Why do some people never seem to get fat?

[Vulpix]

Why do some people never seem to get fat? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7838668.stm)


By Katie Fraser
BBC News Magazine

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif
The UK is a country obsessed by the threat of obesity. As the average person's weight has grown, so has coverage of the subject.

The chief medical officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, has said we are facing an "obesity timebomb". Culinary celebrities like Jamie Oliver have launched campaigns, in homes and school kitchens, to fight the fat war.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif Yet the science of weight gain is less straightforward than the headlines sometimes suggest. Why, for example, do some people seem to eat what they like and not put on weight, while others limit their diet yet struggle to shed their bulk?

In 1967, a medical researcher, Ethan Sims, carried out an experiment at Vermont state prison in the US. He recruited inmates to eat as much as they could to gain 25% of their body weight, in return for early release from prison.

Some of the volunteers could not reach the target however hard they tried, even though they were eating 10,000 calories a day. Sims's conclusion was that for some, obesity is nearly impossible.

It was with this in mind that 10 slim volunteers - who were not dieters - convened in more hospitable circumstances, for a recent experiment devised by the BBC's Horizon documentary. The 10 spent four weeks gorging on as much pizza, chips, ice cream and chocolate as they could, while doing no exercise, and severely limiting the amount they walked.

'Friends hate me'

Medical student Katherine Hanan, 21, says she had never dieted or done very much exercise before the experiment.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45402000/jpg/_45402335_catherine_profile_226282.jpg
Pre-experiment, Katherine Hanan: 'I've always eaten whatever I want to'

"I've always eaten whatever I want to eat and I've always been quite slim. I'm really lucky and my friends hate me," she says.

During the study, Katherine and the other volunteers had to eat double their usual amount of daily calories, which varied from 3,500 for the women to 5,000 for the men.

Keeping a close watch on the trial was Dr Rudy Leibel of Colombia University, New York, who believes we all have a biologically determined natural weight which our bodies make an effort to stick to, whether it is fat or thin.

"The body will constantly tend to try to bring you back to whatever your normal body weight is," he says.

But he does not think this is the full story. There are other issues that influence a person's weight.
"Fifty per cent is down to genes and the rest is probably down to environment. If you get the gene for Huntington's you have the disease 100% of the time. That's certainly not the case with obesity."
The four-week eat-a-thon was easier for some than for others.

Volunteer Thomas Patel-Campbell, a keen sportsman and runner, struggled with the cap on physical exertion that was one of the terms of the experiment.

Snacks and puddings

"Eating that much was pretty easy as I'd been eating more than usual in preparation for my run," he says. "I was one of the two who weren't sick at all. What was difficult was limiting myself to 5,000 steps a day.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45402000/jpg/_45402336_catherinehannon_bbc_226.jpg
'I'd eat half a tub of ice cream... a couple of puddings... a pint-and-a-half of chocolate milk'

"The least I did was when I spent a day at home, only leaving the house to go to McDonald's and the shops. Even that was 8,000 steps."

Katherine described a typical day's menu for her while taking part in the study. She made up most of her calorie intake by eating sugary snacks and puddings.

"I'd wake up and have two pain au chocolats plus a large hot chocolate with cream. Mid-morning I'd have a packet of high-fat crisps or a chocolate mousse, sometimes it might even be a small meal. Lunch would be substantial - shepherds'' pie or something.
"In the afternoon I'd eat half a tub of ice cream. At night it would be almost the same evening meal as before except I'd have a couple of puddings. I'd also drink a pint-and-a-half of chocolate milk with… ice cream every day."

Unlike Thomas, Katherine found her body rejected this enforced gluttony - leading her to vomit each week.

And two other volunteers couldn't even get that far - finding they couldn't consume the full allocation of food each day, failing to hit their calorie targets.

Persistent hunger

After four weeks Katherine had gained 3.5kg - almost a 7% gain in body weight. Thomas, meanwhile, put on 5.5kg - a 9% gain in body weight.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif Think of it like a thermostat and that each person has a set point http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif
Dr Rudy Leibel

Of the two who struggled to reach their targets, one put on just 0.5kg - a mere 1% gain in body weight, while the other actually saw their body fat percentage go down slightly, despite putting on 5.7kg.

The results highlight the different ways our bodies behave when faced with excess calories.
One expert, Professor Jane Wardle, believes there could be a genetic answer, through what's known as the FTO gene. Adults who have one variant of this gene weigh on average more than everybody else.
Ms Wardle believes the gene can influence appetite, leading some people to not know when they are full. Those without the gene, she thinks, find it easier to say no to food.

"It's kind of effortless because they don't even want to eat. They're not having to exert willpower and self-control whereas for other people, their brain responses to foods that they're exposed to aren't being switched off effectively as a consequence of them already having had enough."

