is fast metabolism really a myth?

[blagadarenia]

@rumiakthar It's also largely a myth, with the exception of very few medical conditions. For the rest, it's usually a result of a lack of portion control or habitually eating foods that are calorically dense. Calories are a measure of energy. Overconsumption causes the body to store it as fat. It's thermodynamics.

I myself used to view myself as one of those "who gain easier than others", but once i started tracking my calories, I realized I regularly underestimated how much I ate. Once i corrected that, I lost 70 lbs.

This is the common theme with both extremes. Most people with "high metabolism" are used to eating smaller meals and would struggle to down large amounts of food, while "low metabolism" people are used to eating larger serving portions or their diet has a lot of high-calorie junk food. In reality, with the exception of those few medical conditions, the law of thermodynamics is pretty consistent, and for most people, it comes down to eating habits.

 

[londonmum]

@rumiakthar It's called they don't move as much and therefore don't burn as many calories.

 

[rumiakthar]

@londonmum yea but some people are so fat to the point where it looks like it would take great effort to look like that. isn't some of it also genetic to some extent?

 

[londonmum]

@rumiakthar They ate a lot and didn't move a lot with great effort over time.

Outside of rare disorders and diseases that affect less than 1% of the population this covers 99+% of people.

They even have scientific laws about it. The laws of thermodynamics!

 

[rumiakthar]

@londonmum I always thought it can be more complicated than that. what you're saying makes sense but some articles are still suggesting metabolism and genetics may also play a factor. unless that's outdated info?

 

[papabear4811]

@rumiakthar To expand on what /@londonmum is saying, it's not the amounts that matter, its' that weight gain plays the long game. 1-200 calories per day doesn't seem like that much, but if you're overeating by that amount (we'll use 150 for easier math), you're gaining slightly over a pound every 4 weeks.

Extrapolating that over time - with 52 weeks in a year, that's 54,600 excess calories, or 15.5 extra pounds per year. If you've been overeating to that extent for a decade without any sustained corrective actions, that's 150lbs. The problem is that to some extent it sneaks up on you, but once it's enough weight that it really feels like a problem losing it becomes a massive amount of work.

I don't remember who said it, but the line is "you didn't get fat overnight, so you're not going to be able to lose it overnight either."

 

[londonmum]

@rumiakthar They do. By about the amount of a small cookie. Maybe even two small cookies. That's what they mean by it being a myth.

The amount is so small that it barely makes a difference.

 

[daniellebouchie]

@rumiakthar It’s definitely not a myth.

 

[johng1968]

@rumiakthar A lot of people say it's a myth but I imagine they're just the ones with slow metabolisms lol

I wish I could slow mine down as its a nightmare trying to bulk... I know people will say I'm just 'not eating enough', but ultimately means I have to spend more money on food, more time on cooking and more time eating all of said food

 

[londonmum]

@johng1968 Just because you don't want to spend money on food and/or cook doesn't mean you have a fast metabolism. It literally means you don't eat enough.

 

[johng1968]

@londonmum I have to eat way more than what I supposedly should eat for my BMI, even when I'm inactive

 

[londonmum]

@johng1968 Yeah, everyone has to eat more than their BMI to maintain weight. BMI is the number BEFORE taking in consideration ANY movement. BMI measures the maintenance calories if you were a vegetable in bed who couldn't move.

 

[brio]

@rumiakthar Has to vary at least a bit. I have a buddy that eats his weight in food every day. The guy is somehow still skinny. Also, he's not very physically active. Yet I eat once or twice a day at normal portions. I am physically active... Yet, I'm definitely not in the healthy weight range.

 

[pradeep]

@rumiakthar Not only does metabolism vary based on age, body comp, and activity levels, it can vary a lot based on the function or dysfunction of the mitochondria in your cells.

 

[jbrad01x]

@rumiakthar Varying metabolism is normal. It just doesn’t exist to the extent where people like to scapegoat it as a reason they cannot gain or lose weight.

 

[wdb5098831]

@rumiakthar Not a myth. I eat like I'm a starving kid in a third-world country and can't put on weight.

 

[keefe]

@rumiakthar nope, there are people who will eat a truckload and wake up tomorrow like nothing happened. A gift from god.