To ask why it is that it is accepted that people can be naturally thin, but not naturally fat?

[MrsShawnHatosy]

Just that really. It seems to me that if one can be true so can the other. But fat is seen as something blameworthy, always.

Just checked with my partner and you're right to question me - I was convinced it was NHS but am wrong!

AI tells me it's an ad by Eli Lilly.

The Bouchard twin study 1990 and more recently Dr Chris Gardener's Stanford twin study showed that despite people being fed exactly the same calories and activity being strictly controlled there was a massive variation in weight gain/loss due to individual issues.

There are many differences that affect our hunger and how our body uses food - genetic/environmental/pyschological/cutural and gut microbiome.

So it is true @MrsShawnHatosy that some people are set up to be naturally thin and some to be naturally fat.

Unfortunately we are socially conditioned not to believe this - to blame other people (and ourselves) for weight gain and to congratulate others (and ourselves) for being thin.

It has allowed a massive diet and exercise industry to flourish that is ineffective at best and dangerous at its worst.

I’m sure I saw Eli Lilly mentioned somewhere at the end of the ad - I remember rolling my eyes that the company making millions from weight loss jabs was behind the ads telling people they need help losing weight and will never keep it off themselves. But the advertisement was for a national obesity website.

The gut microbiome and its constituents are massively involved in weight, as the mice studies etc, and many human subjects also, have shown - where weight is gained or lost with no change to the diet after stool transfers from fat or thin humans.

I think there’s accepted body shapes as well, such as hourglass. I always thought I was a little tubby. It turns out I have a pear shaped frame, so my hips are always going to be broader.

its a big generalisation that thin people especially men say they can eat as much as they like and never put on weight. This may on the surface look to be true, but look at their arteries they will be clogged, do some bloods and they tell a different story. Theres no naturally thin or fat. For woman there’s loads of things to take into consideration. Hormones. Pcos. Gestational diabetes.

We never see a slim person and say they dont eat enough.

You have not met my extended family!

There absolutely fat people in prison maybe not obese. But I have seen some people
become overweight when they weren’t previously

Many people who went to school during the 60s and 70s will tell you that fat children were pretty rare.

I think it's no coincidence that the introduction of large high street supermarkets, takeaway deliveries, 2 & 3 car families, games consoles, the internet and far fewer children playing out in the streets means there's been an explosion in obesity for both adults and children.

This is the result of 'naturally' eating too much and not exercising enough.

No-one is "naturally" fat.

Some people can eat loads but burn it off more efficiently than others, so they are slim naturally.

Some people aren't very interested in food and eat just to fuel their body, not for pleasure, so they are naturally slim.

Some people have to use discipline to maintain their slim body - or they would get fat.

But it's not natural to overeat, because it's harmful for the body.

I'm fat because I eat more than I need to.

It's because of negative attitudes to fatness, OP. We know there is genetic contribution to build, set point (your natural weight) and appetite/drive for food. I work in a specialist area related to this. Being overweight is demonised but natural for some, and beauty standards are very narrow. Fatness is not a moral failing. Also many thin people you see will have sub clinical restrictive eating and claim to eat normally. Like the competitive under eaters on MN for example.

Look at what that was originally called-it was meant to be used at a population level, not for the individual. My gym trainers want the term banned for individuals, as it would put lots of their instructors in the overweight category, despite the fact that they are much healthier than thin people with lots of visceral fat.
There are many people who have always been slim, but then become overweight as a result of illness etc. One that I know had cancer, one a brain tumour, but despite eating less now than they used to, they are overweight.
Equally, my mum (in her words) ate like a pig, but was very underweight.

OP, while the 3 categories ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph don't mean that some of us are greyhounds while some of us are pugs, it is a fact that some people eat less but are bigger than others. Even when you look at old photos, back when lots of people had very little food, some people were bigger than others. A lot of the older women in my family were, despite the fact they ate less.

People can be accepted whatever size they are, but there is no such thing as a "naturally fat" person.
There are people who are predisposed to carry body fat, or who find it harder to stay slim. But there is no such thing as a person who is destined to be overweight regardless of what they eat or how active they are.
Id argue the same is true for the opposite though, there is also no such thing as a "naturally slim" person.

But there has been research done that proves some people are 'naturally' skinny where naturally means that the skinny outcome is effortless and those people can eat whatever they like so endless high fat, high sugar food, do no exercise where that means walking/sports/aerobics etc. not just existing in the house. It is a tiny % of the population I believe more men than women but it does exist. Unsure about the opposite but I suppose some obviously have a propensity to put on lots more weight from fatty food than others.

No one is naturally fat. You have to proactively put the food or drink in your mouth to get fat, you have to not put it in your mouth to be slim.

what is different is peoples bodies, their propensity to over est their activity levels and multiple heslfh factors which can make it impossible to not put the food in your mouth,

and I did get fat, I was not naturally so, however due to some health issues I found it impossible to get out of. I used mounjaro, which enabled me to get to a healthy weight and stay there, showing it was not just I was lazy or greedy but needed what the medication provided to confrol my metabolic issues and allow me the space to make healthy choices.

Fair point. I think we all have a ‘natural’ weight but most of us are above it. I think the ‘natural’ weight for each person is determined by genetics and hormones. So you get some people who are naturally tall and gangly eg Jeremy Vine, you get others who are naturally short and muscular eg Simone Biles. Obviously Simone has trained to be exceptionally muscular but you’ve got to have the right body type in the first place to build that muscle. Then you get many other types eg rugby player build - these people are naturally heavier. Looking at women, you get some who are very curvy with a big bust, bottom and hips and some who are the opposite. You get both extremes among African women, whereas women from the far east seem to be mainly of a slighter build.

People also "wear" weight differently. My DM is 13lb heavier than me but 4 dress sizes bigger. Im straight up and down whereas she is more of an hourglass shape.

I am small boned, my DH and DN are big boned. DH is overweight whereas DN hasnt an ounce of fat on him.

I also think out sense of normal weight has gone out the window. We are rewatching Roseanne with our teen. We told him that when we were their age Dan and Roseanne were the fattest people we had ever seen.

Im also watching ER. The language used to describe overweight patients is cruel. But 300lbs is seen as grossly obese.

These days DH is 240lb (over 17stone) at 5'8" and the GP has told him his weight is ok. He has recently put himself on a diet as he thought he was 16 stones - which he still knew he should lose weight from.

The documentary I saw based on the research above did conclude there 'is' a naturally skinny person not thin, skinny but it was hardly anyone in their sample, everyone else who thought they were naturally skinny where actually not and environmental factors were the cause.

Were not "where"

Not true, my DH can not put weight on and he eats like a horse!

The basic principle is right here, but it's a bit simplistic. Weight loss and gain are driven by calorie balance, but metabolism isn't the same for everyone. People naturally vary in muscle mass, activity levels, appetite, hormones and genetics, all of which affect how many calories they burn and how easy they find it to maintain a particular weight. So it's not just a question of willpower.

The main selling point of fat jabs is it shuts off 'food noise' and is the number 1 factor that people who take it report. Shutting off the 'food noise' makes people eat less so they lose weight. There are gastric effects too but the primary selling point is 'stop food noise'.

I've not seen anyone using them say 'I eat exactly the same as before but I'm magically losing weight'. It's always 'I'm not constantly thinking about food anymore so I eat less'.

I love sweet things /chocolate and eat something sweet after lunch and dinner -I knew someone who didn’t like sweets-just not interested. They were slim.

Well, neither overweight nor underweight are healthy states. But slim vs fat? There are a plethora of health issues associated with the latter. There’s a reason you don’t see morbidly obese people in their 80s.