Even this old dog can learn new tricks, and what I've recently learned, thanks to a fellow CrossFit Run A Muck gym member, is that there is such a thing as "skinny fat."
Obviously, skinny fat is not my problem. My fat is plenty evident. (Although people keep saying I look like I've lost weight...but, I haven't lost much. It's just that the increased muscle looks thinner. But I digress.)
Anyway, apparently, it is the case that a lot of people we see out there who LOOK all skinny and fit really aren't.
Skinny Fat is the condition in which a person who is a "normal" size has the medical problems associated with being overweight. These problems can include metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high blood sugar and so on.
Skinny Fat People have low muscle mass, either because they don't exercise or they have dieted to the extent that they have lost muscle tissue because they didn't eat enough protein to maintain it. Skinny Fat people also often have muffin tops or soft tummies. Even though they may fit into smaller sized clothes than I do, their waist measurements may be a bit larger than they would be if they were more muscular. That's because the kind of fat associated with skinny fat tends to collect around the tummy, and worse, around the internal organs. Even worse than that, this tends to be the toxic fat we've all heard about which is full of all the unhealthy stuff running around in our blood streams...things that cause chronic inflammation like excess insulin and "free radicals"...which in turn, cause nasty problems like metabolic syndrome, heart disease, diabetes and even cancer.
I am old enough to remember when it was ok for women to be curvy. The popular body style of today would have been considered un-feminine back in the forties and fifties. Skinny was seen as unattractive. Of course, so was fat. But, you just didn't see that many overweight people back in those days before the advent of processed foods and fast food drive-thrus.
Then along came Twiggy...a super skinny little British model...a genetic mutation with the body of a pre-pubescent boy, eyes like an alien and a "mod" hair cut. And along with her came the advent of a multi-billion dollar diet industry and an avalanche of eating disorders.
Suddenly, it was cool to be super-skinny. Thin was in. So, girls began hating their bodies. The ideal was to be thin at any cost. The popular saying was, "You can never be too rich or too thin." Nobody mentioned the words "healthy" and "strong."
My first exposure to bulimia was in college. Everyone on my floor in the dorm was talking about a cute little Chi Omega sorority sister who stayed skinny by vomiting after every meal. The buzz was that this was really brilliant and cool. Finally, an easy solution to staying skinny. I remember that several other girls on the floor gave it a try. I didn't. I hate vomiting. But, I envied her for her skinniness and how she looked in her mini-skirts and white go go boots. I wanted to be like her. I thought skinny was sexy and healthy. I had no idea she was committing slow suicide.
I don't think my generation will ever get over the shock of Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton (known as the Shrimp...another super-skinny fashion model) and the overwhelming guilt heaped upon us by the diet and fashion industries. The fitness craze of the seventies and eighties seemed to get us turning in the right direction, but even then, it was all about burning calories and being thin...not getting strong.
I'm learning my lesson late in the game. It's not about being skinny. Skinny doesn't mean healthy. Skinny Fat People are probably taking the same statins and blood thinners and high blood pressure meds I have to take every day.
Here's the bottom line. Healthy metabolism cannot occur without muscle mass. Our muscles are our metabolic engines. Without those engines, we're just an inefficient bag of bones and fat. Gross.
So, I don't care about skinny anymore, and I certainly don't want to be counted among the Skinny Fat People.
I want to be strong.
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