Lick The Lard

Do you know someone who seems to eat and eat and eat, but never gains weight? They might even say “I eat whatever I want, but I never put on weight.”

I’ve been in that situation myself - with partners, friends - and it always puzzled me, especially when I was trying to lose weight myself.

But when I looked at things carefully, I found that there were differences, sometimes crazily subtle differences that you might miss until wham! - one day, they hit you.

With a partner, for example, we might appear to always be eating the same things, but when I eat, I always eat that little bit more than she will. For example, I might have an extra dollop of curry, or I might cover my grilled meat with sauce whereas she might just dip it a little in the sauce (this is particularly true for me - I drown things in sauce).

We might appear to always be eating the same things, but we’re not always together. While I’m having a sandwich for lunch, she might be having rice with a very healthy dish. When I’m going to the refrigerator once or twice a day for a snack, she’s not. The nights that we’re not together, I might meet a friend and have a few beers, while she’s at home with her family.

We might appear to always be eating the same things, but we’re not doing the same things. I’m sitting at home developing my website; she’s out and about, actively moving between locations.

We might appear to always be eating the same things, but we’re not drinking the same things.  If we have alcohol, she might stop but I’ll have one or two glasses more. During in the morning, I might have coffee with milk and sugar, she might have green tea. During the daytime, I’ll have orange juice, she’ll have water.

Sure, there are differences between people which affects how fast they burn off calories and fat - but the problem is that people rely on that to explain all differences, rather than really looking at the detail.

A class 1 fake Gucci bag and a real Gucci might look the same, but there will be differences there. You might have to look very closely - but they will be there: imperfect stitching, pattern that doesn’t line up correctly.   

There’s one important point that people miss when they hear the phrase “I eat whatever I want, but I never put on weight” from someone, and that’s this: What the person who said it wants to eat is different from what the listener wants to eat. They didn’t say “I eat whatever YOU want to eat, but I never put on weight.”

Don’t assume that two people’s wants are the same. If all I want to eat in a day is orange juice for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and a light dinner, I can perfectly happily say “I eat whatever I want”.

These days, if there’s someone I think is eating the same as me but not putting on weight, or says they can eat what they want but they do not put on weight, I look for the differences. Are we really eating the same? Is what they want the same as what I want? Do they have additional activity that I don’t?

If I look hard enough, I’ll find the right differences.