is being skinny worth it?

1246710

Replies

  • cindl24
    cindl24 Posts: 178
    I'm a nurse. You need to change your focus. Not skinny, healthy. You are decreasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, diabetes. Keep pushing.

    This.

    Plus, eat foods you like and try to find an exercise you enjoy. For example, I will often play games on the Wii to exercise because it is fun! This venture started for me to stave off diabetes and it has worked.
  • Priincess_Natalie
    Priincess_Natalie Posts: 367 Member
    It's not about being skinny. It's about being healthy and happy. Be the best you, you can be. If that's skinny, awesome. If that's curvy, great. If that's eating what you want and being overweight then awesome too! Life is short and your the only one that has to live yours so do it the way you want. If you want to be skinny, do it. If not, don't :). Don't worry about society. Live your life for you. You'll be WAY more satisfied in the end if you do. Good luck. :flowerforyou:
  • Kurls4Daze
    Kurls4Daze Posts: 125 Member
    BEAUTIFUL POST AND I CONCUR WHOLEHEARTEDLY!!!!!!!!
    SIDE BAR CONGRATS ON THOSE LBS YOU RELEASED!!!!!!!
    I don't necessarily think being skinny is worth it, and that was my goal when I started this endeavor.

    I do think that being fit, healthy, confident, strong and more emotionally balanced is definitely worth it.

    I believe that being free of the shame and guilt I felt when I would binge and attempt to fix the difficulties in my life by consuming massive amounts of food is worth it.

    I believe that the pride and sense of accomplishment, not to mention the endorphin rush, that I get when I accomplish a workout or fitness goal that I never dreamed I would be able to do is worth it.

    I believe that my daughter would tell you that having a healthy, active mom who isn't ashamed to attend events and socialize with other parents is worth it.

    I believe that being able to do things without worrying about a weight or size limit (horseback riding, amusement park rides, flying on a plane) is worth it.

    Would I put forth this much effort simply to be a size that society deems attractive or acceptable? Probably not, but I've learned that there is a lot more to this than a number on a scale or a size on a tag in my jeans.
  • Ramberta
    Ramberta Posts: 1,312 Member
    I am never going to be "skinny". But that's not my goal and it never has been. Just because I'll probably always be a plus-size doesn't mean I can't be healthy and beautiful, and the same goes for you and anyone else trying to lose weight. It looks like you're thinking destructively about your motivating factors, rather than embracing the fact that this is a LIFESTYLE change, not just a magical vanishing of fat. You eat healthy so that you can get a diet rich in nutrients, which promotes long life free of illness. You eat less so that you have more energy, can enjoy more activities, and not feel self-conscious about your body image. You exercise because of the endorphin rush, and the opportunity to be outside doing something other than staring at a screen or driving or being at work.

    No, you don't have to love everything that you do and eat every day. There will be some cranky days where all you want is a tub of Ben & Jerry's, but you restrict yourself to yogurt instead. Where you grumblingly get out of bed for your morning yoga. But it WILL be worth it in the end. Trust me.

    If you apply this logic to anything else in life-- your job, your academic studies, your relationships-- of course every day isn't going to be rosy. But when you look back on things in the future, are you going to hate how they turned out? Only if you don't put in the effort they deserved at the time. And the same goes for your body!!
  • c2111
    c2111 Posts: 693 Member
    nope not skinny I like fit ! fit & strong thats worth it all :)
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
    No. It's not.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    Feeling and looking healthy is most definitely worth all the tough work it is to get there to me! ..and it's not always tough, some days zip right by.. a few others seem to last forever...

