[quote name='camoor']People yammer on and on (and on) about metabolism but it's really not that big a player - ask any skinny person what they eat in a day and if they are honest you will find out that it is not alot of food. It's all about what you eat and drink - it's all about calories. [/QUOTE]
It's definitely true as we get older. I've always been very skinny. In my teens and early 20s I drank a ton of regular soda, at a lot of candy bars and chips etc., a decent amount of fast food and I stayed pretty lean as my metabolism is high and a I have a very slender frame in general. And I've always been fairly active be it sports when growing up or gym routines in college and beyond.
But ias I got older my metabolism slowed and I started putting on some wait around the midsection and had put on maybe 10 lbs--topping out in the low 160s. Not terrible number wise, but I haven't lifted that seriously the past 5-6 years so I lost a lot of muscle from when I was lifting regulary and was 165 with little body fat.
I started watching what I eat more and doing more cardio and have lost that. Weighed 147 last time I weighed myself.
But I agree with your latter post that it's not so much the cardio as it is that I'm eating less and eating healthier. And you're right that I really just don't eat all that much compared to a lot of people I know.
A typical day's diet for me is something like:
Breakfast: cereal mixed with yogurt (I loathe milk) with some craisins added, and maybe a piece of whole wheat toast or a piece of fruit. But often just the cereal and yogurt. Drink is water and maybe some hot tea with honey or black coffee.
Lunch: Sandwich (whole wheat, turkey, lettuce, brown mustard), apple, bannana. Drink is diet soda and/or water.
Dinner: Some lean protein (chicken, fish, veggie burger, tofu etc.), some complex carb (brown rice, sweet potato) and a bunch of some veggie. Drink is water or occasionally a beer (if I have beer I usually save it for later in the evening rather than at dinner).
I don't do much snacking between meals, but if I do it's usually carrots and hummus, fruit etc. About as unhealthy as a regularly go is something like Baked Lays chips, salted almonds or cashews, reduced fat cheez-its, some relatively low sugar granola bars etc.
I don't always stick to that and do eat out sum or have crappy lean cuisine/healthy choice tv dinners. But I mostly stick to low calorie stuff there as well--so it may not be good for me, but I'm at least still usually not pounding calories and fat.
I haven't mapped out my calories in while, but when I was last year I was typically around 2,000-2,500 a day on average (including any beers throughout the week).
If any thing I'm probably a bit under that now as I'm bad about sleeping in a bit and just skipping breakfast somedays (especially on the weekends).