to think that people's weight is mostly down to how they're made?

[blackwell]

OK, I know there are a few people who either overeat massively or starve, but I think that in general if people are 'heavily built' or 'lightly built' that is just how they are. I would say most of my friends eat roughly the same amount, yet there is quite a big difference in size between us. Some people are just naturally slim and maintain it without effort, and others are naturally bigger and it would take a massive effort for them to maintain a size 8/10 whatever.

It's a massively unscientific theory, I know, mainly based on my personal acquaintance!

I have a friend who has always been very thin. SO much so that when younger people assumed she was anorexic (she wasn't). She has a small appetite, and will eat until she is full, but this doesn't take long. So she eats less, yes, but it is easy for her and requires no self-discipline at all. Envious? Hell, yes!

Some of it is definitely the snack thing - my twin sister is about 1.5 stone lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight, and I have realised slowly that she will have one or two biscuits and then refuse more, whereas I will want to eat the whole packet. She also naturally exercises more (lives in 3rd floor flat rather than bungalow; until a couple of weeks ago had 20 min walk to work instead of driving; has no car so has to carry all shopping home herself; has active partner who goes running and guilts her into it). I used to be a size 8/10 until I left uni and suddenly stopped walking so much/dancing all night/working standing up all day and went up a dress size. I went on a proper calorie counting and exercising diet at the beginning of last year and I did lose a stone and a half, but I put the half back on when I stopped being quite so focused on it.

I don't think you can say that exercise doesn't make a difference - it does! I was combining it with a restricted calorie diet, but it was the exercise that seemed to make the difference. It made me feel happier and so I wouldn't feel so hungry. For some reason, if I've been exercising, I don't want to eat like a pig and waste it, whereas if I come in from a hard day sitting at a desk, I will happily eat a slab of chocolate/order a takeaway just because I'm tired. Maybe it's an energy thing.

Discobeaver,leonie;thanks for the suggestions,interestingly,my father is type 2 diabetic.They didn,t discover it for days;my dad is pushier than me and he got them to book him into hospital for days for tests.It was a couple of days before the results showed he was diabetic.I don't think it would go down very well with my husband and 3 kids if i booked myself into hospital for several days!

fat people eat more than thin people

thats it. Honestly

(unless they have vv obscure condition -but you probably havn't)

I am a stone overweight myself-but only because I eat crisps and biscuits and sit on my arse watching TV of an evening

I was on holiday in France last month and the ONLY overweight people I saw were British. Lots of people in this country eat crap diets. I also think the habit of eating our main meal in the evening rather than at lunch is a problem. I loved that everything stopped for 2 hours (at least, longer if it was a nice day) because people valued eating well over chasing money..

Notyummy - I started going swimming 3 times a week during the summer after 2nd year, and I lost a stone in six weeks! It was phenomenally fast!

But exercise (as in going to the gym) does not make people lose weight, it is cutting down on food that does that. STudy after study shows it and most exercise professionals will admit it.

I suspect that if you are exercising in order to lose weight you may be cutting down on food at the same time.

People are significantly fatter than they were 30 years ago. So something that people are putting in their mouths is contributing to that, I would say.

Dinosaur,I think there could be something in that.When you have 3 very different children,you do have a better understanding of the different body types,and how it seems to effect what you eat and how much you move.

Leoni, low carb diets seem particularly effective for people like you, with fat around the middle and blood sugar swings. Breastfeeding helps many women lose weight (but not much, about 6lbs more than women who don't) but other women find their metabolism slows down to compensate for the energy loss. You'd survive a famine well, but that's not much consolation!

LeQueen - as a contribution to burning energy, gym visits are absolutely negligable for most people!

I think people are rounding on LeQueen because they don't want to hear it - but she's right.

Eat loads, sit on sofa - get fat.
Eat less, move - get slim.

I don't know anyone who is naturally a size 8 or 10, and maintains it without any effort. I do however, know a lot of size 8 or 10 women, who keep an eye on what they eat, and who always appear very active.

Of course there are naturally thin people who aren't doing anything special or watching the calories, just as there are people whose body shape is naturally larger. I know this because I do not watch what I eat, never have done and am not especially active. I do walk a fair bit (around a mile or two most days) but other than that I'm a (skinny, 8 stone) lazy slob. And I am currently having a fishcake and chips with a gherkin and mushy peas for lunch because I was so hungry I couldn't wait any longer. I had a big bowl of porridge with full cream milk and golden syrup for breakfast and will be eating roast gammon, roast potatoes and parsley sauce (more full fat milk) for dinner. And vegetables, obviously (with butter on them). I'll probably eat two or three pieces of fruit and a packet or two of crisps over the afternoon and I had three biscuits mid-morning. I need a lot of calories just to stay at 8 stone. I don't want to go back to being 7 stone and too skinny for all the clothes in the shops.