    It's worth it, so worth it! :wink: :drinker:
    nope not skinny I like fit ! fit & strong thats worth it all :)
    Absolutely LOVE how you worded your response!:heart:
  • really, is it worth all the time and effort that women put into eating foods they don't really love, exercising when they'd rather not, and just not being truly happy to be "skinny?" what do men/women really think about skinny women, and what do you women think about society and feeling like you must achieve a certain body image to be considered attractive? do you wish you could just eat and not exercise and let your body do what it wants and be happy like that, or do you feel content with eating diet foods or restricting calories, daily exercise, and feeling the pressure to be skinny?

    this is not meant to offend anyone of any body type, i'm just curious as to what you all think! society frustrates me sometimes. :p
    In a "perfect" world, yes of course however its not how it works in the real world.

    Of course no one wants to be skinny (skin & bones) & neither me.
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    Is it worth it to be skinny? No.

    Is it worth it to be strong, able to do great things in life, and to be healthy and feel great? Hell yes.
  • Superchas
    Superchas Posts: 129 Member
    Negative waves
    Work out what you want to achieve for you is a far more positive goal
    If that is skinny then ok
    If that is healthier ok
    Best
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
    Depends on what "skinny" actually means, and I think it means different things to different people. I am 5'3" and weigh 110. To some people, that is skinny, without regard to how it looks on my body. Some people at work think I'm too thin, so I'm guessing they think I'm "skinny." I have about 20% body fat and a lot of muscle for a 47 yr. old woman, so others might consider me fit, even muscular (particularly my upper body which is visibly muscular and somewhat vascular). I have a couple of ribs that stick out, but I think that's more due to the shape of my ribcage than to being too thin. I have spent many years wanting to be skinny, altho the last few times I've been small, it's been as much due to exercise as it has been to eating right. I eat over 2000 calories a day and work out 5 days a week, for 45 minutes 3 of those days, a little over an hour 1 day and a couple of hours on the 5th day, and I love every one of those workouts. Definitely worth it.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I never eat food I don't like. I love how I feel after a workout (and it's great girl time when I go with friends). And I like being thin. And I'm happier thin than crying and feeling angry when I hate how clothing fits me. I'm unhappy being fat.

    I can't tell you if it's worth it to you. It is worth it to me.
  • kooltray87
    kooltray87 Posts: 501 Member
    really, is it worth all the time and effort that women put into eating foods they don't really love, exercising when they'd rather not, and just not being truly happy to be "skinny?" what do men/women really think about skinny women, and what do you women think about society and feeling like you must achieve a certain body image to be considered attractive? do you wish you could just eat and not exercise and let your body do what it wants and be happy like that, or do you feel content with eating diet foods or restricting calories, daily exercise, and feeling the pressure to be skinny?

    this is not meant to offend anyone of any body type, i'm just curious as to what you all think! society frustrates me sometimes. :p

    It seems like you're approaching this thing with a few steriotypical veiws of your own. People who eat foods they don't like and strive to appeal to society usually fail when it comes to weight loss. One should strive to be healthy above all else. Last time I checked healthy doesn't require eating "gross" food or looking like a runway model. Sure saying no to sweets and fatty foods is not always the easiest to do, but neither is getting up for work every day. I will do what it takes to be a healthy weight, and I will go the extra mile even when I'd rather not to look the best I can.

    Also I don't want to be skinny, I want to be fit. I'm a fuller gal and I like it! But there are some culture were obessity is whats desired. Its all about preference.
  • AlisalGal
    AlisalGal Posts: 88 Member
    I'll never be skinny, it's absolutely not in my genetics. I'd have to be very, very ill to be skinny and I hope that doesn't happen! But I can be strong and healthy, free from joint pain, and reduce my risk of certain diseases. And I can feel good in my clothes and happy with my own body shape, at its best.
  • sewedo1
    sewedo1 Posts: 200 Member
    I eat foods that I love (less than I used to) and I do activities that I love (more than I used to) because it makes me feel so much better. It's a nice bonus that some think I look better with more muscle and less fat.
  • Betty_Canada
    Betty_Canada Posts: 85 Member
    I suppose it's a matter of perspective.