Dr Leibel observes that for some people, such as those who couldn't reach their calorie targets, the appetite hardly fluctuates regardless of how much they want, or are told, to eat.

Muscle not fat

This can work both ways, says Dr Leibel. If someone loses a lot of weight, they often have persistent hunger, even if they are eating enough to sustain themselves.

"Think of it like a thermostat and that each person has a set point," says Dr Leibel. "When it is reduced below that point the body begins to do things that will force it to recover its lost body weight."

And while excess calories can lead many people to put on body fat, one volunteer in the study defied convention by putting on a lot of weight (4.5kg) while his appearance didn't seem to alter. Instead of fat, the weight had gone on as muscle as the volunteer's metabolic rate had risen 30%.

This is another reason, says Dr Carel le Roux, an obesity specialist who oversaw the experiment, why some people appear not to get fat despite eating at lot.

"Studies have shown that this tendency to lay down muscle rather than fat when we over-eat is genetically determined," she says.
For those who did show any signs of having overindulged after the experiment was over, they soon got back to normal, and not through a rigorous diet and exercise regime. Thomas found it happened easily.

"After the first week," he says, "my trousers fitted almost as well as before, and it didn't take long for my belts to be back to the right button hole."

[Jägerstaffel]

I'm one of those people - :)

[TheGreatest]

I noticed that the Amerindians have nothing but fatties in their ranks. Therefore we can conclude that the skinnies must had been symbolically consumed during the great famines. :)

[Treffie]

Some people may be skinny all their lives but has anyone ever wondered what their cholesterol level would be? Being skinny does not necessarily equate to being fit.

[Pino]

Alot of it is to do with metabolism (sp?) isn't it? All people are born with different ones, if in the generations before you everybody was fat and didn't exercise I guess you will be born with a low one and will gain weight easy.

although people may not look physically fat am sure on the inside they are still clogging up there arteries.

[Rasvalg]

I am in relatively good shape. I weigh in at 230lbs right now and have a very muscular body. I am 34 this coming Monday and I have had high cholestoral since I was sixteen. Now then I have a friend who is the same age as me and weighs in at 350lbs. He has always had extremely low cholestoral and although he is obese by no stretch of the imagination he is in good shape. He can run a 40 yard dash in 4.4 seconds, of course stopping is another issue entirely that normally takes about 100 yards and 10 seconds.:lol00002:
The whole point being that no matter what your body may look like and most don't like what they have but this does not mean that you are not healthy.

[SPQR]

I'm one of those people as well. My metabolism seems to be way too high, I can gain some weight if I eat a ton and work out, but as soon as I slack I lose all my weight again..

[Vargtand]

I was one of those people, then I started to exercise very intensely for a couple of months and then stopped, well safe to say now my metabolism is slower... now I actually have to be a bit careful with sugar, otherwise I can eat pretty much what I want though :p

[Psychonaut]

I was one of those people, then I started to exercise very intensely for a couple of months and then stopped, well safe to say now my metabolism is slower... now I actually have to be a bit careful with sugar, otherwise I can eat pretty much what I want though :p

Heh, I thought I was one of those people for a long time too. However, once I hit 24 my metabolism slowed noticeably; now I just have to work a bit harder to keep my weight constant.

[Vargtand]

Heh, I thought I was one of those people for a long time too. However, once I hit 24 my metabolism slowed noticeably; now I just have to work a bit harder to keep my weight constant.

Well since I moved back home I have not had time to excersise, resulting in me going from 76 kg to 68 kgs :S

[Brynhild]

Heh, I thought I was one of those people for a long time too. However, once I hit 24 my metabolism slowed noticeably; now I just have to work a bit harder to keep my weight constant.

LOL You have to work 10 times as hard once you're past 40. If it weren't for my being on the go so much and watching what I eat, I'd be a blimp!

[Angharad]

Some people can eat terrible food and not have heart disease or get fat.

Not everyone is that lucky though. Personally I ate whatever I wanted (which was a lot) and never went over 150 lbs (I'm 6'1") for a long while. I am not fat now, but I have to watch more carefully than before, I probably could get big if I didn't exercise anymore. I don't have hypertension or high cholesterol now, but then I eat a lot better than I used to. I guess I am normal now.

There was a news show about a village in Italy that was inhabited by the Bau family that has the "eat anything" gene. The Bau's are supposed to be of Danish origin. I doubt that I was lucky enough to get that gene though.

