Okay, I'm going to tell you my story of weight and it may not seem so hard cause I've never been heavy, but it does describe how being too thin can just not be too healthy!

In my late teens, early 20's, I was an exercise girl on the thoroughbred race track. I wanted to be a jockey, but never quite made it that far (but that's another story). At that time, I was a skinny kid; I never weighed much more than 103 pounds and most of the time closer to 100 (I'm 5'4"). Remember I wanted to be a jockey and that is one profession where being obsessive about your weight is pretty important AND VERY DETRIMENTAL TO YOUR HEALTH. Being a girl and young and just thin naturally helped me out. I didn't have to take Lasix (diuretics), sit in a hot box, starve myself, throw up everything I ate, or anything like that. BUT, there were many days when I was not feeling too good and really should have been eating more so that I could feel strong. Some days those horses would just pull my arms out of the sockets and I can remember one day when I wish I had more strength cause I had a horse bolt right thru the outside rail - talk about scary. (Me and the horse ended up okay, scraped up real bad, but not seriously injured) My sister thought I looked sickly and she was probably right. Looking back, I would have been a lot better off if I had weighed more and had more muscle. The guys were not as lucky as I was since they were mostly bulkier and more muscle bound being the guys they were so they were doing all those things listed above and more! Suffice it to say, most jockeys do not live long and healthy lives because of the practices they have to keep to stay thin

So, later in my 20's when I took up cycling, I was weighing more in the range of 110 pounds and let me tell you this was really a lot better for me. I was stronger, fitter, more full of energy and feeling pretty healthy. However, I was never a very good climber (some of this was because I was a new cyclist, but some of this was because I did not have the strength at that weight). It is different for everyone.

So, in my 30's, I went up to 115-118 and this was probably my ideal weight. I was strong, but still light enough. I got to be a decent climber at that weight.

Now, in my mid 40's, I weigh around 123-125. Wow, that's a lot more than I was when I was young huh. Am I slower up hill - Well, surprise, surprise, No, if I train, I'm just as fast uphill if maybe not faster.

So, remember, weight is not everything. It has a lot to do with training, fitness, strength to weight ratio, etc. Lighter does not mean better!