This Is The Reason Why That One Friend Of Yours Eats Everything But Never Gets Fat

The world's an unfair place. While someone's blessed with great genetics, mot people aren't. Some people are fat, some are not. Some people are tall, some are short. None of us are the same. Our genetic make-up, the way our system reacts to food and fat gain, everything's very different. For a coach, to make a fat loss client understand this is the most difficult thing. Most people think what worked on their friends, will work on them. When I come across a client like this, I ask him to try on my pants or shirt. Does it fit him? Of course not and this, gives him an answer to his question. A diet is just as subjective as the measurement of your clothes; it's unique to what body needs and your fitness goals.

Everybody Has That One Friend Who Eats Everything But Never Gets Fat

Now, coming across such a person isn't unheard of. I am sure you definitely know at least one such guy who eats anything he likes, in whatsoever quantity but still doesn't put on fat. Everybody, especially those on the higher end of the weighing scale envy him and keep asking him what he does. The poor guy, on the other hand, is actually tired of eating and not putting on any weight.  But why does he not put on weight? How is able to digest all that junk food so easily? I'll break down the answer for you.

The All Mighty Metabolism

Metabolism is defined as the sum of all chemical reactions leading to the creation and break down of energy for the purpose of survival. Let's just say that it's the speed at which our body burns calories. Now each one of us has a different metabolic rate.  Let's classify them as efficient and less efficient metabolic rate. The guy with an 'efficient' metabolism will burn more calories at rest while the person with a less efficient metabolism will burn lesser calorie at rest. Your skinny friend has an efficient metabolism and that helps him burn more calories at rest.

Alright, That's Cool But Why Does He Not Put on Weight?

Now that I have made it clear what an efficient metabolism is, let's proceed. First, your skinny friend's body burns a huge amount of calories just to keep him alive. Secondly, what activities he does throughout the day, including exercise if any, adds to this calorie expenditure. And most of the time, despite what people think, skinny guys are operating in a caloric deficit. Just because people see them hogging on junk food, they assume that skinny guys eat a lot but that's generally not the case. Most guys, who think they eat a lot but still don't put on weight, are actually under-eating. This might come as a surprise, but is a fact.

Basal Metabolic Rate: Burning Maximum Calories While Resting

BMR is the number of calories your body burns to maintain your existence as it is. Everything that happens in our body is driven by energy sucked out of calories. So calories are a currency in this case. While people love to think that exercise burns the most amounts of calories, it's exactly the opposite. Calories burned during exercising are very small.  We burn the most amounts of calories while our body is doing its business to keep us alive. After that, our daily activities take up a lot of calories. Exercise as a means of efficient calories expenditure ranks below daily activity levels. Also, the amount of calories burned during a workout session largely depends upon the intensity of the workout. Exercise plays a very important role in the regulation of metabolism and improving the nutrition partitioning ability of the body.

But Please Don't Jump To Conclusions And Start Blaming Your Metabolism For Being Skinny Or Fat

While metabolism is indeed a genetic thing but a lot of people, without putting in any effort, blame their fat gain and skinny body type on metabolism. What's of utmost importance is establishing an energy balance in the body. If you are fat, operate in a caloric deficit. If you are skinny, operate in a caloric surplus and add training according to your goal. Skinny dudes with efficient metabolism are skinny not because their metabolism is too efficient but because they are eating too little. If your body needs more to grow, give it more 'calculated' food.  So now you know what to do and why your skinny friend always remains skinny.       

So What Do I Do To Make My Metabolism Efficient

Well, the first thing will be to stop putting the blame for everything on it. Secondly, start eating right and add strength resistance training to preserve and build a considerable amount of muscle. The more muscle you have, the more you will burn calories at rest to sustain it. Thus, a higher BMR!