when your skinny you don't need to work out any more?

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  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    I just don't like how people act like since I am thin I don't have to work for it. I was always skinny growing up and could eat whatever I wanted (and did) and never exercise (I didn't) but those days are long gone. I think these people would be surprised to find out I keep track of everything I eat on most days... I track my calories, protein/carb/fat intakes and I work out regularly. No I am not fit and thin just by sitting around and eating whatever I want all the time. But at the end of the day, who really cares what other people think.
  • sasssurf
    sasssurf Posts: 58 Member
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    Great to see this discussion. I am a ex ballet modern dancer and now want that gorgeous physique I used to have. I still look good and am a curvey 12-14. I feel uncomfortable. Simple. It is not a comment on anyone else. I am sedentary, severe depression from childhood abuse memories ignited from traveling in India. Careful females!! In India men molest westerners in the street. It is relentless and disgusting. So I struggle with motivation. Thankfully my friends understand and I also generally don't tell them how I feel about my weight. Sweetly they always say I look great. My ballet teacher too is great and advocates health before thinness. Horse riding would be better on my Horsie shoulders and point work is easier ..... I slog along. This is the best I've felt on ages. My fitness pal support helps me hugely hugely hugely.
  • kajpen
    kajpen Posts: 120 Member
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    The problem is that once you are "in shape" the next level becomes exponentially harder to achieve. I lost 40 pounds in a matter of 6 months. It is taking me significantly longer and more work to lost the next 15. Taking my body fat % from 25 to 18 wasn't easy but it wasn't nearly as hard as trying to get it down to 15%. In 5 months I have taken my 5K time from 27:47 to 24:03. I bet it will take more work and time to get the next three and a half minutes off of that time than it did to get the last three and a half.

    The first time I did P90X I was burning 700+ calories per workout. I did a second modified round after having completed Insanity and having been running for several months and I was burning 400ish calories doing the same workouts. More efficiency is more difficult to improve.

    In college I worked in a shop where we built hot rod and racing motorcycles. Getting an extra 20 horsepower out of a stock motor was cheap and easy. Getting an extra 20 out of a motor that was already running at top performance was more difficult and more expensive.

    Bottom line - someone who is already in shape needs to work even harder to make progress than someone who is trying to get in shape in the first place. I don't see myself getting to a place where I just want to maintain. When I reach a goal I set another. I want to coninue to get stronger and faster and healthier for as long as I can. That will require me to continue to kick it up a knotch at every milestone. My last 5K goal was to beat 25:00. I did that this week (24:03). My 5K goal is now to beat 23:00. When I beat 23:00 I'll set another goal.

    Well said
  • alexbusnello
    alexbusnello Posts: 1,010 Member
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    I was at the gym this morning, in the changing room and this lady kept staring me up and down. and then she asked me if i was one of the class instructors here at the gym, because she said my body looked so amazing and in shape. i told her no, i said i just run a lot. she told me that the gym is for people like her, not people like me. bascially saying that since i'm already in shape and skinny i don't really need to be working out. why do people have that misconception that people who are skinny and in shape can eat whatever they want and not work out. how do they think, i got this way. i worked out hard to get to where i am now. and if i want to continue being a healthy weight, i need to keep going to the gym and work at it. i feel bad, cuz the woman was really over weight. i told her, that she can do it too, just have to work hard at it. and she just kinda rolled her eyes, and said, yea in like a hundred years, i would look like you. any one else ever have people tell you that you don't have to work out if your in shape already?

    How rude! Sometimes people workout just because of the feeling they get after they're done and it makes them happy! She complimented you at first, but then insulted you in my opinion. I would have gave her a dirty look and then walked away.
  • cbevan1229
    cbevan1229 Posts: 326 Member
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    You know, though, I can totally relate to the fantasy. The idea that once you do all the hard work to get thin, then your work is over. I know it's not. I know it's an always thing, and that fit and thin people are that way because they don't over eat and are physically active.

    But somehow, especially before I started losing weight, I would look at it that way too. I think if I believed that fit folks were born that way, rather than working for it, I would feel less bad about making poor food choices and sitting on my bum - it wasn't my fault - some people are born to be thin, and some heavy, right? It's just a way of being in denial, and rationalizing behavior you know is not in your best interest.
  • likearadiowave
    likearadiowave Posts: 445 Member
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    I was at the gym this morning, in the changing room and this lady kept staring me up and down. and then she asked me if i was one of the class instructors here at the gym, because she said my body looked so amazing and in shape. i told her no, i said i just run a lot. she told me that the gym is for people like her, not people like me. bascially saying that since i'm already in shape and skinny i don't really need to be working out. why do people have that misconception that people who are skinny and in shape can eat whatever they want and not work out. how do they think, i got this way. i worked out hard to get to where i am now. and if i want to continue being a healthy weight, i need to keep going to the gym and work at it. i feel bad, cuz the woman was really over weight. i told her, that she can do it too, just have to work hard at it. and she just kinda rolled her eyes, and said, yea in like a hundred years, i would look like you. any one else ever have people tell you that you don't have to work out if your in shape already?

