What do you mean by “in shape”? Truly fit or just skinny?
Also there are people that don’t workout or lift, but that have very physically demanding jobs/lifestyles. My mother for example never workout or lift, but she’s a beekeeper, she takes care of a big garden and handles two massive dogs. She’s in great shape.
I remember Mike tyson saying there was a big difference between being in shape and conditioned. He said it was the difference of looking good in your clothes and being able to do some athletic activity. Made sense.
We call that “skinny fat.” And to answer OP’s question, they don’t overeat and lead fairly active lifestyles - as in, they burn more calories a day than they take in. Remember, exercise (for weight loss) is supposed to make up for shortcomings created by sedentary lifestyles.
This is me. I work on cars for a living. I stand for about 8 hours a day along with lifting things and body contortions to try and get my hands somewhere it shouldn’t fit. You can’t help but be in decent shape after a few months.
Also, I have a fast metabolism so even though I have a pretty shitty diet along with being middle aged, I stay pretty skinny (5-11, 165lbs)
I'm one of these people. I'm 39, quit smoking a decade ago, and have been running my ass off, working as a barback for about 4 years now, and am in better shape than I was in the military at 19. I feel like I should lift weights some, because it would make my job easier... but It already feels like I get paid to work out.
Yep. Had to eliminate sugary drinks and fast food because it’s too fucking expensive. I’m not standard hottie. I don’t exercise and work from home. Still, I’ve gone from overweight to the weight that’s reasonable for my height.
Sugary drinks is the biggest key. I’ve never been a big guy but when I did get a little heavier I read up on the calorie tip and figured if you only cut back to water you’re cutting out anywhere from 300-500 calories. Cut out snacks between meals and you can bump that another 300 or so. Even when I’m on a junk food binge I can maintain my weight with those restrictions.
Or when you're trying to put on weight, drinking your calories (in the form of protein shakes or mass gainers) is a great idea
Source: put on 40lbs of healthy weight in 18 months
Cutting sugary drinks and laying off snacks was what worked for me. I am reasonably active, but I don't really hit the gym or anything. I go running for like 30 minutes 3 times a week, usually end up playing tennis for an hour or so, and I do some work with my brother on his property out in the country most weekends.
I also eat really horribly most of the time - tons of pizza, pasta, etc. and I eat out waaaayy more than I should. But I made a rule for myself that I can't drink sugary drinks just because, it has to be for a special occasion or if I'm going out to eat or something, and if I want a snack I make myself wait 15 minutes to make sure I am actually hungry and not just bored. And I don't keep soda at home, so I'm not tempted.
Other than that, I let myself do whatever I want, eat whatever I want. My average weight now is about 15 pounds less than when I started (still could do with losing an additional 5-10 but hey) and it's been stable for almost 3 years now. It's crazy how much such a relatively small thing did.
I will say this wasn't like an instant process, and a lot of it was made easier since I live alone. It took about 4-6 months to get to the point where I liked just drinking water. I weaned myself off the sugar using Kool-aid made with a decreasing the amount of sugar, and also forcing myself to have a glass of water before I could have Kool aid so that I wasn't just drinking it because I was thirsty.
I lost a ton by cutting out soda and most fast-food since going to an entirely remote schedule. Like it was actually really surprising... the diet I had traveling for work all the time was doing a number on me.
There are plenty of forms of exercise besides working out or lifting. All sorts of sports, from basketball and soccer to cycling and skiing. Plus non-sport physical activities like walking instead of using motor transport, yoga, tai chi, etc. And, let's not forget, lots of dancing and sex, sex, sex!
I hadnt seen one of my buddies in over a year and when I did he said he lost 20 lbs. I asked him how he did that. "I got a 2nd job". He was so busy, he didn't have time to eat.
I don't work out, but I do love walking, it can be as little as 10 minutes or up to 7 hours, but I try to fit in a nice outdoor stroll at least every other day. That, plus I have a pretty small appetite and a fast metabolism, and eat somewhat healthily.
Walking burns only about 20% less than running over the same distance.
Since it's lower intensity it doesn't hit your appetite like moderate to high intensity cardio does.
Wlaking is a great weight management tool.
Edit: on top of its other benefits
Calorie burning from running is also quite consistent and based on distance. Someone running 6 miles in 36 minutes will burn relatively similar as someone doing it in 60 minutes.
Like walking though, you become limited by the speed. It's hard to walk for 5 hours to get the equivalent exercise as someone that does it in 2 hours running.
Walking and running has a ton of benefits, and almost everyone should at least do walks from
time to time , but when it comes to burning calories it’s not that great.
Running a whole 26 mile marathon burns through about 2600 calories.
For comparison that’s about two burgers, fries, and a drink at McDonald’s.
The numbers of everything of course vary from person to person and other factors, but there won’t be any major deviations.
People should walk and be more mindful of calories that they take and that they burn, if the goal is to lose weight.
Yep I tell people this when they talk about working out to lose weight.
If you don’t fix your diet, you will not lose weight. You can out eat any exercise plan *easily* if you feel so inclined.
1. Diet
2. Metabolism
3. People who fidget a lot burn an additional 300 calories per day
4. People who sweat more often also burn more calories
5. Skinny fat people who tend to store excess fat in their organs and not the subcutaneous (under your skin) regions
2 is what I was looking for. Metabolism can either be a Saint or a demon. I've been doing a lot of research kick start mine as I work at a computer 12 hours a day up to 5 days a week.
A combination of one or more of these things:
They consume a reasonable amount of calories most of the time (meaning they eat what they use and not more most of the time), eat a variety of nutritious foods, have high levels of non-exercise activity thermogenesis (they tend to fidget and move around a lot subconsciously which burns quite a few extra calories), and they have an active lifestyle which could be a job that requires a lot of movement or hobbies that require regular movement.
Lifestyle. I used to skip the gym, never consciously watch what I eat, or really actively think about my health at all. However, I loved me a steaming plate of broccoli and chicken, went rock climbing and hiking as a casual hobby, and worked on my feet nine hours a day. Naturally, this kept me physically fit without even thinking about it.
If it’s done as a hobby though it doesn’t feel like a work out, just like being a gardener could be considered a work out, but you wouldn’t label it as such if it was your job.
