I know someone exactly like the poor, skinny guy in this old ad. He's not very tall and extremely slender. He's very typical of the ethnic group to which he belongs.
Last year, he decided he wanted to bulk up and was therefore cutting down his carbs and upping his protein consumption. His appearance didn't change a bit.
About two months ago, he announced he had started a new and demanding exercise program to make himself more muscular. Last week, I asked him if he was still doing the program. Yes, he said. Though it was very tough, he was doing his workouts religiously and had been doing so since he had talked to me about it two months ago. Then he said wistfully that he had neither gained nor lost any weight. And to my eyes, he looked exactly the same as he had before starting the program: like a "98-pound weakling".
The moral of the story: It's ["it" being changing your body] tough for them [the naturally thin] too. Eat well and enjoy physical activity but don't expect to change from a peony bush into a sequoia. You are who you are.
If I had only known as a brash teenager: while wrinkling my nose at my mother's physique, I was actually looking into the future ;-)
ReplyDeleteJust can't beat those genetics...
Took me a long time and much soul searching to develop empathy for my husband who MUST eat 3 to 4 times more per day than I do, or he "starves". Once in a while I ask him to take his snacking to the kitchen, or I simply go elsewhere, while he scarfs down several servings of nuts (for example) after dinner and before his bedtime snack. His near constant eating in the evening only bothers me when I have a rare and unusual hungry day. (He could eat Winnie the Pooh or those brothers from "Lord of the Rings" under the table. Well, if they were actual people instead of storybook/film characters.) :) And yes he is quite lean. And works hard physically at his job. But still...he complains often about having to eat so much. He sees it as a major nuisance and inconvenience (and expense). Obviously, I really love my man.
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfectly written post. The message is spot on, and worth remembering. It's not every day one sees the difficulties through the eyes of the 'thin'. Thank you for this.
ReplyDelete