first off way to go on your first race. YOU RAWK!

as far as you wieght loss nothing wrong as far as i can tell. 18 pounds in 4 months is not drastic. fantastic yes but not unheard of.

i think your friends don't know what they are talking about. society has begun to accept being fat and in the process now see thin people as unnatural.

i have hit 240 pounds and expressed a desire to shed 55 pounds. everyone freaked out saying that was too thin. thing is i was 185 pounds from 15 thru 28 and none of them said i was too thin then.

eat right and train. your body will figure it out. don't listen to the nice people.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

Everything sounds reasonable, congrats on your race and weight loss. Get a pair of body fat calipers (I got a pair off the internet, SlimGuide I think for $20) to determine how much of the weight loss is due to fat vs. muscle loss. From my limited perspective I consider 10% to be a body fat measurement that indicates you need to be extra careful with your nutrition, recovery and training. If you've got over 10% body fat I don't see how anyone can tell you that you are too skinny.

The best thing you can do for your diet is to eat food as close to natural as possible - i.e. twinkies aren't natural. Second, know why you are eating everything that you put into your mouth. Start looking at food purely as a fuel source, then you should be able to complete the sentence, "I am going to eat ___ to fuel/recover ___ workout" or "I am going to start eating ___ daily to bring my intake of ___ to my goal number".

Finally, keep a balanced diet until you have done lots of research and know exactly why you are deviating from a balanced diet.

I have never looked at it this way, but a part of me really agres with what is said here:

"i think your friends don't know what they are talking about. society has begun to accept being fat and in the process now see thin people as unnatural."

Losing 18 pounds in 4 months isn't something to worry about (unless you were extremely thin before) and in fact it should be commended.

I myself have lost a lot of weight recently (we can discuss offline if you'd like) and plateaued for a few months around 190-200lbs and then made a shift in my diet to a modified Paleo Diet (thanks to Gordo and a friend's advice) and it's been working wonders. I'm down right about 180 right now and looking to hit 165-168 during the fall and maybe even a tad lower when I join a cycling team this fall (want to thin out these beastly sprinter legs - so I can climb better).

After going from 293+ pounds to under 200 pounds people were ecstatic, but now that I'm looking to go lower for performance, ease on my joints during training (esp for marathons and IM distance races) and lest I not forget personal vanity people are having the same reaction that you are noticing.

I used to weigh 170 or so back in high school when I was a state championship level butterfly swimmer, so I had some pretty beastly shoulders and a lot of muscle mass that won't help my running or my hill-climbing.

I'm making a drastic change either compared to past weight, but people get used to seeing you a certain way and then they don't know how to respond. Society has a lot of fear about eating disorders, training to a point of exhaustion and/or body damange, and it also has a potential underlying feeling of jealousy. You are doing something that most people can only dream of - people spend millions, if not billions of dollars a year to lose weight and you are doing it. They may unconsciously not want you to get too thin, because then standing next to you they will appear bigger and heavier.

I may just be thinking out loud, but I have noticed quite a bit of this during my weight loss - hope others can back me up a bit here.

Brian

I totally agree with Simple and others. 18 pounds in 4 months seems very reasonable, and your current weight does not seem out of line at all for your height. The "rule of thumb" I've always heard is that it's safe to lose 1-2 pounds per week. That's about as much fat as you can burn off doing cardio work. More than that and you're just losing water or muscle mass. The best indicator is your level of energy. If you're chronically tired that is a good indicator that something's not quite right with your nutrition plan.

I received very similar comments from my loved ones. Three years ago I was recovering from surgeries and treatment for a Malignant Melanoma. I had hit an all-time high of 210 lbs (I'm 6'0"). When I started working out and got into triathlon I dropped 50 lbs in about 9 months. For the next year or so, everyone (my wife included) told me my weight loss was unhealthy. However, I've now been able to hold at that weight (+/- 5 lbs) for 2 years now, and everyone's gotten used to seeing me at this weight, so the comments have turned to admiration and respect- not only for my weight loss but for my transformation from being a couch potato to training for my first IM (Vineman in 5 weeks... holy SHIT!).

Anyway, hang in there. As others have said, it's sadly become the norm in the US for people to be heavier than what is healthy so this has become the accepted body image- especially for men. After people get used to your new body shape they will gradually understand that it's very healthy and the comments will turn to compliments.

Cool. Thanks. This makes me feel quite a bit better. Good luck in your first Ironman! That race is like this strange mirage off in the distance as I keep convincing myself that I'll do triathlons for one year, capping it off with an olympic race in September. Am I fooling myself? :) Sure feels great to be this fit. It just seeps into every facet of my life... surfing, golf, self confidence, energy with my son.