    There is a lot of pressure to be skinny *at any cost* (this last is the most critical part). Culturally, war has been declared on the obese, funded by chemical companies that make drugs to make you skinny and companies that sell surgery to make you skinny. Most of the "diseases" associated with obesity are correlational at best, and there is absolutely NO PROOF that they are causal, as skinny people also get diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.

    It's like suggesting that just because there is more ice cream sold in July, and there are more murders than any other month in July, that ice cream causes murder.

    Tall people take up more room on an airplane than short people, but you don't see tall people being charged for an extra seat or being told that they could be shorter if they just tried harder by their doctors.

    Standard weight loss programs have a five percent success rate over the five year period; if we proscribed birth control that only worked five per cent of the time, it would be yanked off the market.

    The thinness of models is unobtainable by approximately ninety seven per cent of the population.

    Photographs are retouched to take out wrinkles, remove wrinkles in fabric, and yes, to add flesh back into models so you can't see their ribs (go ahead and Google it... I'll wait).

    In that sense? No. It's not worth it.

    The cure for social stigma is, to quote Ragen Chastain (danceswithfat.wordpress.org), not to lose weight, it's to end social stigma. Many of the so called obesity diseases are also correlated with being under huge amounts of emotional stress.

    When you consider the general failure rate of "dieting", and the cultural pressure to be thin, AND the increasing tendency for "food" to be processed to within an inch of its life (given that most grains and legumes are toxic in their natural forms, a lot of processing is involved to make flour, never mind the increasing use of cornstarch and corn sweeteners), you have to rethink the whole thing.

    There is an increasing cultural movement towards a concept called "health at every size". Google Linda Bacon and do a bit of reading. Take as your markers your bloodwork, your general ability to perform daily tasks, your flexibility, your energy levels, and focus less on what the scale says or whether or not you are a single digit size.

    Eating healthy is not about starvation. It's not about forbidding any given food group (although the definition of food does have to be altered somewhat to exclude most of the processed things that are called food these days).

    It's about becoming aware of what your body - your particular body - needs to eat and when it wants to eat, and how much it would like to eat to feel satiated and healthy. That means being aware of your body and aware of how food makes you feel.

    Given that most of us no longer live below our necks, this might feel a little strange. Many of us are spending more time trying to rebuild our relationship with food and learning not to hate food and see it as the enemy than we are trying to get skinny.

    Given the huge cultural stigma certain foods have as fattening, it can be hard to accept that maybe you want a two egg omelet for breakfast with four ounces of cheese and a slice of cooked ham because that's what your body is craving instead of a bowl of Special K (which is processed wheat and cornstarch and mostly empty calories with no nutritional value) and two cups of cow's milk (which is designed to feed baby cows, and may not be so good for some people). If, like me, you loathe Special K with a special burning passion because you think it tastes like wood paste, then sure, being told you have to eat it to be "skinny" is a hardship. But if skinny isn't the goal, then you can make the choices you need to be happy, and maybe a little healthier.

    Does it mean I can never have a slice of fruitcake at the holidays ever again? No. But it DOES mean that I have to have that slice and not the whole fruitcake, and be a little more mindful of what goes in my mouth.

    Most processed food tastes good because it's DESIGNED to, and giving it up can feel like you're being denied everything good about living in the Western world. But most of that is marketing hyperbole.

    Potatoes are not the enemy. Food that is food has a built in break point. You can't eat seventy baked potatoes a day or a hundred apples a day because your body will tell you enough.

    But you can eat the equivalent amount of calories in chocolate or potato chips or Booster Juice in a day because the foods that are processed hit the sugar -sweet - fat brain receptors that say more-more-MORE and sort of bypass our body's "I'm full" response. "Betcha can't eat just one" is more than a marketing ploy, it's a planned design model.

    Exercise is another thing that we've lost our sense of attachment to. Culturally, exercise is punishment for not starving ourselves appropriately. It is work, and an inconvenience, and a penance paid for too much enjoyment of food and of life in general. We have sedentary jobs, and so we fell guilt that must be expiated through exercising.

