"Too skinny"

nutellalove wrote:

No one would laugh and Id be sitting in HR right now.

Oh, man. The one place you don't want to wind up for making fat comments is HR. You know what I mean.

youve got to realize wrote:

This kind of stuff is really starting to piss me off....there is a kid on my high school track team who runs distance but he wants to look like a football player

Easy there. We're making fun of fatsos here. Let's not bag on others who are keeping fit, just because it's a different kind of fit from distance runners.

Awesome post, skinnigrr. You hit the nail on the head. This woman is pathetic.

I'm male 5'8, 138.

I get the too skinny comment as well & I quickly fire back with, according to the BMI I'm exactly in the normal category, not underweight.

I love the look in their eyes when they suddenly realize, hey if he's normal, then I'm a fatty. At least that's what I think they're thinking.

thereal wrote:

No, I'm not a troll. The comment about the lettuce leaves just reflects my desire to F with her a little bit now that she's going around talking trash.

No. No. No.

That will not F with her. It will only confirm that you are a food-nazi.

You need velveeta chunks wrapped in bacon. Deep fried if you really want to go out with some panache.

Hornissimo wrote:

Ha, exactly. I actually did "retaliate" one time. Back then I was running 90 mpw, was 155 lbs at 6'1". At a party there was one of these people talking about how she ran 4:45 in her last marathon and now she felt she had broken into the territory where she was a "real" runner.

Somebody asked me, "you run too, don't you?"

- "Yeah."

"So what's your last marathon time?"

- "2:38"

The 4:45 runner said, "yeah, but you obviously overdo it."

- "How so?"

"Well, I mean, look at you, you're too skinny."

- "Or maybe you're too fat."

The whole crowd standing around erupted in accusations of rudeness. I just walked away from that group, but I have friends who jokingly still remind me of that episode even now, 2 years later. Total double standard.

Beautiful.

I don't think people realize how insulting it is to get "God, you're so skinny." all the time. I had a complex about this until I got to college and realized I had no trouble getting women in the sack. But I was shocked nearly everytime I got the green light.

To the OP, at 34 after two kids, who gives a flying F what other people think? With so many people overweight with type II diabetes, unable to conceive, unhappy with their lives/marriages? I'd say you are doing ok. Just laugh along and try not to feel bad for them.

I just get a kick out of the "you're too skinny" comments coming from overweight people.

Yeah I'm skinny - compared to you.

Ironically I could match - if not out-eat most of them. I find it hilarious when I get accused of "not eating right" from people who just look at me. I eat A LOT and get proper nutrition, I also run 90+ miles a week (as well as work 40+), which explains my 145 pound body (i'm 6'2). I could even cut back and run 40 miles a week and I'd still be well under 155.

Basically, for "Us" to appear "healthy", we must

1. Quit running

2. Start eating McDonalds or other various fast food resteraunts atleast two meals a day

The health standard in America is digustingly low, which explains why healthy athletes are "Rare", and "too skinny" - because the majority of the population is overweight (so if you're not in the majority then you're "too skinny"...) Considering that 2/3 of americans are obese, I take pride in being the 1/3 of americans that aren't.

skinnigrr wrote:

Hi foreal,

I am 5'4 as well and I weigh 103 pounds. Some of my larger girl friends will sometimes make comments about my physical appearance and sometimes it can get rather annoying. What is immeasurably more annoying, however, is a grown woman who is so desperate for attention that she looks for positive reinforcement on a site that is frequented mainly by males. and generally young males. You are 34 and you are a mother. Grow up. I think you should take a vacation from letsrun and spend your time differently, maybe even read to your kids? Perhaps then you will give them a chance to not turn out as vapid and pathetic as you.

Sincerely,

Geezus

I notice that you sure didn't miss the opportunity to let everyone know YOUR weight before denouncing the OP. LMAO.

I think the starter of this thread has a legitimate gripe. I am 5'4" and have ranged from 102 to 122, currently 115, but I think ideally I should be around 110. These weights are not unhealthy at all; rather they are actually what a normal 5'4' woman should weigh (especially if small-boned). The problem is that there are so few "normal weight" women anymore, that when you see one, she really stands out. We visited Australia about 10 years ago, and everyone seemed so good looking. By the end of the trip it dawned on me why - they were just normal weights, not fat like most Americans.

I am sure this has been mentioned, but BMI is ridiculous not only because it is geared toward the general (less fit) population, but also because it is a function of height and weight. It only has a vague reference to frame size and no reference to body composition. It's just a simple black/white calculation. Volume and body composition are very important factors in determining weight.

At 6' anytime I start getting into good fitness I get down to about 145 lbs. I know that I am getting fit because friends and family (non-running ones) start to tell me I am too skinny.

I like what comic Adele Givens says in QUEENS OF COMEDY. It's not about weight, it's about looks, and self-acceptance.

She says something like, "You may be buck-toothed, girl. You may be so buck-toofed [sic] that you can bite an apple through a damn fence."

[riotous applause]

"Yeah, well. Lemme tell you, Bucky. Out there in the world is a man who wants what you got. In fact, he's gotta HAVE what you got. So never apologize for what you look like. You'll be depriving some guy of what turns him ON!"