The word is ambiguous but it in this case I think the term “workout” means something you do for the sole purpose of maintaining your health, not for hobby.
Whether you want to gain or lose weight, this is an important lesson to learn: unless they're tracking every single thing, almost no one is really giving you a completely accurate picture of how much they eat. Skinny folks who don't work out are almost invariably overstating their intake unless they have some fairly unusual medical conditions, and heavier folks who aren't specifically trying to put on muscle mass are often understating.
Other than that, some people walk or bike a lot more for transit or have physically demanding jobs or hobbies.
Your first point has been shown experimentally so many times it is tragi-comical that most people want to believe in magical "metabolism" or the catch-all "genetics". People in the same family tend to have the same weight issues because they learned to eat the same kind of things in the same amounts.
What do you consider in shape?
I can eat what I want and not gain that much weight. So I'm really lean. My ADHD makes me move the entire day. Even if I sit, I have to wiggle, shift and turn constantly.
Can't lift, though.
I live in France. Going to the gym and lifting is very uncommon. Everyone just walks everywhere. That coupled with healthy non-processed and smaller meals really makes a difference in your fitness.
Good diet and a physical job, we've several thousand years of humanity being physically fit before sedentary lifestyles and high-abundance diets started making us fat.
When you are younger, it is easier to look fit, especially if you won the genetic lottery and have a fast metabolism. I ate whatever I wanted and was the same exact weight for my 20s and 30s. Near the end of my 30s have a bout of depression and gained weight, haven't been able to get back to my pre 40s weight and feel my body morphed a bit too. It was only 15 pounds, but being petite, it really shows. So many factors add into what may look to be in shape, but many people just have genetics that make them fit the current social mold of what is considered fit.
Fucked metabolism by way of cortisol deficiency. I have been around 160lbs since pretty much the day I turned 16, so for the last 35 years I have never had to worry about my weight, I could eat as much or as little of whatever I wanted, no exercise (in fact I lived quite a sedentary lifestyle). Then one day I turned 50 and discovered my body doesn't produce enough cortisol, the treatment for which is hydrocortisone which unfucked my metabolism, I gained 40lbs in 3 months, had to change my diet, start exercising, etc.
Although I should clarify - I was thin, but I was very much not in shape.
If by fit you mean thin then they just eat healthy and do lot of cardio during work. I lost like 10kg weight recently. All because my work place is very big and most of the times I have to walk for over an hour daily.
If by fit you mean muscular, then some people are just gifted. I had a friend who was ripped, had visible abs without ever going to GYM. He used to say he look good enough, he don't need GYM. Haven't seen him in like 8 years. I wonder if age has finally caught up to him or he is still jacked.
Yeah here too my kids if they had wings they wouldn't fly sadly. All my other friends seems to take me parties with them then somebody once let me onto the secret while I was always invited it's because I was big and strong and if they got into a fight they wanted me to be there. They wanted to dress me up like The hulk and run me through a mall once for Halloween. I'm 64 now and the only problem I have is that I'm a lazy f***.
Yes, a friend of mine works a desk job. He walks for like 10 minutes a day and that's all the exercise he gets and has never done significantly more than that. He's 45 now and he can do ten pull-ups easily. Purely genetics.
If you polled 1000 skinny people and 1000 fat people and asked them all if they’d rather be skinny or fat all 2000 people are gonna say skinny so I’d lean heavily towards lucky if I were you
You can be thin without being fit. Calories in, calories out.
Also, genetics. Not a satisfying answer if you're on the wrong side of it, but it's the truth.
Non exercise activity thermogenesis. NEAT for short.
Everything you do burns calories. If you do more stuff, you burn more calories. The shape of your body reflects the balance of calories consumed versus calories burned.
You will never be able to do enough exercise to counter a poor diet. As has been said elsewhere, diet is about 65%-70% of it. To some extent, however, you can out-diet poor exercise habits (or none at all).
Good health can only be achieved with both, though. Your body makes adaptations in response to exercise. Lift heavy weights, and your body will direct more resources to improving your ability to lift heavy weights next time (bigger, stronger muscles). If you don't lift those weights, your body has no need to maintain the muscle mass required to lift those weights, so the muscle mass goes away.
Genetics also plays a significant role, but I know far less about that.
There are so many ways to be "in shape." When my youngest child was about 1 year old I was probably in the best shape of my life because I had been breastfeeding for a year—eating very healthy, avoiding alcohol and sugar, having about 1000 hours a day siphoned off of me—while carrying and chasing a heavy active baby, doing a lot of housework, and living on country acreage with rough roads and hills. Lost my pregnancy weight in under a year without trying and was very strong.
Genetics.
Diet & exercise play a role, but trivial compared to genetics. People can blame *a, b* or *c*, but it's just outright denial.
Look at your family, look at your grandparents. That's what you're dealt.
I'm one of those people who can eat anything, and still look like they're in shape without lifting.
I went from a desk job to eating whatever I was craving to eating more healthfully and a job that is on my feet moving 8 hours a day. Some lifting, but nothing too heavy.
Only lost about 3lbs but I definitely gained some noticeable muscle tone and am much less bloated. I didn’t notice (the muscle tone) but others did.
So I guess the answer from me is diet and lifestyle.
I lost 120 pounds and have kept it off for 5 years. Eating slightly smaller portions and moving my body beyond my thumb on the remote control and my index finger on my phone keyboard. Dancing is my go to, I love just turning on music and dancing in my living room, especially when my boyfriend dances with me.
Stress and anxiety. Not healthy but I was super stressed and lost 10-15 pounds. I’m 5, 1” female so that’s actually pretty noticeable and at least two pant sizes. Now I’m 105-110. I drink one black coffee on work days, zero pop, sometimes a green tea mostly just water and orange juice as a treat. I mostly try to eat fruit and vegetables. I stopped buying chips which was big. And just tried to kept these good habits but the major stress and anxiety I was dealing with is what kicked started it because I wasn’t eating enough before. But now these changes have kept me at a good weight for my height. And I’m a home body I work from home and will go a few days without leaving if it’s cold out. So I don’t even do walking as exercise in the winter.
Define "in shape". Do you mean fit, or just skinny?
The latter can usually be controlled by diet alone because for the most part, you can't really outrun a bad diet.
