heckled for being "anorexic"
 

OK first off, I'm just starting back cycling, and I really havent done any physical activity since a soccer injury last summer (hence why I'm taking up cycling again). Before starting, about a month ago I was 6'1", ~155lbs and 10.2% body fat.

Now I'm trying to eat better, and get into shape but everywhere I turn around, I'm getting heckled about "dieting". It mostly comes from non-active friends and co-workers and happens when I pass off a Budweiser for a Mich Ultra, or Coca-Cola for water, or ordering stuff on healthy side of menus. I try to explain my situation but the barrage is constant and getting old.

Are there any other cyclists out there getting hounded for trying to shape up while already being "skinny"? I hate how America is so fixed on the "football player" style of physique, I joke back with my friends/coworkers that its really the "wrastler" (fake wrestling) physique :D

I have been thin all of my life and I've heard it all. Over the last few years, in addition to my cycling, I have been working very hard to add lean muscle. Diet and a focussed weight lifting routine have really paid off. I ride in excess of 12,000 miles a year and visit the gym 5 days a week. During the winter months I cocentrate on weight gain and tend to be 20 pounds heavier than I am during racing season. That said, I think it's fair for me to offer some advice.

First, don't be counting calories if you are just starting to increase physical activity. Eat a balanced diet with quality carbohydrates and adequate protein; ditching soda and other empty calories is a good start. Drink water all day. How much are you riding? Are you doing anything other than cycling? Do you have access to a gym? What are you hoping to accomplish? Set some goals to work towards.

Not thin, here, not yet anyway, but they are either feeling insecure about their own weight/health issues or they think you are losing out on all of the fun of eating and drinking whatever you want and feel bad for you. It may be a combination of both.

I would just let them know you are in a training program and need to eat this food to be able to achieve your goals. It would be helpful to name a particular event in the future such as a century, race or some charity ride. People understand, "I have to", better than "I want to", when it comes to diet and exercise.

Right now I'm riding 13-15 miles per day. I'm actually trying to work up to be able to commute to work, which that alone will be 15 miles per day (around 7 one way). I've pretty much cut out dark soft drinks, only drinking Sprite/7UP/etc when I do order one (just to keep things different).

I coach soccer, so I'll be back out kicking around with the kiddos in a week or two (tryouts are actually Saturday). The Division II soccer team will probably be asking me to play for them again this year, but I'm honestly terrified. Post-injury last season, doc had to reshape my feet with modified surgery, but said that if after 1 year, I still had problems running or playing soccer, that I may need surgery. :eek:

What am I trying to accomplish? I would say that I definitely dont care about getting "big" I just want to be fit. I'm going to set some cycling goals... like going from point A to point B without stopping. When I replace my 10 yr old wired computer, I'm going to set goals like Cadence AVG and etc.

My experience is that those that heckle you are really just envious of your fitness and health. Though you probably won't be heckling them, the tables will be turned when they're 200 lbs overweight with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and all of the other maladies associated with inactivity and poor diet.

Good on ya, stick to your guns!

I'm not skinny, I'm 5' 6" 150lbs. But when I go to my wife's family gatherings where everyone is way overweight and obese I'm heckled for being skinny. They think it's about looking good, they don't get that I want to be an athlete. I mean, you can't even talk about exercise without someone getting defensive and turning it into a joke or making a derogatory comment.

My brother is 5' 10" and 140. He climbs 5.13+ and he's a chess National Master. Now THERE'S an athlete. :)

Laugh it off and get over it. People say dumb crap all the time.

Az

i get "you're always eating well" or "that looks good". so no. i don't get heckled. i'm pretty much surrounded by athletes or people that support athletics.

you have no reason to explain yourself or defend your lifestyle. just know you'd smoke those people up a hill. heck, life in general.

Just forget the Budweiser and the Michelob Ultra and grab a Guiness!

One of the guys I went to school with was a native of Africa who said he was descended from cannibals. He would occasionally look at someone with what could be mistaken for a lustful expression and say. "MMMMMMMM. You look juicy. I want to cook you and EAT you."

I don't know what this has to do with the subject exactly but if you can't think of anything else to say, see how that line works. Seriously, I'm with bigskymacadam: you have no need to explain or defend your choices.

And that's one of the reasons why my health insurance is so expensive.

