# Emaciated heroin addicts OR One for the thin people **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 20, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833 "2003-01-20T18:40:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/61 "2003-01-22T16:30:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chula \* > \*\*Thanks, **cichlidiot**. I was kind of hoping for a pitting though. 🙂 \*\* Glad there’s no hard feelings.🙂 [sub]Isn’t it illegal or something to post smilies in the Pit?[/sub] FWIW, I’m glad we’re off the topic of Lara, lot’s of interesting perspectives and insights to read instead. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/62 "2003-01-22T16:35:37Z")
With all the aparrel gripes, I’d like to add my own. I want Levi’s made in my size: 30"W/36"L. Is that too much to ask for? Am I skinny? No. In fact the government charts list me (6’3" / 171# / medium frame) as “just right”: neither underweight or overweight. My body fat % isn’t even in the superior catagory. But alas, just like every other clothing manufacturer or retailer, [Levi’s doesn’t make or offer my size](http://www.levis.com/). To make matters worse, when you click on their “Special Sizes” Link, eumphemistically subtitled **Big & Tall** , the only things offered are the former (46Wx30L). The Big & Tall label is such a joke no matter where you go. The same kind of farce as “athletic cut” men’s suits. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/63 "2003-01-22T16:48:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vanilla \* > \*\*Cherry, to gain weight, I once ate 7 bananas a night for a week. > It put on about 10 pounds, but I didn’t eat them again for a loong time! > Forget weight gain powders, they are too expensive and i know they don’t work. \*\* Seven bananas a night! Geez! I’d never want to even look at one again!!! I’d turn into a chimp! A lot of the “weight gain powders” are optimized for men who lift weights. If you aren’t pumping iron, all they do is make your poo weird. You can use some of them as the base for your own concotion in order to make a protein supplement. Strangely the one that worked best for me was using SlimFast or a comparable “meal replacment drink”. Go figure. (Note: Choose wisely, a lot of them have quite a bit of sugar.) I’d add a few egg whites and a banana. I’d drink the shake _with_ a meal, not “instead of one.” It gave me some added protein and extra nutirents and calories. Remember, I also worked out a _lot_. Both aerobic and anaerobic workout. The shake helped give me the added oompf to do the workout and still have some calories left over when I was done, and the regular workouts helped regulate my metabolism. _Regular workouts were the key for me._ My body figured: “Aw damn, she’d gonna do that jumping around stuff again. We’d better stock up on supplies…” I got up to 126 lbs of \ pumped up body \… _flexxxxxxx_. Stopped working out for a few months and I dropped to just under 100 lbs and got sick. _sigh_ If I get regular, slightly intense exercise, my metabolism settles to something much more “normal.” So for me, a regular work out regimen can keep me up to a healthy 120. But to reiterate – see a doctor or nutritionist _first_ to get an idea of your body type, and why your weight is so low. As **Feynn** pointed out, there can be some serious medical reasons for the inability to gain weight that should not be ignored. And like weight loss plans, weight gain plans have to be catered to your body type or they won’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/64 "2003-01-22T16:57:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by capacitor \* > \*\*Is this equation of “thin=healthy” that riles people like me up, when I know full well so many of them don’t exercise half as much as I do. I have to exercise like a wrestler just to prevent massive weight gain, while some of the skinny ones could just lounge around all day, eat twice as much as I do, with a gallon of ice cream and not gain a pound. Yet they still call ME unhealthy!! \*\* Ah, dude, this is SO me. 🙂 I seriously think I’m the only person who lost weight in her first semester at college. (Freshman fifteen? try negative fifteen…) I have gotten the negative remarks, too. Sometimes it’s not negative, more…amazed. Like when I was younger, people would always gush how small and tiny and skinny I was, which kind of pisses me off. If someone said to a large person, “Gosh, you’re so obese! You’re soooo large” they’d get whacked. So it was like being objectified, on a smaller scale. Most Americans are larger than me, and most of the girls at my school tended to be pretty big…so I guess Istood out I also remember having an (now ex) friend who seemed to think that every time I didn’t finish a meal I was knocking on death’s door, and that my skinniness denoted unhealthiness. In her words, I’d probably be dead before I hit thirty. (Then again, she had issues with her body image…personally, I think that she was the one headed for anorexia, not me.) And my former (can you see why?) doctor was convinced that I had anorexia because apparently there’s a weight quota now. My mom had to convince him that being thin just runs in our family. But I’m happy with how I look. And if someone thinks I’m too thin or too small, then that’s their problem. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/65 "2003-01-22T17:07:47Z")
I think there are a lot of issues regarding health that affect small people – aside from just being prone to certain diseases and overlooking being thin as a indicator of something more dire. My doctor doesn’t take me seriously when I come to him with issues that are troubling me. I have problems with sleeping, and have studied sleep disorders and current research ad nauseum. My doctor is really old school, and is of the belief that if you’re not fat, you can’t have sleep apnea. Thus, I am as yet untreated for what could be a life-threatening disorder. I show all the symptoms, but according to my doctor I must just be ‘going through a phase’ (yeah, a 10 year phase of incredibly poor sleep) or ‘depressed’. Also, I have recurring sinus infections. I recently saw my doctor after having had a respite from any sinus problems, whereupon he admitted that he hadn’t ‘treated me as aggressively’ as he normally does, seeing that I’m small & all, and that he was ‘surprised I hadn’t had a major sinus problem like he’d expected I would’. Gee, that really makes me feel confident. (On a side note, about a month after this meeting, I came down with a sinus _and_ respiratory infection. Cripes.) Damn HMOs. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/66 "2003-01-22T17:29:20Z")