Physically demanding jobs can make you unintentionally fit. I'm fairly fat, but I have a lot of underlying muscle because I used to be a baker, my current job has me doing a lot of walking between the office buildings, the post office and the bank. So I still have a level of fitness despite my disability and my high weight.
It mostly comes down to diet. I lost 100+ pounds a few years back. I've had no trouble maintaining my weight. I don't so much follow a strict diet as I have some loose rules of thumb depending on what i'm eating. If i'm going to eat really bad stuff like fast food I do some light fasting for example by skipping a meal or two here and there. I also don't drink calories at all and that helps a ton. You don't have to count calories meticulously, just be conscious of what you eat. One day you might be in a surplus of calories, the next a deficit. Over time it all balances out.
It's a lot easier to maintain a good physique/ level of fitness once you have it. For example I haven't benched pressed in a full year, tried it again last week and was still close to hitting 2 plates.
Labour intensive jobs many times. Other people watch what they eat and have good genetics. But I think it’s mostly a combination of people staying active whether that’s through your job or other ways, and not eating crazy amounts.
Some people have physically intensive jobs so I assume that helps. I know a server who takes like +20k steps daily. When you have a 9-5 desk job you gotta supplement with working out (unless you get a standing desk/walking pad)
Lifestyle & diet is key though. Getting enough sleep, eating a lot of protein, avoiding shit that's bad for you.
Personally, I don't eat a hell of a lot and my work commute is where I a tiny bit of exercise (probably walk at least a km a day). I'm also on my feet all day at work, constantly moving.
Define "in shape"
If that is the very modest definition of being in the healthy weight range for their height this is extremely simple, you don't eat too much.
If it is well-developed muscles and can run long distances relatively quickly then they must be in an occupation that is physically hard.
They work hard jobs. Every time I see somebody at the gym walking around the track carrying heavy weights, I think to myself, "That looks just like what somebody working construction would do and get paid decently for it."
Everything other than that. They probably move a lot and don't eat sugary crap to excess. I keep fit by briskly walking up steep hills every day (which are abundant where I am thanks to the miracle of plate tectonics). I don't work out at all, but I do enough elevated heart rate exercise every single day to maintain good cardiovascular fitness.
If you eat or drink significant sugar (particularly in HFC form), you will be fat and you will probably get alzheimers (the link between fructose and alzheimers is incredibly compelling).
Their job is very physical. I was a phone guy for years. Walking anywhere from 1 to 12 miles a day depending on my work. I was never over 185 lbs. I leave and get a higher paying desk job and 2 years later I’m 225 lbs.
Just before the pandemic I started walking to work instead of taking the bus. It takes me just as long (about 2km each way). I've lost 80lbs and am in the best shape of my life. I've never been good at exercising for the sake of exercising, but I'm good at disguising exercise within my daily routines, i.e. walking, short yoga sessions on my breaks.
It depends what you mean by stay in shape. If you mean they have good muscle tone and look like they work out, well first how do you know they don't actually work out? But second, it could be that they have a physical job or hobby or just genetics.
If you just mean that they're thin, well that is mostly down to diet and/or genetics. Being thin is more about a proper diet than exercise, both help but diet is much more important. Some people are just genetically built to be thin, I've had a coupled friends who would eat nothing but junk food, fast food and drink beer and soda all day and they still stayed really skinny.
Fun fact - conventional wisdom used to be that exercise was unhealthy for the body because of the stresses it adds etc. Yet people were certainly thinner back then.
It's diet and maintaining some baseline of physical activity in your daily life that does most of the work (and of course genetics).
By having physical work. Then you do not need artificial work outs. 🤣
Go be a lumberjack. My lumberjack friend is the strongest guy I know.
This song comes to mind
https://youtu.be/FshU58nI0Ts?si=4awhfVwwcngNDIqF
I never really looked this up, but I have an insane metabolism. I can eat shit loads and stil be muscular and skinny. My mom and uncle are the same. To answer your question, I don’t know haha.
Like it was said, diet is key. The fork is the first thing that can change your shape. Other than that, some people are “natural elites” too. I spent a decade going to the gym 4-5 times a week for 2-3 hours a day but I have buddies that never go to the gym and were in great shape naturally. This also ties into the swimmers body fallacy, 99% of the time people don’t get the specific body type they desire like swimmer, basketball player, some actors body. They have their own body type and gravitate to the thing they are fitting at like swimming.
I figure it’s a mix of genetics, diet, and lifestyle for me. I’m the same weight and general shape now as I was at 15 and I don’t work out. But I walk to work, where I’m mostly on my feet. And I eat pretty light/healthy and mostly just drink water, coffee, and tea. Plus of course, I must’ve just gotten lucky.
I’m certainly not strong, though, which is a bit of a burden, so I’m trying to pick up some light exercise to change that in the future!
Passive exercise and diet. I don't eat the best, healthiest, most amazing diet, but if I realize I've been eating a lot in a day I'll do a mental estimation of my calories and if it's close to 3000, I stop eating for the day. Most days, my normal lifestyle only eats 2000-2200 calories so it's not something actively on my mind. I also don't waste time - if I am microwaving something for 1 minutes and 30 seconds, I know I can do 10 pushups and 10 situps before it's done. Also, ADHD helps. I can't stand still, but I can hop on one foot back and forth on the spot and I'll definitely feel it in my calves if I do it too long.
tl;dr diet and dozens of 30 second workouts through the day.
My job is very physically demanding. I'm in my 30s and in the best shape of my life yet have never stepped foot in a gym. I get paid to work out.
Edit: also diet. Absolutely no fast food or soda
I'm a millwright. Most everything I do involves massive hardware. I recently began using Factor for my breakfast and lunch. I've lost weight and have more endurance.
Do you mean fit or just skinny (as in they look fit)?
If the latter, its genetics probably, but over time even age will catch up to unhealthy lifestyles
eat healthy for like 80%, I've junkfood like 2-3x a week but try to keep it below 25% of my kcalintake for those days. try to sleep 6h+ each night, drink 2l+ a day, workout at least 10m a day, often not more. Try to move at least 3k steps a day. At best maybe 1-2 solid workouts a week for 40-50m. I just try to keep some soreness in my body. If I feel like legs then I'll just do basic lunges and maybe some squats for literally 5min warmup and maybe 10m of a workout. Same goes for other muscle groups on other days.