Here is the first few minutes of the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFzYtMym2Fo

[Daos]

The world is affected by an obesity epidemic, but why is it that not everyone is succumbing? Medical science has been obsessed with this subject and is coming up with some unexpected answers. As it turns out, it is not all about exercise and diet. At the centre of this programme is a controversial overeating experiment that aims to identify exactly what it is about some people that makes it hard for them to bulk up.

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[Don Brick]

I guess I´m one of those people. As an example I can eat a shitload of food (not literally :D) in the evening before I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning I basically have a freaking dent in my stomach and I find myself very hungry and ready for round two. My mom and brother are the same.

[mvbeleg]

CuX2VycPzwM

It is interesting that adenovirus infections can stimulate the growth of individual fat cells and result in fat tissue gain.

One my family's cats was infected some years ago with an unknown virus. This resulted in an acute case of hepatitis; also, he gained an enormous amount of fat tissue [in a very short period of time] that he was not able to lose. Perhaps this was a similar phenomenon.

[Sunray]

I don't believe any of this. None of it is even slightly proven; it all relies on 'experiments' conducted on a few subjects outside of a lab with no controls and improper monitoring or weak statistical studies of the type that return just about any answer depending on how you look at them. Most doctors and suchlike do not believe these either.

Why are they popular? They tie in with popular myths, excuse the greedy and gluttonous and make the thin feel naturally gifted. Everyone wins by believing them especially the particularly weak research scientist who wants funding and headlines.

The truth is simple. Metabolic rates vary but only because people's rate of physical exertion and body mass vary. Clearly the more body you have and the more you move the more energy you must burn. If you think you have a higher than average metabolism but move less and/or are smaller than average then where does all that energy go?

The large calorie, kilogram calorie or food calorie (symbol: Cal)[2] approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 °C. This is exactly 1000 small calories or about 4.2 kilojoules.

You think you are sitting there and burning more calories than average, you must be very hot. Conversely if you think you are sitting there and burning less you must be very cold. Since a 2 degree variance in core body temperature can kill you, I'd watch it because you might die.

Now when you get old your muscle mass depletes and naturally you become less active. When you talk on the phone you might not pace back and forth jumping so often in excitement. This makes a real difference. Yet essentially all it means is that you become smaller and lazier with age; no surprise there.

Food craving or hunger, as Savant will tell you, is caused in large part by the dopamine it releases in your brain. As with any craving: sex, crack or gambling; people do experience this differently. Nonetheless since food like crack is affecting you directly via the sugar it is unlikely most people differ very much in the way they react to it. If your dopamine levels are naturally low then you will probably be more susceptible to overeating but if they are very low you are also severely mentally ill. Instead overeating is caused by overeating. Just as smoking crack is caused by smoking crack. When you go through a period of a eating a lot, as often I have to due to very high physical exertion, you notice that your appetite massively increases and you need to fight those added cravings for some time afterwards to return it to a reasonable state and not end up fat.

Ultimately these myths are harmful. If you believe in them then they become true. Dieting and exercise require plenty of motivation, nothing will sap your motivation as much as believing they will not work.

[Blossom]

Faster metabolism which helps them to get away the harmful substances out of their body. Of course this doesnt' mean that they're not having fat on their bodies.

Being fat could be seen by different ways. The physical one and the other which we cant be sure about.
Even fat doesnt show up on the external body, it can appears on little accumulations in different body parts, like ears, eyebows, fingers and arteries.

It's also a genetic fact..

The question is: What do you prefer? Get fat on your arms or get fat on your arteries?...

[Querubín]

ectomorph like http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRCJLvjWIPY98aUyv7P6L-fCRk5_mLHRMfsBSLKdywczzRno4Lt

[Agrippa]

Ultimately these myths are harmful. If you believe in them then they become true. Dieting and exercise require plenty of motivation, nothing will sap your motivation as much as believing they will not work.

That's true, but it is completely wrong to say people have the same preconditions for staying thin or growing fat. There are huge genetic and environmental influences which are in no way controllable in a conscious way by the person.

You just have to look at the extremely obese people and you will see that they have average clear physical markers different from the average population, strongly genetic or at least prenatally determined.

In fact, there are different variants like described in the documentary based on different factors from genetics to the environment.

That is no myth, it is the truth and you can't generalise, because there are individual cases.

There are obvious even racial differences, which can't be denied - just compare Polynesids and Alpinids with Aethiopids to make my point clear.

[Sunray]

Faster metabolism which helps them to get away the harmful substances out of their body. Of course this doesnt' mean that they're not having fat on their bodies.

Being fat could be seen by different ways. The physical one and the other which we cant be sure about.
Even fat doesnt show up on the external body, it can appears on little accumulations in different body parts, like ears, eyebows, fingers and arteries.

It's also a genetic fact..

The question is: What do you prefer? Get fat on your arms or get fat on your arteries?...

