Genetics and "Ease" of Staying Lean

[strayghost]

@siege777 Not necessarily, just trying to get 225 plus at 6’4, basically by any means, as long as I can still do dips and pull-ups and maintain a good level of relative strength, and then reevaluate. Current physique at 200-205 tell me if I need to slow down but I still feel skinny enough I’m eating as much as possible. https://ibb.co/cxmwG7K

 

[lordheretic]

@lovelivelaugh Joe from the videos I’ve seen is OCD about tracking his calories and macros more than most. He also does a lot of mini cuts. Every other video seems to be he’s doing a mini cut again. So it’s genetics plus just being obsessive about it.

 

[recheal95]

@lordheretic Not to be “that guy”, but OCD isn’t an adjective. It’s a debilitating psychological disorder. I know what you’re trying to say but just because he’s obsessive about it doesn’t mean he has OCD.

Sorry to be annoying, but I’m diagnosed with OCD and it’s tiring having the whole world thing your disorder is a qwirk. Anyways I know you meant nothing by it but I’m trying to educate people who use it like this because it’s a common mistake. Have a good one dude

 

[lovelivelaugh]

@lordheretic Yeah you're right. I guess he does prioritize being lean.

He has in videos said that he doesn't think he'd ever get fat unless he really, really tried to though. And he's gone on tons of vacations where he wouldn't track/train for weeks.

It gives me hope that maybe one day I can stop trying to be so perfect and stop tracking literally everything at all times and not be anxious/afraid when going out to eat or going on vacations. If this guy and others do it, so can I.

 

[holywheeler]

@lovelivelaugh Just a thought.. going on vacation and “not tracking” doesn’t mean you start eating cheesecake 3x a day. If you’re already programmed as to how to eat to stay in your zone, it’s pretty easy to keep that going just by making smart choices even if you’re not counting calories and macros.

This is often the difference between SKD and lazy keto.. in the latter you’re still in the zone, because you’re so familiar with how you need to feel when you eat that you don’t need to explicitly track/count.

 

[lovelivelaugh]

@holywheeler What’s SKD?

And yeah agreed - this is something I’ve been trying to work on to be honest. I’m not comfortable eating out intuitively for a week/weeks on end while on vacation per say.

I’ll still go on vacations if they come up obviously, but I tend to have a tough time controlling myself on them.

 

[lordheretic]

@lovelivelaugh My trick with vacation or traveling for work so I don’t have to sweat tracking anything is to make sure meals at the condo/hotel are high protein and very low fat or low carb. That way I have a lot of extra calories for alcohol and eating out. It’s the rare trip I ever 3 meals out a day for a week or more. And even then will pack protein bars as a breakfast option for the hotel. Hotels with a buffet breakfast included are the best. Load up on lots of omelets or eggs for breakfast, fruit and skip the rest. Also on vacation my NEAT goes through the roof with lots of walking and doing stuff so helps with an even higher caloric burn than normal. I lose weight a lot of time when I come back after all that.

 

[nguyenviet92]

@lordheretic Simple and clever.

 

[scripturewinds]

@lovelivelaugh Not OP but it's Standard Ketogenic Diet

 

[holywheeler]

@lovelivelaugh SKD is strict keto diet,

 

[niecey85]

@lovelivelaugh

• Genetics: adaptive metabolism (you unconsciously move more when you eat more, and your hunger levels are naturally lower).
• Environment: in this case boils down to external things that affect you psychologically: being surrounded by supportive people, not being immersed in food culture, having been raised to have a good relationship with food, having developed a healthy state of mind, having non-food things that keep you occupied and engaged (hobbies, work, studies).
• Survivorship bias (regarding media, the sport itself, and even this very sub).

 

[nattyz]

@lovelivelaugh Definitely has a lot to do with genetics. I hover ~13-14% year round. I do not track calories more than ballpark. Macros? Lol what's that. Pancakes? Daily. Pizza? At least once a week. I'm in my mid thirties. I've done the 6 meals a day chicken and broccoli diet before. Gotten down to single digit bodyfat. Unsustainable misery. It's definitely largely genetic. I see people struggle so hard and put so much thought into just not being fat. I feel bad.

 

[cdaysr]

@lovelivelaugh Yeah, I used to be grouo 2, but as I got a little older through the end of puberty then I became group 1. I mean I can no shit lose weight if I go under fucking 3500 calories, I'm fucking tired of eating

 

[raendrops]

@lovelivelaugh I don't know. But, if I don't explicitly watch what I eat, I'll gain a lot of fat. I love to eat. This is despite being rather twitchy. I also really love the feeling of being full.

I like binge eating, but don't do it except maybe once a month to scratch the itch. I just finished a cut from about 18% to 12-ish%, and I've not been this light since high school. Now, reverse dieting into a bulk is giving me anxiety since I really like this new lean-ness and can gain weight on 2200 cals.

But damn it, I love pizza.

 

[lovelivelaugh]

@raendrops Wow - are you me? I legit just did the same thing.

I am reversing now and am at 2200 cals per day. All I want to do is eat all day but I also don't want to gain much fat right now.

Stick to the reverse and slowly get into the bulk. It'll be worth it long term for us I feel.

 

[raendrops]

@lovelivelaugh For sure. Brothers in mutual suffering!

 

[pasadi]

@lovelivelaugh I've been thinking about this topic a while. Some say genetics is a fact, some others say is just BS.

In my opinion, both are right. In engineering, when we make an "energy balance" we make it using "optimal" parameters, but we know that those paarmeters aren't true for every machine. So, to make a point, let´s imagine two different machines (A and B) that are used to do the same task. Machine A uses an amount of energy and Machine B uses a bit more energy to do the same task. Why is this?? Well, because the machines are not the same, they have different parameters, sizes and so on. But, in another scenario, even if Machine A and Machine B are the same, they will not use the same amounts of energy to do the same task. Why is that?? Well, basically because there are some variables that affect the machines but we don't notice them until a detailed analysis.

In conclussion, genetics affect in certain degree, because, maybe, two people will need a different amount of energy to do the same activity, and that's something we can't control. So, if these two people had the same cal intake... Well, you can imagine the rest.

 

[lovelivelaugh]

@pasadi I really like this explanation/metaphor. This makes so much more sense now.

If you think of our bodies like machines, each machine can perform the same tasks (walking, eating/digesting, lifting weights, etc.) but the inner workings of each person's body is different and therefore there are different energy requirements to do the same tasks.

People who are leaner likely have 'machines' that require more energy (calories) to do the same task that takes you much less energy to do.

My next question then is - does this mean then that bodies that require less energy overall are generally speaking more efficient than others?

 

[pasadi]

@lovelivelaugh When doing an energy balance, the equation is simple:

Energy in=energy out+losses (in case of humans, we get fat)

"Energy out" is NEVER bigger than "Energy in", meaning that, if you need less energy to do a task, your aren't losing energy in the process. In therms of machine efficiency, the answer to the question is a clear "yes" meaning the machine is "almost" perfect, but considering a human body as the machine in the example, well, I really don't know how to answer. Maybe some people in the Health department can help us here.

 

[jeewani]

@lovelivelaugh I don’t understand it either. I have a friend who has to consistently eat over 3500 cals to gain any weight. As soon as he stops he falls back to like 65kg. I’m 90kg and will gain weight at like 2700 cals. He’s always been lean whereas I have more mass but am also a lot fatter.