Just to add to the ‘society expects thin-ness’ … I am a bit taller than the average woman, and not skinny I am 5’9", and I wear sizes that are just a bit too big to be sold in the trendy boutiques in the malls. I am NOT “too fat”, I think I’m rather sexy in fact (and I’ve been told others do too), but shopping is an ordeal because you cannot often find size 14. They never have inseams long enough, either: there’s only one store I can buy pants from because everywhere else they’re too short. And shoes in my size: don’t even get me started ! I am contemplating shopping at transvestite shops to find women’s shoes that are as wide as my feet. I have worn men’s sneakers and boots all my life. So yes, I agree that the clothes manufactured for trendy boutiques are designed for 5’6", size 8 women with narrow siize 6 feet. If you are otherwise, you’re screwed. I don’t believe that I am too fat to be attractive when I can’t fit into _any_ clothes that I find at the mall. Every shopping trip is full of reminders that I’m not skinny enough - but I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not skinny enough for the shops, but I’m just the right size from me. And the only way I can do this is to not go shopping very often. once, at a wedding, I was wearing high heels and towering over my grandfather, who was standing beside me. A new relative (by marriage) came up to introduce himself and said ‘Wow ! You’re tall ! How would you find anyone tall enough to date you?’ (My SO at the time said that if he’d been there he would have said 'She’s worth the climb - bay-BEE!) ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/67 "2003-01-22T18:30:55Z")
Another thin girl checking in! And just for the record: No, I am _not_ anorexic. No, I do _not_ want another piece of pizza. No, I am _not_ on a diet. ~monica ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@Keith\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith_Berry)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/68 "2003-01-22T19:19:05Z")
The problem is, skinny-person stereotypes usually have some basis in reality, which is why the “bulimic” remark always gets pulled out of someone’s ass. Especially true with skinny females. We’ve all known or dated or met at least one bone-thin female who: a. thought she was fat b. refused to eat properly in front of a man she was interested in c. went on strange, ominous diets So people project their own prejudices, and a stereotype is born. It actually took me awhile to get over this particular thinking…I had to meet a few bony girls who were also rather gluttonous eaters to realize that not every skinny person is skinny due to choice or neurosis. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/69 "2003-01-22T23:41:24Z")
My parents thought I was anorexic. But then again, they weren’t around to see me eat a whole bag of chips while reading a book, watching a movie, etc. Only saw that 30 mins later I wasn’t hungry. But an hour after that I would be starving again and be told I cannot eat anymore because I didn’t want dinner. So, I’d just munch on snacks the rest of the night. ---
**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/70 "2003-01-23T05:22:56Z")
Thanks I’m going to take some of the suggestions and try to incorporate them into my diet. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/71 "2003-01-23T06:26:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Venoma \* > I’ll wake up at 3 am needing FOOD or I can’t get back to bed. That’s after having 3 good meals a day. I couldn’t let this go without commenting. Please think about what it would be like to wake up like this and know you CANNOT eat or you will gain weight, so you just have to suffer, toss and turn all night and deal with the hunger and dizziness. FWIW, I know better than most how hard it is to be too thin. My former roomate ate more than me but weighed less than 90 lbs at 5’1" (and most of that was in her D-cups). The first time she hit 100 lbs was when she was pregnant and she ended up with stress fractures in both her hips from her normal-sized (6 lb) baby. I have been shopping with her and there are NO cute clothes in a zero petite. That said, anybody who truly has hypoglycemia as bad as you suggest needs to be checked for a pancreatic tumor (insulinoma). The majority of people with hypoglycemic are prediabetic women with insulin insensitivity and they are usually OVERWEIGHT. I can see why a thin person who barely eats anything could get teased but I have never seen a thin person teased for eating too much. If you really think it is so terrible to be so naturally thin then think about whether you would voluntarily switch places with somebody who is 50 lbs overweight, because the majority of them would switch with you in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/72 "2003-01-23T07:25:42Z")