There is massive racial variation here. Simply put: Blacks have a high level of visceral fat (internal) and muscles therefore more external; Whites have it the other way round. Ultimately higher visceral fat is worse for your health (diabetes etc.) but arguably more external musculature is more aesthetically pleasing.

No doubt this is caused by White muscles needing to stay warm in cold climate and so are insulated by a layer of fat whilst in Blacks the muscles needed to stay cool and so are outside the fat as close to the air as possible.

A meta-analysis was performed in order to test the hypothesis that Japanese have a greater amount of abdominal visceral fat (AVF) relative to abdominal subcutaneous fat (ASF) than Caucasians. Data were derived from published studies that included mean values for AVF and ASF areas, measured using computed tomography, and age for native Japanese, African-Americans, and Caucasians of both genders. Mean values from each study were used as single data points. A significant difference in AVF was observed between Japanese and Caucasian populations after adjusting for ASF, age, and sex (p<0.05). However, the difference in AVF between Japanese and Caucasian females was lower than that between African-American and Caucasian females.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/hc2t1bm58l4xgend/

[Agrippa]

What I missed in the documentary is the age factor, because obviously, normal people in young age lose weight easier, while the same can't be said from a certain age on.

I would really doubt that people in their 50's f.e. would lose their excess weight as easily as most of the participants in this documentary after the end of the test.

[Raikaswinþs]

I have never been less than 72 or more than 79 kg in my adult life. 72 being my bottom end in my depressing, booze drinking , barely eating times. My healthy avererage weight is 76 kg

[Querubín]

That's true, but it is completely wrong to say people have the same preconditions for staying thin or growing fat. There are huge genetic and environmental influences which are in no way controllable in a conscious way by the person.

You just have to look at the extremely obese people and you will see that they have average clear physical markers different from the average population, strongly genetic or at least prenatally determined.

In fact, there are different variants like described in the documentary based on different factors from genetics to the environment.

That is no myth, it is the truth and you can't generalise, because there are individual cases.

There are obvious even racial differences, which can't be denied - just compare Polynesids and Alpinids with Aethiopids to make my point clear.

Or for example, for me the best quality in nordids, is our skin because it is very fine so we have very little sudcutaneous fat.

[_______]

i have always been slim but i am thinner now than i was at 18, because i move around more and i don't eat dairy or drink sugary drinks :) when i hit 30 i will hit the gym, but not before...

[brick]

Being of this body type is not exactly an advantage. You'd always stay scrawny, and are most likely to be tall and long limbed. Some people like that look, but I'll go with American mainstream opinion on this matter: more muscle mass looks way better.

[Terek]

I am one of those lucky people)) I am always eating it seems, seriously, I eat so much and I am TINY (50kg) the only thing is, I do not know if this will last after I am 40... we shall see.

[Grumpy Cat]

I am one of those lucky people)) I am always eating it seems, seriously, I eat so much and I am TINY (50kg) the only thing is, I do not know if this will last after I am 40... we shall see.

When I was 23 I was like that. I'm 29 now... not so much.

Although I still do lose weight easily when I try. I just can't eat as much junk as I used to.

I'm a mesomorph, though. We respond quicker to exercise than other body types. The flip side is that I do build muscle really fast which is why I prefer circuit to weights.

But I am weird. I lose weight when under stress. Most people gain.

[Curtis24]

Adjusting for age, everyone gains and loses weight at the same rate 3500 pounds per calorie. Those who are heavier do eat more...

[Grumpy Cat]

Those who are heavier do eat more...

Not necessarily.

Some builds are heavier, and there are medical conditions and medications that cause weight gain too.

And some conditions that can cause weight loss through faster calorie burning. Before I got half of my thyroid out, I could put away a supersized fast food meal everyday and still lose weight. I got pretty frail looking at the end of it.

[Jägerstaffel]

I'm an ectomorph in the truest sense. I've tried to gain weight and failed miserably.

Some of us are gifted with this curse.

[Terek]

I'm an ectomorph in the truest sense. I've tried to gain weight and failed miserably.

Some of us are gifted with this curse.

I may be the same way. I actually eat much more than my American friends, and lift weights, and I cannot gain weight (I am 50 kg, 166cm) and people are angry) but my parents are not so thin.

[Agrippa]

Age is an important factor in this, because from a certain age on, even a lot of leptomorphs can grow fatter.

You can see that in the USA in particular, where you have "fat types" which look rather unusual, are not the typical Pyknic phenotypes, not even mesomorphic, but just "outgrown" leptomorphs and lepto-mesomorphs or other intermediate types, which would have become, in a different environment, never fat.

Then there are these typically pyknomorphic individuals, which wouldn't stay really slim, unless they are always under physical stress and really bad fed.

