Why are some people prone to being chubby?

[Scarlet2906]

I don't believe any person is naturally obese without consuming a massive amount of calories either through food, drink or both but I do believe that I am naturally prone to being mildly overweight. I am currently 2st overweight.

I have been thin in the past but only when I was barely eating anything all day. I have to go on a huge calorie deficit to lose even a small amount of weight.

I honestly don't eat any more than people that are an healthy weight and regularly go to bed hungry. I also have a job that must burn a lot of calories as I am on my feet all day and on top of that I walk a lot every week. I regularly walk 2 miles home from work.

Are you the same? Do you think that I might have a problem with my thyroid?

This. There's also all the stupid starvation etc comments if you say you are on 1000-1100 to lose. My maintenance is around 1200-1400. Anything else makes me gain. But say this on here for instance and you get all the stupid comments saying you'll mess your metabolism up, go into starvation mode, eat muscle. Unfortunately some of us short menopausal women have to eat a lot, lot less.

@WiseBrownOwl I so agree with you. Post menopause I can only eat around 1400 calories a day to avoid putting on weight. I also exercise.

My intake has been described as a "miserable existence" on here but despite being a very greedy person I am absolutely determined not to be overweight so that's what I have to do.

Exactly, I’m not menopausal but I do about 7,000 steps a day and eat 1000-1200 to lose weight. If I eat closer to 1400 unless I’m exercising intensely which I’m not able to do atm, I end up just maintaining.

I have 33% body fat and thankfully actually have higher than average muscle and bone mass . I’m at no risk of being or looking skinny even when I get rid of the excess fat. Starvation isn’t my concern at the moment 🤭

In my experience (others will no doubt disagree) - Stress, sleep, UPF, hormonal changes, gut microbiome, genes, exercise, medication, insulin sensitivity - all play a part in appetite and how your body deals with calories from different foods.

Excess stress has an awful impact on our bodies and minds. The damage that stress can cause is massively under-rated by professionals.

Sleep deprivation; sleep is so important for a number of factors. It's been proven that a bad night sleep will cause you to eat more calories and usually 'bad' calories (i.e. UPF's).

UPF's have a lot to answer for. They are made purposefully to be over-eaten as they are manufactured to be addictive. It's been proven that UPF's can irrevocably change the neurotransmitter messages in the brain (see Chris van Tulleken's 'ultra processed people' book/TV program) so you eat the food item and your brain craves more so you eat more. It's designed to be eaten quickly so you eat more calories in the same time frame as you would eat a meal that you'd cooked from scratch.

Menopause wreaks havoc for some women. It's impossible to establish the exact science on how oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone fluctuations affect women's appetites and how the body deals with the food they eat because we are all individuals.

Gut microbiome - so much research is happening into this (the gut is the 2nd brain etc) and how bad microbes eat the good microbes in your gut if 'the wrong food for you' is eaten (i.e. some people have a low spike in blood sugars when they eat porridge whereas others have a massive spike) and this has an impact on your appetite.

From my own experience of weight gain/loss/maintenance over the years, all these factors play a part and that's before you've even eaten a calorie! There shouldn't be an 'eat less/move more' mantra anymore as Science is discovering that there are so many factors that contribute to someone's body shape, fat disposal/storage and appetites.

So, OP, I don't necessarily agree with your comment 100% "I don't believe any person is naturally obese without consuming a massive amount of calories either through food, drink or both" as obesity does occur in people because of factors out of their control. But of course there will always be some people that your comment would apply to.

My father is obese and my mother is skinny. The difference between what they eat and how active they are is striking. My dad would always look for extra food, have large meals of several courses and snack constantly. He used to be very active (he was a competitive ballroom dancer and crazy about skiing) but stopped moving completely after being diagnosed with high blood pressure over 40. He’s had type 2 diabetes for many years now that completely ruined his health.
My mum is the fidgety type, always doing something and always up and about. She has always had severely restricted food preferences - I believe she would be diagnosed with ARFID if born in different times because she basically eats the same three-four things every day.
The food I got at home as a kid was always restricted to the same three meals because my mum would not tolerate anything she would not eat herself on the table.
I only tried different things and other dishes when eating out with my dad (which was often).

I think being overweight is largely influenced by the environment - if there’s no food, even a person with fat genes won’t be overweight. There are also a lot of bad habits or good habits around food that can be learned. My parents were definitely not role models in this area but I’ve learned to eat at the table, to cook and to appreciate quality bread.
I think I land somewhere between my parents because I have a tendency to overeat and had to consciously teach myself how to recognise when enough is enough, on the other hand, I lose weight quickly and I’m also the fidgety type. I’ve never been overweight at least according to BMI.

It’s only since I have been on Mumsnet and reading about what people normally eat that I realised that I eat a lot of vegetables and fermented foods every day. I assumed everyone does that!