The Naturally Thin Thread
 

Well how do you do it?

well, I'm not one of them but I'd guess that a lot of it has to do with genetics or metabolism.

The other part could be how they were raised... it they were raised in an active house and ate nutritious foods, or if they were told they had to clean their plate before they left the table, no matter what was on it.

I think that most of it starts when they were a kid.

I also think now days we are seeing less and less "naturally thin" kids, b/c they'd rather be inside on the computer or in front of the TV instead of outside playing.

My sis in law in naturally thin and fit. Her motto is to not eat anything she couln't have found on grandma's farm table, walk every day, and spend fun time with children and animals whenever possible. She doesn't watch much TV and is not a computer-phile either. She eats breakfast, a fruit & grain.

The whole idea of being naturally thin takes away the credit of the people who are working at staying healthy and fit.

Naturally thin? Ya maybe as a school aged child.

The people I know who are rail thin eat like birds. High metabolism? Not really, they don't eat enough, or push any weights. When I think of naturally thin I think of people underweight by bmi standards. Most of the time these individuals barely consume enough calories and hardly do any exercise.

Most underweight people have as many body issues as overweight, the two sides of the spectrum no one wants to be at.

Maybe there is such thing as naturally thin, but I think for 90% of people out there, your body will be a direct reflection of your lifestyle and nutrition choices.

There are no free passes to staying fit and healthy.

my husband eats like crap. loves sweets and carbs, and never ate well. he grew up on twinkies from 7-11.

hes very fit, stays toned, and has never been overweight a day in his life. he does have a physically demanding job, but even before he was doing that, he was thin. he can eat whatever, however, and he just doesnt gain (he has even tried to put on a few pounds).

i dont know how he does it, i just hope that my kids will be blessed with his metabolism.

Noel, do you want to (ahem) weigh in on this?

Hi Canary, I've been away from home all day and we are getting a new computer so I will have to keep this short but I will add to it.

I stumbled on "How to Become Naturally Thin by Eating More" 20 years ago after 10 years of very severe dieting and trying all methods. And no, I did not fail, the diets themselves failed me! I was always successful with everything but eventually my appetite would return with a vengence and I would regain and then little by little, I was becomming fatter. All this time I was exercising and working at a gym AND worked as a Diet Center counselor for two years.

Now I am 65 years old, I work out lifting serious weights (with a trainer) and I'm in the gym six days a week. I am 5' 5 1/2" tall and I weigh 127 pounds and my BMI is 21.3. I have plenty of energy, I'm not some emaciated little old lady, and I eat very well. I never restrict food, I eat when I'm hungry. My average calories is about 1800, sometimes as much as 2200 if I need it. I don't have to weigh myself all the time and my clothes always fit.

It is a little miracle, Canary thank you for that great quoteYou asked how I do it and I will tell you... I EAT WHEN I'M HUNGRY AND MY BODY DOES THE REST FOR ME. It's called "adaptation theory."

More in another post when I can get back to the computer... Noel

Thanks for sharing, everyone! Interesting responses.

Noel, I started on the book you recommended; I'll let you know what I think once I read more. Because of your name, I assumed you were male.

I was average sized as a kid, gained weight as an adolescent and have been battling my weight for years. I've always liked exercise, not sports per se, but exercise. (my Dad was a big fitness guy but with a terrible diet.) My Mom died of a heart attack; my Dad of a stroke but they both had terrible stress besides bad diet. I went through various eating issues and other stuff I won't get into here.

When I was 40, I worked out with a trainer and was at the gym 6 days a week. I was in the best shape of my life, not the thinnest but the best shape. Then I got very sick, needed total knee replacement, etc. I lost 10 lbs. last year after a difficult surgery and recovery and managed to keep it off.

I'm 5'5", my weight hovers around 136-7 give or take a couple of pounds and I am struggling to regain mobility and muscle tone. And also to find a sane and healthy approach to eating. Would also love to model good behavor for DD who has health as well as weight issues. I have fibromyalgia and high blood pressure both being treated with meds.

So that's my (rather long) story! At least part of it!

naturally thin...
 

I guess we all are, underneath the layers of fat and false promises to ourselves. :)

So she's thin because she eats well and exercises? I thought this was about people who are just NATURALLY thin.

