When Tall Women Are Called “Fat” | How Height Distorts Body Perception

I'm sure that you've heard that one of the benefits of being tall is that you can eat whatever you want or however much you want, which isn't entirely true, but the idea is that if you gain weight, it won't show us much. Now, that part may have some truth to it, because the weight has more room to distribute, causing many of us to maintain that slim appearance. However, when we start talking about actual numbers, this perception almost shatters. Maybe you hear your friends talking about how there are one hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty pounds a year, maybe at one hundred and eighty one hundred and ninety, and that's when the comparison starts. You may wonder why you weigh so much more than your friends and ask if you should lose some weight. And the truth is many of us have been through this before and even still go through this. So today's episode may be a little bit triggering, but we're going to have a conversation around weight as a tall woman and how comparisons and labels around weight affect our mental health. So without further ado, let's get into it. Good morning, everybody. You are currently listening to a Tall Girls podcast hosted by a tall girl named India. I hope everyone who's tuning in today is doing super fantastic. Before I get into this episode, I do want to say, make sure you're following me on my socials at a Tall Girls podcast, on Instagram, TikTok, and pinture, so that you can stay up today on all of the latest podcast episodes and catch a glimpse of my everyday life. Also, feel free to leave me your review and let me know how tall you are. I'm genuinely curious. I also have a monthly newsletter, make sure you subscribe to that. Everything is going to be linked in the description. Again, super early in this episode, I do want to note that we are going to be talking about weight, and I know that that topic and talking about numbers on a scale and so forth can be triggering for some people. So please do not hesitate to click off of this episode and go listen to the literal hundreds of other episodes that I have out there. Check out my socials I post almost daily. I try to post almost daily on those my newsletter whatever it may be. But if this is something that's very uncomfortable for you. I do not want you to have to sit through this. Additionally, I'm going to touch very very lightly, very lightly on eating disorders towards the end of this episode as well. So if you also find that triggering, or if you've had a pass with that and you just don't want to revisit that again, check out one of my other episodes, do not tune into this one. And then, lastly, disclaimer, I'm at a health professional. This is literally just general kind of general education but also opinionated slash experiences from other people. Now to get started. The fitness industry isn't always a safe space for tall women. Well more so the toxic side, the side that promotes over exercising, under eating, and just being the most shredded, smallest version of yourself. Well, honestly, that's dangerous for anyone. This one's all creator actually shares her thoughts and experience. Since when is someone who is one hundred and seventy five pounds of muscle, like, yeah, I have body fault, but of muscle that is five nine is considered a bigger body? Since when is that okay? Since when is that okay? I'm tired of keeping silent about this why am I considered the bigger body rands need to be showcasing more regular looking humans. I don't get used for photoshoots, and I know why. It's because I'm tall and I look bigger on camera because I'm tall and I am a normal looking human being, because I'm not shredded all the time, because that's not healthy. Despite what you see on social media, that is extremely unhealthy. If you see someone that is shredded twenty four to seven, it's probably because they have been eating disorder, or it's probably because they overexercise, because that's what I looked like when I did that also, and it's not sustainable. And you guys know that my whole approach to fitness is sustainable, healthy lifestyle. And I'm so sick of seeing this narrative where everyone needs to be the smallest version of themselves. It does not need to be that way. It does not need to be that way, and the fitness industry lately has been glorifying being the smallest version of yourself and I am tired of it. Like, I'm not a big person, I'm just tall. I am a healthy body fat, like I am a good weight for my height and muscle mass, like I feel very healthy and I feel confident if I wasn't on social media. As soon as I log onto social media, confidence out the window. Everyone's posting all the time, skinny, be the smallest version of yourself, and I'm sick of it now. Under this video, she did share in the common section that she filmed this video after a photoshoot with Alpha Lee, which is a premium fitness brand, and she is apparently a model of this brand, and she said that she wasn't showcased or like her pictures weren't posted on maybe on the website, maybe