Thin=Unhealthy?

[hirakukibou]

I've actually been on both ends of the spectrum. I am 5' 2" and have weighed way too much at 220 lbs and now on the thin side at 115 lbs. I gained weight from a medication I was taking and then lost weight on another medication -- both for depression. I do know the pressure to be thin in this culture is crippling for many women. I get angry at the thin message which is touted rather than the be healthy message. My daughter is eleven and active and talking about being too fat. It's sad to me. I think the antidote is to be active at whatever weight. And cycling has been great for me. I have never been an athlete before prefering to stretch my intellect before challenging my body. So this is new for me and a good challenge.

[allabouteva]

Mmmm, I'm like many of you.. my weight fluctuates. I've learned that exercise really makes a difference to my metabolism. I'm now about 125lb and about 5'3", but have been up to 165+lb. I like who I am and I'm learning to like my body.

I've been all the possible combos:

Thin and unhealthy
Thin and healthy
Fat and unhealthy
Fat and healthy

I think we take too much stock on appearances. But I'm guilty of this too. So I can't preach.

[Geonz]

saying you don't want to be a thin, unhealthy person does not assume that thin = unhealthy. What it does is call into *question* the assumption that thin means healthy. If I said I'd rather be short and happy than tall and unhappy, I wouldn't be assuming tall meant unhappy.

On the other hand, the "you're so lucky to be thin" and that whole line of commentary has to get old!

[Crankin]

Thank you all for saying this. I have been thin and unhealthy and overweight and unhealthy (though not for a long time). I am short. Even two extra pounds makes my clothes not fit. I work hard to stay fit (and not overweight) and I resent it when people tell me that I am crazy to exercise too much. With all of the lifestyle related disease around, I don't think that anyone should question my exercise habits or my weight! Many years ago, when I first started exercising I did lose a lot of weight, but it was a product of exercising, not starving myself. I was too skinny, but I was healthy. People constantly asked my friends if I was anorexic. If anyone knew me, they would laugh, because most of the time I'm not exercising, I'm cooking or eating out! But, I eat healthy and I get sick of my co-workers saying stuff when I don't eat the french fries and other junk served at school. I commend all of the people who are trying to lose weight through cycling and not by starving themselves.

[snapdragen]

I used to be skinny, not thin, skinny, 5ft 6inches and 100 pounds. And very unhealthy. Smoked 2+ packs a day, ate garbage. When I hit 35 my weight started to change, and I quit smoking. I don't blame that for my weight gain, I blame my eating habits. I never had to pay attention to what I ate before!

Now I try to eat healthy, I'm on Weight Watchers which is great, I'm learning everyday. I don't always succeed, but I keep on trying. I had a friend who always made fun of me trying to maintain healthy eating habits. She'd brag about eating 16 oz steaks, and frying everything in butter, like it was something to be proud of. Then she got diagnosed as type 2 diabetic. She's singing a different song these days....

snap "pudgy but healthier than I was" dragen

[Brina]

I keep thinking about this post, and i gotta tell ya, the original comment sounds like a bunch of sour grapes. Or somebody trying to rationalize not eating well and not exercising.

yes, our media over-emphasises thinness, and yes, some people over-internalize that obsession, yet on the whole our country is fat and getting fatter. In societies where food is scarce fatness is prized - t becomes a sign of wealth and status. This is true in parts of Africa - I remember seeing a special on Discovery Channel about a tribe that has an annual contest among the men to see who can gain the most weight the fastest. The guys entered literally do nothing except sit around and eat. Winning brings prestige to their family. This was true in western society for a long time - when ruebens painted his "chunky" nudes he was not painting the average woman, he was painting an "ideal". His paintings were the equivilant of a Vogue cover.

In todays time of abundance it is hard to be thin for many people. Food is everywhere and it is cheap. In addition, most people to not do physical work. Lots of food and no strong motivation to burn calories (by strong I mean work hard at physical labor or starve to death) and we have more fat people and suddenly, thinness is the ideal we strive for. Thinness is what we idealize and strive for. Or at least we say that we strive for it. A relatively small number of people really put in the work neccessary to be thin and healthy. (I put myself into this category- I have only recently begun to work out after being fat and lazy for far too long) Another relatively small number take reaching the ideal too seriously and begin to endanger their health.

[ACG]

I have a 22 year old daughter who is 5'4" and weighs 100 lbs. She wears a size 0, sometimes, her ring size is a 4, maybe. She has very fine bones. Versus my other daughter, 15, size 9, 5'2", is more meaty, size 8 ring. People always think my eldest must throw up all the time to keep so thin, it is kinda insulting. She is just naturally thin. I am in the middle in size of my girls. As a mom I make sure they eat healthy, I love to give them wheat pasta, juice with no sugar, turger burgers instead of beef, lots of green beans, etc. I agree with you all, society encourages women to be thin by the clothes they sell and then at the same time can't believe when someone is that thin. Or if a woman has a naturally full bosom she must have had surgery, she couldn't be born with those breasts that big! I struggle to keep my girls self image balanced all the time. It is exhausting! Be happy with who you are!.... Now back to looking at my big, muscular 2 tone legs.

[mimitabby]

haha, once my husband looked at some size two clothing and asked if that's what I wore when I was 13. Nope, I started at size 8 (weighed 105 lbs, 5'3")

now I am all growed up, 54, 125 lbs, 5'3 1/2" and I'm still a size 8.
what's changed is what a size 8 was.

