Started my getting back into shape journey almost 2 years ago at 215lbs. Trained hard for a year than tore my ACL last October, which slowed me down a little. After recovery began training again and did IM CdA, Timberman and a couple of Oly’s this past summer. Now I plan to finish the year with the Marine Corp Marathon. I am 5’ 11" and my weight is now hovering around 170 and suddenly I am getting all the “you are too skinny!” comments.
No don’t get me wrong, I appreciate this as a compliment and I am proud of have taken the weight off but… am I too skinny?? It is easier (and I am faster) to run now than ever. Would losing ten more pounds make it even easier? I have a bodyfat scale and have watched my percentage drop to 9%. I have been chaulking up this comments to my theory that Americans have become jaded and have replaced what used to be known as a “little overweight” with normal. Heck no one even blinks an eye unless your 300 biscuits now!! Most people say “yeah I could stand to loose a few pounds” when in fact they could stand to loose at LOT.
So any help out there? How tall are you and what do you weigh? What is your goal weight? I need a response to these people besides “Clam up, Chubby!”
I am right there with you. 6’1 178 8% body fat and at least twice a week someone says , “your too skinny”. The problem is THEY ARE TOO FAT. I want to respond that way but I dont like being rude and I dont think they even know they are being rude first.
Our society is messed up right now in accepting a belly as being normal.
no you absolutely aren’t.
Last year i had started swimming again competitively.
I weighed 182LBS at 6"2, i gained weight, in the prime of my swimming shape, i did my best results at 218LBS.
When I decided to race triathlon again I had to lose weight as i didn’t want to fall into the clydesdale category, and Now I weigh around 189LBS.It was extremely difficult to lose this much weight and im still trying to bring myself around 180 again.
… I am 5’ 11" and my weight is now hovering around 170 and suddenly I am getting all the “your too skinny!” comments.
I’m 6’3" and, as of last night, weigh 162lbs. This is actually UP 5lbs from last year due to weight training.
It’s all about how you feel. At this weight I feel great. I know I’ll put on 3-5lbs/year of muscle mass over the next couple of years, but that’s fine. At one point early in my tri ‘career’ I was 152lbs and I felt like shit, so I started eating better and but the needed weight back on.
6feet 170lbs I get the same comments from people who I associated with when I was 200lbs (and sat on my ass a lot). They still do and compared to what has happened to them (weight wise) we are no longer the same size. My Dr. says that I am healthy at this weight and not to worry about 10 lbs either way.
I think that as we get older we have less tolerence for others who are not willing to accept our commitment to a healthy life style…
Rick
By the way congratulations! I remember the fight to get where I am.
With more and more people are overweight these days, when a chubby person looks around, he thinks he is average or “in decent shape” and a fit person looks too skinny.
you’re - contraction of “you are”. “You’re too skinny”
your - adj. The possessive form of you. “Your seat is too high”
yore - Time long past. “In the days of yore, I could run an IM in under 10 hours”
I’m as skinny as I can get without losing power on the bike
Good Point! But when is that? Did you just drop weight until you noticed a drop in power? I did Mt Washington Hillclimb at 165 about 15 years ago and that felt almost perfect to me then. But at 43 is that good for me anymore? I think in theory my ideal weight would be a little less now since our muscle mass decreases with age.
I agree with the other posters. When someone says this a lot of the times they are not directing it at you, they are trying to validate their own weight in comparison to yours. I’m 6’1", 165lb and get these comments too. Taking any extra weight off will definitely help performance, especially on the run. I’d like to see how I perform at 155-160 next season as I’m pretty confident that I could get there without taking off any muscle.
My numbers are similar to yours. I am about 5’11" as well. Few years ago, I was 275lbs (played football) w/ ~33% body fat. Now I’m @ 173lbs w/ 9-10% body fat. I got the same comments as you. When I was big, I got “You’re too fat.” Now I get “You’re too skinny.” There was no middle ground. In the end all that matters is how YOU feel about yourself. I do light weight training 2-3 times a week for an hour to keep some muscle tone/strength throughout the season. I weight train a little harder/heavier in the off season. No need for me to go any lower. At my current weight I feel great and am happy with my physical shape/fitness. I can care less what everyone else thinks. Great job and keep it up!!!
Uhm, I don’t actually have a formula to that. I just try not to loose too much weight in a short period of time. The power you loose on the bike, is mainly caused by the muscle mass you “burn” when you are on a very restrictive diet. So as long as you eat properly (at least, the same calories you just cosumed) after each workout, you will be just fine. Meaning… every pound you loose this way, it’s 99% of fat. But this works when you are on that point that you know if you loose anymore pounds, you will be hurting you “bike splits”.
That theory for “ideal weight” sounds believable but you should definitrly focus at 165 first.
This is about prime weight for myself. However, if I get down much below this I feel like crap and go nowhere. I think that you will know when you get to skinny as you will just flat out run out of power, at least that is what happens to me- not that I have a lot of power. I think it is simply individual to each person. You’ll know when you get to skinny.
We do live in a lardass society. Cripes, if people would simply exercise 30 minutes 3-4 times per week, they would be amazed at the results. There is no excuse whatsoever not to workout at least on some form of minimal level.
Alot depends on frame, but you are not too skinny.
Me 6’1.5" @ 185 down from 213 at my peak. I still look to lose another 5-10 lbs as I am @ 17% fat at that weight.
i never had anyone tell me at 213 that it looked like I was 30 lbs over weight (actually 40 lbs), but everyone commented that I looked better once the weight was gone.
I think that for men 30-40 lbs is about the norm now. We tend to carry the weight where people don’t see it. The ladies have a much harder time with it.
