@Pazza
No I haven’t had kids. Well, being pregnant forces you to gain weight, so of course I will gain weight when I have a child. But I don’t plan on keeping the weight. Some people have to work harder at it than others. I’m just fortunate enough to naturally have a fast metabolism, I’ve always been thin.
Studies have been done in support of a “set point”: the weight you stay at when you’re not trying to gain or lose. It can vary 10 percent in either direction. Like…a woman with a set point of 150 lbs could weigh anywhere from 135–165. If her weight goes under or over this range, she’ll either get an insatiable urge to eat or a loss of appetite to bring fat levels back into line.
Heavy people kinda get screwed because when they diet, the body’s metabolism slows down to conserve energy and fat reserves. But when slender people overeat, their metabolisms just speed up, burning energy. There was a study where thin people took in an extra 1,000 calories didn’t gain weight, only became way more energized. In another study, heavy people dieted and thin people gorged themselves. It was equally difficult for both groups to change their weight. And when the study ended, the slender people lost weight as fast as dieters gained it back.
In a nutshell, body weight is strongly affected by genetic factors. There’s an interaction of metabolism, fat cells, and hormones that keep people at the weight their bodies are designed to be. So even if I have kids, that doesn’t mean I will permanently gain weight. FIN.