Confession time: When I was a child, I was always labeled skinny . It must’ve had something to do with my family’s genes. But truth be told, people always assumed things about me. Like I was unhealthy or hungry. Both were not true.
Therefore, I can sympathize with anyone in that situation. I recently stumbled upon a Reddit thread that asked , “What is the worst thing about being skinny ” and I totally related. So, let’s check out some candid answers other people left.
This Usual Assumption
“People assuming you have an eating disorder.”
I guess this is the thing people do these days. I grew up when people didn’t discuss these subjects in public, so I didn’t get those questions, but I can see how that can get on anyone’s nerves.
This Odd Behavior
“At my first job nobody said anything to me about it but one week suddenly at least three different coworkers made up excuses for randomly giving me food like ‘the vending machine gave me two packs of pretzels’ or ‘I bought this cookie at the cafeteria five minutes ago but I don’t want it anymore.’ I love snacks so I didn’t mind and I appreciate that they were concerned with making sure I wasn’t starving myself.”
Wow!
This Middle Car Seat Situation
“As someone who was underweight in my childhood up to my early 20’s, and suddenly obese in my 30’s….. It doesn’t matter what weight you are, people will always have something to say about it. But one thing I HATED about being skinny, was always being the one to have to sit in the middle seat in the car.”
Oh, yeah! Been there, done that.
This Sad Fact
“It’s easier to be tossed around in a fight.”
“I remember after I lost 115lbs, I went to break up a fight thinking it would be the same as before. I grabbed one person and leaned back. Normally that would be enough to anchor them down. But this time I got yanked and pulled to the floor like a rag doll. For reference, I used to be a bouncer for 5 years and broke up fights all the time. Never realized the extra fat gave me so much of an advantage till I didn’t have it anymore.”
I can definitely see that.
This Painful Experience
“Going to an amusement park and realizing that no one else thinks the seats on the rides are too hard. I was in pain.”
Even though I love those old-school wooden roller coasters, they do hurt. My bones can attest to that.
This Sitting Issue
“Sometimes even just sitting hurts because there’s not enough fat to cushion the bones and they press directly on the nerves.”
This is why I always felt uncomfortable attending any conferences where you have to sit for hours. That was pretty excruciating at times.
This Worse Case Scenario
“The worst part of being skinny for me was no one actually looking into why I was skinny and just throwing the anorexic label on me, threatening to shove tubes into me if I didn’t just simply ‘eat more’ even though eating more would usually just worsen the agony and nausea I got from eating. I am diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease these days and that was back when it was at its absolute worst.”
So happy to know this person is in a better place now.
This Hunger Comment
“People telling me that I look hungry.”
Okay, I have to say, how does one look hungry? I mean, how can you even tell what’s going through somebody’s mind? They can be just annoyed with your question. That’s all. I bet that’s what’s going on.
This Sad Scenario
“My friends in high school used to say I looked anorexic because I weighed 90lbs. All of the women on my dad’s side are short and skinny, I literally couldn’t help it. I ate so much food too to try to gain weight because I was so self-conscious about it.”
Aww!
This Clothing Dilemma
“Pants never stay up.”
Listen, it might be a good time to embrace suspenders. Don’t say I didn’t suggest this first. Hey, it could be a new fashion trend, haha. So I say just go for it. What’s the worst that can happen?
This Awful Assumption
“People assuming I do drugs. I grew up not having great teeth at all. Soo bad teeth mixed with being skinny = constant assumptions I’m an addict.”
Wow! That’s so unfair. Am I right? This must get tired really fast.
These Intimidation Tactics
“As a man, when I was too lean, I felt like other men didn’t really respect me and some would even try to intimidate me.”
I think it’s pretty stupid for men to do that to each other. I think it comes out of their own insecurities, that’s all.
This Life Lesson
“People assuming that you must be healthy because you’re skinny, leading you to cruise on through with all those unhealthy eating habits until you hit your 30s and then whoops you’re not skinny anymore and you can’t manage it so well.”
Hmm, that’s a different perspective, no?
This Cold Issue
“Forever cold and no one understands how you could be cold but you’re cold.”
This is the worst for me too. All my life, I’ve been cold. And it doesn’t help that I have crappy blood circulation, too, so my hands and feet are always freezing. Ugh! The struggle is definitely real.
This Shopping Nightmare
“Clothes never fit well. Whenever the length is good, the width is too much. Whenever the width is good, it’s too short.”
I hear you loud and clear. I’m actually skinny with hips, so finding pants that fit me well is a constant nuisance.
This Laying Down Struggle
“You know when you lay down on your bed, ready to relax and sleep? Well, unless I lay correctly- my ribs will start aching, and my hips might too.”
I find that hard too. I even resorted to putting a pillow between my legs to elevate them and provide a cushion between the joints. That actually helps tremendously.
This Health Concern
“The long-term problem of low bone density when you get older. Start lifting those weights in your 20’s and 30’s to maintain good bone density ladies.”
Oh, my! I didn’t even realize that. Time to get that bone density test.
This Body Shaming
“People can body shame you and you’re supposed to take it as a compliment.”
“Bosses, coworkers, friends, sometimes girlfriends, family, customer service workers, teachers – every one of these people has felt it was fine to comment on my body – how skinny I am.”
For me, it was usually my mom’s friends who just had to comment about how skinny I was and how I needed to eat more. Just SHUT UP!
Who can relate to all that?
There is a lot of emphasis on people trying to lose weight, but nobody talks about being skinny as these folks did. As a person who’s been skinny all my life, I definitely understand these issues well enough.
The truth is that being thin doesn’t mean you’re healthy or unhealthy. It’s all relative to each person and their overall health. So let’s not assume things about each other either way. Okay?
