Skinny People Have Feelings Too

“Do you even eat?”

That’s how it always starts. Some snide comments about my size. As if the only thing I’m eating is a celery stick.

To date, I am the same weight I was when I was 17. 154 lbs. No matter how much food I consume, and eat a lot, my size remains the same.?

“Oh I wish I had your metabolism!”?

Followed by; “Are you sick?! Is there something wrong with you? You are so thin.”

As if I didn’t notice this myself in the mirror.?

It’s talked about as if I am a patient of some debilitating disease and I am wasting away. The inflections of their tones have no empathy.?

Instead, they are self-conscious observations projected to distract from their struggles with weight. Let’s focus on the skinny guy.

“I wish I was as thin as you.”

I am so used to this, that I don’t even let it register most of the time. I haven’t met a single person who hasn’t had to make at least one comment about my size.?

Yes, I too have struggled with weight.?

If it isn’t about what I eat, it’s the quantity of how much I can eat. And at the end of the day, nothing changes.?

Not my weight or the unwanted attention my size 30 waist always seems to attract.?

When I was a child it was horrendous. All the other boys were gaining muscle. I could barely hold onto a pound, let alone a growing bicep. Gym classes were the worst.?

I couldn’t keep my weight so I could participate in most sports. So while the rest of the guys were joining basketball and wrestling, I was struggling to fill out a boy's extra small uniform.

It didn’t deter me. I still got out there whenever I could, even if it was only to practice.?

Participation ribbons were a constant because no one matched my weight class. I didn’t even have to play. Just stand there.?

Growing up, I thought for sure I would get a growth spurt. If puberty was going to screw with my hormones, the least it could do was give me something.?

Height wasn’t an issue, but muscle, well that didn’t seem to take any shape.

As an adult, things didn’t fair much better. In my 20s, I committed to the gym. I lifted. I drank the protein shakes and changed everything about my diet. I toned out perfectly.

I barely scratched 158 lbs.?

The catch with that was the moment I would let up, my body would eat my muscle. Even if I missed a few days at the gym, all the hard work from the weeks prior would vanish.

Sure, it’s a blessing and a curse, but when you tend to be the center of attention for things that are out of your control, it gets old pretty fast.?

All the doctors could tell me was that my metabolism was always on. They thought it might have been my glands, but those tests returned normal.?

“I guess you are just lucky” Is always their response.

Tell that to everyone else.??

Sure society has everyone chasing a fad diet here and there, but for the folks like me who are envious about putting on the weight, we are ostracized for being a class of people you are all trying to emulate.

Let’s break it down.

I have a bird chest. Skeletal.??

Ass? Just back and thighs here. A rotisserie chicken has more meat. The last time someone did grab my ass, I had to ask why they squeezed my calf.?

No junk in this trunk. It’s like a cherry on a toothpick.?

The closest thing to an ass on me is pinning a picture of a donkey on my back.?

Never ask me to go on a seesaw. I will have to fill my pockets full of rocks.?

Can you imagine what it must feel like for a grown man who can still shop in the Husky Boys section at Target? It’s humiliating if you were wondering.

When I go to the gym, and some random stranger has to ask me if I need help, or if I am ok, I have to lie and say I am training for long-distance marathon running.

It never ceases.??

When I was younger, I hated going to the showers because I was always the butt of a joke.?

It’s easy for everyone to dismiss.

We are told, well women are, to love the skin therein. Are you sure about that?

All I see are plus-size models who are embracing their beauty. The rest of us weight-challenged are discarded into a category of already having achieved some type of goal.

I have experienced skinny shaming my entire life. It goes with the territory.?

Everyone, and I mean everyone, has something to say about it. The funny thing is, if I turned the tables I would be considered cruel.?

Except if you are skinny. That is just par for the course. Acceptable really.?

And women are the worst with it. As if my testosterone and their estrogen are comparable in our body chemistry. I hate to break it to ya, but there is no equality here.

Women will compliment you but not mean it. Men will talk shit to you and not mean it.?

With men, I am humiliated about my virility as If I lack some type of strength, energy, or drive.

Like my masculinity is on trial because I have the body of a teenager.??

Sorry bub, not my fault you got an innertube around your waist. Put down the Oreos for a minute and maybe try a celery stick.?

Sure I have washboard abs, but it’s never laundry day when I am naked. So get off my back.?

And if you look, you can also see my spine.?

The point is this. There is just as much damage that can be done by alienating a thin person as much as someone heavy.?

Just because someone’s calorie intake is well in the 3000, doesn’t mean they are not struggling.?

The same beauty magazines you read, skinny people read as well. Sure I would like 30 pounds of muscle to show off at the beach.?

Sure I would like to weigh more than a couple of bags of mulch from Menards. And when someone pinches my ass, I would like them to feel flesh and not skin over bone.

Skinny people for all it’s worth are looking at themselves and wondering why as well.?

Sure most of us have come to accept the subtle shame from our peers as good-natured humor, but tone it down a bit.?

We don’t need to hear about how skinny we are and how fortunate.?

We are told that size doesn’t matter, but the truth of it is, it does. It matters a great deal. Unfortunately, someone decided a certain size matters the most.