on social media or wherever, because she has a bigger body. And she did state in the video that she is five to nine and I think one hundred and seventy something pounds. And interestingly enough under that comment that, you know, she provided context for another girl who actually responded to that comment saying she was flown out for a photo shoot but never saw the brand post a photo of her, and she kind of implied that maybe they preferred somebody who wasn't as muscular as her. And this really does go to show how brands, big brands play a huge role in what's considered the quote unquote ideal body type, especially when it comes to women. Very often it seems as though they're choosing women with very specific and very similar features. I don't know, I feel like sometimes when you scroll through the clothing session, the women's clothing section of some of these brands websites, the women look the same. The variety just isn't there. And then seeing those two comments, it almost seems as though the women who would actually add that diversity, that body type or whatever diversity, they seem to be excluded. Of course, this is not all brands, but for some this probably is the case. Anyways, back to the point of this episode. In the video that I just played, tall women are not supposed to be one hundred pounds, not one hundred and ten, maybe not even one hundred and twenty. A smaller number on the scale does not equate to a strong, healthy body for a tall woman. So in the video that I played earlier, the girly she is five to nine and she's like one hundred and seventy five pounds. And now as we look through more comments under this video, there's a five eleven girly who said that she is one hundred and eighty five pounds and often referred to as plus size. But in the picture that she actually attached with this comment, she looks very slim. Now there's another girly. She said that she is five eight and one hundred and eighty pounds of muscle, and she says that every doctor told her to lose weight. This is the scary part because I am a big advocate for listening to your doctor, listening to the professionals who actually she went and got degrees to be able to do what they have to do. But at the same time, it's always kind of like, like when do you question, like do you question if they're always right in what they say? I don't know. I mean, just as an example, there are a lot of people who share their stories of having a chronic illness, especially women who share their stories of having a chronic illness online, and they talk about how when they presented their symptoms to doctors or professionals or whoever, a lot of them have dismissed their symptoms or just said, oh, maybe they're faking it, or oh it's like anxiety or like mental health or whatever. And then after years and years and years of having to advocate for themselves and going from doctor to doctor, professional to professional, they finally found out that they had a diagnosis of a literal chronic illness that will impact them for the rest of their lives. It was that serious. But the previous doctors have basically dismissed their symptoms or said it was nothing. So there there is that little, tiny, like zero point five percent part of me that's kind of like just got to take a case by case and so forth and do your own research and you know, do what works best for you and maybe consider multiple professional opinions rather than just one. Again, I'm just a tell girly with a podcast advocating for the tell girls and you know, speaking about tell girl topics. I'm not a professional, okay. Anyways, these taller women who maybe are Jim gurlies or are on the slimmer side or whatever. They're in the one hundred and seventies, one hundred and eighties. I've also seen some comments about one hundred and nineties, even two hundred, and they've been told that they are plus sized. It's been implied that they're overweight. This isn't just like a coincidence or like a few here, few there or a few random cases like this is a thing, Let's listen to these stories. Something that pisses me off is how tall women who aren't built like Victoria's Secret, like supermodels from the early two thousands, their whole life get like horrendously, horrifically bullied. Like listen to me, my grandma, my mother, myself, my sister who is in fifth grade. My fifth grade sister gets bullied for being fat like every day and she's not even fat like I my whole up until honestly, even still, people still say I'm fat, but I don't have a fat body type. I go to the gym like at least once a day every day. I'm like active, I do like sports, and I can't escape the fat thing because I'm tall and I'm not super skinny, and because of the way I'm built, I am seen as fat and I will always be fat and there's nothing I can do to change it. Our weight is one hundred and fifty pounds. I've never seen that heavy of maturity. Right now, you're too heavy, perhaps. For the uniform in Dallas. One hundred and fifty pounds is not just a number, It is practically an eviction notice. In reality, Denisia is nearly six feet