I’ve been reading some of the weight loss threads and find them rather depressing.
I have not counted a calorie in my life and most certainly have not ever spent anywhere near the intimidating efforts the dieters are expending on how much I eat.
I also have not seen anyone who has not ever had a weight problem post in these threads.
I assume that the never-fat have a lifestyle that can serve as an example.
Yikes @ all the unnecessary put-downs. Why would anyone who isn't interested in losing weight post in a weight loss challenge thread?
What is the challenge/ gauntlet you are proposing?
The never overweight probably have lifestyles from which the overweight can learn but the never overweight do not believe that they could actually help and therefore do not post.
Being of normal weight and maintaining it is not an objective the never overweight spend much time on but a result of their lifestyle. I also think that the never overweight share some of the erroneous but widespread beliefs regarding obesity. They attribute it to genetics, lack of sufficient interest in food preventing overeating, they underestimate their level of physical activity and don’t realize that they possibly get more and better sleep than average.
Genetics: do not offer an explanation for the obesity epidemic as genetics did not change during the last fifty years.
Physical activity: the official recommendation for minimum physical activity is 75 minutes of intense or 150 minutes of moderately intense activity per week. These numbers are not really achievable with scheduled “exercise”. A physically active lifestyle, which I suspect many of the never overweight lead, is in a totally different category - adding up the minutes spent “exercising” per week is probably several times the officially recommended minimum - and probably unachievable in a gym without going nuts.
Food intake: with genetics out of the way and the little or no attention to portion control many never overweight pay (including myself), there is only one possibility left: autopilot. Autopilot in this context means an intact intrinsic, extremely sensitive and non-conscious regulation of food intake.
I also supect that the never overweight eat less processed food thereby preserving internal regulation. Last thing I heard was that the average American diet now consists of 60% processed food and one can safely asume that a good part of it is engimeered ultraprocessed food. This is bad food because it is engineered to override internal regulation.
Sleep: I suspect that many never overweight people sleep more and better than average. We will see.
Let’s see if we can get some responses from that population!
I'm uneasy with the entire premise of this discussion and my personal experience contradicts most of your assumptions above.
First of all, I'm not sure what you mean by 'never overweight/never had a weight problem'. I'm going to assume you mean technically (as in BMI) rather than what 'feels good' to each individual, which is extremely subjective.
I've never been technically overweight in my life, but I've certainly been plumper than liked for my frame during my mid teens and for brief periods in my late 20s/early 30s, and late 30s. And during those times, I've made efforts to lose a bit of weight. But mostly, I've hovered within a 5-10lb range for most of my adult hood. But currently, in my late 40s, I am the same weight I was at 20 and have to work to stay over 100 lbs.
So would I count as someone you want to hear from? Unclear, but here goes...
Re: genetics. Although you are correct the human genome likely hasn't changed, that doesn't mean individual body physiology doesn't influence weight control to a high degree, which I strongly suspect it does. So perhaps we should change the common 'blaming of genetics' to 'blaming of individual physiology'.
Overweight people already know what habits they should adopt, but doing so can be very challenging for some people and not for others. And even when those habits ARE adopted, peoples' bodies respond differently and they still might not lose weight or maintain normal weight with anything approaching the ease that I do. I know for certain this is true, b/c I know a few family members with fairly similar habits to mine, that still struggle with weight. It's possible the obese people that I know are all bingeing or eating secretly, but if that's the case, they already KNOW that those habits are unhealthy and this thread is likely to be patronizing and of no help to them.
Physical activity: My personal experience does not match your assumptions. My weight is only moderately affected by exercise, but is much more affected by diet. I am not a naturally active or energetic person and need to structure my environment to force myself to be more generally active. I have only intermittently maintained regular exercise routines meeting the recommended criteria since I was a teenager. Also contrary to your assumption, I think 25 minutes of moderate exercise 6 days per week is VERY achievable for most people. The trick is motivating yourself to do that. I've had an exercise routine of almost exactly that for the past 5 years, but the vast majority of every day I'm sitting at the computer, totally sedentary.
This is not to imply that I don't think exercise is INCREDIBLY valuable. I am constantly trying to force myself to be more like the hypothetical 'generally physically active' type person that you assume the 'never overweight' people must be. I feel FAR better if I exercise more, and there have been times in my life where my routine naturally involved a lot more daily activity, which I liked. But again, exercise has only ever affected my weight minimally.