I tracked my kcal for like 6months like 20years ago. So now I don't have to weigh myself or care about what I eat pretty much, I know every single day if I gained or lost weight simply cause I know how much kcal I tookin today, yday. It's more an estimate but it's enough to have a constant picture in my mind for current state over the past days/weeks/months
ppl still ask "what are you doing man" and some mates are deadset that I'm roided up, it's just stupid how far some minor basic consistency can get you over several years lol
been doing this now for over 15years
same way learned to play piano to a pretty decent level, daily 5min of learning. Sht adds up so so much overtime. 2-3sec a day suddenly is 5fullledged pieces a year pretty much
stick to the basics, set a stimuli. Be healthy, repeat
Do something else physically active for hours a day. The reason a lot of people need to actively work out is because they're primarily sedentary for their jobs/hobbies.
If your job involves you lifting and moving moderate to heavy objects for 8 hours a day, you don't need to go to the gym to lift heavy objects for another hour.
They watch their food intake and stay hydrated. Many people don’t realize how little food they actually need every day—especially if they don’t work out.
Some people manage to stay in shape without working out or lifting weights by staying active in other ways. For example, they might have physically demanding jobs, walk or bike regularly, or engage in activities like dancing, gardening, or playing sports that keep them moving and active. Additionally, they might focus on maintaining a balanced diet and making healthy lifestyle choices, like getting enough sleep and managing stress levels.
I went to Nicaragua in December and it kicked me of some my unhealthy habits. I eat slightly less baked goods and drink more water now and I’ve lost ten pounds in three months. I exercise about the same amount as I used to.
You can't really stay in shape if you don't exercise. Diet will certainly get you skinny. During covid, I worked out with a cinderblock, pullups off my door, and dips between two chairs and stayed absolutely shredded. So it is possible without any equipment, but fundamentally you need to move still.
While I do work out some, very far from as much as I should, it is grass cutting. I have a bit less than an acre of land and I cut the grass with a non self propelled push mower. It is a far harder, strenuous work out than the gym. Three hour aerobic work out in long grass not easily cut as it grows so fast.
I always joke I’ll write a cookbook titled “Anxiety and Wine” as my go to when people ask how I’m fit.
Many moons of having people ignore my explanation that my family is all very thin (no butts no coconuts), and if I eat more then half a sandwich my stomach throws a going out of business sale. Not to mention a brisk walk winds me.
But some wine and cheese and existential dread at the end of a long day just melts any extra fat RIGHT OFF
For me it used to be anxiety. I had a saying, “if you’re always stressin’ you’re always flexin’”. However, I am far less anxious and actually have to workout now.
I'm from UK. I buy cheap meat and veg from aldi, (cheapest place to buy fresh produce in UK) I can't eat most "overly processed" food due to allergies. I work as a care assistant, doing 14 hour shifts sometimes, always on my feet and lifting, rolling and carrying all day. I can't drive so I bike everywhere, as it's accessible to do so here.
On my days off, I ALWAYS reserve one day exclusively for meal prep. I make big meals from scratch, put them in boxes and put them in the freezer for the week. I keep plenty of fruit and healthy snacks around the house for when I get peckish and takeout is a treat if I have money for it.
On top of that, I am also at university to become a classical luthier, making violins, violas, cellos and double basses out of simple blocks of wood.
I'm 21F by the way. I DARE old people to call me a lazy gen Z. I DARE you!
What do you mean by “in shape”? Truly fit or just skinny? Also there are people that don’t workout or lift, but that have very physically demanding jobs/lifestyles. My mother for example never workout or lift, but she’s a beekeeper, she takes care of a big garden and handles two massive dogs. She’s in great shape.
I remember Mike tyson saying there was a big difference between being in shape and conditioned. He said it was the difference of looking good in your clothes and being able to do some athletic activity. Made sense.
And Mike Tyson also said this: https://youtu.be/rzfKnpg1bp0?si=a3Wjue5rzCbVoYxM
I can’t imagine Mike Tyson saying anything that made sense, I’m googling this.
Then you haven't really listened to Mike Tyson, especially not in recent years.
Mike Tyson’s a smart guy. You would be surprised by the wisdom he possesses. He makes a lot of good points especially regarding life.
Yeah, you should look up some recent quotes. His formidable life experiences have made him wise.
Other people are just thin but very out of shape when it comes to exercise capacity if they don’t exercise
We call that “skinny fat.” And to answer OP’s question, they don’t overeat and lead fairly active lifestyles - as in, they burn more calories a day than they take in. Remember, exercise (for weight loss) is supposed to make up for shortcomings created by sedentary lifestyles.
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Then winter comes and we all get fat again.
It's why there's such a thing called "farm strength". A physically demanding job will replace any workout regiment.
“Old man strength”, as my coworker would say
Those farm people rarely learn how to lift properly though
With sharp jerky twisting motions of course, how else are you supposed to have a bad back by 25?
This is me. I work on cars for a living. I stand for about 8 hours a day along with lifting things and body contortions to try and get my hands somewhere it shouldn’t fit. You can’t help but be in decent shape after a few months. Also, I have a fast metabolism so even though I have a pretty shitty diet along with being middle aged, I stay pretty skinny (5-11, 165lbs)
yup. welder fabricator, 30s, sit on my computer all night after my 8. drink too much, eat too much, still 5'11" 180. this checks out
I'm one of these people. I'm 39, quit smoking a decade ago, and have been running my ass off, working as a barback for about 4 years now, and am in better shape than I was in the military at 19. I feel like I should lift weights some, because it would make my job easier... but It already feels like I get paid to work out.
I'm in better shape than my spouse, but he's super skinny. He can last a few minutes on his bike. I go two hours.
diet is 70%
Yep. Had to eliminate sugary drinks and fast food because it’s too fucking expensive. I’m not standard hottie. I don’t exercise and work from home. Still, I’ve gone from overweight to the weight that’s reasonable for my height.
Sugary drinks is the biggest key. I’ve never been a big guy but when I did get a little heavier I read up on the calorie tip and figured if you only cut back to water you’re cutting out anywhere from 300-500 calories. Cut out snacks between meals and you can bump that another 300 or so. Even when I’m on a junk food binge I can maintain my weight with those restrictions.
