Some years back my daughter took my granddaughters to a museum in Rochester, NY, where they stood before some gadget or machine that registers body temperature. She was not surprised to see that one of the girls gave off an almost solid red color that showed she was, as it were, burning hot, had a very active metabolism. Though smaller than her fraternal twin sister, she eats like a veritable horse, and is always on the go. By contrast my daughter and the other granddaughter were much more blue-to-yellow with a few hot spots. I have no doubt I would be very blue-to-yellow.
Metabolism matters. A couple of studies have demonstrated that for a person who is naturally very thin, as is the paternal side of my family, in tests where they over fed them by several thousand calories, the thin people seemed to just throw off most of the excess, and did not gain more than a very few pounds if any; while people who were life-long plump people readily gained weight.
Now, it may be that a very thin person who over-eats, especially of highly refined sugars/starch, long enough can upset their natural metabolisms and begin to put on weight, indeed we all probably know people who were very thin until late middle age when they began to put on weight.
I was thin for over half of my life until I had a serious illness, and from that point onward weight became a struggle. I doubt that anyone can really appreciate the struggles of someone who easily gains weight, has migraine headaches, or any number of problems unless s/he has had some experience of that struggle.
Metabolism, though, is tricky. For even if you have a cold running system one’s metabolism is not an excuse for letting go, giving in, avoiding the work it takes to get in control of health. Metabolism is a stumbling block, a pain in the backside, a mountain to climb, but it is not an excuse to do nothing. Think of all the things that work well. Do you have great hair, nails, good eyesight-smell-taste, a good mind, etc.? We each are made up of the good and less than good in the sum of our parts. For example, I have great eyesight, but terribly soft teeth (I have enough money in my mouth to buy a high-end car!).
One’s metabolism is simply either in the great, okay, or lousy category. We deal. Circumspection is a great gift. Would you trade your sugar/weight issues for being hard of hearing or blind? I think it unlikely anyone would.
So, here’s to being on the cool side (pun intended),
Nan aka Sugarbaby
Sugaraholics 