Keeping the Weight Off

jessran · Biloxi Missiissippi Joined: 12 Mar 2009 Posts: 3

I should be a tub of lard, but I'm not. I seem to have been lucky enough to get "thin" genes, if such a thing exists. For a year, I ran all the time, and ate all the time, and maintained my weight around 140-145. Since October 1, I've barely run at all, I still eat all the time, and my weight hasn't changed at all. In fact, by some definitions I'm underweight.

How can this be? I do try to eat mostly healthy stuff, but ultimately calories are calories. Have I cut back the amount I eat without noticing? Maybe. Has my body's metabolism been permanently switched into a higher gear by my past running? Maybe.

If this can work for me, I can imagine the opposite being true for some unfortunate souls. Cursed with "fat genes", they stay heavy no matter how much they exercise, or how carefully they monitor their eating. Again, calories are calories, but it doesn't seem impossible that one person's base daily calorie requirement could be much different than another's. So Steve pigs out but is thin as a stick, while Stan diets but has the figure of the Pillsbury Doughboy. Life isn't fair.