Living in the city of thin people

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Replies

  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    On the other hand, since i moved here i've been in the best shape of my life, before i was a total sloth because a lot of other people were much bigger than me
    i knew digging to china was a good idea, no idea how good. i will for sure get skinny now.
  • LumberJacck
    LumberJacck Posts: 559 Member
    Is "skinny chubby" acceptable

    That would be a contradictory name. If you want to have a name for people who are thin but don't work out, just call them "not muscular".
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Is "skinny chubby" acceptable

    not to me.
  • karenlwashburn
    karenlwashburn Posts: 123 Member
    I think it all may depend on who you end up even seeing.. Maybe you're just concentrating on the thin people more. I live right near Washington DC and I do look at thin people more as frankly I compare. I like being thin too, as I modeled in my youth and now I'm older so I concentrate on the leaner, meaner types. . In my neighborhood I have two extremely thin neighbors and of course, I only take note when they are out.
  • SteampunkSongbird
    SteampunkSongbird Posts: 826 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    I live in Toronto, which is a city of very thin women. There are a lot of Chinese girls who are absolutely teeny-tiny. The rest of us aren't far behind. Seriously, walking down super-fashionable Queen West, nobody is over a size 8. I'm 5'6 131 lbs, 25 inch waist, and always feel big boned, even though I know I probably look the same as everyone else. I went to London, UK and the girls were much heavier in general than Toronto girls. Does this happen to anyone else?

    I'm tired so sorry if I have completely missed something but what is your question / statement? Women in London are fatter than women in Toronto?

    I think that's it


    Thanks for confirming

    OP, I don't know what response you are expecting so I'm just gonna go with this

    200.gif

    My new favourite gif! ^_^

  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    JoRocka wrote: »
    JoRocka wrote: »
    I think the OP was just making an observation. Why are people getting so offended? I've traveled all over the world and I've made similar observations. So what?

    I work with a department full of largely over weight and mostly incompetent people.

    just making an observation.

    shrug some how I'm okay doing it because "I'm just making an observation"

    sometimes you just gotta keep it to yourself because in the world of things worth giving a FCK about- this isn't one of those things.

    Secondly- holy insecurities batman.

    The part about insecurities...huh?

    If you walk around a city and all you can think- is holy cow I'm surrounded by thin people- that says a lot about your on insecurities.

    I'm neither fat nor thin- among some crowds I'm fat- and among some crowds I'm thin.

    At no point have I ever obsessed about being either fat or thin surrounded by other types of people- why? Because I'm very comfortable with my body. Even when I auditioned for a modelling show- and I was very much surrounded by tall thin women- I never thought anything of it.

    This post is 100% about the OP's insecurities speaking.

    Oh...right...good for you then. I thought you were referring to MY insecurities, of which I have none... haha...

    When I'm in northern Europe I feel like a dwarf and when I'm in Latin America I feel like a giant. It's fun.
    Nope not you at all- just the OP.

    typically anyone who spends that amount of time obsessing about everyone around them is projecting and usually projection comes from insecurities.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    annekka wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    annekka wrote: »
    It is hard to live in the land of skinny people. I live in China, and I'm a westerner. I'm skinny now, but I wasn't before and yet I'm still huge compared with the Chinese women. I've had to get over the fact that I have to buy a large when I'd buy a small/medium in the West.

    The big thing that has helped me get over it? Realizing that I'm not them, and I'd never want to look like them. For me, being healthy means having muscles. My job can require some physical labor at time so I'd never be able to do it if I looked like them.

    Many of the Chinese women are all skinny fat. Skinny as twigs but no muscles/muscle tone. Mostly due to the fact that that's the preference, and more western Chinese have told me that the men prefer their women not to have visible muscles. In fact there's a term for woman who have muscles and aren't afraid to do work that requires using muscles "nu hanzi" (kind of translates to woman-boy). A lot of women are afraid of becoming a nu hanzi. I've seen women at the gym struggle to do a weight exercise with a 1 kg weight and stop as soon as they break a sweat. This is not typical of all Chinese women though. There are a small percentage of Chinese woman (most of my gym friends including one woman who's nothing but abs and muscles) who do enjoy weights. But they're like 1 in 20 women. And it's a bit unfortunate to say that in a way we all have come together because we don't want to be skinny fat.