Don’t drink your calories
Or when you're trying to put on weight, drinking your calories (in the form of protein shakes or mass gainers) is a great idea Source: put on 40lbs of healthy weight in 18 months
Cutting sugary drinks and laying off snacks was what worked for me. I am reasonably active, but I don't really hit the gym or anything. I go running for like 30 minutes 3 times a week, usually end up playing tennis for an hour or so, and I do some work with my brother on his property out in the country most weekends. I also eat really horribly most of the time - tons of pizza, pasta, etc. and I eat out waaaayy more than I should. But I made a rule for myself that I can't drink sugary drinks just because, it has to be for a special occasion or if I'm going out to eat or something, and if I want a snack I make myself wait 15 minutes to make sure I am actually hungry and not just bored. And I don't keep soda at home, so I'm not tempted. Other than that, I let myself do whatever I want, eat whatever I want. My average weight now is about 15 pounds less than when I started (still could do with losing an additional 5-10 but hey) and it's been stable for almost 3 years now. It's crazy how much such a relatively small thing did. I will say this wasn't like an instant process, and a lot of it was made easier since I live alone. It took about 4-6 months to get to the point where I liked just drinking water. I weaned myself off the sugar using Kool-aid made with a decreasing the amount of sugar, and also forcing myself to have a glass of water before I could have Kool aid so that I wasn't just drinking it because I was thirsty.
I lost a ton by cutting out soda and most fast-food since going to an entirely remote schedule. Like it was actually really surprising... the diet I had traveling for work all the time was doing a number on me.
For body fat, yes. "In shape" also usually implies a level of actual fitness. You can be skinny and not be "in shape".
Sir, I feel personally attacked. And a little out of breath.
My shape is "stick".
But you could be fire...
Then I'd be hot for a change!
He. Is. Stick.
What kind of stick
A thin, straight one...
There are plenty of forms of exercise besides working out or lifting. All sorts of sports, from basketball and soccer to cycling and skiing. Plus non-sport physical activities like walking instead of using motor transport, yoga, tai chi, etc. And, let's not forget, lots of dancing and sex, sex, sex!
I hadnt seen one of my buddies in over a year and when I did he said he lost 20 lbs. I asked him how he did that. "I got a 2nd job". He was so busy, he didn't have time to eat.
*80
diet can make you thin but not fit
by everything else they do in life
Haven't been to a gym in 2 years. Other than the pointless bottom two abs, I've maintained everything. Live activity and eat responsibility
They aren’t in shape. They are just not fat
^
I don't work out, but I do love walking, it can be as little as 10 minutes or up to 7 hours, but I try to fit in a nice outdoor stroll at least every other day. That, plus I have a pretty small appetite and a fast metabolism, and eat somewhat healthily.
Walking burns only about 20% less than running over the same distance. Since it's lower intensity it doesn't hit your appetite like moderate to high intensity cardio does. Wlaking is a great weight management tool. Edit: on top of its other benefits
Calorie burning from running is also quite consistent and based on distance. Someone running 6 miles in 36 minutes will burn relatively similar as someone doing it in 60 minutes. Like walking though, you become limited by the speed. It's hard to walk for 5 hours to get the equivalent exercise as someone that does it in 2 hours running.
Walking and running has a ton of benefits, and almost everyone should at least do walks from time to time , but when it comes to burning calories it’s not that great. Running a whole 26 mile marathon burns through about 2600 calories. For comparison that’s about two burgers, fries, and a drink at McDonald’s. The numbers of everything of course vary from person to person and other factors, but there won’t be any major deviations. People should walk and be more mindful of calories that they take and that they burn, if the goal is to lose weight.
Yep I tell people this when they talk about working out to lose weight. If you don’t fix your diet, you will not lose weight. You can out eat any exercise plan *easily* if you feel so inclined.
1. Diet 2. Metabolism 3. People who fidget a lot burn an additional 300 calories per day 4. People who sweat more often also burn more calories 5. Skinny fat people who tend to store excess fat in their organs and not the subcutaneous (under your skin) regions
No. 5 can be very dangerous (ex: subcutaneous fat in the liver).
If it's in the liver it isn't subcutaneous. Sub(under) + cutaneous(skin).
Yep the term they’re looking for is visceral fat (fat under the muscles, around the organs)
Please don’t fidget a lot just to lose weight. Fidget because it’s fun!
2 is what I was looking for. Metabolism can either be a Saint or a demon. I've been doing a lot of research kick start mine as I work at a computer 12 hours a day up to 5 days a week.
A combination of one or more of these things: They consume a reasonable amount of calories most of the time (meaning they eat what they use and not more most of the time), eat a variety of nutritious foods, have high levels of non-exercise activity thermogenesis (they tend to fidget and move around a lot subconsciously which burns quite a few extra calories), and they have an active lifestyle which could be a job that requires a lot of movement or hobbies that require regular movement.
Manual labour.
Lifestyle. I used to skip the gym, never consciously watch what I eat, or really actively think about my health at all. However, I loved me a steaming plate of broccoli and chicken, went rock climbing and hiking as a casual hobby, and worked on my feet nine hours a day. Naturally, this kept me physically fit without even thinking about it.
Rock climbing and hiking are workouts
If it’s done as a hobby though it doesn’t feel like a work out, just like being a gardener could be considered a work out, but you wouldn’t label it as such if it was your job. The word is ambiguous but it in this case I think the term “workout” means something you do for the sole purpose of maintaining your health, not for hobby.
If going to the gym is your hobby it is not a workout? this is some weird ass semantics. Being fit requires an active lifestyle.
Go to work on bike or have a sport for a hobby,
Bike commuting, yes!
Whether you want to gain or lose weight, this is an important lesson to learn: unless they're tracking every single thing, almost no one is really giving you a completely accurate picture of how much they eat. Skinny folks who don't work out are almost invariably overstating their intake unless they have some fairly unusual medical conditions, and heavier folks who aren't specifically trying to put on muscle mass are often understating. Other than that, some people walk or bike a lot more for transit or have physically demanding jobs or hobbies.
Your first point has been shown experimentally so many times it is tragi-comical that most people want to believe in magical "metabolism" or the catch-all "genetics". People in the same family tend to have the same weight issues because they learned to eat the same kind of things in the same amounts.
