. Genetic determinism is quite another.