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

workoutgirl23
workoutgirl23 Posts: 267
in Health and Weight Loss
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?
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Replies

  • jibbala
    jibbala Posts: 76 Member
    That is a fabulous compliment to you (in an odd way!) but yeah...I dont get it either. Exercise is NOT just for weight loss...it is for general health, stress management and if you do look fit you need to keep it up! I just dont think people understand. Im no where near looking like a fitness instructor but I have had people ask why I work out so much and do it so consistently because "Im not obese". I just brush it off and go enjoy my endoprhins!
  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
    I don't work out regularly, other than walking, but when I'm eating with friends or family I frequently hear comments about what I eat (or don't) and how much. Things to the effect of, "What are you worried about?" or "Come on, you're skinny! Eat that!" It's irritating and I feel like I have to defend myself.
  • SamanthaAnnM
    SamanthaAnnM Posts: 143 Member
    That's ridiculous, and really rude of her to say! For me, weight loss is only one of the many perks that come along with exercise! I hate it when people say that someone else shouldn't be at the gym (be it skinny people, fat people, women, old people, etc). The gym is for everyone!!!
  • ppaigeyy
    ppaigeyy Posts: 16 Member
    Ugh... Yesss! Just a couple of days ago actually. My friend was making excuses for slacking on her workout routine, and told me I'm skinny so it's different (harder) for her. SAY WHAT???? Excuse me, but I'm the one getting up very early every morning working out as well as dieting, but that's discounted because I'm skinny?! Umm no, it's the REASON I'm skinny. Derr!
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    I work out so I can get healthy so I can work out harder so I can get healthier.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    If this was true, I'd not be where I am at now. lol ><
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Maybe she was hitting on you.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Maybe she was hitting on you.

    +1
  • NancyHukka
    NancyHukka Posts: 35
    I think you gave her a good response. I honestly used to think similar thoughts. It never occurred to me that my thin co-worker was thin because she actually worked at it. Hang in there. Thankfully you know the truth and hopefully that woman will learn it too.
  • emnk5308
    emnk5308 Posts: 736
    What a terrible attitude. :indifferent:
    Be an example... because it is the ones like her that will end up losing and gaining it back. Everyone losing weight needs to understand that you have to keep it up, it is a lifestyle change.
  • jenjersnapco
    jenjersnapco Posts: 206 Member
    I feel sad for the lady. What a defeatist mindset. I hope your response changes that for her.
  • ahmommy
    ahmommy Posts: 316 Member
    In my experience, people tend to believe that skinny people are skinny because they're genetically programmed that way. That's a generalization and of course it's not true in all cases, but I see it a lot. When people bring junk food into the office and I turn it down, they push me because I'm thin so why not? I get eye rolls all over the place, but I just have to ignore it. I even had someone give me a hard time for turning down donuts when I was eating dairy-free while nursing my daughter who is dairy intolerant. I get so tired of having to explain myself.

    I think it's a "grass is greener" phenomenon. People think it's easy on the other side and don't stop to think that maybe it takes hard work.
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 627 Member
    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.
  • lbetancourt
    lbetancourt Posts: 522 Member
    Maybe she was hitting on you.

    this
  • iLoveMyPitbull1225
    iLoveMyPitbull1225 Posts: 1,690 Member
    she is jealous and expressing it in a weird way.
  • workoutgirl23
    workoutgirl23 Posts: 267
    hitting on me. lol. i don't think she was.
  • MariaMariaM
    MariaMariaM Posts: 1,322 Member
    That is silly. I workout because 1) I like it and 2) I want to maintain the body I have.
    I can control my weight by eating the correct amount of calories but my body will never look the way it does if I stop working out. A defined body doesn't happen by accident.
  • Anna800
    Anna800 Posts: 639 Member
    I'll be honest, I totally think like that woman but would never say that to anyone out loud. The thing is I feel that skinny people who come to the gym are natually thin, but just want to tone up a little bit, but they don't truly need it like the rest of us. Yes anyone can get fat by eating too much and anyone can lose 100 lbs, but I think in most cases natually thin people are just that - always have been thin. My neighbor is a size 00 and does cardio 5x a week, I honestly think she's obsessed with not gaining 1 lb. There's no need to work that hard if you're naturally bone thin.
  • MariaMariaM
    MariaMariaM Posts: 1,322 Member
    I'll be honest, I totally think like that woman but would never say that to anyone out loud. The thing is I feel that skinny people who come to the gym are natually thin, but just want to tone up a little bit, but they don't truly need it like the rest of us. Yes anyone can get fat by eating too much and anyone can lose 100 lbs, but I think in most cases natually thin people are just that - always have been thin. My neighbor is a size 00 and does cardio 5x a week, I honestly think she's obsessed with not gaining 1 lb. There's no need to work that hard if you're naturally bone thin.