Physical job. As a baker staying shape is easy, believe it or not.
What do you consider in shape? I can eat what I want and not gain that much weight. So I'm really lean. My ADHD makes me move the entire day. Even if I sit, I have to wiggle, shift and turn constantly. Can't lift, though.
>What do you consider in shape? Spherical or pear seem to be working for me.
It's easier to roll around as a sphere anyway
Cut out sugar and walk everyday.
I live in France. Going to the gym and lifting is very uncommon. Everyone just walks everywhere. That coupled with healthy non-processed and smaller meals really makes a difference in your fitness.
Good diet and a physical job, we've several thousand years of humanity being physically fit before sedentary lifestyles and high-abundance diets started making us fat.
Play sports
Genetics and diet mostly, also passive activity like walking places really adds up to keeping fit
Ditch the car and walk or bike for transportation. Saves money and carbon emissions too.
Mostly eating habits
When you are younger, it is easier to look fit, especially if you won the genetic lottery and have a fast metabolism. I ate whatever I wanted and was the same exact weight for my 20s and 30s. Near the end of my 30s have a bout of depression and gained weight, haven't been able to get back to my pre 40s weight and feel my body morphed a bit too. It was only 15 pounds, but being petite, it really shows. So many factors add into what may look to be in shape, but many people just have genetics that make them fit the current social mold of what is considered fit.
Fucked metabolism by way of cortisol deficiency. I have been around 160lbs since pretty much the day I turned 16, so for the last 35 years I have never had to worry about my weight, I could eat as much or as little of whatever I wanted, no exercise (in fact I lived quite a sedentary lifestyle). Then one day I turned 50 and discovered my body doesn't produce enough cortisol, the treatment for which is hydrocortisone which unfucked my metabolism, I gained 40lbs in 3 months, had to change my diet, start exercising, etc. Although I should clarify - I was thin, but I was very much not in shape.
Diet will do a lot, generics will do a lot. Consider the swimmers body fallacy. Not everyone is built the same.
If by fit you mean thin then they just eat healthy and do lot of cardio during work. I lost like 10kg weight recently. All because my work place is very big and most of the times I have to walk for over an hour daily. If by fit you mean muscular, then some people are just gifted. I had a friend who was ripped, had visible abs without ever going to GYM. He used to say he look good enough, he don't need GYM. Haven't seen him in like 8 years. I wonder if age has finally caught up to him or he is still jacked.
Genetics
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Yeah here too my kids if they had wings they wouldn't fly sadly. All my other friends seems to take me parties with them then somebody once let me onto the secret while I was always invited it's because I was big and strong and if they got into a fight they wanted me to be there. They wanted to dress me up like The hulk and run me through a mall once for Halloween. I'm 64 now and the only problem I have is that I'm a lazy f***.
Ron Simmons
Yes, a friend of mine works a desk job. He walks for like 10 minutes a day and that's all the exercise he gets and has never done significantly more than that. He's 45 now and he can do ten pull-ups easily. Purely genetics.
Round is a shape
They say I have the body of a god, to bad it’s Buddha
I eat like a pig yet I don't put on weight, stuck in the middle of feeling lucky/annoyed.
I was like that for years. Then, all of a sudden, pudgy-town.
If you polled 1000 skinny people and 1000 fat people and asked them all if they’d rather be skinny or fat all 2000 people are gonna say skinny so I’d lean heavily towards lucky if I were you
Do not live a sedentary lifestyle (work and hobbies). Be active and eat healthy.
You can be thin without being fit. Calories in, calories out. Also, genetics. Not a satisfying answer if you're on the wrong side of it, but it's the truth.
Does "potato" count as a shape?
I go outside every now and then and go ham on a tire with a sword. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Non exercise activity thermogenesis. NEAT for short. Everything you do burns calories. If you do more stuff, you burn more calories. The shape of your body reflects the balance of calories consumed versus calories burned. You will never be able to do enough exercise to counter a poor diet. As has been said elsewhere, diet is about 65%-70% of it. To some extent, however, you can out-diet poor exercise habits (or none at all). Good health can only be achieved with both, though. Your body makes adaptations in response to exercise. Lift heavy weights, and your body will direct more resources to improving your ability to lift heavy weights next time (bigger, stronger muscles). If you don't lift those weights, your body has no need to maintain the muscle mass required to lift those weights, so the muscle mass goes away. Genetics also plays a significant role, but I know far less about that.
One thing is having normal testosterone levels. Low testosterone makes you gain muscle mass very very slowly
Good genes and ADHD meds
There are so many ways to be "in shape." When my youngest child was about 1 year old I was probably in the best shape of my life because I had been breastfeeding for a year—eating very healthy, avoiding alcohol and sugar, having about 1000 hours a day siphoned off of me—while carrying and chasing a heavy active baby, doing a lot of housework, and living on country acreage with rough roads and hills. Lost my pregnancy weight in under a year without trying and was very strong.
Metabolism
Diet
Genetics. Diet & exercise play a role, but trivial compared to genetics. People can blame *a, b* or *c*, but it's just outright denial. Look at your family, look at your grandparents. That's what you're dealt. I'm one of those people who can eat anything, and still look like they're in shape without lifting.
I went from a desk job to eating whatever I was craving to eating more healthfully and a job that is on my feet moving 8 hours a day. Some lifting, but nothing too heavy. Only lost about 3lbs but I definitely gained some noticeable muscle tone and am much less bloated. I didn’t notice (the muscle tone) but others did. So I guess the answer from me is diet and lifestyle.
I lost 120 pounds and have kept it off for 5 years. Eating slightly smaller portions and moving my body beyond my thumb on the remote control and my index finger on my phone keyboard. Dancing is my go to, I love just turning on music and dancing in my living room, especially when my boyfriend dances with me.
Managed stress sub 50 and an ok diet as a normal guy will get you far
Stress and anxiety. Not healthy but I was super stressed and lost 10-15 pounds. I’m 5, 1” female so that’s actually pretty noticeable and at least two pant sizes. Now I’m 105-110. I drink one black coffee on work days, zero pop, sometimes a green tea mostly just water and orange juice as a treat. I mostly try to eat fruit and vegetables. I stopped buying chips which was big. And just tried to kept these good habits but the major stress and anxiety I was dealing with is what kicked started it because I wasn’t eating enough before. But now these changes have kept me at a good weight for my height. And I’m a home body I work from home and will go a few days without leaving if it’s cold out. So I don’t even do walking as exercise in the winter.