    Physical activity should be fun. Most people don't "need" more than a half an hour or so of moderate physical activity a day to maintain a reasonable level of health.

    There is no need or expectation to kill yourself at the gym to be healthy. I walk forty minutes a day - twenty minutes to work and twenty minutes back. The expectation that fat people need to work out to be healthy is a cultural meme tied into the whole shame issue about fat people not deserving to exist.

    If you enjoy lifting weights, then do that. If you enjoy Zumba, then do that. If you enjoy chasing your neighbor's kid around the park and playing Frisbee, then do that. Google 23 1/2 hours a day - it's a great video that talks about the half hour a day activity model.

    Some physical activity is better than none. But doing something you hate to do just because you feel you should be doing it to be skinny is a recipe for failure.

    You will not sustain something that inconveniences you, that you don't enjoy, and that you resent. It' more important to find something you like, and if that's Dance Central instead of Pilates or skipping instead of heavy lifting, then do it. Weight loss is more about food choices than exercise anyway.

    Is being "skinny" worth it? No. There is no **guarantee** that being skinny will allow you to live forever, nor that it means you will never get diabetes, or arthritis, or have a heart attack, or even that it will reduce your odds of getting any of them, because there are so many environmental and hereditary factors involved.. Let me say that again, there is NO GUARANTEE that being skinny does a DAMN THING for ANY of the so called "obesity caused" diseases. (This is because nobody understands basic statistics any more and confuses correlation with causation.)

    Is being healthy and getting off the diet bandwagon and out of the cycle of shame, anger and self-loathing that is perpetuated by our culture worth relearning my relationship with food and redefining health as something that isn't a pant size but involves me being an active and aware passenger in my body and making choices deliberately about food and about participating in activity I enjoy?

    Yep. THAT is worth it. For me.

    Your mileage may vary.

    =Betty=
  • nuttyfamily
    nuttyfamily Posts: 3,394 Member
    I also am not doing this to be 'skinny'.

    I eat better so I feel better. I am in a better mood and have way more energy when I eat foods that are good for me versus processed stuff.

    I also love the energy and stamina I have from the exercise I do. I struggled before with just walking.
  • gypsyrose64
    gypsyrose64 Posts: 271 Member
    I *was* skinny in my youth and young adult years. At 5'5, 125#s, I could rock some tight jeans. Two children and too much pregnancy indulgence packed on an extra 100#s I have the advantage of knowing what life was like before I gained this weight. I was active in many ways. Depression, bad marriage and self-loathing took over the last 15yrs. Hopelessness replaced day-dreaming about my next adventure. It wasn't until my lower back screamed "enough already!" that I took a hard look in the mirror and realized how this weight really affected my quality of life. It's not just the vanity motivating me, or the notion that I'm socially unacceptable now. It's also about the life I once had.

    My ex-hubby hated my weight gain and tortured me mentally about it until I left. My kids are almost grown and I have NEVER taken them to the local water park due to shame. They begged me, and I'd make them ask their dad. Trips to the beach, gone. Confidently meeting new people, gone. Dating, gone. Horseback riding, gone. Dancing all night, gone. I could go on forever about things that I enjoyed once becoming a distant memory. I don't know how I got this far without slamming on the brakes. What I do know, is I will continue to careen towards the cliff (diabetes, heart attack, stroke) unless I climb behind the wheel and drive!!!

    Tell ya something else. I wasn't necessarily "happy" when I WAS skinny. I sought out dysfunctional relationships, and had confidence - but no self-esteem. So dropping weight won't make the world right either if you don't have your head straight. Skinny might be nice, but I would take PAIN FREE MOBILITY over skinny any day now! I count calories and try to eat healthy, but I don't give up things I like. I reward myself with them now. If I could go back in time 10-20yrs, I would NEVER had let myself get to this point!! My spine is falling apart on me overnight, because of the yrs of abuse it took. Every pound I lose helps.