Only the more extreme leptomorphs of the Asthenic kind don't really gain too much wait, but even they will gain the typical lower bellies and stuff like that over time, because of age and habits, quite often.

[Don Brick]

Here´s an interesting site I found linking body type strongly to facial features and other traits. Don´t know about the scientific validity of all this, but it´s worth taking a look at. It seems to be missing information regarding pyknomorphs though, but I suppose that could be expected from a bodybuilding website. ;)

http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/bodytypeinformation.html

[Albion]

I'm one of those people. Another plus is that if you work out you can get good muscle tone because of the absense of much fat.

[Fortis in Arduis]

Breakfast, lunch and dinner:

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/02_01/tictac0902_228x348.jpg

[Agrippa]

Here´s an interesting site I found linking body type strongly to facial features and other traits. Don´t know about the scientific validity of all this, but it´s worth taking a look at. It seems to be missing information regarding pyknomorphs though, but I suppose that could be expected from a bodybuilding website. ;)

http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/bodytypeinformation.html

In Sheldons terminology pyknomorph =~ Endomorph, this is common on Bodybuiding sites, to use Sheldons basic typology.

[Grumpy Cat]

Yeah, on that site mesomorph describes me to a tee. Even down to the tanning well and hair being heavy in texture.

Problem is, being a girl, gaining muscle easily can be a bad thing, which is why I prefer resistance bands or circuit machines to free weights. Free weights make me bulk up.

[Aces High]

LOL You have to work 10 times as hard once you're past 40. If it weren't for my being on the go so much and watching what I eat, I'd be a blimp!

Thast right,my wife said to me just the other day as we were sat there watching telly..."eh luv...yer gettin a bit of a gut on you"...an i said to her.."i...but it would still fit in your mouth an rattle".

[Albion]

Why are they popular? They tie in with popular myths, excuse the greedy and gluttonous and make the thin feel naturally gifted.

Understand this: I do no purposefully exercise, but do walk a fair bit and eat whatever I want, how ever much I want.
I'm only ever full if I eat lot of meat, potatoes and starchy foods in large amounts.
I would call it more of a curse than a gift, or at least a mixed blessing.


The truth is simple. Metabolic rates vary but only because people's rate of physical exertion

True, but genetics can play its part too. Look up Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph on the internet.


Clearly the more body you have and the more you move the more energy you must burn.

Not really, a lot of species of mice have to near-constantly eat during daylight hours to survive. Larger animals actually have slower hearts and can survive much longer without food.
A mouse would be dead after a few days without food, a dog could perhaps go for a few weeks. That's one reason winter brings high mortality rates in small birds and mammals.


If you think you have a higher than average metabolism but move less and/or are smaller than average then where does all that energy go?

Brain perhaps??? Maybe its more about efficiency, perhaps people who don't get fat don't get as much nutrients out of their food.


You think you are sitting there and burning more calories than average, you must be very hot. Conversely if you think you are sitting there and burning less you must be very cold. Since a 2 degree variance in core body temperature can kill you, I'd watch it because you might die.

I don't really think this applies to me, but I loose and gain heat very rapidly in cold or warm weather and it doesn't have to be extremes either. High metabolism = lack of fat under the skin = more affected by external temperatures.


When you talk on the phone you might not pace back and forth jumping so often in excitement. This makes a real difference. Yet essentially all it means is that you become smaller and lazier with age; no surprise there.


Muscle wasting naturally comes with age, we're talking about people of younger age ranges.

On the plus side at least it'd be very hard for me to be obese and any muscle mass you've got isn't obscured by fat either.

[_______]

i'm strangely into the curvier male at the moment

[BeerBaron]

I eat 4-5000 calories a day and have pretty low body fat, especially in north america, but i workout and the calories are clean from good sources, chicken,tuna,salmon,eggs ect. But im by no means a gym rat, i do put on muscles quickly though.

[Germanicus]

My weight is a steady 12 stones. (148 pounds ) I guess my weight is due to my metabalism as I can eat like a horse and not gain any weight. I can lose any gain in a matter of days by excercise usually.

[rhiannon]

Why do some people never seem to get fat? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7838668.stm)


By Katie Fraser
BBC News Magazine

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif
The UK is a country obsessed by the threat of obesity. As the average person's weight has grown, so has coverage of the subject.

The chief medical officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, has said we are facing an "obesity timebomb". Culinary celebrities like Jamie Oliver have launched campaigns, in homes and school kitchens, to fight the fat war.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif Yet the science of weight gain is less straightforward than the headlines sometimes suggest. Why, for example, do some people seem to eat what they like and not put on weight, while others limit their diet yet struggle to shed their bulk?

