When in fact, you are the one already at, or getting to, healthy levels of bodyfat. There has been so much talk of this problem lately. I’ve had clients complain, forum members complain, and I’ve noticed this myself as well.
It seems there are so many overweight, fat and frankly obese people around, that a healthy individual is regarded as skinny, gaunt-looking, tired, with comments like “You look tired” or “Oh my God, your bones are sticking out!” and “You don’t eat enough”.
What’s so silly, is that a woman with 20-22% bodyfat does not have her bones sticking out, there is no way. Even at 17% the ribs are barely discernable and only if she lifts her arms over her head to really stretch the skin and remaining fat.
Silly also, the comment that we don’t eat enough, some even pronounce the words “eating disorder” as in anorexia and bulimia … they obviously have no idea. In order to get to the healthy, lower levels of bodyfat, we probably eat more food than they do, except they don’t see that. They see us maybe for one meal, that one meal being a normal size portion and not the over-sized ones that have become the norm, they believe this is all we eat. So many people now will have just one, maybe two actual meals a day and cannot fathom that we have 5 meals a day!
As for looking tired … frankly I find the pudgy, overweight faces look more tired than a thinner, healthy weight level face does. And maybe we just didn’t get quite enough sleep last night? Or worked really hard yesterday? Everyone can have a bad day in that respect, regardless of bodyfat levels.
I also have problems with those – overweight – who think it’s fine for them to comment on our physique as if it were something negative to strive for health. Who in their right mind would burst out after a 2-week summer vacation with a “Oh, did you add another chin this summer?” or going on the beach after a long winter saying “My God! You look like the Michelin guy, only bigger!” Of course, no one would. It would be rude, right?
So why is it fine for these triple-chinned Michelin-guy look-alikes to say that “our bones are sticking out”? One of my clients even had colleagues all but demand they let them weigh her so they could make sure she hadn’t lost more next time they checked! Would anyone do the opposite?
When asked one Monday morning “how much do you weigh now!?” with a look close to one of horror, she was quick and strong enough to reply “and what about you, how much do you weigh?” Of course, the overweight colleague shut up and walked away. I suppose it was "too rude" to ask that of her since she was overweight?
I know this is an issue for many. We struggle, work hard, change our lifestyle, get healthy, get lean(er) and rather than encouragements from family and friends, we get hounded! They may not mean it to sound like hounding, but it is. Those who consider themselves too polite to criticize are no better in that they don’t give any compliments or encouragements.
The question is, why do they act like this? Why are they being so rude? Do they even realise how rude they are? I fear not.
The reasons I think are multiple. Some are really concerned because they see us getting “skinny” after having been overweight or obese for years. They are so used to seeing us this way that any change looks weird to them. Also, since we are actively working on obliterating that excess fat, it’s going off fairly fast. Fast enough to be noticeable even if we feel it’s slow going at times.
Others are confused. We used to look like them, like 40-60% of people you meet everywhere (depending on where you live). All of a sudden we change and shed half our size, at least that for some, more for others. Some of the hurtful comments may (a big may here) be clumsy compliments.
Then you have those who are simply jealous. They believe they have “tried every diet” and everything possible to “lose weight” yet “nothing works for them” so it must be a fat gene or something. Well actually, there is a gene that does contribute to your packing on more fat than others, but it won’t kick in unless you let it! And you can turn it off again by switching to a healthy lifestyle. So the “fat gene” excuse … doesn’t hold people.
Either way, we who have chosen to discard excess bodyfat, burn it off, obliterate it, vaporise it to oblivion … anything but lose it because something you lose will invariably be found again and we don’t want to find this stuff ever again! … we have to steel ourselves against these attacks. We simply cannot, must not, allow these Dream Stealers to stop us in our tracks and pull us back to their fat world.
I’ve devised a little trick that I find works and actually makes me laugh rather than get mad at these ignorant fools: I imagine their faces with a green, transparent hue, a mean and stupid sneer, and bright red horns sticking out of their heads. The green face of jealousy, the horns of the devil in them that wants to corrupt us. Knowing that this is the main reason for most of these comments, seeing this face puts those comments in perspective and right where they belong: in the garbage along with the junk and processed foods that make these people fat.
The result of ignoring the hurtful and rude comments is gratifying. I have two concrete examples for you today.
The first from Saturday when I made a health-run to the supermarket for some fresh vegetables to cook a soup, frozen blueberries and rice milk for my shakes, and one bottle of red wine since it was the weekend. Up one isle, I cross the path of a guy who looked at me with the same appreciative glance I gave him. Both were dressed in tight fitting jeans and black T-shirts, and both were visibly working out and shopping healthy! We didn’t exchange words, the looks said it all. In fact, it was the best compliment any stranger had given me in a long time.
The second example is from Sunday (yesterday). I’ve always had problems fitting into the clothes in one particular store. They do size small to start with, and their largest available size-number is barely more than an L even if they pretend it’s an XXL. Their pants and jeans sizes are along the same lines. Anyway, yesterday I went to get some jeans since every last pair I have is baggy! Size … 28, and they are not too tight! I could have taken a 27, but they would have looked like I tried to squeeze into half a size too small before I was thin enough. I only got 2 pair of jeans, because I will get into those 27s, heck, I’m going for 26 IF they remember to have the thighs stay large enough even if the waist goes down. Thighs have muscle, waists have little muscle and not really bulging ones either!
Since we were there, I also bought a sweater (size M, at that store!? That’s close to a normal store S or even XS) and a “fur“-lined hoodie – had to go with the L there, biceps and triceps and fur just made it too tight on the sleeves otherwise. Oh, and a pair of earring, just for the heck of it!
So ladies – and gents too – don’t let nay-sayers, negative, Dream-Killing individuals stop your quest for a healthy and lean body that you can move, dress and enjoy as you should be able to, the way nature meant for you to.
I got to this point simply by using 7 Minute Muscle (7MM ) for the workouts and Every Other Day Diet for my nutrition plan. Both are dead easy to use and give super results. And we have an active social life too, no trouble at all!
Granted, I say easy to use … this is true for the Every Other Day Diet, 100% however for the 7MM it does demand that you fully understand the concept, fully engage and focus, and follow every aspect to the T. But hey, for 7 minutes a day … big deal right?
The big deal, is the end result on your body! Lean, healthy, and the envy of all (even if they won’t admit it).
