We Need to Stop Confusing Skinny with Fit
On GLP-1s, the Skinni Coach, and why this is not a vibe — it's a public health crisis.
I grew up in the 2000s. I watched Victoria’s Secret fashion show, Supersize vs. Superskinny, and The Simple Life. I heard my mother call herself fat (she’s not). I read magazines shaming female celebrities for their “disgusting 10 lb weight gain” and how much they’ve “let themselves go” since having kids.
Thus, it’s no surprise that I too had a very disordered relationship with food and my body for many years.
One of my earliest memories is sitting cross-legged in the assembly hall in primary school, comparing the size of my thighs to the girls next to me. I was so ashamed about feeling bigger than them, that I’d cover my thighs with my arms — awkwardly hunching forward. For reference, I was around six years old.
What in the fuck.
I was so happy when being fit became cool. The rise of fitness influencers — women eating protein, lifting weights, and praised for their healthy curves.
As a matter of fact, this change in tide coincided with my increased body confidence and self-love. I fell in love with the gym, and as a result, I fell in love with fueling my body with nourishing food. My health improved — mentally and physically.
So what in the fuck is ozempic?
If I get a single comment saying “GLP-1s are for diabetes!!!” — YES. And that’s exactly the problem.
More than one-third of Ozempic users do not have a history of diabetes. You can get a GLP-1 prescription in five minutes through a telehealth “consultation.” Normal-sized women globally are shooting this shit into their bodies, all with the desire of finally being as skinny as they always wished to be.
The issue is that losing weight, when you’re already in a normal weight range, is not good for you. There’s a Goldilocks zone when it comes to body weight. Or non-linear dose response relationship if you want to get technical.
Basically: Being overweight is not good. I know the body positivity movement is well-intentioned but the fact of the matter is: the fatter you get, the worse your health gets.
But that doesn’t mean that the skinnier you get, the healthier you get. In reality, you need to maintain a certain percentage of body fat, visceral fat, and muscle mass for optimal health. If you get too far below this, you’re also in the danger zone.
To put this in real terms: Anorexia has the highest case mortality rate of any mental illness — meaning if you have it, there’s a fairly solid chance that you will die from it. And not like an immediate death, a slow, very painful, isolating, and miserable death. You waste away.
We’ve got to stop pretending that being dangerously underweight is “just your body type.” If we can see your bones, your skin is translucent, your hair is thin, and you can barely get through the day without napping — you are just as unhealthy as My 300-lb Life. We just don’t talk about it the same way. Why?
I want you to understand that being skinny is seriously unhealthy.
Humans are hunter-gatherers, evolved for periods of feast and famine. Thus, we evolved the ability to store body fat for periods with lesser food availability. You’re not meant to live in a permanent state of famine.
When you chronically undereat, these biological responses occur:
Your metabolism tanks. Your body is not stupid. It detects the energy deficit and aggressively downregulates your basal metabolic rate to conserve fuel. Thyroid hormone production drops. Leptin — the hormone that tells your brain you have enough energy stored — plummets. Your body starts breaking down muscle tissue for fuel because muscle is metabolically expensive and you can no longer afford it. You become cold, exhausted, and foggy.
Your hormones collapse. Reproductive function is one of the first things your body sacrifices when energy availability is too low. Estrogen drops. Progesterone drops.
Your period disappears — a condition called hypothalamic amenorrhea, which affects an estimated 1 in 5 athletic or undereating women and is directly associated with bone density loss, cardiovascular risk, and infertility. Your body has correctly determined that this is not a safe environment to support a pregnancy. It shuts the system down.
Your bones start dying. Estrogen is critical for bone density. When it drops, bone resorption accelerates. Research shows that underweight women have bone density equivalent to women decades older. Osteoporosis at 25. Literal STRESS FRACTURES from walking. Some of this bone loss is irreversible even after weight restoration. You are literally DISSOLVING YOUR SKELETON in the plight of size 0.
Your heart weakens. The heart is a muscle. When you chronically undereat, your body cannibalizes it along with every other muscle. Bradycardia — dangerously low heart rate — is one of the most common causes of death in anorexia. The heart muscle physically shrinks. Electrolyte imbalances from restriction cause arrhythmias. You can die in your sleep from being underweight.
Your brain shrinks. This is the one nobody talks about. Studies using MRI have shown measurable grey matter loss in people with chronic anorexia. Brain volume decreases. Cognitive function deteriorates. Memory, attention, decision-making — all impaired.
And here’s what makes the current moment so dangerous.
Ozempic is a serious drug. It doesn’t only work if you’re diabetic. It works if you’re skinny too.
Women taking GLP-1s without clinical obesity are, in many cases, inducing the same physiological state as chronic restriction:
Lower muscle mass
Hormonal disruption
Bone density loss
Metabolic suppression
Studies are already showing that a significant proportion of weight lost on GLP-1 medications is lean muscle mass — not fat. The very tissue that protects your metabolism, your bones, your cardiovascular system, and your long-term independence as you age. You are not getting leaner. You are getting smaller and weaker simultaneously.
We’re at the mercy of poisonous media and celebrity culture
I am so fortunate to not be even a little bit tempted by the bullshit spewn by the media right now when it comes to “skinny being back.”
I look at the self-proclaimed “Skinni Coach” Liv Shmidt as a total weirdo, and it sickens me that young girls are taking note of her unhinged diet suggestions like the “three bite rule.”
I saw this comment on one of her posts and it broke my heart:
It reminds me of the #proana content of the early 2010s, that, by the way, probably led to the mental destruction or even death of many hundreds of thousands of people globally.
This isn’t a game.
Seeing suddenly deathly thin celebrities is objectively concerning. I see comments that we “shouldn’t comment on people’s bodies.” But actually, if celebrities are people given fame, status, and money from the masses – then by default, they are also in a position of serious influence.
Like this bullshit:
Why is one of the world’s greatest female athletes promoting weight loss jabs? It literally KILLS me!
While seeing Kelly Osbourne’s weight loss isn’t going to inspire me — it may feel inspirational for a young girl who once looked up to her previously curvier frame.
And that’s an issue. Because Osbourne, like many other current celebrities, looks ill. Not healthy. Not sculpted. Not fit. ILL.
This video puts it best:
Demi Moore’s arms aren’t toned. These are toned arms:
And guess what? You can’t achieve these arms from restricting food or jabbing yourself with a prescription medication. These arms are built with consistency, plenty of food, exercise, sleep, and a high level of overall health.
THAT should be the goal. That’s something you can’t fake. And why I always think that the only bodies to idolize are the genuinely healthy ones.
Do you know how fucking lucky you are to live?
So stop killing yourself.
I want you to ask yourself that question before you start another crash diet or round of ozempic.
Health is true wealth. And a low body weight is not health. Wasting away is not health.
I wish women didn’t have to deal with all this bullshit, it’s really not our fault. But we have to play our part to stop this cancerous movement in its tracks.
Strong not skinny.
Go lift weights, eat some protein, and get offline.
Would love to hear your thoughts! Drop them below:
As someone struggling with Ana, this essay is a really good reminder of what I’m working towards in recovery. I know from first hand experience the effects that extreme weight loss can have on you, and no matter how skinny you look it is NOT WORTH IT
Thank you for sharing. So powerful, so important ❤️