I was at the corner convenience store the one day to get gas. I was waiting in line to pay and I noticed a tall thin girl in front of me.
From behind she looked very fit. She was wearing yoga pants so you could easily see she was a very thin girl.
When she got to the front of the line I noticed a couple of things. First of all she was buying cigarettes; there went any thoughts that this fit looking girl was actually fit. When she turned around you could see her eyes were sunk in, her complexion was poor and she looked miserable.
This girl was what we call "skinny fat".
No judgments on this girl. I really don't know her story so I don't mean to pass judgment. Truly, that is not my intention. However, seeing her very much highlights what I want to talk about.
Just because you are thin doesn't mean you are fit.
While this holds true for the men as well, I want to focus on the ladies today.
Ladies, like men, can still look good and look sexy and attractive and be very unhealthy. For men (like we talked about yesterday) it's because we hold fat well.
For some women that look healthy but aren't really it's because they are genetically predisposed to be small.
This can be dangerous.
When my wife Teresa started in my fitness program back in 2010 she was around 120 pounds. She looked pretty skinny. Her body fat, however, showed a little different story. She was 22%.
Don't get me wrong, 22% isn't high. It's not a bad number. The point is that she looked thin and healthy but she wasn't as healthy at 120 as she is now (12 years later) at 145 and 13% body fat.
Smaller ladies can do that. You can be light but have higher levels of body fat because you lack muscle tone.
Part of this is societal. Ladies do cardio and men do weights. That's the common theme at gyms.
The hidden dangers of this for ladies is that the more cardio you do the more muscle you lose. When the number on the scale goes down the ladies tend to be happy. The more that number goes down the more ladies tend to do what they have been doing.
Clothes fit better. You brag about a number on the scale. You look smaller. You feel better about this.
This isn't always right. Sometimes yes, but often times you are shedding both muscle and fat and this leads to being skinny fat.
This is also what happens when you starve yourself. You don't have enough nutrition going into your body so your body is forced to consume itself and it starts with muscle.
Not good.
I have seen many 115 pound woman that are the envy of 150 pound women yet the average 150 pound woman is often more healthy on the inside.
Getting back the girl with the yoga pants. First of all, if you smoke you can NOT be healthy. It's a fact.
I'm not here today to talk about smoking.
Unfortunately in our society size and looks are more important than actual health. What we SEE, or what we perceive that we see, has more importance than what we don't see.
On the other end of the spectrum girls with muscle are frowned upon and shunned by a lot of society.
Sadly I think that most men find a thin, yet unhealthy, girl more attractive than a bigger girl who is in much better shape.
It's our world.
Let's change that. Start with you.
Are you a lady that is thin yet can run a mile without having to walk or can't lift 75 pound over your head?
Do you look in the mirror and think since you are a size 2 and look good in yoga pants it's acceptable to smoke and eat fast food?
Change your attitude. Being "skinny fat" is NOT healthy long term.
If you are unhealthy from the inside out it doesn't matter if you are 90 - 115 - 150 or 200 pounds. What you see isn't always an indication of what is there.
If this resonates with you because you think you may be skinny fat then you need to get with a qualified fitness professional to make an assessment and get to work.
I always talk about the three questions that you need to ask yourself figure out your level of health and vitality. It's been a while so I will mention them again:
1. How do I look?
2. How do I feel?
3. How am I performing in life?
It's never about just one question. It's ALWAYS about all three. Just because you look good doesn't mean you feel good or are performing well.
Think about that.
Hope that helps.
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