tall. Medically speaking, she is actually considered very thin. But in the world of the DCC, being healthy does not mean you make the cut. Even a single extra pound looks like visual pollution on camera, and I feel like a. Lot of people wouldn't judge a tall woman's weight or see it the way that they do it. They didn't hear the actual number because it's almost like when they actually look at the tall woman on the outside, they don't think of her as overweight or plus size, but when they hear that number of like one hundred and eighty hundred ninety two hundred, they're like, oh, that's not you don't look like you weigh that much. What's actually crazy is that tall women will share their weight and people will not believe them at first, Like they actually have to convince the person, yeah, I actually weigh that much. And that's largely because people judge based on body type or body shape without considering other factors. Let's listen to these. If you're tall, please tell me how much how you have to convince people of your weight. People don't believe me when I tell them the weight that I am. I'm five' ten AND i am. Tall, like if you're five five five a, six you're not. Tall i'm, tall And i'm not even the total there are total tall, people. RIGHT i just have to spend so much time convince People i'm the weight THAT i. Am so WHEN i tell people like at THET i wanted to lose five to six, ten and they're, like oh my, god that's so much, Weight i'm, like nai, huan that's not that much weight for me Because i'm way. More and this guy commented being like anything about one hundred and thirty pounds is. Unacceptable one hundred and thirty. Pounds the only way a woman should weigh under one hundred and thirty pounds and be healthy is if they're like under five feet. TALL i mean maybe if you're like five to two, Below but, like if you are prioritizing your, health you're lifting, weights you, know taking care of, yourself you're not gonna weigh a hundred thirty. Pounds, like, realistically women are going to weigh one hundred and fifty one hundred and, seventy one hundred and eighty pounds if they're taking care of. Themselves one of my favorite trends is when women like use sounds like this and then they show like what their physique looks, like and they're like five 't eight one hundred and seventy, pounds and like all the men in the comments are, like oh my, gosh like she looks so good and then they, think, oh you want one hundred eighty. Pounds OH i thought you were one hundred and. Thirty like it's just like mind boggling to me when a lot of guys like don't understand what weight actually looks like on a, woman because like it's totally obvious that they have no idea what they're talking. About and she even brings us up at the end of the video where like men guess that she weighs a hundred and fifty pounds and she's more than, that but like how they don't understand like what weight looks like on a. Woman and then when people hear numbers like one hundred and, fifty one hundred and, sixty even like two hundred on taller, women that's when the labels come into, play like plus, sized, overweight or even. Big, now there's nothing wrong with plus. SIZE i especially feel like that more so has to do with clothing and then overweight has more to do with health rather than. Appearance and with that we also have to think about bone dea, city body, composition how your weight is. Distributed but, big that label can be a bit. Tricky i'm actually curious to know how many tall women have been called big at some point in their. LIVES i can't see y'all right, now But i'm imagining that some people are raising their hands or nodding their. Head, yes BUT i feel like some tall women see it as an, insult like people are implying that they're overweight or, manlike whereas others see nothing wrong with it because people are just noticing that they have a larger. Body, now back to the first video THAT i played earlier in this, episode she actually mentioned that she was referred to as having a bigger, body maybe because of her height and, Weight and then there was actually an interesting comment in response to, that, saying what's the problem with being large? Anyways one of the biggest problems is demonizing large to begin, With there's literally nothing wrong with being a large or bigger. Person big slash large does not equate to fat or, Unhealthy so what's the. Issue that's a very valid. POINT i feel like big can be viewed as a nicer way of saying fat or, overweight but there are also times where big also just simply means that, big, large sometimes, huge even THOUGH i don't really like the term huge when we're talking to when we're talking about a, PERSON i just think that, overall in, general as, women we see big as an insult because it comes again from you, know societal views and the fact that we it's like almost ingrained in us that women are supposed to be petite or quote unquote skinny to be accepted or to be considered. Attractive, however as tall, women we may not necessarily fit into that, mold you, know and so being called big is kind of a reminder