There is no such thing. People who are thought to be 'naturally thin' or have a 'fast metabolism' either eat less calories or exercise more. People don't consider how the little things matter. One person might wash dishes, wash/fold laundry, go grocery shopping, and prepare a meal on a given day. Another person might watch some TV, take a quick nap, search for the closest parking lot to the store, have a microwave meal, and use a dishwasher. Small things add up. Few people seem to realize this. There are small differences in how people absorb the foods they eat but they will not account for one person being slim and fit while another sports a beer belly and is out of shape. Unhealthy people need to stop complaining about their 'slow metabolism' and healthy people need to stop feeling lucky for being 'naturally thin'. They're just myths.


PS: Also, I'm not knocking naps. They're great. But you will certainly be burning less calories if you're napping rather than going for an afternoon walk.

To me, being naturally thin means my body controls how much and when I eat through the mechanism of my appetite. I like what eahearn said best, it's just food, it's not something to feel bad or good about oneself over. If I exercise more, I'm naturally hungrier and I just eat until I'm satisfied. Likewise, I'm interested in eating healthy food because I just feel better.

A body in famine (and famine is either quality of food or quantity of food) is highly sensitized to food in the enviornment. When a body is well nourished, food is just food. Caloric restriction causes the body to change biochemically, over time, to favor storage of fat. Poor quality eating, reckless eating, late eating all contribute to famine.

It's Christmas, I eat a little more chocolate but no big deal. I'm not in famine and my body just isn't that interested in "pigging out" on candy. I don't binge like I used to when I was "dieting" and trying to get to a smaller weight.

I was slender before, as a child, had a period of years of dieting and trying to control it artifically, and now I'm slender again and I eat when I'm hungry and food doesn't "call" to me all the time. My appetite is my friend, not my enemy. I'm not up in the middle of the night, laying in bed, talking to myself about not getting up to eat. Exercise is a joy, not a "have to burn calories" sort of thing.
Noel

That seems very anecdotal to me. By the rules of human biology the body stores calories during moments of calorie surplus. When you reach a point of having a caloric deficit the body uses stored energy to meet your energy needs. There is really no need to complicate this principle.

For one thing when I was in the period of my rapid weight loss I regularly ate 2-3 meals long after most people would be going to bed. I would eat before bed without caring. It had no effect on my weight loss. Its calories in calories out. Not when you eat.

Noel, I think what you mean by late eating is eating past the time when you are initially hungry; is that true? At least that's how I understood it from the book you recommended: How to Become Naturally Thin by Eating More, by Jean Antonello, which is where the title of the thread came from. It doesn't mean being born thin and staying that way magically (or because we are blessed with good genetics). It means being thin in a more natural way without restrictive and unrealistic diets. That's what the person who posted about her sister in law's diet meant too, I think. Eating natural food in a natural way.

I read the book and while I think it is restrictive itself in some ways, dividing foods into categories (real, borderline and pleasure) and does indeed give a food list at the end, I am going to try the approach it offers. I already do some of it. I have to eat when I'm hungry or I get sick. But I will stop weighing counting measuring every morsel and "punishing" myself for eating too much when I keep working so hard to restrict myself and "watch" myself. In other words, I'm going to stop obsessing about what I eat and just eat, the best foods I can. But limiting myself to chocolate once a month? Not gonna happen. Still you did say you have a little bit of dark chocolate fairly often, if not every day. I can live with that (and I don't need chocolate every day, just the thought that I can have things I want without suffering the backlash that inevitably follows when I put myself on yet another unmanageable plan.) And that's what I want: a diet (yes I used the d word) I can live with, in other words, a diet that isn't a DIET, just a healthy natural way of eating. I think we can all agree that whatever way you eat, you need to have something you can live with or any weight loss is going to be temporary, no? And what a simple yet revolutionary idea: that we can trust ourselves to feed ourselves properly and exercise for the pure enjoyment of it.