    She was trying to compliment you, but she was wrong.

    Exercise is good for the body in general -- it doesn't matter if you're thin or not, it's just a good activity to maintain a healthy body. It's good for everyone.
  • likearadiowave
    likearadiowave Posts: 445 Member
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    You were very nice to a woman that gave you a negative compliment, if such a thing exists. The reason you look good is because you worked hard for it. As I was reading what you wrote I thought the woman was going to appreciate you positive feedback but she rolled her eyes. What a shame. Unfortunately that attitude she has may be why she is where she's at, not to mention she affected your day. Her issue is not yours it would have been nice to hear that she engaged you to see if what you do could help her. That's a shame.

    Also this.

    She was being kind of defeatist and trying to insult herself in order to compliment you .. somehow. I hate when people do that. I would have been annoyed at the presumptuousness of the lady.
  • likearadiowave
    likearadiowave Posts: 445 Member
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    I'm not toned, but I've always been thin and people ask me all the time why I work out when I'm so skinny. Just like you said HOW DO THEY THINK WE GOT THIS WAY. We keep working at it to maintain it.

    Yea, that kind of thinking doesn't make sense. They don't understand that you need to workout to maintain a healthy body - it doesn't usually stay that way on it's own. Even if it does, exercise is still good for you regardless.
  • RealWomenLovePitbulls
    RealWomenLovePitbulls Posts: 729 Member
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    i hear that all the time, why do u work out and watch what u eat, its not like u need to. hello? everyone needs exercise and a healthy diet, you can be skinny and not be healthy, exercise is good for you! it does more than just make u "skinny"
  • brandee1212
    brandee1212 Posts: 20 Member
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    I like to play devil's advocate to give balance sometimes. I think that what she said was dumb yes, but there is a bit of truth to it.

    The body, once it becomes lean and generates muscle tends to burn more fat and calories then it did before it was lean.

    For example, you could eat 2k calories per day and workout for 30 minutes and gain nothing, while that lady who was overweight could eat 1500 calories per day and workout 60 minutes and still gain weight.

    When you get leaner and more muscular, the body burns fat for you while you do nothing..obviously working out and watching your calories helps, but you innately have an advantage over someone who is bigger.

    Now getting into "well they shouldent have got big in the first place" is a different discussion...but just wanted to point out that while she is incorrect in saying "you dont belong in a gym" she has some truth to the fact that it is easier for you then it is for her.

    This is patently false. It has been shown in numerous studies that when formerly overweight people become slim, their metabolism actually decreases, and slows to about 80% of the metabolism of someone who is the same weight but who has never been overweight. Your body becomes more efficient if you increase your muscle mass to fat ratio, but there is a significant loss of efficiency when losing weight in general. Watch HBO's Weight of the Nation if you need more citations for this info.
  • dhakiyya
    dhakiyya Posts: 481 Member
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    Everyone should exercise, because exercise is for health, not for getting skinny. Exercise helps you get slim *because* it's healthy. Anyone who thinks that they don't need to exercise because they're not very fat needs to pay a lot more attention to their health. It's something that everyone should do, and in the past everyone did because they had jobs that required them to exert themselves, or they worked at home but didn't have vacuum cleaners and washing machines so had to use a lot of elbow grease. There are health risks to being sedentary, even if you are skinny.

    If someone has a medical condition or a disability that prevents them from exercising much or at all, of course they should do whatever they're capable of, and if that's nothing so be it. (Just have to say that because I know what this forum is like, lol!)

    And of course if someone was fat then they got lean through healthy eating and exercise, then yes they do need to continue the healthy eating and exercise in order to keep the fat off, that;s why it requires a lifestyle change to stay lean and healthy for life, exercise and eating should not be a quick fix followed by returning to bad habits. The change when switching to maintenance would be to raise the calories to your TDEE rather than eating at a deficit. Exercise and healthy food choices need to remain for life.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
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    I don't know how many of you here have been overweight so I can't speak for you but to see someone in fantastic shape in the gym doesn't motivate me - it depresses me. I have been overweight for most of my adult life save a couple of years when I was only skinny because of a growth spurt. I still can't imagine that it is even possible for me to ever be able to shop in a 'normal' size store or not have people glare at me when I go to sit next to them on a bus, or when they can't sit next to me because I take up a little more than one spot. I'm just about convinced that I am destined to be fat for the rest of my life.. I've only recently started not being depressed every day and wondering why I even bother getting up. Sometimes one's own 'issues' can color the way we see others situations. It's convenient to convince yourself that the 'skinny girl' has everything because she's lucky and that she doesn't have to work to be hot/skinny/toned/rich (whatever) even if that's not the case.