Yeah, dont let it bother you. I get that all the time to. I started lifting weights when I was 13 and was always joked at for trying to eat right and exercising. It always seemed to come from the fat lazy relatives. I stopped lifting at 27 because I got to obsessed with getting bigger ( Ive always been short 5'4") , and stopped doing anything for 2 years as I was burnt out. I then started back with basic lifting and eating good again and have since focused more on light weights plus aerobic work (hiking, punching bag) and have recently took up mountain biking. I feel great again and love it. These same people are now very badly in need of health all the time. Its sad they never learn to take care of themselves. Just ignore the comments and keep doing it for yourself.

Also the word "diet" is usually associated with loosing weight so they will look at skinny people and laugh anyway. Little to they know or care to know, dieting is also for gaining weight or just maintaining. It means alot more than just loosing weight. Its a healthy thing to do. Of course you know that.

Easy, let them know they're too obese to comment on the eating habits of others.

stay skinny, fit, healthy

the fat ones may laugh
until
you stand and piss on their graves

Hang one of these up in your office (even if you don't believe in it) and show them how "fat" they are:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v285/NoRacer/BMI.jpg

Noracer, where did the chart come from so that I can have a reference when I show my family?. I'm 5'9" and 140lbs. I dropped 20lbs earlier this year when I did a liquid fast and everyone is freaking out thinking that I am anorexic. When I hit 30 years of age I started to get that tire around the middle but have never been "overweight". The heaviest that I have been is 168lbs. I'll be 42 in September and I haven't felt better in my life. Most of my family is at least slightly overweight and bug me that I am now too thin while at the same time admitting that I will probably outlive all of them. What is up with that?

Andy
www.myvemma.com/unbent

The timing on this reading is perfect. I had to sit and defend myself last night to my wife and a couple friends. They are all saying that I am too thin. I quite drinking alcohol and began riding this year. I am 6' tall and weighed 215 on Janary 2, 2006. I have lost 35 pounds this year and I have never felt better. Well, as they were all sitting around getting toasted on wine last night I got the drill about being too skinny - I am still 182!!! Far from too thin, and I have more body fat I would like to loose. I wrote this whole conversation off on to two things - 1. The wine talking, and 2. jealousy. I tried to explain that I am not a large framed person, and that I was severly insulated by Budweiser for all those years, so I am going to look different!!

Why can't people just be happy for you when you make positive changes in your life???? I am going to keep on trucking, in fact, I have my first century this coming weekend!

PeterMac

I can't find that specific chart, but it's based off of the Body Mass Index. Look here:

http://www.consumer.gov/weightloss/bmi.htm

Absolutely correct.

Any self-respecting cyclist will rehydrate on Guinness. Besides, stouts don't have calories so much as inertia.

i believe the average person in the US is overweight. so, just by being healthy you're a minority. that's pretty sad. anyway, i get it all the time too. especially if i take my shirt off. oh well, at least i can climb stairs all day long, run down the block, and compete in bike races.

this chart seems a little off to me... i'm 6'4" (76 inches) about 210 lbs. which is off the chart, but guesstimating the curves out a little still puts me 'overweight'. i don't know my exact bodyfat percentage, but it's darn low... if this is based off BMI, hasn't that fallen out of favor since it doesn't take into consideration muscle mass vs. body fat?

So... How do you think it feels to be 47 and being able to go shirtless for the VERY first time in your life. Since 16 I have been just over 200 but not over 210. Now low 170's at just over 6'. Lots of slack from the parents and in laws. I lift weights on alternate days and have a full tan, not just sleeves. At a friends pool the other day I caught flack from them too. Turns out my ride is about the sames as they do on their 1000cc Lazy Boys.

Riding alternate days at 25 miles/15 mph or 90-95 minutes.

Keep it up,

LAR

geez... six feet tall and 182 is just right! I can't believe people get crap for being healthy. I am sure it comes from fat tubs of lard who smoke, eat junk, and who maybe walk a block a year.

Transplant, you are correct. These charts don't take into account "unusual" body types or people carrying a lot of muscle mass. A couple of years ago Shaquille O'Neal was told that, according to the BMI chart, he was "obese". His response?

“I’ve read that same formula, but as an athlete, I’m classified as phenomenal,” O’Neal told The AP. “You can look it up.” :p