Two thirds of adults in England are obese or overweight. It would make as much sense to ask what is different about the other one third.

Partly genetic, and partly I grew up being sporty and then when older going to the gym was just the normal thing to do.
I think if either of these things aren’t true it’s got to be much harder for people.

I don't eat a British diet and I very rarely eat UPF. That helps.

I've just replied to another post about willpower. I'm not really sure why some people lack it. I've definitly lacked it at times in my life, hence I put on weight.

Actually, I don't think it was lack of willpower, it was more like burying my head in the sand and just avoiding the scales and telling myself, it would be fine, you won't put much weight on....

But I've found that willpower now, mainly because losing weight is so hard - now I've lost the weight, I am digging deep. Doesn't mean I don't slip and fall into a pizza every now and again but I make sure that the following days are super healthy and lower calorie to make up for it.

I don't think willpower needs to be about saying no to everything that is bad - I think it needs to be about recognising that there has to be a balance, and I think if you allow yourself that balance or "treats" (hate to use that, as I believe in everything in moderation is okay, rather than having treats) I personally find it easier to have willpower the rest of the time.

But the complication there is that not everyone eats for the same reasons.

@noblegiraffe I used to have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude to food like you. In peri meno, from then on, ravenous hunger at odd times kicked in. Can’t be defeated, a ‘broken thermostat, inevitable weight gain.

I suppose there’s a mix of things. Personally, I’m a) vain and b) enjoy an active lifestyle which is made easier by being very slim rather than lugging extra weight about for a half marathon. I don’t think being fat looks good or feels good and so I don’t want to be fat. I don’t find it particularly difficult to decide not to have a second helping of lunch or to decide to be a bit hungry for a few hours in anticipation of the nice dinner I’m going out for that evening in the pursuit of that goal.

And once realising that being a bit hungry sometimes is actually perfectly healthy and normal and not something that needs to be immediately and constantly satiated with a snack; and not having any cravings for particular foods because you just don’t eat them, that becomes a fairly easy lifestyle to continue with long term.

Nobody's actually said that though have they? Maybe i missed it.

They're just talking about why they think they're slim.

There are lots of reasons why people are fat ranging from "they're greedy" to "they have a health condition". It's an interesting question posed by the op.

I bet a large proportion of that not overweight third are either older or young. So what they are doing right can’t really be replicated by the rest of us

I think there are some slim people who have got there through willpower.

I also think there are a great many slim people who never really think about food and therefore don't need willpower and self-control to the same extent.

I think this question is really about the second type of slim person. It's fascinating and I do believe drugs like ozempic etc will help many overweight people to experience this. I have constant food noise.

I don't think it's always as simplistic as "they eat less". Genetics absolutely have a part in this. My husband's BMI never budges from 23. He eats more than me, moves less and I've been overweight (technically obese) my whole life. He had three jam doughnuts as a snack yesterday ffs. I doubt he's spent more than 5 minutes thinking about his weight - there is nothing he does or doesn't do that keeps him slim - for him at least, it's sheer luck and genetics.

Literally noone has said that - sounds like your own insecurity.

For me, I have no interest in food, just can't get excited about at all.

I eat when I'm hungry and that's it, usually just one meal a day and not a huge amount.

I'm not one of these people who thinks that fat people can be healthy as mostly this is not true. But not all thin people are healthy either.

I think that this is a very wise post.
I have been v. overweight, and have had EDs and have been severely underweight. I love food and find it very comforting and pleasurable. I think about it a lot. In all honesty, it's one of the great loves of my life.
I have accepted that, in order to maintain a healthy weight, I am going to need to be on a diet for the rest of my life. I have tried to reframe it by not calling it a diet, saying it's a "healthy lifestyle", "new habits", "wellness", all that stuff, but the truth is, it always feels like I'm missing out on something really pleasurable, and I always crave more food, and more fatty, carb-heavy food. It is a diet, and yes, I'm slim, but I love the sensual, textural, flavourful quality of mashed potatoes and oozing cheese and silky chocolate, and I miss those things, and I miss feeling full.