    It's a shame society in general discriminates against the obese, but that's just a fact of life. I won't say it doesn't hurt sometimes, when you see that look on someone's face and know what they're silently thinking, or ask when you're "due" - but I don't live life for others anymore. I desire my health more than vanity.
  • sbrooks0387
    sbrooks0387 Posts: 167 Member
    really, is it worth all the time and effort that women put into eating foods they don't really love, exercising when they'd rather not, and just not being truly happy to be "skinny?" what do men/women really think about skinny women, and what do you women think about society and feeling like you must achieve a certain body image to be considered attractive? do you wish you could just eat and not exercise and let your body do what it wants and be happy like that, or do you feel content with eating diet foods or restricting calories, daily exercise, and feeling the pressure to be skinny?

    this is not meant to offend anyone of any body type, i'm just curious as to what you all think! society frustrates me sometimes. :p

    i love all the foods i eat. i cook one meal (most days some days my hubby cooks something i don't like then i make something eles for me) for the family and i eat it too. it's about moderation, and lets face it, moderation has gone out the window in todays society. i do not so much feel the pressure to be skinny and i'm not really looking to be model skinny yes i want to be skinny but i also want to be healthy and set an example for my kids. i want to be proud of who i am and the lessons (like eating healthy) that i give my kids. i have saw plenty of people who are a little heavy/heavy who are beautiful. i wish i could eat what ever i want and do what ever i want and stay at an acceptable weight but i am not one of those people who can do that.
  • i think it's worth it. i want to be skinny so bad. and your right, it is the medias fault, along with society. and unfortunately for girls like myself, media and society has engraved the image of skinny in my mind. and makes me think that everything is worth it.
  • iulia_maddie
    iulia_maddie Posts: 2,780 Member
    really, is it worth all the time and effort that women put into eating foods they don't really love, exercising when they'd rather not, and just not being truly happy to be "skinny?" what do men/women really think about skinny women, and what do you women think about society and feeling like you must achieve a certain body image to be considered attractive? do you wish you could just eat and not exercise and let your body do what it wants and be happy like that, or do you feel content with eating diet foods or restricting calories, daily exercise, and feeling the pressure to be skinny?

    this is not meant to offend anyone of any body type, i'm just curious as to what you all think! society frustrates me sometimes. :p
    "just eat and not exercise and let your body do what it wants"? The body does not "want" anything. It will do what you train it to do. Train it to run marathons and it will run marathons. It's mind over matter.
    If one is happy not exercising or eating healthily, that's definitely their own business, and no, they should not feel pressured to do so because of society standard. On the other hand, they should also not complain when people who put an effort into their appearance are considered more physically attractive. And i don't just mean "skinny" people.
    Also what do you consider "skinny"? I find this word gets used a lot when describing people who are actually fit and at a healthy weight.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    Exercise should be fun, food should be delicious and life is for living! It is possible to enjoy your meals and your workouts and still reach your goals.

    The real question is eating junk and feeling terrible all the time worth it? After eating clean for as little as three weeks, I think you will find that the old junk foods you used to love have some how turned disgusting. We are omnivores, we can change up our pallets with relative ease.
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
    For the purpose of this post - I'm assuming that by "getting skinny" you're talking about "being healthier" too.

    I would LOVE IT if everybody could eat whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, and obesity was something we didn't have to worry about. Sadly, that's not the case.

    I think most people taking on the challenge to lose weight are doing it to be more healthy, and that skinny is just a side effect. If it means my husband doesn't have to take diabetes meds, I'm all for it. If it means my back doesn't hurt anymore, or my knees don't hurt anymore, then I'm all for it.

