I was just told on this forum that I was too skinny. The irony is I have 22%BF. Hardly too skinny. As some have stated above, there is no question we have come to accept overweight status as normal.
The other irony is it is deemed acceptable to call someone too skinny but try to call someone too fat and look where that gets you. Even implying it creates outrage in the person it is directed toward and all of the people associated with that person. Quite the double standard.
Here’s another irony for you: anorexia nervosa and bulimia were very rare conditions before the U.S. dietary guidelines were published. Back in the day, we didn’t have to worry that people were too thin because they had an eating disorder. Now look as us.
I got the concerned talk about if I’m losing too much weight yesterday. I’ve lost 35 lb and am still 10 lb over the upper limit BMI (for whatever very little that is worth.) I assured my friend am am healthy and being careful. She said she liked me how I was before (tiny little Chinese woman saying this.) I think it’s partly because she hasn’t seen me in a while so the change was drastic to her and it just didn’t jive with her image of me. I know she loves me though, so she’ll get used to it.
Wishbone –
Excellent observation. I wonder why that is?
During my daily commute where I train it then walk, it’s not uncommon to see people that are obese, as well as a lot of middle aged people with metabolic syndrome. I certainly notice it, but it seems to be the new normal.
On the other hand, a few weeks ago I was standing at a cross walk behind an anorexic woman. Truth be told, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. That one anorexic woman was more shocking and mezmorising to me than a dozen obese people.
I’m not saying one condition is better or worse than the other, I’m just commenting on your observation and my experience. I suppose if anorexia was more of a problem (maybe it is, but easier to hide?) it wouldn’t seem so novel to me. And even though we’re not talking about anorexia here, just people being very thin, or losing lots of weight, that brings with it certain connotations – people may be losing weight because they are ill, or are obsessive about losing weight.
Or, perhaps being trim and fit, especially in middle age, is so not the norm or expected, that society does not know how to properly process it.
Q
I know what you mean about anorexia. As a freshmen in college while in the dorms there was a woman who would come into the cafeteria each day and pile her plate high with lettuce. Nothing else. That was all she ate and she was extremely thin, like the pictures you see in WW2. Never spoke to anyone. It is an oddity indeed.
As @Wishbone and @gitanacv have pointed out, it’s impolite to tell people they’re too fat. But people think they can tell you you’re too skinny.
Ask them, “When I was too fat, how come you never said anything about that?”
I’ve heard the too-skinny comment a few times. 25-30 pounds of weight loss has me at my highschool weight and waist size. I agree and I’m working to put the weight back on, as lean muscle, with no increase in waist size. I’d be thrilled with 1/4 pound of gain per week. Two years of that would be 25 pounds and would look amazing for the age I’ll be in 2 years, 71.
To counter balance the “too skinny” coments, I got a nice comment the other day. My friend said I was looking more and more standard. It sounds weird in English, but in Chinese it’s a good thing.