... To surmise that 'naturally skinny' goes hand in with either eating or digestive disorders

[5ChildrenAndIt]

The last counter-example in my circle of friends has just been diagnosed as Coeliac.

I now know no one who is vogue-slim without either food trauma in their past or under medical treatment for digestion or immune disorders.

I'm a bit unsettled by it tbh! Do skinny, healthy and happy people even exist?

Out of my friends, the naturally skinny ones are the ones that are either naturally anxious, unrelaxed peeps that run a lot of adrenalin ie worry a fair amount and are fidgety, and are also not that great at cooking, (though they may think they are) When I go visit them I end up hungry and notice their kids fill up on biscuits.

Neither of my naturally skinny friends would recognise themselves from my description.

I am from a long line of naturally skinny people although no longer one myself! They have no eating disorders or digestive illnesses, but are generally all very high strung nervy fidgeters. That combined with having smoked 40 a day since their teens means they have all stayed skinny into their 60s.

The generation behind don't smoke, and are all much bigger.

Annie you can tone down your dramatic outrage a tad. I was saying 'Yes' to the OP's question 'Do skinny, healthy and happy people even exist?'. I was saying 'Yes I know naturally thin people and wished I was one of them', not 'Yes I wish I was sick and thin'.

Yep one here. No food intolerances or ED.

BUT I move a lot. Even sitting still i'm always jogging my leg up and down, I walk very fast, I move fast, I feel lazy and sluggish after sitting down to watch a film for a few hours. Also I don't sleep much, about 5hrs a night.

I am about 7 and a half stone and can eat whatever I like. I only ever put on weight if I make a concerted effort with rice pudding before bed and whole milk lattes and multiple junky snacks a day.

That said, I also DON'T tend to eat an enormous amount, but I definitely could without gaining weight, as a few months ago I got pretty sick of the above opinion (that I must be ill/dieting/have an ED) and made a deliberate effort to gain weight. I did, but it took an AWFUL lot of calories - about 2,500 a day and then I lost it all again when I had to edit my novel and work at the same time

My DH was underweight a couple of years ago despite eating like a horse constantly. The doctor had to rule out worms and a variety of other things. DH hated the way he looked, tried a variety of different things to gain weight but nothing seemed to work. He was constantly told how 'lucky' he was and how blessed he was to have the genes/metabolism he has, how people wish they had that problem so they could eat as many donuts as they wished etc. It really got him down and obviously was unhealthy too...

He quit energy drinks, started going to the gym and started eating regular high good fat snacks like nuts and avocado. He gained weight! He's now heading towards being overweight actually but in a muscly way, not a fat way .

I've met a few people in life with this gene or metabolism (whatever the hell it is!). So yes, they exist. It's just their natural body type. Quite often if you look at their parents they'll be the same or if they're not now they would have been when they were young. Not always though! I do know one woman whose mother and sister are overweight pear shapes and she, on the other hand, eats like a horse and is very slim.

Very high strung nervy fidgeters.

YES that is exactly like me and my mother who is also stick thin. Also her sisters are the same and all stick thin.

My aunt is a size 4 - and is 5'10" tall - she wears French and Italian clothes as the UK does not seem to provide for her. She exudes elegance...

She has not got an eating disorder or a medical condition, she eats healthily - will be the one to ALWAYS choose a tomato based sauce where I will choose cream or meat based.

She can also eat ONE biscuit, and - IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME - ONE - only ONE chocolate orange segment!

...dramatic outrage burns calories though, squoosh.

I am a size 8 and always have been. I'm in my 40s. I have a crap diet and eat lots of cheese and chocolate. I can quite easily sit and eat a whole packet of biscuits. I don't do any exercise but my weight only fluctuates by a few pounds. I am between 8 and 8.5 stone, always.

I have no eating disorders unless you count an addiction to diet coke and dried pineapple.

YABU
Come to my gym - lots and lots of healthy slim people who eat sensibly, exercise sensibly and enjoy life

I'm a long way past 30 and feel great thank you very much.

Im naturally an 8 without exercise and dieting - go down to a 4 if I diet etc.

Also I think your sizing category is off. Even when clinically underweight (6.5 stone) I was still a size 6/8 because of hip none structure. I am very petite though and have an almost concave stomach despite eating a LOT.