    I'm not necessarily doing it to be more attractive, because I feel like I'm already attractive in some ways - I've always been told I have beautiful eyes and hair, personality, etc.
  • judybourque
    judybourque Posts: 9 Member
    I am not dong this to be skinny, I am doing this to be healthy and improve my quality of life. I want to enjoy all the fun things with my kids, grand kids and friends that being over weight prevents me from doing.. I am enjoying challenging my body and seeing what it is capable of. I never think of my exercise regimen as something I don't really want to do. I like the way it makes me feel.
  • spud_chick
    spud_chick Posts: 2,640 Member
    Earlier this week I found something I wrote when I was at the fittest point in my life, twenty years or so ago before my joint and skeletal problems started getting serious. I was reflecting on what I was trying to do for myself; and the phrase I came up with was that I wanted to--

    Dignify my body with a balance of pleasure and discipline.

    This is the motto I'm reflecting on now.

    When I started feeling deprived here, I dialed back my weight loss goal from 1 lb. per week to half a pound, which gave me more calories and made it easier to stay on track. I mostly walk for exercise 5 days a week, which I find pleasurable and stress-relieving even when it's hard going, and about twice a week I do workout videos and what most people here would consider "sissy" weight training with 3 and 5 lb. hand weights, because just about everything is easier when you're stronger. When my body needs a break I give it one and don't beat myself up about it if that means missing a weekly goal. For years, until July, I was mostly (not completely) sedentary due to chronic pain. I found a great chiropractor and started gradually with walking, then joined here in August. To date I've lost 14 lbs and gone down 2 sizes. My goal is not to be skinny, which would look bad on my frame anyway, but to feel and look better, in that order. I couldn't look like a model even if I wanted to, and wouldn't try to even if I could. But I am enjoying the fact that my butt is starting to look more like the one I remember and less like the terribly sad one I woke up with one morning after what I can only assume was an alien abduction.

    The point I'm trying to make in this rambling is that there is a sweet spot in between being a totally self-indulgent blob who refuses to make any concessions to take basic care of their mortal coil, and being a robotic exercise/deprivation machine who believes fitness is not only a moral virtue (it isn't) but is indeed the thing that matters most in life. The sweet spot varies for everyone and even moves around with life changes. I don't place a lot of value on externals, so my sweet spot probably looks pretty limp and un-serious to a lot of people here, but if my goals are modest, my commitment to them is not casual. I'm working consistently to get to a maintainable weight and level of fitness, and will then stay on top of it so I don't lose it. Next year I'll be strong enough to put my fitness toward practical goals like landscaping my yard and building a deck, things that would have taken forever and put me on the disabled list before now.

    So, not everyone here is making themselves miserable to conform to an arbitrary and often unattainable societal standard, would be the main bullet point of this presentation.

    pirate_tn.jpg
  • SilverLotusGirl
    SilverLotusGirl Posts: 537 Member
    I don't want to be skinny. I want to be healthier and for me that does mean losing weight but it's about being healthy and having muscle tone and a lower blood pressure and better insulin resistance not so much about being skinny. So for me, most days, it is worth it because I've found healthy foods I like, I'm learning which unhealthy ones I can do without, and I like being active.

    There are plenty of people who are skinny but not very healthy and for them they may not need to lose weight but they could benefit from dietary changes and exercising as well.
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
    Well, if you stay on a healthy program for long enough it takes a lot less effort to remain trim. Just a few simple choices each day. And I am starting to love the healthier substitutes for my old junk foods. Do I love the exercise? No. Do I love not having to worry about heart disease and diabetes? Yes. It is worth it for the health reason alone.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    Being skinny isn't worth jack. Being fit and healthy, however, is.
  • judybourque
    judybourque Posts: 9 Member
    like
  • mag2906
    mag2906 Posts: 57 Member
    really, is it worth all the time and effort that women put into eating foods they don't really love, exercising when they'd rather not

    I DON'T eat food I don't love or like. No celery sticks for me.
    As for exercising I do that because it makes me feel better. I have a desk job and spend sitting on my butt 10 hours a day. A little bit of exercising after work is something that I look forward to.

    I got obese because I had exactly same mind set: getting "skinny" means I have to suffer through food I don't like and exercise when I don't want to.

    Guess what? It does not have to be that way.