Rodney

Yes, some people burn it off and some don't. When I was 18 or 20 I could eat a medium pizza a day and drink a liter or two of soft drinks every night, on top of my regular meals (worked in a pizzeria) and not gain weight. There were other people my age who just couldn't do that.

My wife is very heavy, and I know she doesn't eat much. She's fairly sedentary because of her job, but I know other people who eat more and do less, but weight less.

Metabolism does slow as you get older. I couldn't eat what I ate at 18 without 1) feeling sick and 2) putting on some serious poundage. On the other hand, putting on muscle "speeds" your metabolism, in a way, because your body needs to burn more energy just to maintain the extra muscle mass, before you even do any exercise. That's probably one reason I don't have the basketball-sized gut my dad had when he was my age. That, and the four beers a day he drunk which I don't.

On the other hand, when I was younger, I would literally get hot about 15 minutes after a meal and stay that way for a while. I think I was literally burning off calories as heat. That stopped happening in my late '30s, about the same time when I had to start changing my diet more to maintain my weight. Still happens occasionally, if I've had a long day of physical labor.