I will get a caliper and start monitoring a bit better. I would guess I'm still over 10% somewhere in the low teens. I'm not as ripped as most of the guys that passed me in the race. I guess the mystery of why i'm good on hills and crappy on flats is solved... skinny legs!!!

I have cut out cheese and butter and most oils from my diet when I started training. I guess I could let some of this slip back in for calories. I eat meat and peanut butter for protien mostly. I just don't think I eat enough. I like to eat, but I don't like spending the time to make food. It's like training. I like working out but getting there takes the effort.

I do think most people make those comments without much rational thought. I reply with, "well, do I look too skinny? I feel great and I'm training harder than ever." And usually the answer is, "No, but you better stop losing now. That's just not healthy." Uh... I feel pretty darn healthy lately.

You've expressed my sentiments exactly!!!

Here's a point of view from "the other side of scale".

I'm a 40 year old male and weigh in at about 145 lbs. It's a weight that I've been since my high school days. Although, I would say that the 145 lbs is now a leaner 145 lbs. (i.e lower body fat %) thanks to my triathlon hobby. Now the comments that I've heard within the last few years are on the line of questioning, "if I'm suffering from some terminal illness" (which I am not) or, "you need to eat more!" (currently training for IMFL I'm consuming around 4000 cals. a day...so not eating isn't a problem). That's the way my body is and that's the way it works. I feel GREAT!!!

Usually I hear comments from people that are 50 - 100 lbs heavier than me that I should eat this , or I should eat that (gain weight). They provide examples of what they eat (they mean well), but if I ate what they did, I'd either waste away (not enough calories) or suffer from the "trots".

Yes...I tend to agree that society has accepted being over weight as a norm. I can't even go to a department store anymore and buy clothes that "fit off the rack" (almost everything...especially pants) are way too big. I've had to resort to going to the "Boys Department" for a pants belt. What is it that has been expressed on the national news...roughly 2/3's of Americans are overweight! WOW!!!

Don't misunderstand...I'm greatful for the body I have and the hobby (triathlon) that has given it to me. For the "bigger" folks out there, losing a little weight while undertaking a healthy lifestyle...may hat is off to you! It's great to see those that are willing to take a chance and make a change in their life (for the better in my opinion).

Regards,

Jeff

P.S. Now if I could only figure-out the people in the town that I live in...where they want to stop the local hospital from building a health club (because "there's too many already"), yet no one complains when another "fast food" restaurant "pops-up"...go figure.

Just a few more points (which agree with other responses); I would say as long as your body mass index doesn't go below about 19 your fine. As far as body fat percentage, anything between 3% and 10% is OK; it is damn hard to get below 3%.

I'm about 170 cm tall, and my preferred race weight is about 62 kg, which puts me on the low end of "healthy BMI". I'm a lot faster, and feel more energetic than my current 65 kg weight.

An interesting thing to note is that if you purchase cycling clothes on the velonews website the US small size corresponds to European medium size for men's clothing. When I was in high school 20 years ago, I wore men's medium for everything; now men's small sizes are starting to border on too large for me yet my height and weight haven't changed since HS.

When I am out looking at clothes I buy anything I find that fits me, whether or not I need it since it is so hard to find clothing for normal sized healthy men in the US.

The standards for height and weight have increased substantially since the 50's and I think the current BMI standards reflect that.

For a comparison of the changes between the 1959 and 1983 Metropolitan Height and Weight Tables see:
http://healthlinks.washington.edu/nutrition/section12.html

For example: 5'7" small frame male went from 126-135 to 135-143; medium frame from 132-146 to 140-152. I shudder to think what the 2003 version would be.

I am currently working my way back to my racing weight of 62 kg (174 cm tall) and though I am still about 6 kg away I am already getting negative feedback. I tell them the reason I don't look fat is that I am weariing my male maternity clothes.

go check out the pic of tyler hamilton someone posted. If your that skinny have a whopper (no mayo) otherwise I'd worry not. Get your body fat checked at a health club and if it is in the 5-8% range your on target with most triathletes including elites. If lower than say, depending upon which exercise physiology text you grab, 3.5-4% eat another whopper.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

When I started looking around at triathlons, I noticed that most people looked way more muscular than I did and were generally quite heavier. That got me into wondering whether I should lift iron and bulk up to get faster. Then I raced an XTerra race and got to stand next to Conrad Stolz. Nobody will argue that he is slow. Yet, I almost looked muscular next to him. My point is that you should not worry too much about the weight of people around you or about their comments. Another point is that when I go to Europe, I feel that I my proportions are average whereas here in the States I surely belong to the skinny group.

