Why do some people get fat while others don't?

Factual Questions
1

I have a truly abominable diet. It’s pretty much 100% junk and I definitely eat more calories than I burn off. I must do. Today, for instance, I’ve had a box of cookies, six bags of chips, a candy bar, 2 liters of coke, a massive plate of chicken fajitas, some french fries, and, in a token concession to healthy living, one small apple. There’s other stuff, too but I don’t remember it. This kind of thing isn’t unusual for me. However, I’m not at all fat. I mean, I don’t have a six pack but, while I could stand to lose, say, five pounds, my BMR is normal. Moreover, I recently had my cholesterol tested and it was very low, as is my blood pressure. Why is it that some people can eat tons of crap and not get fat while other people have to be really careful? Moreover, what on earth is my body doing with the excess calories and stuff? Are they just evaporating? Am I expoiting some heretofore unknown loophole in the laws of thermodynamics, or what?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I’m a 27 year old guy by the way.

2

Genetic and environmental differences in diet quantity and content, nutrient absorption, basal metabolism, calorie loss from exercise, and other miscellaneous metabolic differences which are far too numerous to describe here.

Weight change = calories in - calories out. 3500 calories is approximately 1 pound of fat.

3

Forgot to add that I very rarely exercise (although I do plan to change that)

4

Most people can eat quite a bit and not gain weight–young men in particular. The amazing thing (to me, at least) is how little extra you have to eat to gain significant weight over time. A hundred calories a day over what a person burns is ten pounds a year–which means if you take two women, both with stable weights, and one starts having a skinny latte mid-morning, at the end of a year she will be ten pounds heavier than the other woman–but anyone who was friends with the two of them would think “They eat exactly the same. I don’t know why so-and-so puts on weight. Must be metabolism”. So if you have friends somewhere that seem to eat the same as you but get fat, it’s entirely likely that they are eating just a tad more–a tad that wouldn’t even be noticeable.

TV and movies show the “fat kid” eating his head off all the time. But that isn’t what does it. It’s the small daily habits that add up over time–it’s that skinny latte, or sour cream on your tacos, or 4 hershey kisses mid-morning. Which isn’t to say a person can’t eat these things–but if your habits are just a little bit in excess of your burn, it really accumulates over time.

5

Have you been tested for hyperthyroidism? An overactive thyroid can speed up your metabolism which is why you can seemingly eat the world but not gain any weight. What about physical activity? You may burn more calories then you realize. Do you drive a desk everyday or does your job require some sort of physical movement? Do you drive to work or walk? Take the dog for a walk every evening? You don’t need a workout a program to burn calories.

6

You don’t eat more calories than you burn off; as you stated, that wouldn’t jibe with the laws of thermodynamics.

I believe you mean your BMI is normal, not your BMR. Your BMR may be relatively high, which would explain why your BMI is not. :slight_smile:

7

You don’t have to write new laws in thermodynamics to utilize less than 100% of the fuel you take in. I don’t know if you could fail to absorb some of it, or metabolize it in a less efficient chain of reactions, or run a higher skin temperature, or what, but efficiencies lower than 100% are easy to pull off. It’s efficiencies above 100% that are so difficult.

8

My partner is very tall and thin; I am average height and overweight. During the first few years of our relationship, the two of us were virtually inseparable . . . we ate together, we worked out together, we both had sedentary jobs. Yet he never gained weight and I never lost weight. But we did notice one difference: He had to shit 2-3 times a day, and I did about once every 2 days. Food just seemed to go right through him, and still does.

9

I stopped eating cookies a few months ago and, between quarterly doctor visits, lost 13 pounds.

My cholesterol was up somewhat, though. . .

10

I certainly cannot answer for you in particular, but in general the answer is as follows:

Some variation can be as speculated above - some people absorb less nutrition. Perhaps they have subclinical and undiagnosed celiac disease or something similar … but they don’t absorb as much of what they eat as others. Be suspicious of this if you poop “floaters” in particular, or have frequent loose and especially smelly stools.

Some have high BMRs (basal metabolic rates), perhaps they are even mildly hyperthyroid, as also suggested above.

BUT the bigger group is that explained by “non-exercise thermogenesis”, (NEAT).

Or to put it another way:

In short you may just be a fidgety person, especially when you overeat, and surprisingly that’s the biggest contributing factor to why some get fat and some don’t when they both eat the same amount.

11

I have a friend so thin that once he was not sure whether it was his back or stomach hurting him. Now he sees his doctor monthly trying to find out if he is sick not getting fat. I remind him every now and then that if he was to find it out, I’d want it, too.
Athletes seem to gain weight after their career is over. Is it because their digestion is more efficient - I don’t know. Bodybuilders use certain amino acids to build muscles - it requires some workout, too. I would be interested to know, who would survive/work longer without food - the fat or the skinny people.

12

I am overweight in the Jackie Gleason/Chris Farley mode…

Many people who eat with me think that I will eat hordes of food at one sitting which is just not true. I tend to snack quite a lot, especially in the evenings. I do not buy things in the market that I like to eat, just because of the fact that I will eat it in one night at one sitting. Golden Grahams cereal for instance. I love that shit. Can’t have it in the house though, because it will be gone in two sittings. Peanut butter is another thing. Bags of Doritoes. Forget about it, big bag, gone!

