Mon 1 Feb 2010
Are you “Skinny Fat”?
Posted by lynsie under Local Food, Parenting, Sustainability
[6] Comments
Oh boy, here we go. I am trying as hard as possible to hide my haughty laugh of incredulity as I write this up in the full coffee shop which I am presently calling my typing home. As I sat in bed enjoying my breakfast this morning…don’t worry-I got it myself, we gave our butler the day off…and while Colin was getting ready for work, a segment was advertised as coming up on The Today Show in a matter of minutes. The subject of this segment? “Are you Skinny Fat?”
Well, I thought to myself, maybe they’re finally going to discuss the body type that most of us have. You know the one. It’s where you eat right (local, sustainable, organic food) and where you take good care of yourself (exercise in ways that feel good not bad, meditate, practice yoga, run after your toddler) and, voila, you’re left with not only great self-esteem, but a body that matches your “body type.” Like me for example: after years of working so damned hard to make my body match what the media was dictating, including dieting, over-exercising, skipping meals-on purpose, and constantly worrying about those extra few pounds, I finally wised up. I met my husband, realized that I was beautiful just the way I was destined to be, and over the course of four years, began eating local, healthy food, cut processed foods out of my diet, and began practicing well-being type exercises, like yoga and pilates, AND gained 30 pounds.
Me, enjoying delicious crab,just before being told by my doctor that I am borderline obese and would be unable to conceive. I am now 25 weeks pregnant.
While most of the time I was so thankful to look and feel better, including the added perks of being more curvy, going up 3 cup sizes, and turning even more heads on the street, there were times when I would fall back in to the media trap of thinking that I was overweight. In fact, when trying to get pregnant, I was even told by my ex-gynocologist that I was too overweight to conceive (due to my height and weight, my BMI classifies me as borderline obese). I quickly changed doctors, and with my next visit at my benevolent midwife’s office, I heard the following news: A)I was at the weight that my genes, heritage, and lifestyle dictated, and that B)my weight gain over the last four years was directly related to my happiness that I had finally achieved through meeting my husband and starting my family. What a fantastic “ah-ha” moment. With that news, guess what? I was pregnant within 10 days. I think it would be foolish to assume that none of the above isn’t connected. Self acceptance equals happiness.
So, getting back to this morning’s Today Show segment on Skinny Fat, I ignorantly thought that this segment would finally bring the news to women out there that what I already knew was finally being accepted. That my “fat” was my very own “skinny.” Well, no surprise, but I was wrong.
As it turns out, Skinny Fat actually refers to women who, gasp, ARE skinny on the outside, but fat on the inside. Are question marks circling around your head, too? Sigh, here we go…
Joy Bauer, contributing health editor to The Today Show, who’s book, “Your Inner Skinny” I think says it all as far as her approach goes, claims that even though we may appear to be skinny, that really deep inside we’ve got a terrifying combination of genes and heredity brewing that actually makes us in reality, fat, according to what doctors deem to be so. She compared two women: both of whom are skinny, one of whom is skinny fat. Basically, the one who is skinny fat has never had to do much to maintain her figure. She never works out, she eats what she wants, she is what most would call “blessed with good genes.” Not so, according to Joy. In fact, because she does not “take care of herself,” even though she may appear to on the outside, she is slowly bringing on her own demise: a long, torturous, fatty death. Joy said, in fact, that now “it’s not enough to be thin” anymore. Because being thin could mean “skinny on the outside, obese on the inside.” Her “obesity” is determined by using a tool, much like a vice, to pinch the outside layer of her fat, therefore measuring the relationship of her fat to her overall weight and height. Now, for those of us out there (me four years ago), this would be exactly the news that I would not need. To be told that appearing skinny still could mean that I’m obese on the inside would throw me into a disastrous cycle of obsessive exercising followed by extreme dieting. In fact, the skinny fat woman, after hearing of her major fat issues, said that she is now going to “work hard and watch what she eats,” which we all know is code for not eating as much. It is only since recovering from my faulted ways that I can hear news like this and not go off the deep end. But imagine how many women (and men) are out there who are taking this news to heart?
As my genius husband brought up after watching this segment in disbelief, what about the women from Fiji, Hawaii, or the Inuit or Yupik Eskimos?
An Inuit Woman
A Fijian Woman
A Hawaiian Woman
What if they were subjected to this fat-pinching device? No doubt they would blow this poor skinny fat woman on The Today Show out of the water. Wouldn’t we all agree, though, that their bodies are designed based on a mixture of factors: environment, heritage and genetics? From Joy Bauer’s point of view, these women would practically be knocking on death’s door. If it were up to her, they would all be put on strict diets and exercise regimes, only to lose half of their body weight and return home, where they would be unable to function in their own societies. Do only Joy’s rules apply to Americans? And what of this poor Skinny Fat woman on The Today Show? Could her natural body type, instead of being a ticking time bomb, instead just represent her potential Nordic heritage? Why should she change to have to conform to the current ignorant standards of our current thinking when it comes to body image, health, and the desire to be thin?
The bottom line is this: we all look exactly the way we should, IF (and a big “if” it is) we allow our bodies to slowly get back to the size and shape that they were always meant to be. Instead of looking at an ex-Skinny girl and saying, “She’s really let herself go,” why don’t we look at her in admiration and hope, saying instead, “Wow, she must be really happy. Looks like she’s finally found herself.” My hope is that everyone watching The Today Show this morning can look inside themselves, instead of listening to a woman who does not know them, and ask themselves if there is anything they can change in order to get closer to achieving the body, heart, and mind that is the healthiest for them.