    I may get stared at at the gym, had to work to convince pump instructor at the new gym in the area I moved to that doing weights heavier then the men was my normal and I wouldn't hurt myself. But ultimately, I'd prefer to look healthy and muscled than skinny fat. Let them stare. Maybe I'll inspire somebody that you're not going to get huge and muscled from doing weights.

    Plus having an *kitten* is so much nicer than all the women who look awful from behind because they have no butt to hold up their pants. Needless to say, living where I do has made me never want to be skinny fat.

    Don't measure yourself to them. Measure yourself against you.

    can you say the words "skinny fat" again? i didn't hear you the first 5 times. that's like the most offensive phrase on here. people need to stop. not to mention, your post is extremely offensive and racist against asains who look just fine. you can be happy with your body without putting down others.

    whoa! Touchy much? I'm sorry you see my experiences directly dealing with working with the Chinese and going to the gym in China as offensive and racist. Having Chinese friends and dealing with the gyms, unfortunately these are not my observations, they are theirs that I am repeating. And also the gyms--when I moved to the new area I live in and was looking for a gym I had a lot of them tell me that they only offer Chinese dancing-type classes as everything else was too difficult for the Chinese and would cause them to sweat and become nu hanzi. These were the people at the gym telling me this unfortunately. Which I knew not to be true having gone to another gym in another part of the city where people were active participants and broke the stereotypes presented by the people who run the gyms in the new part of the city I live in.

    It's too bad that my direct observations, repeating words of my Chinese friends and what gyms have told me is considered offensive and racist. I guess the people I have had experience with are racist and offensive against their own people.

    your chinese friends told you that they prefer to be "skinny-fat"? skinny without muscles is not skinny fat. it's just skinny. they also told you to insult the shape of their *kitten* which is completely genetic?
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    I live in Toronto, which is a city of very thin women. There are a lot of Chinese girls who are absolutely teeny-tiny. The rest of us aren't far behind. Seriously, walking down super-fashionable Queen West, nobody is over a size 8. I'm 5'6 131 lbs, 25 inch waist, and always feel big boned, even though I know I probably look the same as everyone else. I went to London, UK and the girls were much heavier in general than Toronto girls. Does this happen to anyone else?

    Um, I've been to Toronto recently. I see plenty of large people there.
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
    toolzz wrote: »
    This is ridiculous. Bottom line - who cares what other people look like. Be healthy and live your life.

    Thank you for telling the truth .. but it will not help. I agree .. who cares. Unless you are unhealthy at your weight .. which I am pretty certain you aren't, time to move on.

  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    annekka wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    annekka wrote: »
    It is hard to live in the land of skinny people. I live in China, and I'm a westerner. I'm skinny now, but I wasn't before and yet I'm still huge compared with the Chinese women. I've had to get over the fact that I have to buy a large when I'd buy a small/medium in the West.

    The big thing that has helped me get over it? Realizing that I'm not them, and I'd never want to look like them. For me, being healthy means having muscles. My job can require some physical labor at time so I'd never be able to do it if I looked like them.

    Many of the Chinese women are all skinny fat. Skinny as twigs but no muscles/muscle tone. Mostly due to the fact that that's the preference, and more western Chinese have told me that the men prefer their women not to have visible muscles. In fact there's a term for woman who have muscles and aren't afraid to do work that requires using muscles "nu hanzi" (kind of translates to woman-boy). A lot of women are afraid of becoming a nu hanzi. I've seen women at the gym struggle to do a weight exercise with a 1 kg weight and stop as soon as they break a sweat. This is not typical of all Chinese women though. There are a small percentage of Chinese woman (most of my gym friends including one woman who's nothing but abs and muscles) who do enjoy weights. But they're like 1 in 20 women. And it's a bit unfortunate to say that in a way we all have come together because we don't want to be skinny fat.