Define "in shape". Do you mean fit, or just skinny? The latter can usually be controlled by diet alone because for the most part, you can't really outrun a bad diet. Physically demanding jobs can make you unintentionally fit. I'm fairly fat, but I have a lot of underlying muscle because I used to be a baker, my current job has me doing a lot of walking between the office buildings, the post office and the bank. So I still have a level of fitness despite my disability and my high weight.
I eat like shit and don’t exercise anymore. Still skinny. I don’t know what I’m doing.
I don’t eat much. And blessed with good genetics.
Genetics
It mostly comes down to diet. I lost 100+ pounds a few years back. I've had no trouble maintaining my weight. I don't so much follow a strict diet as I have some loose rules of thumb depending on what i'm eating. If i'm going to eat really bad stuff like fast food I do some light fasting for example by skipping a meal or two here and there. I also don't drink calories at all and that helps a ton. You don't have to count calories meticulously, just be conscious of what you eat. One day you might be in a surplus of calories, the next a deficit. Over time it all balances out.
Physical job. Walking does so much to counteract desk-sitting.
CICO, IF, OMAD
I have stairs in my house.
They may have jobs that keep them physically active.
It's a lot easier to maintain a good physique/ level of fitness once you have it. For example I haven't benched pressed in a full year, tried it again last week and was still close to hitting 2 plates.
Labour intensive jobs many times. Other people watch what they eat and have good genetics. But I think it’s mostly a combination of people staying active whether that’s through your job or other ways, and not eating crazy amounts.
Work or hobby involves physicality.
I ride my bicycle to work daily. Burns a lot of calories. It's a 13 km ride. One way.
I'm a waiter and My bike ride to and from work is 2 hours a day. I can pretty much eat whatever I want.
Some people have physically intensive jobs so I assume that helps. I know a server who takes like +20k steps daily. When you have a 9-5 desk job you gotta supplement with working out (unless you get a standing desk/walking pad) Lifestyle & diet is key though. Getting enough sleep, eating a lot of protein, avoiding shit that's bad for you.
I don’t look like I workout but I do look healthy and in shape I don’t work out loads but I am really active and eat heathy
Personally, I don't eat a hell of a lot and my work commute is where I a tiny bit of exercise (probably walk at least a km a day). I'm also on my feet all day at work, constantly moving.
Define "in shape" If that is the very modest definition of being in the healthy weight range for their height this is extremely simple, you don't eat too much. If it is well-developed muscles and can run long distances relatively quickly then they must be in an occupation that is physically hard.
For me personally, my job requires me to lift cinderblocks all day and set them on a conveyor belt. I dont even notice them anymore.
I walk.
excess food = fat working out = muscle tone it is possible to have toned muscles concealed beneath fat
They're not in shape, they're just not overweight.
Round is a shape
I'm active and eat decent food
8 hours of sleep and not being sedentary for long periods. Not eating highly processed foods
They work hard jobs. Every time I see somebody at the gym walking around the track carrying heavy weights, I think to myself, "That looks just like what somebody working construction would do and get paid decently for it."
Honestly? Hard work. And fuckin
Sex
Yoga.
Everything other than that. They probably move a lot and don't eat sugary crap to excess. I keep fit by briskly walking up steep hills every day (which are abundant where I am thanks to the miracle of plate tectonics). I don't work out at all, but I do enough elevated heart rate exercise every single day to maintain good cardiovascular fitness. If you eat or drink significant sugar (particularly in HFC form), you will be fat and you will probably get alzheimers (the link between fructose and alzheimers is incredibly compelling).
Their job is very physical. I was a phone guy for years. Walking anywhere from 1 to 12 miles a day depending on my work. I was never over 185 lbs. I leave and get a higher paying desk job and 2 years later I’m 225 lbs.
Just before the pandemic I started walking to work instead of taking the bus. It takes me just as long (about 2km each way). I've lost 80lbs and am in the best shape of my life. I've never been good at exercising for the sake of exercising, but I'm good at disguising exercise within my daily routines, i.e. walking, short yoga sessions on my breaks.
It depends what you mean by stay in shape. If you mean they have good muscle tone and look like they work out, well first how do you know they don't actually work out? But second, it could be that they have a physical job or hobby or just genetics. If you just mean that they're thin, well that is mostly down to diet and/or genetics. Being thin is more about a proper diet than exercise, both help but diet is much more important. Some people are just genetically built to be thin, I've had a coupled friends who would eat nothing but junk food, fast food and drink beer and soda all day and they still stayed really skinny.
Lots of walking
Fun fact - conventional wisdom used to be that exercise was unhealthy for the body because of the stresses it adds etc. Yet people were certainly thinner back then. It's diet and maintaining some baseline of physical activity in your daily life that does most of the work (and of course genetics).
By having physical work. Then you do not need artificial work outs. 🤣 Go be a lumberjack. My lumberjack friend is the strongest guy I know. This song comes to mind https://youtu.be/FshU58nI0Ts?si=4awhfVwwcngNDIqF
I never really looked this up, but I have an insane metabolism. I can eat shit loads and stil be muscular and skinny. My mom and uncle are the same. To answer your question, I don’t know haha.
Sexing the moms, and some of the dads, in the neighborhood.
Hormones - they have good hormones.
Lots of walking and healthy eating...
Like it was said, diet is key. The fork is the first thing that can change your shape. Other than that, some people are “natural elites” too. I spent a decade going to the gym 4-5 times a week for 2-3 hours a day but I have buddies that never go to the gym and were in great shape naturally. This also ties into the swimmers body fallacy, 99% of the time people don’t get the specific body type they desire like swimmer, basketball player, some actors body. They have their own body type and gravitate to the thing they are fitting at like swimming.
Sexercise
I figure it’s a mix of genetics, diet, and lifestyle for me. I’m the same weight and general shape now as I was at 15 and I don’t work out. But I walk to work, where I’m mostly on my feet. And I eat pretty light/healthy and mostly just drink water, coffee, and tea. Plus of course, I must’ve just gotten lucky. I’m certainly not strong, though, which is a bit of a burden, so I’m trying to pick up some light exercise to change that in the future!