In 1967, a medical researcher, Ethan Sims, carried out an experiment at Vermont state prison in the US. He recruited inmates to eat as much as they could to gain 25% of their body weight, in return for early release from prison.

Some of the volunteers could not reach the target however hard they tried, even though they were eating 10,000 calories a day. Sims's conclusion was that for some, obesity is nearly impossible.

It was with this in mind that 10 slim volunteers - who were not dieters - convened in more hospitable circumstances, for a recent experiment devised by the BBC's Horizon documentary. The 10 spent four weeks gorging on as much pizza, chips, ice cream and chocolate as they could, while doing no exercise, and severely limiting the amount they walked.

'Friends hate me'

Medical student Katherine Hanan, 21, says she had never dieted or done very much exercise before the experiment.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45402000/jpg/_45402335_catherine_profile_226282.jpg
Pre-experiment, Katherine Hanan: 'I've always eaten whatever I want to'

"I've always eaten whatever I want to eat and I've always been quite slim. I'm really lucky and my friends hate me," she says.

During the study, Katherine and the other volunteers had to eat double their usual amount of daily calories, which varied from 3,500 for the women to 5,000 for the men.

Keeping a close watch on the trial was Dr Rudy Leibel of Colombia University, New York, who believes we all have a biologically determined natural weight which our bodies make an effort to stick to, whether it is fat or thin.

"The body will constantly tend to try to bring you back to whatever your normal body weight is," he says.

But he does not think this is the full story. There are other issues that influence a person's weight.
"Fifty per cent is down to genes and the rest is probably down to environment. If you get the gene for Huntington's you have the disease 100% of the time. That's certainly not the case with obesity."
The four-week eat-a-thon was easier for some than for others.

Volunteer Thomas Patel-Campbell, a keen sportsman and runner, struggled with the cap on physical exertion that was one of the terms of the experiment.

Snacks and puddings

"Eating that much was pretty easy as I'd been eating more than usual in preparation for my run," he says. "I was one of the two who weren't sick at all. What was difficult was limiting myself to 5,000 steps a day.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45402000/jpg/_45402336_catherinehannon_bbc_226.jpg
'I'd eat half a tub of ice cream... a couple of puddings... a pint-and-a-half of chocolate milk'

"The least I did was when I spent a day at home, only leaving the house to go to McDonald's and the shops. Even that was 8,000 steps."

Katherine described a typical day's menu for her while taking part in the study. She made up most of her calorie intake by eating sugary snacks and puddings.

"I'd wake up and have two pain au chocolats plus a large hot chocolate with cream. Mid-morning I'd have a packet of high-fat crisps or a chocolate mousse, sometimes it might even be a small meal. Lunch would be substantial - shepherds'' pie or something.
"In the afternoon I'd eat half a tub of ice cream. At night it would be almost the same evening meal as before except I'd have a couple of puddings. I'd also drink a pint-and-a-half of chocolate milk with… ice cream every day."

Unlike Thomas, Katherine found her body rejected this enforced gluttony - leading her to vomit each week.

And two other volunteers couldn't even get that far - finding they couldn't consume the full allocation of food each day, failing to hit their calorie targets.

Persistent hunger

After four weeks Katherine had gained 3.5kg - almost a 7% gain in body weight. Thomas, meanwhile, put on 5.5kg - a 9% gain in body weight.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif Think of it like a thermostat and that each person has a set point http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif
Dr Rudy Leibel

Of the two who struggled to reach their targets, one put on just 0.5kg - a mere 1% gain in body weight, while the other actually saw their body fat percentage go down slightly, despite putting on 5.7kg.

The results highlight the different ways our bodies behave when faced with excess calories.
One expert, Professor Jane Wardle, believes there could be a genetic answer, through what's known as the FTO gene. Adults who have one variant of this gene weigh on average more than everybody else.
Ms Wardle believes the gene can influence appetite, leading some people to not know when they are full. Those without the gene, she thinks, find it easier to say no to food.

"It's kind of effortless because they don't even want to eat. They're not having to exert willpower and self-control whereas for other people, their brain responses to foods that they're exposed to aren't being switched off effectively as a consequence of them already having had enough."

Dr Leibel observes that for some people, such as those who couldn't reach their calorie targets, the appetite hardly fluctuates regardless of how much they want, or are told, to eat.

Muscle not fat

This can work both ways, says Dr Leibel. If someone loses a lot of weight, they often have persistent hunger, even if they are eating enough to sustain themselves.

"Think of it like a thermostat and that each person has a set point," says Dr Leibel. "When it is reduced below that point the body begins to do things that will force it to recover its lost body weight."