    I may get stared at at the gym, had to work to convince pump instructor at the new gym in the area I moved to that doing weights heavier then the men was my normal and I wouldn't hurt myself. But ultimately, I'd prefer to look healthy and muscled than skinny fat. Let them stare. Maybe I'll inspire somebody that you're not going to get huge and muscled from doing weights.

    Plus having an *kitten* is so much nicer than all the women who look awful from behind because they have no butt to hold up their pants. Needless to say, living where I do has made me never want to be skinny fat.

    Don't measure yourself to them. Measure yourself against you.

    can you say the words "skinny fat" again? i didn't hear you the first 5 times. that's like the most offensive phrase on here. people need to stop. not to mention, your post is extremely offensive and racist against asains who look just fine. you can be happy with your body without putting down others.

    whoa! Touchy much? I'm sorry you see my experiences directly dealing with working with the Chinese and going to the gym in China as offensive and racist. Having Chinese friends and dealing with the gyms, unfortunately these are not my observations, they are theirs that I am repeating. And also the gyms--when I moved to the new area I live in and was looking for a gym I had a lot of them tell me that they only offer Chinese dancing-type classes as everything else was too difficult for the Chinese and would cause them to sweat and become nu hanzi. These were the people at the gym telling me this unfortunately. Which I knew not to be true having gone to another gym in another part of the city where people were active participants and broke the stereotypes presented by the people who run the gyms in the new part of the city I live in.

    It's too bad that my direct observations, repeating words of my Chinese friends and what gyms have told me is considered offensive and racist. I guess the people I have had experience with are racist and offensive against their own people.

    lots of women on MFP are afraid of becoming nu hanzi too, but I found a broader definition. does this definition ring true to you? http://offbeatchina.com/the-rise-of-nu-han-zi-in-china-manly-ladies-who-challenge-chinas-traditional-female-image

    as a person who is currently digging her way to china this definition is vital to my interests.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,404 Member
    I think you might want to consider your issues with comparing yourself to others. I mean, you compare girls from different cultures…to different cities…to yourself.

    WHO CARES???!
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    lorib642 wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    annekka wrote: »
    It is hard to live in the land of skinny people. I live in China, and I'm a westerner. I'm skinny now, but I wasn't before and yet I'm still huge compared with the Chinese women. I've had to get over the fact that I have to buy a large when I'd buy a small/medium in the West.

    The big thing that has helped me get over it? Realizing that I'm not them, and I'd never want to look like them. For me, being healthy means having muscles. My job can require some physical labor at time so I'd never be able to do it if I looked like them.

    Many of the Chinese women are all skinny fat. Skinny as twigs but no muscles/muscle tone. Mostly due to the fact that that's the preference, and more western Chinese have told me that the men prefer their women not to have visible muscles. In fact there's a term for woman who have muscles and aren't afraid to do work that requires using muscles "nu hanzi" (kind of translates to woman-boy). A lot of women are afraid of becoming a nu hanzi. I've seen women at the gym struggle to do a weight exercise with a 1 kg weight and stop as soon as they break a sweat. This is not typical of all Chinese women though. There are a small percentage of Chinese woman (most of my gym friends including one woman who's nothing but abs and muscles) who do enjoy weights. But they're like 1 in 20 women. And it's a bit unfortunate to say that in a way we all have come together because we don't want to be skinny fat.

    I may get stared at at the gym, had to work to convince pump instructor at the new gym in the area I moved to that doing weights heavier then the men was my normal and I wouldn't hurt myself. But ultimately, I'd prefer to look healthy and muscled than skinny fat. Let them stare. Maybe I'll inspire somebody that you're not going to get huge and muscled from doing weights.

    Plus having an *kitten* is so much nicer than all the women who look awful from behind because they have no butt to hold up their pants. Needless to say, living where I do has made me never want to be skinny fat.

    Don't measure yourself to them. Measure yourself against you.

    can you say the words "skinny fat" again? i didn't hear you the first 5 times. that's like the most offensive phrase on here. people need to stop. not to mention, your post is extremely offensive and racist against asains who look just fine. you can be happy with your body without putting down others.