I don't look size zero esque, because of my natural body shape, but I have been underweight, have always been very very slim, just with proportionate curves. So I think actually your acceptable categories are off, because I certainly fit the naturally slim bit, but must be disqualified because I have hips and am in my twenties??

Er YABVU. What do you mean by skinny? I'm often called skinny but am in fact a very healthy weight.
I do a normal amount of excercise (walking everywhere as I don't drive), I eat normal portions of food including junk (too much junk). I'm a size 6. I think it's partly body type and partly that I self regulate without evening having to think about it.
I have no food issues and no issues with my digestive system.
People are meant to be slim, that should be the norm so to try and claim that all slim people have an illness is ridiculous.
In our society it's so easy to over eat and easy to do no excercise. If someone is eating so much that they are gaining weight then perhaps it is them with the eating disorder? Not the slim person who has maintained the same weight for 15yrs.

Me. Although I'm short so maybe I don't count...

That's me ! I have just one biscuit for the most part. I just don't fancy more.

I too order clothes online but these days places like topshop do a size 4 which fits ok. Bras on the other hand..

Active and healthy eating gives an athletic body shape - which is actually quite far removed from fashion-skinny - apart from anything else because you have muscles. And I said 30+ in the sense of being mature (not still growing).

Sorry, I misread those first few responses as people agreeing that naturally thin women don't exist but you'd be happy to be thin even if it took a medical condition.

YABU. I am naturally skinny. I never had any food issues, I am not fussy, I have a normal diet and never had digestive problems.
In my case, it is mainly genetics and a fast metabolism.
I did try to put on weight when I was a teenager because of derogatory comments from mainly my peers and my own mother (thanks Mum!) but it didn't work.
So here I am today, a healthy 36 yo naturally skinny woman.

If people are skinny it is because they don't eat much or if they do, they exercise a lot. I used to work with a bloke that seemed to eat rubbish all day long but he cycled about 8 miles each way to work everyday. I don't think I've met anyone skinny 'naturally'.

And just as a point of fact, it is quite possible to have quite bad Crohns and still be overweight. Which personally I find extremely unfair (although it does help during acute flare ups as you have something to lose).

Me. I'm a size 6 to 8, have had three children and eat what I want. Sometimes it's an apple or vegetable soup and sometimes it's a curry or a bar of chocolate. I'm a fairly good cook and most of our food is homemade. I have no medical conditions either.
Interestingly though, I don't worry about what I eat, which I think is a key. I have no qualms about leaving food on my plate when I'm full and I don't obsess about what I eat, or use food as a punishment or reward.
I see so many of my friends beating themselves up because they have a slice of cake, or a packet of crisps and it makes me sad for them. They have no joy in their food and treat it as an enemy to conquer.

And before anyone comes along to growl at me, I DO know how lucky I am not to worry about my weight. I have plenty of other things to worry about though.

The OP wasn't talking about people who maintain a healthy weight through diet and exercise Talkin- or at least that wasn't the impression I got.

I am not skinny but I am slim. Im a size 8, 5 ft tall, weigh about 8 stone, am almost 37 and three kids aged between 3-6. I have always hovered between size 8-10. I eat what I want but often I want healthy food. I dont like too much processsed food so mainly eat fruit, veg and meat. I do eat plenty of biscuits though. I often bake cakes and will eat about half of it myself. I love crisps but will limit myself to 1-2 packs a week.

If I want a triple choc muffin I will have it, but it would be a couple of times a month. Yesterday I was starving after my salad sandwich so I had a double cheeseburger and chocolate muffin from McD's. I loved it but I wouldnt eat it again today.
I get plenty of exercise in terms of walking, I used to run up until about 3 mths ago and it didnt affect me weight, only my fitness level.

I have a sensible approach to eating, I dont deprive myself of treats but I dont live on processed foods either. I am also lucky in that I have a high metabolism but I think that is helped by the fact that I have a lot of muscle.

And I wasn't dissing them - I admired them for having a slim figure without being obsessed with diet and exercise. It is just now genuinely a bit and to realise that I was looking at symptoms of illness. (3 are Coeliac, 1 is diabetic and 1 has just now come out as anorexic).