> [@](#): > > If you really think it is so terrible to be so naturally thin then think about whether you would voluntarily switch places with somebody who is 50 lbs overweight, because the majority of them would switch with you in a heartbeat. Like the guys who were 50 lbs over weight and literally pushed me around for fun in high school? Yeah, getting pushed down, bullied & intimidated every day was a lot of fun. getting teased for my “toothpick arms” or my “mosquito wings” was a lot of fun too. Now you’re gonna say “oh, it was high school, it doesn’t count”. Riiiiiiight. It went on in the army, in college, on job sites. Nothing in life counts if it happens to _someone else_. I weighed 117 lbs when I joined the army. The recruiter sent me home to gain weight after the first weigh-in because I was only 114 lbs and 5 foot 7. Most of my adult life I was 5 foot 9 and 125 to 135 lbs. I had no confidence. I didn’t start to put on weight until I was 30 years old. Fortunately, I was working out with weights at the time my metabolism slowed down so the weight I put on was lean muscle. I was so glad. Today I’m 38 years old & weigh 150 lbs. I quit smoking a week ago, and I’ve already gained a few pounds. As soon as I get over this cold, I’ll go back to my high-protein diet & start hitting the weights again so I will stay hard. And you know what? now that my metabolism has slowed down, I _am_ very happy with my body. I work take care of it; keep it healthy and attractive. Most people would not “gladly trade me places”. They don’t put in the work or the effort to keep their bodies attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/73 "2003-01-23T13:38:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jack@ss \* > **Like the guys who were 50 lbs over weight and literally pushed me around for fun in high school?** OK, at this point it would be reasonable to point out that for guys being skinny can have social disadvantages. In the case of women, those disadvantages are few and far between. To most women, women who complain about being too skinny even though they eat a lot are like rich people complaining about the problems that wealth brings. Most folks think, “Yeah, let me have YOUR problems, and you spend some time dealing with MINE.” I mean, there’s a reason that columnists have had so much fun riding those fat-cat Wall Street Journal editorial writers for calling poor people “lucky ducks” because they don’t pay as much out in taxes as rich people do. Any thin woman who complains of her problems can expect similar treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/74 "2003-01-23T16:44:36Z")
**Evil Captor** that’s part of the whole “fighting ignorance” campaign. A lot of ultra-thin women are _not thin by choice_ and suffer from very real physical ailments either as a cause or result of the inability to gain weight. Read above posts regarding infertility, insomnia, hypoglycemia, and death. Not nearly the same as “boo-hoo, I’m rich and have to pay higher taxes” but people still treated as if extreme thinness is a “privilege.” So to quote myself from the other thread: > [@](#): > > The point of cichlidiot’s OP is that it’s wrong to put people’s weight under scrutiny and then offer a myriad of opinions while knowing jack shit about that person’s circumstances. It is _sick_ when Alicia Silverstone’s “shocking weight gain” draws enough attention to eclipse the winners at a 1997 awards show. It is just as sick when the media then turns around in 2003 and says “How shocking! That actress looks emaciated. Yuck!” > > Those comments are hurtful, if not downright harmful – no matter on which side of the coin you find yourself. > > _Some_ people are fat or skinny because of bad choices in nutrition. > > _Some_ people are fat or skinny because of medical conditions. > > _Some_ people are fat or skinny because they are emotionally stressed out and respond to the stress by eating too much or not eating at all. It sucks to be at either extreme end when the “ideal” is smack in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![Venoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/75 "2003-01-23T17:26:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by psychobunny \* > \*\*I couldn’t let this go without commenting. Please think about what it would be like to wake up like this and know you CANNOT eat or you will gain weight, so you just have to suffer, toss and turn all night and deal with the hunger and dizziness. \*\* **psycho** , I have often thought of how terrible it would be to have my raging appetitie AND a weight problem - but my post was in response to IDBB’s stating that thin people have NO problems. I have counted myself lucky to be able to eat what I want, when I want, for most of my life (even while cursing my appetite that can make things quite inconvenient, esp on long trips) I do not know if I would be considered hypoglycemic as I don’t actually get dizzy (but I do lose energy) - but it seems like when I have that hunger I can’t concentrate on anything else. It’s just a big old pain in the butt. I sympathize with anyone else of any weight that has a monster in their belly like that. I will however mention it to my doctors - I have had general blood tests done and noone has mentioned anything out of the ordinary. ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/76 "2003-01-23T19:33:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\*In the case of women, those disadvantages are few and far between. To most women, women who complain about being too skinny even though they eat a lot are like rich people complaining about the problems that wealth brings. Most folks think, “Yeah, let me have YOUR problems, and you spend some time dealing with MINE.” > \*\* In my OP I didn’t list the problems that I have specifically faced, though it was eye opening for me to read some of the ones others have posted. I believe that a lot of overweight people have struggles far worse than mine, while at the same time think a lot of underweight people do, too. My interest was not in starting a contest of one-upmanship, rather in pointing out I personally believe there is common ground. ---
**Author:** ![JayElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@JayElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayElle)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833/77 "2003-01-23T20:40:47Z")
I am _not_ a skinny girl, but apparently I project an aura of “munchinhood”. Folks have no problem commenting on my size, my height (dude, 5’1" is not that short), my shoe size for chrissakes, and everything else. I am 30 years old and my co-workers love to call me “munchkin”, and “little bit” - the cold, icy stares and muttered curses simply don’t faze them. Some folks will just comment about anything and you finally have to shrug them off and keep moving. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emaciated-heroin-addicts-or-one-for-the-thin-people/149833.md?page=3)