    ^^^^^^

    This

    There is a term "normal weight-obese" for people with normal bmi but high %bf. or you could just describe what you mean. Skinny-fat has no meaning and is offensive.

    I also highly doubt that these asian women are "skinny-fat" or "normal weight-obese". They are just skinny. People have extended the term "skinny-fat" to include all women who don't have muscles and that's completely offensive. Wasn't enough to body shame overweight women. Have to go after skinny women too. ridiculous.

    I use to be fine with skinny fat back when it was mostly used to describe "normal weight-obese".

    The reason I would love for the entire term to be abolished is that it's become some bastardized. I'm now seeing a lot of people using the term to describe bodies that are perfectly within a healthy, normal bf% range but are lacking that ripped, lean fitness look.

    Just because you're not ripped or shredded doesn't mean you're skinny fat. And the person who said most Asian women fit the criteria of "skinny fat" proves how absurd this term has become.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    lorib642 wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    annekka wrote: »
    It is hard to live in the land of skinny people. I live in China, and I'm a westerner. I'm skinny now, but I wasn't before and yet I'm still huge compared with the Chinese women. I've had to get over the fact that I have to buy a large when I'd buy a small/medium in the West.

    The big thing that has helped me get over it? Realizing that I'm not them, and I'd never want to look like them. For me, being healthy means having muscles. My job can require some physical labor at time so I'd never be able to do it if I looked like them.

    Many of the Chinese women are all skinny fat. Skinny as twigs but no muscles/muscle tone. Mostly due to the fact that that's the preference, and more western Chinese have told me that the men prefer their women not to have visible muscles. In fact there's a term for woman who have muscles and aren't afraid to do work that requires using muscles "nu hanzi" (kind of translates to woman-boy). A lot of women are afraid of becoming a nu hanzi. I've seen women at the gym struggle to do a weight exercise with a 1 kg weight and stop as soon as they break a sweat. This is not typical of all Chinese women though. There are a small percentage of Chinese woman (most of my gym friends including one woman who's nothing but abs and muscles) who do enjoy weights. But they're like 1 in 20 women. And it's a bit unfortunate to say that in a way we all have come together because we don't want to be skinny fat.

    I may get stared at at the gym, had to work to convince pump instructor at the new gym in the area I moved to that doing weights heavier then the men was my normal and I wouldn't hurt myself. But ultimately, I'd prefer to look healthy and muscled than skinny fat. Let them stare. Maybe I'll inspire somebody that you're not going to get huge and muscled from doing weights.

    Plus having an *kitten* is so much nicer than all the women who look awful from behind because they have no butt to hold up their pants. Needless to say, living where I do has made me never want to be skinny fat.

    Don't measure yourself to them. Measure yourself against you.

    can you say the words "skinny fat" again? i didn't hear you the first 5 times. that's like the most offensive phrase on here. people need to stop. not to mention, your post is extremely offensive and racist against asains who look just fine. you can be happy with your body without putting down others.

    ^^^^^^

    This

    There is a term "normal weight-obese" for people with normal bmi but high %bf. or you could just describe what you mean. Skinny-fat has no meaning and is offensive.

    I also highly doubt that these asian women are "skinny-fat" or "normal weight-obese". They are just skinny. People have extended the term "skinny-fat" to include all women who don't have muscles and that's completely offensive. Wasn't enough to body shame overweight women. Have to go after skinny women too. ridiculous.

    I use to be fine with skinny fat back when it was mostly used to describe "normal weight-obese".

    The reason I would love for the entire term to be abolished is that it's become some bastardized. I'm now seeing a lot of people using the term to describe bodies that are perfectly within a healthy, normal bf% range but are lacking that ripped, lean fitness look.