As the mother of 3 daughters I can contribute some things to this conversation. Our oldest and our youngest take after me, they love carbs and both of them are a little on the chunky side, and neither of them are prone to energetic outbursts. Don't get me wrong they are energetic, just not in sudden outbursts. Our middle child is fed the same foods as the other two but she is quite thin. So I've been trying to study her without seeming to focus on her size. Anyway what I can say is that our middle DD does a lot of things that you are supposed to do in order to lose weight, she has short bursts of extreme energy, where she hops or climbs or jumps up and bounces around and/or claps her hands with insane intensity, she does this several times a day. I've come to think of those moments as her subconsciencious HIIT workout. She also skips breakfast most days, or will only eat 3-4 bites of it, so as a mother I focus on making sure her breakfast is nutritious, quality-yes, quantity-never. The oldest and youngest like breakfast and usually help themselves, most of the time they make good choices but not always (especially our youngest). Also the middle child is something of a hoarder. If we give all the kids some sort of snack or treat, she will be the one to finish hers last and torment the other two with it as long as possible, so much so that she will actually get bored with it and forget to eat it all together. Example: Halloween candy, the oldest and youngest finished theirs more than a month ago, the middle child ate maybe a 1/3 of hers and then proceeded to torment her sisters with the 3 full sized candy bars she had, then forgot about it completely and I ended up tossing about 1/2 of it just before Christmas. All of our 3 DD's eat pretty healthy, but the middle child gravitates toward lower calorie, low fat, more than the other two. For example it's not uncommon for her to ask for a side of salad at dinner time, whereas the other two want rolls with butter and corn.

So when we talk about "naturally thin" I think it does occur, but it's more about a person's natural inclination to exercise and diet as it is about having a fast metabolism. I can tell you that my metabolism is much different at 150 than it was at 244. I have a ton of energy, but now when I'm hungry I need to eat but I can also control myself (most of the time), before when I was hungry I could hold off longer, but had much less control when I did get to eat.

What a great set of observations and analysis, Almeeker.
Thank you for sharing it with us.

Hey no problem. It's been pretty eye opening for me to live with and study a skinny kid. I've been trying to come up with ways to give myself short bursts of energy...

Meanwhile I've also been sort of studying my DH's sisters (complete opposite ends of the scale) and I'm convinced that the larger of the two eats a healthier diet and the smaller one lives on veggy dogs and junk food. However the smaller one also runs marathons and such, so there you go.

Wow, you just described me as a kid! I would drive my parents nuts because I would "save" all of my treats too! I remember when they found a bag of cotton candy on top of a shelf in my room. It was so old it looked like a piece of stained glass! :eek: And those huge Hershey Park candy bars? I would nibble a corner then forget I had it.

I was not skinny, I was tiny but muscular due to constantly climbing, jumping, etc. I was pretty hyper and had trouble sitting still for long. I also was not and am still not a breakfast eater.

I still "forget" about my stashes! I recently found a bunch of dark chocolate that I tossed because I had no idea how old it was! And I still have those hyper spurts but never thought of them as mini HITT workouts! Thanks! :D

Canary, WOW, I think you've "got it!" Yes, I do eat dark chocolate every single day, I love it and I eat an ounce or so and it doesn't hurt me a bit. And the reason I don't eat late in the day is because I am so well fed during the day that I don't need to eat late. It's not a "rule," it's just the way it is.

I believe that every famine is followed by a feast and the science says we are programmed that way... and since I no longer go that route, I dont' binge and haven't for over 20 years. TWENTY YEARS! I can't abuse my body any more for the sake of being a weight that I think in my head "sounds good" or fits some formula. My goodness, of course thermodynamics works but I know for sure that if I undereat, I'm going to eventually overeat... my appetite will catch up. Survival mechanism, plain and simple.

I go with the idea of "habits not diets" and it works for me. I am a persistent person and I found the right solution for me and now I have peace with my body. I wish the same for everyone else. It's a good place to be. Noel

One more thing... back in the day, I read a popular book by Bob Schwartz called Diet's Don't Work. It didn't resonate with me at that time but I remember one thing. He said he used to own a gym and often had clients come to him and ask how to GAIN weight. His answer: put them on a calorie restricted diet, then let them eat freely... and every single time without fail, the clients gained weight. Go figure!

I'd be willing to bet you there's hardly a single person on this forum who hasn't experienced more than one attempt to lose weight by the method of calories in/calories out restriction. If it worked so well, why is everybody still doing it? Why do we always say "this time" it will work and then when it doesn't, we blame ourselves... next time I'll get a trainer, next time I'll log every bite, next time I won't eat any carbs, next time I'll eat more protein, next time I'll pay a zillion bucks, etc. I know people who have dieted themselves UP to over 300 pounds and are still looking for the magic pill. These things all work for a little while, not forever.

I've got to respectfully disagree with this--sorry.

Biology, physics, etc. tell us that in an organic organism:

If energy expended is greater than energy taken in, weight loss will occur. How can it not? Was Einstien wrong? Are we who want to lose weight some sort of perpetual motion machines?

Of course not. If we eat less calories than we burn, we WILL lose weight. Period. End of story.

