[tdeck]

> Too many people are convinced that everyone has the same subjective experiences of hunger and craving, but it's simply not the case. Some people implicitly hold this idea because it's a convenient ideology that allows people to morally congratulate themselves for having a functioning satiety circuit.

As someone who's always been thin and doesn't have a strong appetite, I couldn't agree more. I'm just enough outside the norm yo be able to recognize it.

There are times when I simply can't force myself to finish my food and it goes to waste, but the upside is that many people assume that people in my body fat range are somehow virtuous for not "overeating". That's not the case at all - I don't eat particularly healthy, don't have any particular exercise routine beyond walking, and I don't limit myself. I just get full quickly and have a metabolism that burns what I eat.

[scarmig]

I applaud that self knowledge.

It's always hard to know others' experiences. I have a friend who genuinely tried to help me lose weight in college with the typical advice and a lot of support: he had the strategy of just eating until he was full and then stopping, and he just couldn't get why that didn't work for me. But when he hit his 30s, he suddenly started ballooning up and suddenly couldn't put his strategy into practice, to his great frustration. Did his willpower dry up overnight? Nope; something else changed to upregulate his appetite.

(I pointed him to semaglutide, and he's already halfway to returning to his college weight.)

[wnolens]

I'm in a similar boat as you. COMPLETE opposite experience as other folks, to the point of pathology. I could not overeat to save my life. I cannot lift weights and expect any growth due to lack of caloric intake. When I try to exceed 2k calories in a day, I find myself so full I need to lie down and groan for an hour until things move and digest. Force any more down and I'll vomit. I cannot concentrate with a meal in my stomach, so I wake at 9, eat ~500cal at 1pm, and leave the rest til I'm done work at 8.

Sometimes I lose 15lbs when having a bout of constipation due to goddamn IBS.

Every person in my life, friend or foe or family or partner finds it clever and completely acceptable to tell me I'm "too skinny and need to eat more".

Others without my experience just don't get it. Glad these overweight folks have a tool to help them.

[sannee]

Since May, I have (very deliberately) put on ~16kg of mass, going from a BMI of 17.5 to 22.8. Started at around 2500kcal/day, currently at 3500kcal/day.

> I could not overeat to save my life

You are likely eating the wrong foods. It is _highly individual_ what kind of food can people eat in large caloric quantities. Start calorie tracking and experimenting more, you can figure this out. Some people do well with oatmeal (tastes like soggy sawdust to me), some with various nuts (peanut butter is a fitness industry staple), others make themselves milkshakes etc etc.

Progressive overload is key here, don't just expect to start eating 4000kcal/day, it is not going to happen (and would not be productive anyway).

> I cannot concentrate with a meal in my stomach

Same here. I feel like eating makes me lose about 10 IQ points, not great (though I am at a place in life where I can make this sacrifice). Maybe more sugar would be helpful here.

You may also find the /r/gainit subreddit englightening.

[wnolens]

Thanks! Congrats on the 16kg.

I've been trying to eat more since I was 20 (am 34 now). It's been getting more difficult as I get older, especially with the onset of IBS a few years ago - now more foods and what used to be regular quantities cause my stomach to balloon.

All my experimentation has landed me on.. a mostly meat diet. Which I don't love (it's expensive, kills animals, impacts climate) but I can digest it more easily than vegetables or grains.

Oats are my everyday ~500cal first meal. If you find them unpalatable, try my recipe (it's literally my favorite thing to eat):

Combine in a jar night before and leave in fridge: 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2-1cup water/alt milk (amount depending on consistency you enjoy), half scoop flavorless protein powder, tbsp peanut butter, raisins, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, maybe 1/2 banana (if you need it to be a little sweeter).

I prepare mason jars with dry ingredients for the week, and add water to one or two every evening and put in fridge. Oat+raisin+pb combo tastes like my fav cliff bar. Banana + walnut are also amazing together.

I also recently got a vitamix and have been making vegetable smoothies midday to try and get more of them in my diet. I still cannot drink more than 500ml, else extreme fullness and bloating, but it's something. I'll add oats + avocado + protein powder to make it a meal with proper macros, but then I get to regular dinner time mostly full :)

Eating when full is a real bane for me. But there's bigger fish to fry in life, so I'll be a skinny guy.

[wrp]

I've known a few women with metabolism like yours. They actually had to work at keeping their body weight up. Their friends envied their slim figures, but it was a genuine health concern for them.