There are a lot of asians in my community and they wear the bulk of the size 0's 2's and 4's. some of us are just too WIDE!

[crazybikinchic]

what sadden's me deeply is that yesterday, a girl that I work with came in with diet pills. She is 5'10 and weighs 151. When I was younger, I was a size 5 and thought that I was fat. Life then happened and circumstances beyond my control allowed me to gain weight. After the death of my daughter, I could not walk up a flight of stairs without being short of breath. I decided that that was enough. I was to young to have that problem. I was also facing my husbands health issues at the time. Exercise was and still is my escape from my problems. Yes, I am fat, but I am one that exercises. The fact that I am fat does not make me unhealthy.
My point is, it does not matter if you are fat or thin, what matters as many others have said, "Are you happy?" Unfortunately, society makes us have threads as this debating what the "ideal" weight is.

[pkq]

I've been thin most of my life. Some have said too thin 'cause I'd have to "pass twice to cast a shadow." Being active probably contributed to my size. My metabolism has been faster than most. I was continuously hungry and felt like an empty pit often so I've eaten copious amounts of food.

My worst diet, a junk food diet, only gets my cholesterol into the 190's. So genetics play a big role in this as well as age, level of physical activity, mental well being, emotional stability, etc.

When my early 40's arrived, that all changed. But I'm still happy with who I am. I have had opportunities and accomplishments in life that I never could even dream of as a child from small town Louisiana. Think below poverty level.

Unhappiness is another form of stress. Stress is very hard on the body and causes the body to do some very strange things. After I left a very stressful job, shed the beau from Hades, and completed a master's, it took months for my body to "get back to normal." Things had stressed so gradually, I hadn't noticed those changes. I thought I was handling the situations pretty well. Imagine my surprise to realize things were changing from what I thought was normal to where they had been functioning prior to all the stress.

As long as you are happy and living life to your fullest potential, don't sweat size. Stressing over size/weight is counter-productive and unhealthy from my perspective.

Life is all about balance for mental, emotional, and physical well being, which takes thought, work, and, sometimes, courage.

[Kathi]

Thanks for all of your replies.

Historically, women have done crazy things to achieve their generations ideal of beauty. In the 1800's thin waists were popular, women wore corsets so tight they endangered their organs and cut off their breathing. In the 1920's there was the flapper, the 1950's was big breasts and curves, (Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe), 1960's was Twiggy. 1980's was Jane Fonda. A few years ago it was Kate Moss. There have been tons of fad diets, the grapefruit diet, Scarsdale diet and I remember my mom and my friends moms eating cottage cheese with a half a pear or peach for lunch, they were dieting.

Teenagers are prone to self-image problems due to the changes in their bodies but women of all ages have self-image problems, specifically with breasts, hips and stomachs.

In my case, I weighed 85lbs when I graduated from high school in 1966. I had terrible a self image because I was constantly being told how I had no figure, no breasts, hips, etc. When Twiggy appeared I finally had someone to identify with. And about that time my Aunt told me "don't worry about gaining weight, you'll gain it when you get older" So, I just started accepting myself as I was.

I remember my freshman year in high school my friend had gotten big enough to wear a Junior size 7. That was so exciting! No more kids clothes and I couldn't wait. There were no petite sizes. During those years my mom made my clothes or everything had to be altered to fit. I learned to sew and I made my prom dress so I had something that fit decently. Not only that, I learned to alter the patterns because they were to big for me.

Junior petite clothing surfaced around my senior year but the smallest size was a 5. Still too big, but getting closer. In my mid twenties size 3's came on the market and they fit perfectly. From then on, I had plenty of clothes to chose from and so I stopped making my own.

Today, even though I'm 15lbs heavier than those high school days, I wear a size 0 or an XS and sometimes they are too big. Waistlines are too big, shoulders run to wide, pants are too long. I'm almost back to making my own clothes for proper fit!

In my late 30's, I started exercising, Jane Fonda influence. I didn't do it for my health, to lose weight, etc. I started because it was the "thing to do". I continued because I love movement. I spent hours as a kid riding my bike, jumping rope, roller skating, dancing. So aerobics reminded me of all this. I also felt better, handled the stress at work better, skied and biked stronger.

At the same time, my friends chose not to exercise, ignored their weight gains, bought into the over indulged life of alcohol and to much food. Now they're approaching 60 and they are facing the problems of too much weight and the problems that go along with it. One friend, who was a phenomenal skier, now weighs so much and is so out of shape that she has to help herself to stand up. This year, I didn't get to ski with her but a male friend who did commented on how out of shape she is.

From these people I keep hearing, "I know I should exercise, lose weight, eat healthy, etc. but they make no changes". They yo-yo diet for a while or start to exercise, lose a little, but then gain the weight back and add on more pounds. I can't help them because they assume I don't eat. They don't think about how maintaining weight is a commitment, a lifestyle, and feeling good about who you are.

And I'm back where I started from, "you're to thin, you don't eat, that's how you stay thin", and clothes don't fit. But, I'm healthy, have muscle, average 4,000 miles a year on my bike and ski over 50 days a year, and hike. And, yes, I eat! I'm retired, so I don't need fashionable clothes.

I rehabbed very quickly from my ACL surgery which amazes my overweight friends and my physical therapist. 2 friends have stopped skiing after having acl surgery, 1 friend did not ski for 2 years. I'm riding my bike, I started 2 months before the acl protocol recommended and will ski next winter.

Oh, and have you noticed that in magazines for women over 40, it's not about weight loss, but now it's "anti-aging diets"!