Eric B. wrote:

At 6' anytime I start getting into good fitness I get down to about 145 lbs. I know that I am getting fit because friends and family (non-running ones) start to tell me I am too skinny.

Same for me as well: when I start to get the "you're-to-skinny-are-you-eating-enough" comments from non-runner friends and family then I know I'm in good shape.

nutellalove wrote:

such a pet peeve of mine

what if I said someone was 'too fat'? this would not be acceptable.

Just yesterday at a meeting a guy said I needed to have a donut as they needed to 'fatten me up' I didnt really care for that. And everyone laughed.

what if I said: hey you dont need that donut put it down you need to lose weight, which is true.. No one would laugh and Id be sitting in HR right now.

Ain't the corporate world great?

Just call your donut club buddie Mr Creosote and offer him "a wafer thin mint", you know, "just a tiny little thin one"

I have to go to mandatory "diversity" class next week ;-)

I get the "skinny" comments too but mostly they amuse me b/c while I'm not overweight, I wouldn't call myself "skinny."

Yet a woman I had never met before in my life walked out of a store, encountered me walking in and exclaimed so people around could hear her, "I can't believe you're so skinny!"

Well... yeah, sure.... If you say so. (Interesting way to greet a stranger, but whatever....)

I took it as a compliment, if somewhat odd in its delivery.

It's all a matter of perspective. There will always be people who understand and appreciate those who run or otherwise stay fit--and there will always be the naysayers who give you grief b/c they're envious. Laugh off the naysayers' comments and enjoy the supporters--and the running.

I take the comment 'you're looking well' as an insult. It means I'm unfit. Believe me, I'm a lot skinnier than you.

I get the too skinny comments at times, and I am actually much heavier than most runners. I am certainly not fat as I am 5'11" and 169 pounds on a 'bigger' frame(between 6% and 8% body fat). I run 60 miles a week but I also do a lot of strength training also, and thus I am not even close to skinny. I have people comment to me often which I think is a joke and representative of the really poor fitness and health norms in north america.

Added to this I am a vegan and many people flip out on that citing all sorts of erronious information about nutritional concerns with my diet.

I think that this bias applies to aerobic fitness in general. Today I had to do a fitness test for my job. I had to run 1200 meters below a time cutoff (7:30) and I just cruised at about tempo pace and then picked it up at the end. I ran 4:19 and change and after other people finished well ahead of the next guy. Afterwards I heard comments of "showoff" and "that f*cking road racer". It is not like I treated the run like it was an olympic final, I just gave it a solid effort. Should I walk because I happen to be very aerobically fit and have raced middle distances?

I have also been in situations in which having ab muscles that show and being a guy has been seen as effeminant or "gay" (and man, I hate both statements being used as insults). The fact that I have fit abs is a by product of my activities, should I pound back a six pack a night in order to cover them up and fit in........... . .

That was really just a vent, I handle it well when I am confronted with this at work or in social situations. I just think that it speaks to the insecurity of the average out of shape joe.

Used to encounter a woman on the track who always seemed angry at me b/c I was running and she was walking. She'd say to me, "You can run and I can't!" in a way that sounded accusatory, but I took it as her own frustration with herself and didn't let it worry me too much.

One day, another woman (on the heavyset side) who had been walking on the track approached me after I'd finished an interval workout. I was afraid she'd be the same way, but instead, she said a little timidly, "Excuse me... How do you do that? I want to be able to fly around the track like you're doing." (It should be noted that "flying" is relative here, as I certainly am not gifted with speed.) She was genuinely appreciative, had lost weight and was looking to lose more, had stopped smoking, and just wanted advice about getting started running--and I was glad to help her. Shows you can't draw conclusions about people.

I agree with skinnigrr about all of this. Grow up. I'm 18, and have to take crap all of the time from my non-running friends/acquaintances that I "run too much" (65-70mpw, which most people here would not consider too much), and that I shouldn't be concerned at all about eating healthy because I'm "so skinny" which compared to most female distance runners Im definitely not. They give me sarcastic comments all the time.

If you use your social skills a little bit, you would realize that you are f-ing with people just by running more, eating healthy, looking better, etc. Learn to smile and say something humble. You will earn more respect and end the trash talking more effectively than being arrogant or hostile.

Honestly, should an 18 year old be saying this to a 34 year old mom? Thats backwards. Grow up.

After all these posts, i am starting to feel FAT!

And I am a 40 yr old guy, 5'10" and 145 pounds.

Some of the male posters here were 6 or 6'1" with the same weight! :)

Seriously though, I knew i was starting to look GREAT/HOT when my ex-wife saw me and i could tell that she was checking me out. And she said "You're way too skinny" -- but she was blushing when she said it!!

And to the women on this thread, just know that we -- the male runners -- think you look great! Who cares what pathetic lazy unfit fat slobs (male or female) think? I really really don't.

FatManRun wrote:

Considering that 2/3 of americans are obese, I take pride in being the 1/3 of americans that aren't.

Small correction here. I believe that 2/3 of Americans are *overweight*--hey, I'm in the majority for once!--but I don't think 2/3 are obese (defined, I think, as BMI of 30+).

I could be wrong, though. Got a link?