    Just because you're not ripped or shredded doesn't mean you're skinny fat. And the person who said most Asian women fit the criteria of "skinny fat" proves how absurd this term has become.
    I totally agree with you on this. When I first heard the term, I did think it was only for people who were not overweight but are in the "overfat" category. But now people are just using it to describe people like you said--skinny but without strong muscle definition. I mean, I find it crazy that essentially the author of this article thinks people can be skinny fat at a low body fat percentage! http://www.muscleforlife.com/skinny-fat-solution/

  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    edited November 2014
    So what you're saying is, you don't want to live in a city/place where people are thinner than you because it makes you feel bad about yourself? And you preferred it when you were in the UK because it made you feel thin?

    This right here is why women have so many issues with self-esteem. You aren't promoting health at all, you're saying as long as I'm looking thin and there aren't too many women smaller than me, it's ok.

    Let's look at it this way - I live in London, Ontario which is about 2 hours from Toronto. I've been to Toronto, many times. I also live in a city with famous Western girls, and I went to Western for university. I know how it feels to be the big girl - I'm 5'9 and I do not, repeat DO NOT, have a petite frame so I will never be tiny. I didn't complain, I learned to love myself for who I am. Sure I have weight to lose, but I want to be healthy I don't want to look smaller than every one else.

    Here's how I feel about your issue: freakin deal with it. You are who are. Sure there's a lot of Asians in Toronto, it's like a hub and it's a big city with two or three major universities. Thinking that you need to be smaller than other women seriously leads to serious issues with body dysmorphic disorders and eating disorders. If you are so self-centered you need to feel like the slimmest person around, then move to the UK. Otherwise, stop looking for self-validation from others that your measurements are sufficient to be called skinny and move on.

    Also - here's a fun thing about fashion and being in a fashion district: women who work there are meant to look like that. Ever noticed how even plus size models have the perfect measurements for curves? Those women are not every woman and that's how it's meant to be. Fashion is this evil and beautiful world that is meant to show us things we want to be but know we aren't right now. Comparing yourself to those who work in the fashion/textile district is probably not the best thing to do. That's like comparing my car (Subaru Impreza) to an Audi . . . neither are domestic, but my impreza is not an Audi, period.
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
    angry much?
  • trinatrina1984
    trinatrina1984 Posts: 1,018 Member
    angry much?

    image.png
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    holy cow. Line up 100 random people. They will all be different sizes, races, ages, heights. They will feel differently about their sizes dependent on who they are standing next to, won't they? I find it laughable that a Caucasian women would find something wrong with herself by comparing herself to a smaller-framed Asian woman. For that matter, how racist is that? Is she comparing herself to a Korean woman, a Japanese woman, a Chinese woman, a Filipino woman, a Hmong woman, a Vietnamese woman, a Laotian woman, a Thai woman? All of these races are completely different from each other in looks, stature, musculature, diet, etc. They dress differently. I'm just baffled by how a few Caucasians that claim to know a few women from a couple of Asian countries feel they are experts on how all Asian women feel about their size.

    And 'skinny-fat'? overused.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I once worked in a store where the other women were 5'0" and wore size 0s. I wear a 4 and am 5'3" and I felt like an elephant in comparison. It's really stupid. Heredity is not changeable.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    edited November 2014
    angry much?

    No - I just think the OP is looking for self-validation and for everyone to say OMG you're totally thin with those measurements, stop comparing, you're thin, just like they are, you're at a perfect size, blah blah blah.

    And unfortunately, it's kinda working for her. Everywhere you go, there's going to be people who are or who have something you want. If you whine and complain every single time there's someone who has your thing, then that's a little much. People from Asia are genetically predisposed to having smaller frames, where as Europeans from Nordic nations are genetically bigger. My family is German - ever seen a woman from Germany? Generally speaking, not small. Therefore, I probably wasn't going to be 5'0. And yes I know, Germany is not a Nordic nation - just pointing out that genetically, it probably wasn't going to happen that I am 5'0 and 120 lbs. I'm 5'9 and 250lbs. I probably could get down to about 160, but I've been there and I don't like how that weight looks on me. I weighed about 200 at a size 8/10 . . . it's a lot about body comp, but that's another day/another story.

    She needs to stop complaining about it and either go to another part of town, or move to Europe where she's smaller than everyone else.
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
    angry much?

    image.png

    this entire thread