Hey everyone.
just a question;
say, is it possible for 2 people to be of same height and one weighs more than the other but still looks leaner?
and let's assume that both of them don't do any exercises/ or active by about the same amount.

so i guess what i'm really asking is, i know that muscle weighs more than fat, but even without working out, are some ppl just born with less body-fat than others of their same build? so if they have less body-fat that means they have more lean-muscle mass right?? so would they weigh more than their outer counterpart and still look leaner?

i hope that u can understand what i'm asking.

ur comments/answers will be appreciated!

I think I understand what you are asking.

Lets say there are 2 people and Person A is 135 and person B is 150 and person B looks leaner Chances are that person has more lean muscle mass. Take into consideration other things though like body type, frame, shape etc. Also if the person has gone up and down on the scale numerous times etc. A lot of different things can be factored in there as to why person B looks leaner yet weighs more.

As far as being born with more lean muscle mass, I am not so sure on that one. I am sure genetics probably played some part, but I think a lot of it has to do with the type of stress you put your body under in the past. I am pretty sure that you never lose the number of fat cells you have, they just shrink as you lose weight.

"Each fat cell in your body has two kinds of receptors, technically known as Alpha-2 Adrenoceptors. Once activated, one kind makes the cell shrink and the other causes it to get bigger and even prevents it from shrinking. The balance between the two determines how fat an individual is. These receptors are not present in even numbers in fat cells throughout the body which explains why some fat deposits are extremely hard to lose.

When you go on a low calorie diet, your insulin level drops and your fat cells shrink. But just when you think you've got a handle on it, Mother comes along and increases the responsiveness of each and every alpha-2 receptor because She thinks you're starving. She approaches it from a prehistoric point of view, i.e. there is no more food on the immediate horizon. So to keep Mother from becoming nervous and cannibalizing your muscle tissue in the bargain, never try to lose more than about a pound of scale weight per week when on a fat loss diet , and a half-pound per week is even better" (Body Opus, Duchaine, 1996, page 65).

"You're born with a predetermined number of fat cells, with women generally inheriting more than men. The number of fat cells then grows through late childhood and early puberty, after which it is pretty much set. Fat cell number increases more rapidly in obese children than in lean children. The amount of fat someone has is a reflection of both the number and the size of the fat cells.

For a long time, it used to be thought that people got "fat" by filling up those "insidious little sponges," just as you described. It was conventional wisdom that the only difference between obese people and non-obese people was that obese people had all their fat cells "filled up" to maximum capacity. It's now known that we can -- and do, in fact -- "grow" more fat cells in adulthood, and that obese people have more fat cells than non-obese people. What happens is that when fat cells have expanded to their maximum size, they can divide, thus producing an increase in the actual number of fat cells. Obesity develops when a person's fat cells increase either in number (called hyperplasia), in size (called hypertrophy) or very often in both.

I'd venture a guess that this increase in the number of fat cells happens for many different reasons -- not just overeating -- but there does seem to be a relationship between obesity and the number of fat cells.

The "unfairness" of all this is obvious: If, for whatever reason -- childhood eating, genetics or some unexplained phenomenon -- you wind up with a whole lot of fat cells by the time you reach puberty, you may have to work extra hard to keep weight off. We all know people who can eat anything and not seem to gain, whereas others simply look at the Ben and Jerry's and put on weight. The number of "insidious little sponges" could be one of the many explanations.

It's also one of the curses of the formerly fat and the perennially dieting. People with extra fat cells may be able to shrink these cells and get great results, but since their fat cells don't just disappear, they tend to regain lost weight rapidly if they're not careful. Those "insidious little sponges" are just waiting to be fed, so it takes some real commitment and care to keep the weight off permanently.

However, like many shuffles of the genetic cards, what you are dealt may be less important than how you play the hand. We all went to school both with people who seemed to get As without cracking a book, and with others who had to put in long hours of studying. Ultimately, your performance has more to do with knowing what and who you are -- and then working with that -- instead of fighting it. I know it's not "fair," but neither is gravity. It just is. And you can deal with it a lot more successfully if you just accept that those are the rules of the game." (Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N.S.)


Hope that helped some,

-MJ-

...or the short answer....

Yes.

thanx so much!