    If you saw me at the gym then you would think I "was naturally skinny" and that I should not be at the gym. What you would not know is that I got to where i am today but having a good combination of healthy eating and exercise. As I said earlier, I could stop working out and still maintain my weight but then I would just "skinny" and not fit. I like Fit. Just my 2 cents.
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    I hate the "you don't need to watch your calories... you're skinny enough!" and "here, have some chips"
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    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.
  • fairc3jam
    fairc3jam Posts: 136 Member
    Maybe she was hitting on you.

    Amen :love:
  • mslack01
    mslack01 Posts: 823 Member
    you have no idea how many times a day i get told that i work too hard...or why do i care what i eat...blah...blah..blah..

    well lets see...everything isn't always about how you look, although that is part of it. I have high cholesterol and I am prediabetic. If I don't want to be a full-blown Type II Diabetic I have to exercise and watch what I eat. And I don't do a great job of it. But I am trying.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    I'll be honest, I totally think like that woman but would never say that to anyone out loud. The thing is I feel that skinny people who come to the gym are natually thin, but just want to tone up a little bit, but they don't truly need it like the rest of us. Yes anyone can get fat by eating too much and anyone can lose 100 lbs, but I think in most cases natually thin people are just that - always have been thin. My neighbor is a size 00 and does cardio 5x a week, I honestly think she's obsessed with not gaining 1 lb. There's no need to work that hard if you're naturally bone thin.

    Wow. So you assume that anyone who is thin is naturally thin and didn't work for it? That is the most ridiculous statement.

    You also seem to think that there is something wrong with a thin person working hard because they don't want to gain weight? It's called staying healthy and fit. You want her to want to gain weight??
  • rmhand
    rmhand Posts: 1,067 Member
    Thats the lady that will "diet", lose some weight, then after she meets her goal she will go back to eating like she used to and stop exercising and gain it all back and wonder why, then claim than eating healthy and going to the gym are pointless.

    Fitness is a lifestyle.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    It's exactly that kind of thinking (hers) that gets folks into trouble. She'll likely be gaining it all back.

    I've always worked out, and I always will.

    Congrats on the odd compliment!
  • Melanie_RS
    Melanie_RS Posts: 417 Member
    if there were JUST overweight people at the gym, wouldn't people get the wrong idea about gyms?

    I mean, doesn't it stand to reason there will be thin and fit people at a gym too?
  • mslack01
    mslack01 Posts: 823 Member
    I'll be honest, I totally think like that woman but would never say that to anyone out loud. The thing is I feel that skinny people who come to the gym are natually thin, but just want to tone up a little bit, but they don't truly need it like the rest of us. Yes anyone can get fat by eating too much and anyone can lose 100 lbs, but I think in most cases natually thin people are just that - always have been thin. My neighbor is a size 00 and does cardio 5x a week, I honestly think she's obsessed with not gaining 1 lb. There's no need to work that hard if you're naturally bone thin.

    Please refer to my previous statement. I was always skinny. But I wasn't healthy. And you can't fight Type II Diabetes without diet and exercise unless you just want to give up and take an insulin shot.
  • violetta88
    violetta88 Posts: 117 Member
    I get it more about food - if I turn down a cake or order a salad at a restaurant, people demand to know why since I don't need to lose weight.

    I used to be almost 30lbs heavier. Trust me, if I start thinking like that, you won't be calling me skinny any more.

    I like eating healthy. I love working out. I'm sure a lot of people on here feel the same way, and the gym should be a place where we can all embrace a fit and healthy lifestyle regardless of our sizes.

    You were right on the ball. Keep going for it!
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,282 Member
    One of the the reasons I am here is because I believed that too...dumb, wasnt it? Some times you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. ;)

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