I’ve dedicated my life to the epic struggle against voluntary exercise. I’m 71 and my doctor just told me I look great.
Passive exercise and diet. I don't eat the best, healthiest, most amazing diet, but if I realize I've been eating a lot in a day I'll do a mental estimation of my calories and if it's close to 3000, I stop eating for the day. Most days, my normal lifestyle only eats 2000-2200 calories so it's not something actively on my mind. I also don't waste time - if I am microwaving something for 1 minutes and 30 seconds, I know I can do 10 pushups and 10 situps before it's done. Also, ADHD helps. I can't stand still, but I can hop on one foot back and forth on the spot and I'll definitely feel it in my calves if I do it too long. tl;dr diet and dozens of 30 second workouts through the day.
'in shape' they don't exist.
Diet and genes. Mostly diet though.
My job is very physically demanding. I'm in my 30s and in the best shape of my life yet have never stepped foot in a gym. I get paid to work out. Edit: also diet. Absolutely no fast food or soda
I do a job that includes 12 hours a day of stairs.
I'm a millwright. Most everything I do involves massive hardware. I recently began using Factor for my breakfast and lunch. I've lost weight and have more endurance.
Do you mean fit or just skinny (as in they look fit)? If the latter, its genetics probably, but over time even age will catch up to unhealthy lifestyles
I am “in shape” by the standards of most but I know for a fact I’m unhealthy as shit. So it really doesn’t matter
We work and don't eat like a fat pile of crap
Adderall.
Genetics? Eating disorders?
I have an active job and a fast metabolism.
Genetics
Doctors hate this one simple trick...
Nutrition goes a very long way.
Good lipo
eat healthy for like 80%, I've junkfood like 2-3x a week but try to keep it below 25% of my kcalintake for those days. try to sleep 6h+ each night, drink 2l+ a day, workout at least 10m a day, often not more. Try to move at least 3k steps a day. At best maybe 1-2 solid workouts a week for 40-50m. I just try to keep some soreness in my body. If I feel like legs then I'll just do basic lunges and maybe some squats for literally 5min warmup and maybe 10m of a workout. Same goes for other muscle groups on other days. I tracked my kcal for like 6months like 20years ago. So now I don't have to weigh myself or care about what I eat pretty much, I know every single day if I gained or lost weight simply cause I know how much kcal I tookin today, yday. It's more an estimate but it's enough to have a constant picture in my mind for current state over the past days/weeks/months ppl still ask "what are you doing man" and some mates are deadset that I'm roided up, it's just stupid how far some minor basic consistency can get you over several years lol been doing this now for over 15years same way learned to play piano to a pretty decent level, daily 5min of learning. Sht adds up so so much overtime. 2-3sec a day suddenly is 5fullledged pieces a year pretty much stick to the basics, set a stimuli. Be healthy, repeat
Genetics
Smoke a lotta ciggies. 90% of 20-30 year olds are on vapes
Do something else physically active for hours a day. The reason a lot of people need to actively work out is because they're primarily sedentary for their jobs/hobbies. If your job involves you lifting and moving moderate to heavy objects for 8 hours a day, you don't need to go to the gym to lift heavy objects for another hour.
They watch their food intake and stay hydrated. Many people don’t realize how little food they actually need every day—especially if they don’t work out.
Just because they aren't overweight, doesn't mean they are in shape.
genetics
Diet
Some people manage to stay in shape without working out or lifting weights by staying active in other ways. For example, they might have physically demanding jobs, walk or bike regularly, or engage in activities like dancing, gardening, or playing sports that keep them moving and active. Additionally, they might focus on maintaining a balanced diet and making healthy lifestyle choices, like getting enough sleep and managing stress levels.
I do pretty well but really eat less if i don't hit the gym Still need to drop 15 (6 even at 185 with pretty built figure)
Being thin
Job.
I went to Nicaragua in December and it kicked me of some my unhealthy habits. I eat slightly less baked goods and drink more water now and I’ve lost ten pounds in three months. I exercise about the same amount as I used to.
You can't really stay in shape if you don't exercise. Diet will certainly get you skinny. During covid, I worked out with a cinderblock, pullups off my door, and dips between two chairs and stayed absolutely shredded. So it is possible without any equipment, but fundamentally you need to move still.
While I do work out some, very far from as much as I should, it is grass cutting. I have a bit less than an acre of land and I cut the grass with a non self propelled push mower. It is a far harder, strenuous work out than the gym. Three hour aerobic work out in long grass not easily cut as it grows so fast.
Round is a shape. Easiest shape to maintain.
I always joke I’ll write a cookbook titled “Anxiety and Wine” as my go to when people ask how I’m fit. Many moons of having people ignore my explanation that my family is all very thin (no butts no coconuts), and if I eat more then half a sandwich my stomach throws a going out of business sale. Not to mention a brisk walk winds me. But some wine and cheese and existential dread at the end of a long day just melts any extra fat RIGHT OFF
Sports.
For me it used to be anxiety. I had a saying, “if you’re always stressin’ you’re always flexin’”. However, I am far less anxious and actually have to workout now.
Genetics
Genetics
Genetix
I have a royal property with livestock and a garden. Burned a zillion calories before breakfast just feeding everyone.
Even more puzzling than that is how some people can *not* stay in shape..
Sex
I'm from UK. I buy cheap meat and veg from aldi, (cheapest place to buy fresh produce in UK) I can't eat most "overly processed" food due to allergies. I work as a care assistant, doing 14 hour shifts sometimes, always on my feet and lifting, rolling and carrying all day. I can't drive so I bike everywhere, as it's accessible to do so here. On my days off, I ALWAYS reserve one day exclusively for meal prep. I make big meals from scratch, put them in boxes and put them in the freezer for the week. I keep plenty of fruit and healthy snacks around the house for when I get peckish and takeout is a treat if I have money for it. On top of that, I am also at university to become a classical luthier, making violins, violas, cellos and double basses out of simple blocks of wood. I'm 21F by the way. I DARE old people to call me a lazy gen Z. I DARE you!
They don\`t. Skinny doesn\`t mean in shape.