I think a lot of people in America are fat is partially because many people work in offices, at desks, in front of computer terminals. Most people eat food on the run, which is high in calories. Because of different times and schedules and what have you, it is difficult for people to cook, and people end up doing fast food or eating microwave crap.

Many poor people you see who are obese are like that because they cannot afford healthier food and instead eat fast food or what is available at the corner market which is usually garbage. One time about 10 years ago, I was very poor and went to Burger King for dinner almost everyday for two Whoppers for $2.13. Filled me up and did not cost that much. But it wasn’t healthy and it did not do me any good.

Julia Child once stated is that fat gives food flavor, and this is why it is good. So to me, it is a tradeoff between eating flavorful food and eating “what is good for you”. Vegetables are better for you than meat, but most of us like meat more. Boiling or baking meat is better than frying it, but most people like fried foods (admit it, if you could stay slim, you would eat fried food all the time, I sure would!). Chicken skin should be removed from the chicken (if the chicken is dead of course) but the skin is the best part of the chicken. Popcorn is actually “good for you”. But who likes plain ass popcorn (I know, your crazy aunt with the limp did)? Butter, salt or sugar and caramel makes popcorn great. Mashed potatoes. Need gravy. Rice? Needs gravy or soy sauce.

It goes on and on. It’s a skill and a game of moderation. However, some people (like me sometimes) treats food like a drug, something that makes me happy. You eat something like peanuts or popcorn or whatever, not because you are hungry but because it makes you feel better. It is hard to describe it unless you know it, it is akin to an addiction.

How much water do you drink? Everyone, my parents, my wife and other people have gotten on me over the years for not drinking water. Frankly, I don’t like water. I don’t like the taste of it, it is not satisfying to me The only time I like water is when I come in from the heat and the water is ice cold. That’s glorious. I think a lot of people don’t think of liquid as something that will make you gain weight. I like Gatorade. Really, I am addicted to the shit. I think of it as a happy medium between water that I hate, and sweet shit like soda which I honestly don’t like. However, I found out recently that Gatorade has a lot of carbohydrates that will make you overweight, and it is only a benefit if you are someone who works out and sweats a lot (like athletes.) I’m no athlete. I sit and play computer all day.

Boozing and beer makes you fat too, which is a shame. Can’t they make a diet liquor? Probably not since the alcohol is the thing with the calories. But I don’t know.

I leave you with a website. Seeing this food may induce heart attacks in the skinny and the vegetarian. http://www.thisiswhyyourefat.com/

13

I think this is so true, and definitely my experience with my own weight and other overweight people I know.

In fact, it’s quite frustrating to watch those weight-loss programmes on television where they do something like put out a table of food that the person has eaten over the course of a week, and of course it’s laden with junk food, all a lovely uniform yellow colour.

That’s simply not my experience. I eat a balanced diet, it’s just that I eat a bit more than my peers and always have throughout my life, and that is why I’m now significantly heavier than them.

14

I’m not suggesting anything illegal, but marijuana smokers seem to be quite fit. Google images of “pot smokers” (and of course there is a big titted girl not that slim on the first page) to get the general idea. Now, you can visit your doctor and ask if medical cannabis were an option.

15

I know a few guys who were like the OP from high school to their late 20s. Last time I saw any of them they were all fat middle aged guys.

16

I recently lost a large percentage of my fat because I quit taking various medications. Some medicines apparently slow down my metabolism. Frequently, side effects of various medications include weight gain, so the doctor and patient have to balance the benefits of the medicine vs. the weight gain.

17

Just came to my mind, my collegue suffered from inflammation of the pancreas and survived. He stopped eating fat and drinking alcohol (but not carbohydrates and coffee) started to look like another person - a slimmer person. I don’t know about his medication, though.

18

Hey, Captain Midnight, I decided to pit you:

19

Unfortunately, it could also result in a bad chronic case of the munchies. :wink:

20

I used to eat a ton of crap (1 dozen Krispy Kremes at a time, etc) and weighed 95 lbs. I went through a phase where I smoked a lot of pot, ate even more crap, and weighed 100 lbs. Now I eat a only nourishing ‘whole’ foods (which has helped my digestion greatly) and I weigh 102 lbs on a good day. I spent a couple years counting calories - I can eat to the point that I’m physically miserable (3500 cals+ for me), and my highest ever weight was 106 lbs. I can’t last long overeating, though, and once I stop I go right back down to my usual baseline of 100 lbs.

I’m 25 now and I assume someday my metabolism will slow (but then, I’ve been assuming that since I was 14). In my case, extra calories seem be burned off as body heat rather than building flesh. I feel very overheated and often sweat in hours following big meals. I also get extremely fidgety when I’ve eaten a lot which I’m sure helps burn it off. I’m already decently active (walking etc).

There’s a ton of factors, we don’t really know the whole story yet when it comes to individual weight.