    I think maybe 1 or 2 people in this whole thread even thought about what was going on in that ladys head. Kudos to the OP for seeing it for what it was.. I doubt it was meant in a rude way. Awesome for you to be so dedicated - I hope to be able to do that one day ;)
  • cmurray234
    cmurray234 Posts: 112 Member
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    I was at the gym this morning, in the changing room and this lady kept staring me up and down. and then she asked me if i was one of the class instructors here at the gym, because she said my body looked so amazing and in shape. i told her no, i said i just run a lot. she told me that the gym is for people like her, not people like me. bascially saying that since i'm already in shape and skinny i don't really need to be working out. why do people have that misconception that people who are skinny and in shape can eat whatever they want and not work out. how do they think, i got this way. i worked out hard to get to where i am now. and if i want to continue being a healthy weight, i need to keep going to the gym and work at it. i feel bad, cuz the woman was really over weight. i told her, that she can do it too, just have to work hard at it. and she just kinda rolled her eyes, and said, yea in like a hundred years, i would look like you. any one else ever have people tell you that you don't have to work out if your in shape already?

    I believe that woman was letting her frustration speak for her. Personally, I think she has it backwards. When I see a thin in-shape person at my gym it is a good reminder that a great body doesn't come for free. I always think, "Wow. she obviously works hard for that body." And I also wonder what food choices and habits they have that help them look like that. If I were a little bolder, I'd ask...but mostly I just wonder. :D

    I don't begrudge anyone else a great body. And wanting one myself doesn't make me like....dislike others that didn't let themselves go like I did.
  • KayteeBear
    KayteeBear Posts: 1,040 Member
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    I've never been tiny but never been really big but I am slightly above a healthy weight for myself and being young I want to get into a healthy active lifestyle and starting taking control of my weight NOW instead of when I'm older. I do have people (not at the gym since I'm not able to go to one) tell me that I don't need to worry about my weight/eating healthy/working out because I look great already. I just wish people would understand that there's more to working out and eating healthy than just to lose weight now. It's about being healthy for now and for the future.
  • dhakiyya
    dhakiyya Posts: 481 Member
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    I don't know how many of you here have been overweight

    I think most people on this forum have been or still are but are trying to change it, because the main purpose here is fat loss. I used to be a lot bigger than I am now, and my ticker doesn't show how much because I'd already lost quite a lot before I joined this site.

    And I know you can succeed :) Keep at it, it may take a while but slow and steady wins this race. You're not destined to be this way all your life.

    And any skinny person you see in the gym may have been very obese once. I've met a few very slim, fit people and just assumed they've always been that way, but then found out that 2 years or so before they were very obese. I was only seeing the end result, not the journey.
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Back when I was fat I did tend to think that a lot of thin women were just lucky. But if I saw a thin woman leaving the gym or running I did have the brain cells to put two and two together. That being said no one has ever told me I don't need to workout anymore but I have been told to just eat something because I'm skinny or I look fine. I usually raise my eyebrows and say "Why do you think I'm skinny?"
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    I like to play devil's advocate to give balance sometimes. I think that what she said was dumb yes, but there is a bit of truth to it.

    The body, once it becomes lean and generates muscle tends to burn more fat and calories then it did before it was lean.

    For example, you could eat 2k calories per day and workout for 30 minutes and gain nothing, while that lady who was overweight could eat 1500 calories per day and workout 60 minutes and still gain weight.

    When you get leaner and more muscular, the body burns fat for you while you do nothing..obviously working out and watching your calories helps, but you innately have an advantage over someone who is bigger.

    Now getting into "well they shouldent have got big in the first place" is a different discussion...but just wanted to point out that while she is incorrect in saying "you dont belong in a gym" she has some truth to the fact that it is easier for you then it is for her.
    The flaw in your reasoning is that when you lose weight, your BMR and TDEE drop significantly. Take this example (calculated using fat2fit's BMR tool):

    A 35-year old male who is 5'8" and 235 lbs. with 30% bodyfat has a BMR of 1990 and a TDEE (at "lightly active") of 2965.

    Take that same 35-year old male, but at 150 lbs. and 12% bodyfat - his BMR is now 1626 and his TDEE has dropped to 2236. The former would be in a comfortable 20% caloric deficit at 2300 calories; the latter would be slightly over their TDEE. It's true that muscle burns more calories than fat, but that burn factor is sometimes grossly overestimated.

    Combine that with the fact that as you improve your physical condition, your body adapts to the workload and it takes longer and/or more intense workouts to burn the same amount of calories. The first hypothetical person above, at 235 lbs. and 30% bodyfat, will probably get their heart rate up to 70-80% of max with not much more than a slightly fast walk. The second hypothetical person, who is lighter, has trained and is in much better physical condition, will have to work a lot harder to get their heart up into that 70-80% zone. The slow walk that got them huffing and puffing when they were 235 lbs. and 30% bodyfat is now like a nap by comparison. So there actually *isn't* much truth in the statement that it's "easier" for a lean person in good physical condition.

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