It doesn’t matter how much willpower you have, you’re always battling it.

@Screamingabdabz But that's the point - and I'm not judging anyone, I've just lost three stone and am trying to maintain that. It is always a battle and therefore you do need a level of willpower.

I have the willpower right now because I want to be slimmer than I was and I don't to have to go through gaining a load of weight again just to have to lose it. It's so hard losing weight. That gives me willpower.

But it's not fucking easy. I think about every single piece of food that goes in my mouth. I have the willpower to stop myself overeating, I can live with hunger pangs, I might still think about food 24/7 - and on the outside it might look like I am doing a good of maintaining easily enough, but it's a bloody massive effort.

None of those apply to me, apart from "lack the willpower" which is the point I was making. Why do some people have the "willpower" and others don't. Assuming that otherwise they are functional adults, as I am, in other areas of their lives.

I think this is quite a simplistic view. The science has moved way beyond this. It's now widely accepted that it's down to hormonal responses. Some people's hunger cues don't switch off. They can see this in a lab.

It's just not as simple as they're greedy and thus they eat more.

Talking to people on mounjaro, they feel like on mounjaro like I feel like all the time.

They talk about how they don't 'think about food all the time' anymore. I don't think about food all the time, I'm not constantly looking to the next meal, I can have a cupboard full of chocolate and not eat it all week then have a bit as a treat on a Friday night without it being a massive challenge.

I read Ed Gamble's book Glutton, and he thinks and feels about food in a way that is totally alien to me, it was really interesting.

I was taught by my parents self control and delayed gratification for lots of things - spending, eating, studying

So it comes more easily to be careful than it might for someone who has to think about it - it's a habit to eat properly. It was bread and butter when I was starving between means ( cheap)

It's quite interesting how those early habits stick - we were always allowed 2 biscuits ( that way a packet lasted the week) - DH used to have one ( bigger family ) and I feel twitchy / insulted when given one rather than 2 for my snack

Delayed gratification is such an important skill to have - be it for weight or finances or working for exams

Some people aren't bothered by how much they eat.

Some people lack the willpower.

Some people are afraid of hunger feelings.

Some people don't understand food and nutrition.

Some people don't have the money - junk is cheaper.

Oh…a lovely thread where people can openly judge that fatties are greedy face-stuffing lard arses with no willpower. 🙄

Interesting that Oprah Winfrey has just recently commented that after taking weight loss injections she realised that the ‘food noise’ is the key. It doesn’t matter how much willpower you have, you’re always battling it. Naturally slim people don’t have that battle. People in the developing world don’t have that choice. But if they had the same junk food and poverty food overwhelm they’d be the same.

So quit with your judgey - ‘we’re slim because we’re better humans’ bollocks.

I'm 5'7 and weighed between 6st and 9st, up and down, during my 20s and 30s. Hit 40, medication put me up to 15st. Lost 6st late 40s by changing meds and being on the NHS weight loss programme.

52 and up to 17st. New meds. A lot of them, including anti psychotics which are notorious for weight gain.

Have lost 2st 7lb since end of September since getting a dog and only eating one meal a day. Now 53.

Money, & time & genetics. Especially for over 50s. Overweight ££ in SW London crowd, not many, now all on the jabs so will be vanishingly few any time soon.

I used to be overweight then tipped into obese, down to overweight again, and then went on a diet and reached a healthy BMI.

I love food and could happily eat all day long but I love being a healthy size more. I never want to be overweight again so every day I make conscious decisions about what to eat and what not to eat.

I will deny myself something that previously I would have eaten without a second thought because I like the way my body now feels, looks, and moves. No bar of chocolate or burger is worth giving up that feeling.

I am slim because I don't eat all that much. No breakfast, light lunch, ordinary portion of dinner covering all food groups. I very rarely eat cakes, crisps, biscuits etc - only if I go out for cake/tea with a friend - not at home. I don't eat every time I feel hungry - I wait for a meal. I don't snack in the evenings and I don't drink much in the way of alcohol - maybe 2 glasses of wine in a month.

They do not have leptin resistence.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4556270/