And while excess calories can lead many people to put on body fat, one volunteer in the study defied convention by putting on a lot of weight (4.5kg) while his appearance didn't seem to alter. Instead of fat, the weight had gone on as muscle as the volunteer's metabolic rate had risen 30%.

This is another reason, says Dr Carel le Roux, an obesity specialist who oversaw the experiment, why some people appear not to get fat despite eating at lot.

"Studies have shown that this tendency to lay down muscle rather than fat when we over-eat is genetically determined," she says.
For those who did show any signs of having overindulged after the experiment was over, they soon got back to normal, and not through a rigorous diet and exercise regime. Thomas found it happened easily.

"After the first week," he says, "my trousers fitted almost as well as before, and it didn't take long for my belts to be back to the right button hole."

She is only 21, mind you. Check back in 20 or so years. Women that were naturally thin throughout their 20s and 30s may find themselves just like everyone else....about the time they hit their 40s.

Men have this problem less.

She sounds like an Ectomorph to me.

[rhiannon]

My weight is a steady 12 stones. (148 pounds ) I guess my weight is due to my metabalism as I can eat like a horse and not gain any weight. I can lose any gain in a matter of days by excercise usually.

You......sir.......SUCK! ;)

I love your avatar, BTW. I want the female version of it:)

[Boudica]

Probably a genetic thing. Or they are just lucky bastards. Or no one see's them run to the bathroom to puke it up :P

[Aces High]

Its interesting to see how the trend has changed through the years from rich and affluent people being fat to demonstrate their wealth (which in some primitive societies still happens) and the poor being skin and bone.

Now we find the wealthy and informed being thin and lithe and the poor being a bunch of fat pigs.

I think the reason why people are fat is a combination of low iq,too much expendable income and the availability of cheap shitty unhealthy food at every turn,plus lack of excercise.

[Terek]

I think I agree, it is cheap and shitty food in addition to genetics.

Sometimes things happen, though. I am naturally thin, I have a small frame, but since I was injured I gained a lot of weight because I did not work out at all and continued to eat just as much. I am already starting to lose it though, getting back to normal again.
Some people, might never be able to do that.

[Agrippa]

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45402000/jpg/_45402335_catherine_profile_226282.jpg

Typical Nordoid (rather Keltic) leptosomic female in young age. Those don't get fat, as a rule, unless being struck by a disease or REALLY, REALLY extreme conditions.

Just look at her strong and projecting midface.

Typical fatsos, highly adipose people in young age almostd all have a reduced midface and the typical disproportionate craniofacial structure. It is just recently that other, non-pathological cases, get as fat because of the more extreme environmental conditions.

"Traditionally" those bulldog-faces were always fat and if not, they had to use extreme measures, close to torture and strong masochism, to stay really slim.

In older age more variants can grow fat, but among children and young ones, this specific genetically determined category is still predominant and grows in the population with contraselection, since those people, often in the lower social classes, get on average more children, have higher birth rates.

Regardless of exact race, people, especially children and teenagers, with this specific genetic condition look all the same in proportionally:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/images/_46299_christina.jpg

http://api.ning.com/files/Z2fkY1sq*IozfhAZlMczkSVfZDjZwr8xw6oMG5zkg8QmSyS8qL nG0Qf9S0-kh1TIzofY7eeu7y*JQpbuV75uU0SF6Sp2ZYj1/Fatkids1roc4life2.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-91arE9iEoGg/TWEtcH6ionI/AAAAAAAAACU/vtn61BVoaa4/s1600/obese-child.jpg

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2007/07/12/child-cp-2590015.jpg

http://funny.desivalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/fat-child-eat-bescute-funny-picture.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9MOB-niqBbI/THxlyKlcsPI/AAAAAAAALns/kucYcNMf_tM/s200/FatAsianKid%5B1%5D.jpg

These are no normal Pyknics, which, under more normal conditions, grow fat from early adulthood on, really extreme usually not - under non-extreme conditions - at all, at least not before childbirths and older age.

It is a genetic condition which is at the opposite end of what this studies tried to find, people which are naturally inclined to stay fat. Not just being better food users, having an efficient metabolism, but staying pathologically obese under all non extreme (real starvation) conditions.

The midface projection is a good diagnostic value for AVERAGES if comparing body types and racial proportional types, for most racial forms - there are some exceptions, and if ignoring individual exceptions (often disharmonious racial or individual recombinations).

[Black Sun Dimension]

I dont gain weight and I build muscles easily.

Fuck yeah. :cool:

[Neanderthal]

I have the same asthenic profile as the lady, I think i'm ectomorph/mesomorph with a beer belly.
http://i55.tinypic.com/33y455k.jpg
Everybody in my family is thin by nature tho.