Now, if we UNDERESTIMATE our calorie intake, and/or OVERESTIMATE our calorie burn, then weight loss may very well NOT occur and we may even gain weight. This is what derails weight loss.

I will say that every single time I have reduced my calorie intake and ACCURATELY tracked my food intake I have lost weight.

Now, keeping weight off w/o logging one's intake is an entirely different topic and one that I'm still working on.

Regards,
Michael

Michael, I recently bought into this whole fasting thing. Check out a book by Brad Pilon called Eat Stop Eat.

I started this method and stopped counting calories and nutrient macros. I have still been able to lose weight. I have been able to eat more freely. I can eat what I want when I want where I want. Of course I do not go out of control with this I normally eat very healthy, just as I would if I were counting calories. But if I want some cheese, bacon, or ice cream I won't have food guilt afterwards. This method also works for maintenance.

In fact while most people fought and lost the battle of the bulge over the Christmas holiday, I lost 2 lbs. And I was having Christmas potlucks and cookies.

I think if there is such a thing as a "naturally thin" person, it's a person who maintains a healthy weight without having to constantly remind themselves to move their body or to pay attention to what they eat.

I have a friend who is in her 50's, and is envied for her slim, athletic figure. She says she never exercises
. But one thing I've noticed is that she is always on the go. She moves through life like a bee or a hummingbird, from one task to the next. She can't sit and relax for long before she needs to get up and "do" something, and can't stand the physical sensations of being still for long. When she prepares dinner, she moves quickly from fridge to counter, and always seems to have a certain amount of muscle tension in her body.

I'm the opposite. I can sit in my chair and knit for hours, then go sit in another chair and use the computer. I rarely feel any need or desire to move my body. I'm nothing like a bee or a hummingbird. I'm more like a hippo. (And I don't mean body shape, although my body resembles a hippo's far more than my friend's does.)

I've discovered that in order to lose weight, I have to make a conscious and constant effort to move. It's not so hard once I've established a habit, but establishing the habit is a bitch, and so easy to let go of.

Another thing about my "naturally thin" friend is that, although she doesn't pay much attention to her calorie intake, she doesn't enjoy foods in the quantities that I do. Example: Years ago we were at a child's birthday party. One of the husbands cut slices of cake, and my friend and another "naturally thin" woman, both laughed at the size of the pieces. They said, "Only a man would cut the cake into such ridiculously huge pieces! Who could possibly eat all that?" Well, it looked like a reasonably sized piece to me! I had two slices and wished I could have more.

So what makes them different than me? Neither of those women were "on diets", or trying to force themselves to eat a certain way. What was natural for them was not natural for me. Is it genetics? Maybe. I'm the only one with obesity running through my family. Is it habit? Maybe. But why is it easy for them to make and keep that habit for a lifetime, and so hard for others?

These are just some thoughts I thought I'd throw out there, in my first post since falling of the wagon and gaining back all the weight I had lost.

You guys who are "dieting," go for it if that's what works for you and gives you the results you want. As for me, I like my results with "the anti-diet." I know more people who have dieted and gained back all their weight than people who have long term success with calorie restriction. And as Einstein also said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Every famine ends with a feast. It's science. It's biology. Go read about hunger hormones.

elderwanda, I've been both of the characters in your story about the chocolate cake. I'm not in diet famine any more and as for chocolate cake, I can take it or mostly leave it. Thank you for a thoughtful post. I was a diet counselor once upon a time and I had many many clients like you. One of the comments I heard often was "I'm successful in other areas of my life so why can't I do this?" Diets? "Been there. Done that. Didn't work." I'm all about results. "How To Become Naturally Thin by Eating More" is what worked for me.

Happy New Year! Good luck! I'm another one who didn't gain any weight over Christmas.

I agree--"diets" are short-term affairs. I don't consider keeping track of nutrition (including calories) to be a diet.

Have a great day everyone!