I actually like the term skinny fat. I like it because it proves that being skinny does NOT necessarily mean you are healthy, and being larger than society’s standards does NOT necessarily mean you are unhealthy. At my job, we constantly use body fat calipers (or “vices” as you refer to them) to measure body composition, often times on athletes. I can not tell you how many times I have seen “skinny fat” people, and how many times I have seen those who will always wear a size “L”, yet have a very lean, healthy body fat percentage.
While I completely agree with you that we should be happy with our bodies and self image, the bottom line is excess fat can and does lead to underlying serious issues, such as cardiovascular diseases and even cancer just to name a few. No, having high fat percentage is not a death sentence for everyone, but it certainly can be for most. I didn’t see this chick on the Today show,but it does sound like she didn’t put her message out very well. Being “thin” by society’s ridiculous standards is not what’s important…being healthy on the inside is what’s important.
Anyway, a friend pointed me in the direction of your post and I guess it struck a nerve (I wanted to defend my calipers, haha), sorry for the long comment:) I’m very happy that you are in a good spot with your self confidence, because honestly mental health is just as important in the overall picture, and you are right, struggling and starving yourself is NOT good. Congrats on the pregnancy!!
Hey Heather! I both love your comment AND the fact that it’s long. I would love to clarify a few things. It looks like we both agree on many points: in your words, “skinny fat does NOT necessarily mean you are healthy, …being larger than society’s standards does NOT necessarily mean you are unhealthy, …I can not tell you how many times I have seen…those who will always wear a size “L”, yet have a very lean body fat percentage, …[and finally] struggling and starving yourself is NOT good.” I completely 100% agree with all of this! I also think that there are many people who do discover their body fat percentage through the use of calipers (sorry for the inaccurate term of mine-I was fired up!), and are therefore given the gift to better understand how to best modulate their own health. What worries me about the term “skinny fat” is the same thing that worries me about the words when used by themselves, “skinny” and “fat.” Putting a term on something using these words, I fear, can put some women and men over the edge if their relationship with their weight is fragile and unhealthy.
I, unfortunately, knew and still know many women and a few men who have eating disorders or who obsessively exercise. I’ve seen how these destructive behaviors can hurt both these people and their families, all for the sake of trying to stubbornly form their body into the way it should “look,” but not necessarily the way it should “be.”
Also, when sitting in my doctor’s office and being told that I would be unable to conceive due to my weight, this news was coming from a woman who was obviously very thin and very concerned with her weight. When I moved to my midwife, I replayed the story of my experience for her, and believe it or not, my midwife guessed the name of the doctor I was referring to.
You’re absolutely right that excess fat can lead to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and more! On my father’s side, heart disease has always been a serious problem. In fact, at age 7, my father even had a quadruple bypass! The problems that accompany excess fat have been in the forefront of my mind since I was a child. This is why I do what I do-however, I often think that what each of us is recommended to do by doctors, dietitians, and exercise experts (diet, exercise too much) is the wrong advice. I suggest that each of us eats real, healthy food that is unprocessed, and that eventually, our bodies will re-calibrate themselves to be the size that we’re meant to be. Some of us are meant to have a little padding, and if that’s our normal, then I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think the goal is to achieve optimum health for each individual by following individual forms of practice that are healthy and natural.
I see this obsession with low numbers on the scale and self image as a serious problem, and it sounds like you do, too. I’ve actually heard of your website before and have visited prior to hearing from you here. It looks like we’re both actively working toward the same goal of encouraging healthier lifestyles in moms and dads across our country. We’re both working toward the same end point, just on two different paths.
Congratulations on all you’ve accomplished and I look forward to keeping up to date with what’s going on in your running world! Thanks for your comment.
Lynsie, thank you so much for this. Here I am, “fatter” than I ever thought I would be. But, also enjoying my life, my food, my children, and my husband more than I ever thought I would.
Thank you for what you’re doing!
I know, Megan, me too! But if we’re eating with a conscience, we’re healthier ALWAYS than anyone else out there who is more concerned with what they take off their body instead of what they put IN to it. You’re teaching your kids such a vital lesson through your example. My hat’s off to you!
I think you missed the point of that segment — it’s not about weight and looks, but rather about being strong lean and fit. Sure the skinny fat chick can eat all day and not gain a pound and can go through life complacent and happy as ever until the health problems start (or until she walks down a dark alley, encounters an attacker and learns she can neither fight nor run for being to weak and flabby). This whole skinny fat thing is probably aimed at women more then men because we we diet ourselves to death then give up and say “well I’ll eat what I want as long as I’m happy and it’s organic” or “I’m married, why should I care how healthy I am….If I need to move some heavy furniture, I can just ask my big strong husband to do it for me while I eat my organic locally grown ice cream.” Sorry, that’s not how I want to live my life. I’ll take the muscle over the extra padding any day!!!
Helen,
Nowhere in Lynsie’s post did I read that she discounts the importance of being strong and fit. (In fact, her usage of the examples of traditional women proves her point that many cultures need strong women, and those females gain their strength in large part from the good foods that they eat.) What I understood from her writings is that it is important to eat well and live well in order to FEEL good. Inner and outer strength is an integral part of that, and it cannot be simply attained by lifting weights.
Your final two hypothetical quotes are rude, inaccurate, and irrelevant. I strongly encourage you to re-evaluate your own personal peace and sense of self before passive aggressively belittling the solidly founded happiness of others.
Best,
Serena