[Agrippa]

For females this categories of body types are good and they show the way each one of them can grow fat(ter), because the extend and fat distribution is different, even if growing out of shape:
http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/weightloss/bodytypes.html

http://www.liverdoctor.com/index.php?page=body-types

A typical fat lower belly and thicker thighs are more typical for leptomorphs if coming out of shape, in both sexes, but with different trends depending on sex type.

Thyroid is the equivalent to Leptosomic.

There are indeed four trends in women - making up a cross at which one can put every single women:
leptomorph (thyroid) vs. pyknomorph (lymphatic)
gynaeoid (feminine) vs. android (masculine)

On these two axes one can explain a lot of the body type variation in women and basically in males too (index of gynandromorphy for sexual type).

[SilverKnight]

I used to be like that when younger.

Typical reasons :

High metabolism, body fat regulation.
Healthy diet low in calories and high in fiber.
Routine exercises (fat burn).

[Bard]

I used to be like that when younger.

Typical reasons :

High metabolism, body fat regulation.
Healthy diet low in calories and high in fiber.
Routine exercises (fat burn).

Well yeah, that's normal, if you exercise you stay fit, the funny people are those who spend their whole life sitting on their asses only to remain skinny!
Personally I tend to get fat, I used to be fat when I was a kid and right now I'm fit only due to constant exercise, it's not funny, genetics is such a bitch.

[Equilibrium]

Typical Nordoid (rather Keltic) leptosomic female in young age. Those don't get fat, as a rule, unless being struck by a disease or REALLY, REALLY extreme conditions.

Just look at her strong and projecting midface.

Typical fatsos, highly adipose people in young age almostd all have a reduced midface and the typical disproportionate craniofacial structure. It is just recently that other, non-pathological cases, get as fat because of the more extreme environmental conditions.

"Traditionally" those bulldog-faces were always fat and if not, they had to use extreme measures, close to torture and strong masochism, to stay really slim.

In older age more variants can grow fat, but among children and young ones, this specific genetically determined category is still predominant and grows in the population with contraselection, since those people, often in the lower social classes, get on average more children, have higher birth rates.

Regardless of exact race, people, especially children and teenagers, with this specific genetic condition look all the same in proportionally:

These are no normal Pyknics, which, under more normal conditions, grow fat from early adulthood on, really extreme usually not - under non-extreme conditions - at all, at least not before childbirths and older age.

It is a genetic condition which is at the opposite end of what this studies tried to find, people which are naturally inclined to stay fat. Not just being better food users, having an efficient metabolism, but staying pathologically obese under all non extreme (real starvation) conditions.

The midface projection is a good diagnostic value for AVERAGES if comparing body types and racial proportional types, for most racial forms - there are some exceptions, and if ignoring individual exceptions (often disharmonious racial or individual recombinations).

Fat kids all look the same because high body fat percentage has an impact on hormone levels. It leads to higher estrogen levels, which in turn leads to reduced/softer facial features, especially the nose.

[Absinthe]

I used to be like that in my 20s. I could binge eat and drink (especially the latter) and not gain a gram.

However, stepping over 30, this somehow magically changed, and the abuse of a whole decade suddenly took its toll.
Luckily I was able to reverse that. :)
So, I say, the student mentioned in the experiment is 20. We'll speak in a decade or so. ;)

[Amapola]

this is me.

[poiuytrewq0987]

i'm strangely into the curvier male at the moment

You should like me then as girls often compliment my great ass. :D

[Aces High]

You should like me then as girls often compliment my great ass. :D

Yeah theres nothing like a big fat sweaty arse to turn a girl on...:rolleyes:

[SilverKnight]

Well yeah, that's normal, if you exercise you stay fit, the funny people are those who spend their whole life sitting on their asses only to remain skinny!
Personally I tend to get fat, I used to be fat when I was a kid and right now I'm fit only due to constant exercise, it's not funny, genetics is such a bitch.

Correct xD , It usually happens as you get older, your genes change making your metabolism more unstable making you gain weight even with the smallest amount of food.

[poiuytrewq0987]

Yeah theres nothing like a big fat sweaty arse to turn a girl on...:rolleyes:

Damn, your ass sounds rather nasty. Guess that's not atypical for English blokes like you.

[Cymel]

because they are bulimic (they vomit after they have eaten)

[Agrippa]

Fat kids all look the same because high body fat percentage has an impact on hormone levels. It leads to higher estrogen levels, which in turn leads to reduced/softer facial features, especially the nose.

If those children stay slimmer, they have still the same/very similar facial features and there are fat people which DO NOT have it, but grow fat because of DIFFERENT REASONS.

This is part of a genetic condition and it is inheritable, it is more the cause rather than the effect of obesity.