Regards,
Michael

PS No weight gain over the holidays here, either. :)

I have been on both sides of the "chocolate Birthday cake" as well, and I'm not even a huge fan of cake. How crazy is that? I'm also trying not to "diet" so much as give myself the tools to make good decisions. If I let myself take whatever piece of cake I want (and let's face it that would be the biggest piece with the most icing) but eat it without trying to figure out how many calories are in it. Then let myself eat whatever else I wanted throughout the rest of the day, including whatever craving popped up at the end of the carb crash, then I would probably be a pound or two heavier by the next day. On the other hand if I say to myself "Self we can have the cake and eat it too so long as the piece is not more than 200-300 calories", then my outcome for the day is a whole different story. So I do a little math in my head, and take a piece that is around 4" square with a thin film of icing, or maybe a slightly larger piece and scrap the icing off, and it's all good. The knowledge of how much I ate, helps to keep me from going overboard. I used to think the process of watching every bite you ate was exhausting, and maybe it is a little, however; the increased energy I have totally makes it worth the effort. So my overall goal is to lose the weight and at the same time give myself the mental tools/habits to stay somewhere in the "naturally thin" category. I'm not there yet, I may never be, but I've gotten a lot better than where I was a year ago.

Another thing I do now that really helps me is to eat ice cream out of a 1/2 cup measure with a small baby spoon. It sounds crazy, but I can seriously eat a mountain of ice cream. For a long time after starting this healthy living business I didn't touch ice cream, but then I found some that was 90 calories for 1/2 cup serving and I allow myself to have it occasionally.

I consider that being cognizant of one's diet. Learning where one's setpoints are is not deprivation, it's enlightenment.

I used to be "naturally thin". I used to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I had a vegetable garden, and I walked for hours every day, 2-3 hours just because I could. Walk to the store, walk b/c I'm bored, walk in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep, walk to class when I was in college. I didn't "exercise" much. But I walked for miles.

Then I had kids. At first, I could put the baby in the stroller and go, but not for hours like I used to, there was too many other things that needed to be done. I only lost 10 of the 30 lbs I put on, because it wasn't worth the effort since I planned on having another one anyway. About the time we were ready to try, my father in law passed, so that got put off by about a year. Put on 30 with the second, so up a total of 50 lbs from my "naturally thin" self.

But aside from not walking anymore, I also was eating a lot more. I got used to larger portions when I was pregnant and needed it, and had a hard time adjusting back to smaller sizes. I can't binge like I did even 6 months ago. My stomach physically can't handle it, like it couldn't when I was "naturally thin".

My dad died about the time I graduated college, and between my husband and I, we went to at least 3 funerals a year over a 7 year period, honestly I don't think I could list them all from memory. And I've developed arthritis and tendonitis issues between the time my daughter was 18 months old and now. So there's definitely some comfort eating in those years. Exercise is much harder than it used to be. I still miss the ease of walking, the stress relieving effects and the enjoyment of being outside. I hope to get back to my "naturally thin" habit of walking for hours on end when the kids are grown and I'm more free than I am now. In the meantime I'll be paying attention to what I eat and forcing the exercise as much as I can.

As for "every famine ends with a feast", there is some truth in that, and I think this is why extreme calorie restriction does not work long term. Starvation leads to binge eating. Mild restriction over a longer period leads to more sustainable weight loss IMO because you don't get that starvation-feast survival mechanism triggered. My two cents.

I am so grateful to everyone for weighing in (pardon the bad pun)!!! These posts are so interesting to me.

And thank you so much, Lizzy, for sharing and I am so sorry you have gone through such a tough time and still have so many challenges.

Honestly, I don't know the answers regarding the issues discussed here. All I know is that I put my scale in a hard to reach place in the basement today because I was too obssessed with weighing myself and I have not been tracking this past week or so. I am going to try to eat in a healthy sensible reasonable manner. So far, this has resulted in a little more eating, weight gain of about a pound but since I don't feel well eating so much (and especially a lot of foods I have trouble tolerating, including lots of dairy and sugar) I have a feeling it is going to level off. I just can't keep doing the same things waiting for different results, as in the Einstein quote.

On the other hand, I will be honest and say that the P90x infomercial looked damned tempting to me this morning. But since I know I am dealing with certain disabilities I will just take my baby steps, trying to eat right and keep moving. Also I have decided to try and trust myself, a scary concept indeed for me.

Happy New Year all! I hope you make postitive healthy choices, no matter what that means for you!!
Peace,
Hope

One more note: I was "naturally thin" not skinny but slim to average as a child. Sure I ate junk food but I ran around a lot too. Then puberty and incredible personal loss struck. I have been dieting since age 12. If there was a permanent solution in dieting I think I might have found it in 38 years, especially considering how focused I was (am) on it. So I will try the trust-myself-"anti-diet"-diet and see how that works.

BTW that does not mean overindulging myself; it just means I will eat when I am hungry stop when I am not and will do exercise that will challenge but not damage me.