Food Intake: Eh, I guess I match your assumption here. I don't think that much about food b/c I don't really enjoy cooking/baking that much (though I am fairly competent at it) and mostly b/c I am a creature of habit.
I eat more or less the same general meals, the same portion sizes, at the same times of day. My appetite has varied WILDLY throughout my life, but I tend to eat the same way regardless of how my appetite 'urges' me to. I regularly eat when I'm not hungry (not hungry has been my default state for >5 years), and I eat only a little additional food if I'm hungry between normal meals.
I have NOT found calories in/calories out to be the main driver of my weight gain or loss. For me, type of calorie really matters. I can gain weight somewhat easily eating sugar and simple carbs. I can, however, eat a fuckton of fat calories without gaining, esp if doing regular exercise. Ironically, I SHOULD struggle with my weight, given that I have PCOS and reactive hypoglycemia, but I never have, even when the disease was very 'active' and I was very symptomatic in all other ways. Again, I think there is a huge amount in variation in how individual bodies handle different macros, and different calorie intake.
My diet:
My standard diet is 2 meals per day, eaten at around 11 am and 9 pm, with maybe a few bites of something around 2-4 pm if I'm trying to gain weight (usually), or if going to work out (regularly), or if hungry (occasionally). My digestive system simply cannot function fast enough to eat more than this, unless I go to liquid food.
Typical breakfast 1) 1/2 C whole grain cereal, oatmeal, etc, with 1/4 C fruit and some nuts and protein powder, made with milk, almond milk, or hemp milk. Black coffee, sometimes with a slug of coconut oil or ghee to add some additional calories/nutrients.
Typical breakfast 2) 1 C beans and rice, with a bit of additional veggies; or 1 egg with sauteed veggies on a tortilla. To add calories, my sautes are heavy on the olive oil or I add half an avocado.
Typical dinner 1) large mixed salad w multiple types veggies and fruit, vinegar and oil dressing, and sauteed or grilled meat or fish.
Typical dinner 2) one dish meal of mixed sauteed, grilled, or roasted meat and veggies over brown rice, potatoes, or pasta (often whole grain or bean/quinoa).
Snacks: half a power bar/granola bar, a few bites of leftovers, handful of corn chips and salsa/hummus
Dessert: every day after dinner, even if I'm stuffed to the gills (b/c I am a creature of habit). 2 squares dark chocolate, 3/4 spoonfuls of Ben and Jerry's, or a single medium-sized cookie.
What I really don't eat much: processed food/simple carbs/candy/soda/juice/any sweetened drink.
What I eat daily or somewhat regularly, but in limited amounts: red meat/pork, sugar, alcohol (daily with dinner, almost always red wine).
There is one single area that I DO think I differ from many people I know in terms of food, and that's my mental framing of it: I guess I think in terms of nutrition bang/calorie buck rather than 'what tastes the best'. E.g, it would never in a million years occur to me to make a meal of, say, spaghetti and meatballs with a side of bread, or creamy tomato soup with cheese and bread. I like the taste of those foods, but that is FAR too many calories wasted on carbs/sugar/saturated fat where I would normally be eating fruit and veggies. For me, meals are built around getting my healthy macros and cramming in as many nutrients as possible. It wouldn't even occur to me to regard a produce-free meal as a 'real' .
I don't find my mental framing of food at all incompatible with delicious and appealing food, but I have overweight friends who insist they only like meat and sweets/carbs, and hate almost all vegetables. Obviously, this makes weight control challenging for them.
Sleep: No, I do not match your assumptions at all. I had problems with disrupted sleep since I hit puberty, due to a mix of the following factors: chronic muscle/joint/myofascial pain; migraines; hypoglycemic related sleep disruption; hormone related insomnia. Weight did not track with sleep quantity or quality or schedule at all.
To sum up, I don't match your assumptions anywhere but diet. I do have good habits around food that I developed over time and partly as a response to having an endocrine disorder. But I ate a much less healthy diet all through my teens and twenties, and it affected my weight only around the margins.
In the end, I think my weight is primarily due to the weirdness of my personal metabolism, and only secondarily to very habitual eating patterns, and very little to my activity level
So I don't think my experience is that useful to overweight people, and I suspect most other responses in this thread wouldn't be either.