this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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When I was younger, I could eat superhuman amounts of food and not gain an ounce (I was even accused of having anorexia by strangers because I was so thin).
Now, if I even think about one serving of ice cream, I gain ten pounds. Oh shit, I’ve done it. Back to the treadmill, I guess.
Takes a lot of calories to grow a body
Bodies don't need to be so overgrown
True.
My point was as we are younger our “metabolisms are higher” is really “your body is still growing and utilizing nutrients to build your body” so the caloric requirements are necessarily higher.
It’s why at 18 I could eat all day and not be terribly active and still not get fat. Because my body was still growing bones and muscles and brain and other bits.
Now at 40 my body isn’t growing the same way, my requirements aren’t the same.
My metabolism hasn’t “slowed” per se, just my caloric requirements are markedly different.
I don't gain weight, but I just can't do it. When I was in high school my parents would always order me my own large pizza, and I would eat all of it except one slice, which I would eat cold the following morning.
Now, I'll still have the appetite sometimes, and I'll order a large. If I'm lucky and very determined, I'll eat half, and then I'm so stuffed I feel sick. I suppose that's a good thing, but there is a certain sense of accomplishment found in dusting a whole pizza yourself.
A lesson I learned too late in life, and will often still ignore is:
"Eat to fuel, not to fill."
Makes food seem pretty boring. I eat to enjoy. I'm not worried about "fuel," it seems to work pretty well for that without my having to think about it. I'm pretty active, so it's not much of a concern. But, I understand I'm fortunate that I don't struggle with food/weight.
I miss those days.
I hear you! Still, I do find focusing on a quality meal over a quantity meal is a good thing, which I think in a different way you were also saying. Different qualities, same idea, generally good result. 😊
I live in one of those areas where the 40-60 set seems to be healthier and more focused on health than most people around my age, so I don't think it needs to be age thing! You've got this!
I also enjoy food and don't struggle with weight (well, I struggle with gaining it still at 31). I still have learned I don't need to over-eat. Anything extra is just going to waste. I eat fairly slowly and enjoy it, instead of eating like I'm in a competition. I eat until I feel done eating and don't usually go further. You can enjoy eating without over-eating. Honestly, it's probably easier.
I remember a 6th-grade pizza party where I horked down 10 slices. And I was always one of the smallest guys, last picked for teams, all that. I was fucking amazed at myself.
Us skinny people, and the people observing us eat, usually got it all wrong. I thought I could eat superhuman amounts of food and stay skinny. Nah. When people watched me go to town, that was the only food I put in my face that day. Not a single calorie otherwise.
My wife started getting a gut. LOL, she's barely 3-digits. Mystified! "Uh, babe? You're snarfing candy all day."
I got a hella beer belly a few years ago. Guess what? I had been going around the office, filling my thermos with the coffee leftovers, and chunking 1/4 cup of sugar in there. Took a few months to dial that back. :)
All that ramble to say, none of us are very good judges of calories in/calories out.
I always hated sugar, and ate 3 large meals a day. Huge breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight snacks. Never gained at all.
That all changed after my pregnancy at 28. Suddenly I seemed to gain weight through osmosis. I mostly lost interest in food, and only started eating sensible quantities twice a day.
Now I can’t lose weight at all, even with nearly a gallon of water per day and one small cup of food every day or two (to be fair, my body now rejects most food because of an autoimmune disorder), but I can actually gain weight on less than 500 calories a day. It doesn’t make sense by conventional logic, yet here I am. I mostly live on Ensure and Pedialyte, yet I weigh more than I ever have. It’s really weird.
Are you certain?! That's concentration camp calories if one isn't moving, at all. Hell, I'd think your brain alone burns that much. I'm not calling bullshit, I'd really like to understand.
I am calling bullshit. Ain't no way she's gaining or even maintaining weight on 500 calories a day. A proper assessment of daily caloric intake is necessary.
Yeah. I move very little now, except for very low-impact PT, because of dysautonomia and autoimmune issues. Something radically changed with my system several years ago, though, so I can’t really eat, yet I don’t lose weight. My body doesn’t tolerate most food now, other than small amounts of rice and meat. I can’t process fruits or vegetables at all.
It’s steadily got worse over the last decade, and yeah, it is slowly killing me, but my doctors haven’t been able to solve it.
If this is true I think you need to see a doctor
I see several specialists. No solutions so far, unfortunately.
I’m sure you’re much less physically active than you used to be as well.