of. That and you, know being called these labels like, big, large, huge or even just comparing your weight to your shorter friend's weight that can lead to eating. Disorders, actually many tall women On reddit have shared that they've developed eating disorders and an attempt to fit in, with you, know the smaller girlies and to be perceived as more, feminine or to just disappear so they can stop taking up as much. Space they would use laxatives or just stop eating overall to lose a ton of weight so that they wouldn't be seen as, big, large, heavy or so they can be the same weight as their shorter friends or maybe their favorite, influencer especially with the you, know thinness, influencers them talking about their, weight but they don't put their height on the, screen so they'll, say, Yeah i'm one hundred and twenty, pounds one hundred and thirty five, pounds one hundred and ten, pounds and just don't include the fact that they're five to. TWO i actually did an episode on Tall Women don't need to Eat, less and you, know the whole issue with tall women following or listening to shorter fitness influencers on the. App stuff like that can, literally you, know affect their mental, health make them feel as though they need to be, smaller they're too, heavy they need in order to look like that, woman they have to lose weight and be the same weight as that, woman and that leads to eating disorders that can lead to an eating. DISORDER i don't, know it's just very. Disheartening it's also very, scary and that's why it's so important to have conversations like, these to say that a number on a scale does not necessarily equate to overall health or being. Healthy that one hundred and ninety pounds on a tall woman is going to look so different than one hundred and ninety pounds on a shorter, woman or even one hundred and ninety pounds on one tall woman is going to look different than one hundred and ninety pounds on another tall. Woman please listen to your. Body eat those. TACOS i don't know Why i'm bringing up. TACOS i think it's Because i'm supposed to be going out for tacos with a tall group. Tonight tell people tacos? Period can you tell them excited for? Tacos? Eat? Eat, Yes please listen to your body. Eat if you're eating more than your shorter, friends it's actually how it's supposed to be because you actually burn more calories than they do because you have more. Weight and that's just in, general that not necessarily considering like fitness and other types of physical activity that you may. Do and it's very very important to stand up for. Yourself if someone is calling you, big, large, huge whatever it may, be and you don't like that and that's triggering to, you tell, them say, HEY i don't appreciate you calling me that that is rude or that makes me feel this type of. Way please be careful or just think about the words that you use before you know you actually say. It and if it's a, stranger that's one, thing because you'll literally never see them. Again and strangers are just, whatever stranger. Danger but if it's like a friend or a family member or a colleague and they care about, you then they will be more careful in the future in the long. Run and if they aren't and they continue using those, words are they don't. Care they don't have your best interests at. Heart and, again if the topic of weight is triggering for, you and you know you're in a group of, people a group of other, women and they're talking about weight and you don't want to talk about, it then just Say i'm not comfortable with this conversation right, now and hopefully they move on to a different. Subject just know, that, yes the topic of weight is tricky because it's so unique to every single. Person it even comes down to your, genetics and that's like one in a. Trillion you, know everybody has a, different unique set of genes and how that affects them listen to your. Doctor if you have a gut feeling that somethings that they, off go to another. Professional when you're, hungry eat food, please especially your protein and. Veggies thank, you and remind yourself that a healthy body and a healthy weight is not defined by a number on a. Scale and that is ALL i have for you guys. Today thank you so much for tuning. IN i really appreciate, it AND i appreciate. You of, COURSE i always feel free to hit me up on my, Socials so let me know what you thought about this. Episode are you a tall woman listening right now and you've struggled with the topic of, weight feel free to share your stories in the. Comments this is supposed to be you, know this podcast is meant to build community and have shared and share our words shared. Experiences, yes that's the, phrase to be able to share our experiences in a safe, space and this is the place to do. It so share your, thoughts share your experiences and stories if you're, comfortable of, course in the, comments or you could even send me a PRIVATE dm and we could talk about it on my. Socials the link for that it's going to be in the. Description and, yeah until, THEN i will catch you on in the next. One Good night and. Goodbye