You're doing it wrong if you're thinking "how skinny feels"
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jetscreaminagain
Posts: 1,130 Member
Thread started out of kindness and concern:
If you have that stupid aphorism "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" or any variation thereof going through your head at any time, you need to know, you're doing it wrong.
It isn't about skinny. The idea that you would deny yourself enjoyment, or, in the extreme of this thinking, nourishment for the purpose of something as stupid and limited as being "skinny" is a particularly insidious thing that hurts primarily women. It is a very unhealthy way of looking at the world and your place in it.
If you need some phrase to crystallize for yourself the importance of your long term goals relative to short-term pleasure or impulse, consider what your goals REALLY are. I'm all for sacrifice in the service of laudable valuable goals. Skinny ain't it though.
"Nothing tastes as good as...
[pick several]
being strong
feeling capable
conquering obesity
winning against diabetes
building lean muscle
hitting that per mile pace goal
running that race that seems out of reach
doing that mud run/obstacle run that seems out of reach
squating X times my bodyweight
lifting X amount with great form
being mobile
being flexible
living well till I'm 100
avoiding the wheelchair/back surgery/heart surgery/stroke/heart attack/osteoporosis/whatever that has plagued my family
feeling proud and alive
insert yours here
...feels.
Yeah, I have a dress size I'd like to fit into. And I could get there in a way that jeopardizes the goals I have on the list above. And that's the point. Skinny is fleeting and not necessarily healthy. Getting to skinny in a crazy way can cause way more problems than it will fix. Skinny is like the mountains in Arizona--you drive towards them and they seem like they're right there but the longer you drive the more they seem to move back right there but still out of reach. If "skinny" is all you want, you're probably not ever going to get there (everyone else will think you're there but you'll see a curve somewhere on your body and want to spot reduce it or some stupid thing like that).
Let go of "skinny" and focus on what you actually mean underneath that word. Success? Popularity? Size 4? Not obese and plagued with health problems like Auntie Whoever?
Skinny as a goal and deprivation as a strategy are not a way to find success or be healthy and happy on the way.
If you have that stupid aphorism "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" or any variation thereof going through your head at any time, you need to know, you're doing it wrong.
It isn't about skinny. The idea that you would deny yourself enjoyment, or, in the extreme of this thinking, nourishment for the purpose of something as stupid and limited as being "skinny" is a particularly insidious thing that hurts primarily women. It is a very unhealthy way of looking at the world and your place in it.
If you need some phrase to crystallize for yourself the importance of your long term goals relative to short-term pleasure or impulse, consider what your goals REALLY are. I'm all for sacrifice in the service of laudable valuable goals. Skinny ain't it though.
"Nothing tastes as good as...
[pick several]
being strong
feeling capable
conquering obesity
winning against diabetes
building lean muscle
hitting that per mile pace goal
running that race that seems out of reach
doing that mud run/obstacle run that seems out of reach
squating X times my bodyweight
lifting X amount with great form
being mobile
being flexible
living well till I'm 100
avoiding the wheelchair/back surgery/heart surgery/stroke/heart attack/osteoporosis/whatever that has plagued my family
feeling proud and alive
insert yours here
...feels.
Yeah, I have a dress size I'd like to fit into. And I could get there in a way that jeopardizes the goals I have on the list above. And that's the point. Skinny is fleeting and not necessarily healthy. Getting to skinny in a crazy way can cause way more problems than it will fix. Skinny is like the mountains in Arizona--you drive towards them and they seem like they're right there but the longer you drive the more they seem to move back right there but still out of reach. If "skinny" is all you want, you're probably not ever going to get there (everyone else will think you're there but you'll see a curve somewhere on your body and want to spot reduce it or some stupid thing like that).
Let go of "skinny" and focus on what you actually mean underneath that word. Success? Popularity? Size 4? Not obese and plagued with health problems like Auntie Whoever?
Skinny as a goal and deprivation as a strategy are not a way to find success or be healthy and happy on the way.
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Replies
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Word.0
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I
this. 0 -
This thread is awesome!! Great post! :drinker:0
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awesome post0
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yup this is awesome!0
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Agreed!0
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Bump for excellence.0
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Amen. I've always hated the phrase 'Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' because as some who has been skinny I can say skinny feels crap. Skinny feels weak. Skinny does not feel healthy. There are a great many aspirations people can and should have when losing weight, but skinny shouldn't be one of them.0
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:drinker: Applause, toasts and flowers. :flowerforyou:0
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Werd!
Adding one: no longer having continual back pain.0 -
I've never much cared for that phrase. Probably because I've always been more interested in being strong than skinny (also because I've eaten bacon).0
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I know lots of food that tastes better than skinny feels. For example.... bacon.
I look at it somewhat the same way - why deprive myself of food {bacon} when I can instead eat it {in moderation} and instead of only eating 800 calories a day I can eat 1,600, maintain, and gain strength... and be healthier?
I'll take the bacon.
Oh, and wine. Skinny has NOTHING on wine.0 -
Love, love, love!!! 0
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I think people correlate that being skinny means they will be happy and that is totally wrong! A person can be "skinny" and still be miserable. I like nothing feels better than being happy, for me being happy is being at a healthy weight who looks in the mirror and not only likes what she sees on the outside but also on the inside!0
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That's really beautifully said. I have often thought "oh, this will taste WAY better than skinny would feel", but it's unlikely I would say the same thing about being healthy.
And I can always delay getting skinny by a day, but I know I can't delay getting healthy. Thanks for this great post.0 -
Werd!
Adding one: no longer having continual back pain.
:drinker:
Change mine to knee pain, but yeah! It feels great!0 -
Love it. 0
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Too right!
My goal is 'pleasingly plump' rather than obese. I want to be healthy and strong but really wouldn't recognise myself skinny.0 -
I agree for the most part. But there's nothing to say that "skinny" is unhealthy for everyone, or that it was achieved in an unhealthy manner.0
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love.0
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