11 replies to this topic

[Gripper]

In the last 9 months I've taken up 10km running. I've become very passionate about it and have even entered an event and ran a good time (42 minutes).

However, people are now telling me that I am so thin and my face looks so gaunt that I look unhealthy. Comparing current photos to older photos of me, I tend to agrere with them. I've always been thin and believe I have a high metabolism. I am 37, weigh 75kg and I am 185cm tall. I have always kept fit and sporty all my life, but this is by far the fittest I have ever been. My weight of 75kg is pretty much what I have been for a few years now, so I assume I look so thin since I've reduced my body fat and converted the weight to muscle (which I believe is heavier).

I really want to gain weight again and do so in a safe and healthy way that doesn't lead me to blocked arteries or other poor health in future years. I am willing to sacrifice some of my running performance to do so and I'm even willing to train just twice a week instead of 3 times as I do currently, however I dont want to stop running altogether since I enjoy it so much.

I bought some of that "protein mass weight gain" powder and I've started taking this as a milkshake. However, I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing or whether there is a better way?

Edited by Gripper, 18 October 2010 - 10:02 AM.

[blair]

75kegs at 185cm doesn't sound too thin to me. I think the problem is society's warped perception of what is a normal healthy weight. For the record, I am 35yo, 73kegs and 180cm. If you are really worried see a nutritionist

[essaytee]

Gripper, on Oct 18 2010, 11:00 AM, said:

In the last 9 months I've taken up 10km running. I've become very passionate about it and have even entered an event and ran a good time (42 minutes).

However, people are now telling me that I am so thin and my face looks so gaunt that I look unhealthy. Comparing current photos to older photos of me, I tend to agrere with them. I've always been thin and believe I have a high metabolism. I am 37, weigh 75kg and I am 185cm tall. I have always kept fit and sporty all my life, but this is by far the fittest I have ever been. My weight of 75kg is pretty much what I have been for a few years now, so I assume I look so thin since I've reduced my body fat and converted the weight to muscle (which I believe is heavier).

I really want to gain weight again and do so in a safe and healthy way that doesn't lead me to blocked arteries or other poor health in future years. I am willing to sacrifice some of my running performance to do so and I'm even willing to train just twice a week instead of 3 times as I do currently, however I dont want to stop running altogether since I enjoy it so much.

I bought some of that "protein mass weight gain" powder and I've started taking this as a milkshake. However, I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing or whether there is a better way?

It seems to me that you want to gain weight in order to satisfy other people.   I say, only gain weight if you want to gain weight.

[chrisso]

Yeah I agree with Balri, its a perception thing when your friends tell you you look gaunt. At 82kg/177cm I'm still 'overweight' but everyone kept telling me I'm too thin, I just think they were so used to me having chubby face that anything different just looks 'wrong' (like im sick or something) to them.

I would steer clear of dietry products such as shakes and eat good healthy unprocessed foods from a variety of sources.

[Olmy]

I agree with Balri. Using your figures (185cm 75kg) your BMI is 21.9, which is in the normal/healthy range of 20-25. I think we as a society are getting too used to fat people that we seem to think a healthy weight is "skinny" rather than healthy.

If you want to gain weight I would suggest gaining it buy adding muscle rather than fat. Have a look at the Strong Lifts program ( http://stronglifts.com/ ), for a straightforward and effective program.

[Gripper]

Thanks for your thoughts guys.

I appreciate that this sounds like someone (me) trying to fit into society. However, I've never been one to take too much notice of what other people think about me. Indeed, I'm often accused by my wife of being to far the other way.

However, in this case other people's comments have cemented my own thoughts - I can see for myself that I look gaunt and unhealthy. Whilst my BMI dont show that at all, and I know for a fact that I'm one of the fittest and healthiest people I know, I really dont like to see myself looking the way I do. This is a case of caring about what I see in myself, not about what other people think about me or see in me. I guess a psychologist will tell me it's the same thing anyway - he might say I care about the way I look only because I care about how I am perceived. Maybe he would be right, but I still fell quite strongly that I would like to lose the gaunt look.

[bones]

Do you feel unhealthy Gripper? At that weight you certainly don't sound unhealthy. Most runners look a bit gaunt, I guess you could say, since we tend to lack the fatty padding that puffs out faces. That doesn't make runners unhealthy - far from it. At 182cm and 69kg my husband is thin, but not underweight, though his doctor has said she thinks he is underweight. That's because she's so used to seeing larger people. She teases me about my weight - 160cm and 49kg, which I'd say is very healthy.

Really, unless you feel tired and unwell, you truly are not underweight.

[Bellthorpe]

Gripper, on Oct 18 2010, 10:41 AM, said:

I can see for myself that I look gaunt and unhealthy.

Gaunt != unhealthy.

[walker1st]

at 75kg you are still overweight

although the ""normal"" range of overfat population suggest otherwise.


protein powders are in my view quite dangerous and damaging


could increase the protein poisoning of "normal" population even more.

you said to AGAIN gain weight.

what AGAIN ? you never had more than 75 kg ?

If you ask different question, like :

I wanna bigger shoulders, or bigger lats,  that would be different topic

[Rico]

Maybe post a picture and we will judge.

[chops]

Rico, on Oct 19 2010, 08:49 PM, said:

Maybe post a picture and we will judge.

Maybe Drivvler1st can send a picture in as well so we can judge what shape he is in. Overweight, my arse, 75kg is a perfectly respectable weight for someone of Grippers height.

[Veganrunna]

I was talking with Michael Shelley recently before a race. I read that he was 185cm and 58kg. I asked him if it was true and he said he is 57kg. He ran 10min faster than me so obviously having such a low BMI is working for him health & fitness wise.

It becomes an issue when we cant get out of bed or perform like we look like we should. I get told I eat too much and Im too thin. Yet I race A grade on the road bike. Im 183 and 66kg. Its hillarious and ALWAYS from my sedentary friends that NEVER come out training or even train themselves, sadly.

Relax and challenge your friends to a 10km.   Ask them what % of the population can run 42 for 10km?

You think Mona's or Troop dont get flack from people for being 'too thin'?