Challenge but not damage me, I like that :p. It's sometimes hard for me to tell if I want to not hit the gym because I really do need to step back and rest, or I'm really able to do it today but I just don't want to. The balance is hard to find.

It is really hard to find, isn't it? I try to "listen to my body" but it gets very confusing. Sometimes what I want to do I am not capable of doing and if I try, it sets me back, which just makes it more discouraging. And I do think there's a difference beween not wanting to do it and your body actually needing rest and healing.

I'm 50. When I was 40, I was in the best shape of my life. I started with Bill Phillips Body for Life and then worked with two trainers who were former Marines. I worked out hard 6 days a week, people were actually stopping me and asking me my "secrets", asking me to train with them. Then at age 42, I got sick, really sick. Turned out it was fibromyalgia. That coupled with bad knees (three major surgeries, the last one knee replacement) has made it a challenge. I would LOVE to do something like P90X but lately I find even 30 minutes of mild execise difficult; it can take me days to recover. But without exercise, my knees hurt worse, my back goes into spasm and in general, my mood suffers. So I just have to go at my own slow pace and not get discouraged.

I just want you to know you're not alone. I am not "naturally thin" (at least not anymore and not for decades.) I am just wondering if there is a healthy sane approach to diet and exercise for me. My way may not be anyone else's (how could it be? We're all different.) I can only tell you I lost 10 pound before I even started Fitday just from the stess of the surgery and recovery (not a diet I'd recommend BTW) and gained a few back. I started in April of last year and now months later, I am one pound lighter than I was when I started. One pound. Sure I was about 6 pounds thinner for a while but I didn't keep the weight off. I just keep thinking there's got to be a better way, a way I can live with, not just a "quick fix."

Please forgive all the details. I'm still trying to "work it all out."

I was thinking about this thread when I was talking to my friend the other day. IDK if naturally thin is what most normal weight people are or not.

IMO, I think most normal weight people eat when they are hungry. No matter what time or how late. And also just eat what they are craving instead of eating other stuff to avoid eating "that bad food they want". So they probably end up eating less since they just ate what they were craving in the first place.

Occasionally I crave a certain type of donut so I will go get just one. I never feel guilty and I know a second one would never taste as good as that first one.

Yes! Yes! That's exactly what I was talking about! The question is: do I trust myself enough to do it?

This is my dream--sadly, I don't think it will ever happen.

I am, though, very glad you're able to live this way--good for you! :):):)

Regards,
Michael

The truth is I'm not sure I can do it either.

To paraphrase Clint Eastwood, "a man (or woman)'s gotta know his limitations". It may be that food addicts like me can never eat normally. Sort of like most alcoholics can't ever drink normally. If we know and accept that, perhaps we can at least stay healthy despite our "limitations".

Regards,
Michael

Good way to look at it, Mike. Good way to look at it. I'm not here to tell anybody how to do it. I still haven't figured that out myself!

My two kids were/are as different as can be. My son, tall, lanky, snack all the time and stayed skinny. He's almost 30 and still thin & muscular. His sister is constantly watching her weight, seems like she looks at food and gains.

From the start, he was a "slow" eater. Takes him a long time to finish a meal, he's busy talking, or looking around. He jiggles his feet and legs, his body is in constant motion, even when he's resting. He does a lot of physical things, like running, sports, games. As a child, he would play hard and then crash, and sleep good for the night. His sister, totally opposite. She like to read, watch movies, walk the dog, take a nap. When she's eating, she isn't doing anything else. She's a night owl.

I would consider my son "naturally thin". It's not that he tries, it's just he has a way of moving through life that trends toward that outcome. My daughter is not "naturally thin". She must be conscientious about her food intake and her energy output, she has to work at it.

Well, I have to be honest, my secret is...I hate food shopping in these super size grocery stores here. I get overwhelmed at the thought of going down all those scary middle aisles looking for what I need so I usually just skip them.

If I am craving a treat I have to actually get in my car or walk to go pick it up. I find myself saying forget it half of the time. When I want it bad enough I normally go for the real stuff. I find that the "middle aisle" snack foods don't taste good anymore. My taste buds must have gotten spoiled! :p

I envy you. I like it all. And I love food shopping. I could spend (and have spent) hours in a store just looking at all the foods, reading the labels, comparing ingredients, trying new stuff. Love it. But you are an outer aisle shopper so you will be thinner and healthier than a hedonist like me.