How do you feel?

How well does your body work?

Are your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels within normal limits?

If your answers are GREAT, GREAT, and YES, then why worry about what others say?

I use to hear the same thing back in the '80's when I raced. And, when I put on too much weight my tri buddies would press me about how fat I was! (They were right.)

You seem to be doing really well. I wouldn't change a thing, unless you ride a Celedon Green Bianchi.... :)

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Me: 18 years, 6'4", 160 lbs
I would say you're pretty healthy at that weight. As someone mentioned, clothes are hard to buy. Especially with my 32 waist and 36 inseam. I stay constantly between 155-160, briefly up to 165 this past winter after more weight training. I'm currently eating 4-5000 calories a day(on 5-10 hours of training a week). I had a physical yesterday, and according to my doctor(though he is just general practitioner) the 160 isn't unhealthy skinny, so long as i can explain it by the training. Freshman year, I didn't do anything, didn't eat as much, though, and was up to 180. That was extra fat, though. I think I'm going to try to bulk up, as I definitely have more of a runners build.
My advice for more calories - Big, big breakfasts. I eat a massive bowl of granola and crispix that ends up being three servings of each- weighs in at over a thousand calories, easy. But I can't really eat that before a workout of any sort, so i usually eat two breakfasts if I'm doing anything in the morning.

Darrell Hoy

"Maternity Clothes" - Lol! That's pretty funny. My wife is telling me to go get new pants now. If I don't wear a belt... I look pretty gangster, or just plain skinny.

"How well does your body work?" - Last weekend I had a bout of a few days of my old style of eating. I didn't eat very often and I ate mostly crappy food. Sunday morning's short ride felt horrible so I decided to try eating all good food and a lot of it. Monday evening's ride felt awesome, as well as my next run and swim. Sleep seems to be entering into the mix more and more now. I'm still getting head-rushes, light-headedness when I stand up quickly from being seated. I read that that's a sign of overtraining, but I'm definitely not overtraining. That comes and goes and I haven't figured it out yet.

I don't know what my blood sugar levels are. My BP is excellent and my standing heart rate is pretty low, between 45 and 55. I also don't know my cholesterol levels. I guess a complete workup might be in order at some point.

"Especially with my 32 waist and 36 inseam." - Excuse me, but could you have longer legs? Sheesh, I wish my legs were that long. At 6'2", I'm a 33 waist - 32 inseam (Scottish ancestry). Suffice to say that swimming is my best event!!!! Running... well, uh... getting better. Need to work on flexibility to increase stride for sure.

Funny you mentioned Granola as I just discovered Quaker Oats,Honey & Raisins and realized at 220 calories per 1/2 cup, I can get a good meal of that in the mornings. 1000 calories in the morning is an excellent start on a good day. Viva la unsaturated fats! I guess avocados are excellent, too.

Good discussion..."how do you feel" is the best bottom line answer. I'm 28, 5'9 138 and have gotten tiring comments from people my entire adult life...most of which are in two categories 1) People hassling me to eat crappy food, esp at pitch-ins and such or 2) runners/bikers with higher body fat % telling me that they were "that size" when they were my age (I've now heard that for almost 10 years...I stay the same size and they keep getting bigger and showing up less in the locker room; maybe there's a relationship there) Whatever, their issues are not mine nor yours.

We all have a frame and our genetic quirks...we can only do the best we've got with what we've got to work with; most, including many of us talking here will never completely max our capabilities but it's our responsibility to try.

Eating 6 meals a day is the nutrition key. At lot easier to get 600 or 1000 more calories in if you're spreading it across 6 feedings.

As for clothes, I feel the pain of the little guys...I've begun buying chick jeans at thrift shops. Since girls/women don't wear the high-waisted (and therefore highly-tapered) jeans of old, I find they fit better than men's clothes for me (29/32 is hard to find).

Whether you're a 5'6" 130 or 6'4 240, keep at it, love your training, love your fellow Tri (or Du, don't forget us) guys and gals and just hope that your positive example might rub off on a person or two.

Raul

[b]I'm 32 years old, 6'2" and have gone from 195 to 178.[/b]

I reckon you're fine. When I was swimming training I was 25 yrs old and 165lbs. I was reasonably stocky at that weight as well. I'm 6'1" by the way.

Right now I've just turned 31 and weigh 198, but that's what 4 years of dedicated couch work can do to you. Just starting my tri training program to get back towards 170, so looks like I'll be following in your footsteps somewhat ;-)