People do have different metabolism, though. And they do to such an extent that some struggle to maintain an ideal weight more than others. Do you disagree?
As a data point in the opposite direction from the stereotype than Eliezer (the stereotype being that everyone tends to put on weight unless they strive not to), I have never needed, nor tried, to “lose weight”. My weight stays at 120 to 125 pounds (giving a BMI of about 20) without my doing anything to make it so, any more than I do anything to regulate my body temperature. It has done so for my entire adult life of more than 40 years, during which I have never been short of the means to eat whatever I want. My body obviously does regulate my weight and temperature, but by mechanisms I know nothing about. Any explanation of why people put on weight must also account for the people who do not.
In fact, surely people only speak of “losing weight” who are failing to do so. If they ever reached their target weight they would be talking about maintaining it, but I only see that mentioned as something you will have to do once you have “lost weight” in a tomorrow that is presumed never to arrive. The entire discourse is predicated on the assumption of failure.
Yeah, my weight is uncannily stable as well. I don’t think I’ve been more than 400g away from 60.0kg in the past like 8 years, during which time I have made no effort to regulate my diet or exercise whatsoever. I’ve been a PhD student cooking for myself extremely poorly and also a tech employee getting unlimited free nutella crumpets at work. I’ve been a person who never exercises, to running twice a week, to a pandemic shut-in, to experimenting with strength training. I went vegan during that time. Nothing has moved my weight more than half a kilo, and not in a predictable direction. If my body decided, by whatever mechanism this is, that it was going to weigh 120kg, I doubt there’s anything I could practically do about it.
Edit to update: I recently started taking some ADHD medication and, due to noticeably reduced appetite, lost like a kilo over a month and a half. So I guess that this medication acts directly on the mechanism that keeps my weight stable. I’m now making a little effort to get extra calories when I don’t feel like eating, which I expect to put me back at 60. But, n=1, if your weight is extremely stable, amphetamines may be able to reduce it.
I’m similar. There have been one or two occasions in my life when I did feel like I was starting to put on a weight in a way that felt uncomfortable. But then I just stopped doing the thing that was causing it, and apart from that I’ve never needed to think about losing weight.
I’ve heard of a couple of possible mechanisms for metabolic privilege—brown fat and resting activity (the latter is basically fidgeting). I’m also someone who can maintain weight fairly easily.
People do have different metabolism, though. And they do to such an extent that some struggle to maintain an ideal weight more than others. Do you disagree?
As a data point in the opposite direction from the stereotype than Eliezer (the stereotype being that everyone tends to put on weight unless they strive not to), I have never needed, nor tried, to “lose weight”. My weight stays at 120 to 125 pounds (giving a BMI of about 20) without my doing anything to make it so, any more than I do anything to regulate my body temperature. It has done so for my entire adult life of more than 40 years, during which I have never been short of the means to eat whatever I want. My body obviously does regulate my weight and temperature, but by mechanisms I know nothing about. Any explanation of why people put on weight must also account for the people who do not.
In fact, surely people only speak of “losing weight” who are failing to do so. If they ever reached their target weight they would be talking about maintaining it, but I only see that mentioned as something you will have to do once you have “lost weight” in a tomorrow that is presumed never to arrive. The entire discourse is predicated on the assumption of failure.
Yeah, my weight is uncannily stable as well. I don’t think I’ve been more than 400g away from 60.0kg in the past like 8 years, during which time I have made no effort to regulate my diet or exercise whatsoever. I’ve been a PhD student cooking for myself extremely poorly and also a tech employee getting unlimited free nutella crumpets at work. I’ve been a person who never exercises, to running twice a week, to a pandemic shut-in, to experimenting with strength training. I went vegan during that time. Nothing has moved my weight more than half a kilo, and not in a predictable direction.
If my body decided, by whatever mechanism this is, that it was going to weigh 120kg, I doubt there’s anything I could practically do about it.
Edit to update: I recently started taking some ADHD medication and, due to noticeably reduced appetite, lost like a kilo over a month and a half. So I guess that this medication acts directly on the mechanism that keeps my weight stable. I’m now making a little effort to get extra calories when I don’t feel like eating, which I expect to put me back at 60. But, n=1, if your weight is extremely stable, amphetamines may be able to reduce it.
Note to people that this can change dramatically with age. Many people have no trouble with their weight until some time in the 30s or early 40s.
I’m similar. There have been one or two occasions in my life when I did feel like I was starting to put on a weight in a way that felt uncomfortable. But then I just stopped doing the thing that was causing it, and apart from that I’ve never needed to think about losing weight.
Same here.
I’ve heard of a couple of possible mechanisms for metabolic privilege—brown fat and resting activity (the latter is basically fidgeting). I’m also someone who can maintain weight fairly easily.