Alright, so let’s get into this whole ‘thick’ versus ‘fat’ thing. It’s one of those topics that seems to pop up everywhere, and honestly, for a long time, I just didn’t get the big deal. Or rather, I thought I got it, but I was probably way off.
I used to pretty much think they were, you know, just different words for being a bit on the larger side. If someone said ‘thick,’ if someone said ‘fat,’ in my head, it all painted a similar picture. Didn’t give it much more thought than that, really. Just chalked it up to people having different ways to say the same thing.
So, How Did I Start Noodling On This?
Well, it wasn’t like I woke up one day and decided to become an expert. It happened kinda gradually. I started paying a bit more attention to, well, bodies. Not in a weird way! But I’d be at the gym, or just out and about, and I started noticing the actual differences in how people carried their weight, their build. It wasn’t just about size.
I started seeing folks who were clearly big, solid, you know? They had a shape, a power to their frame. Even if they had some softness, there was something substantial underneath. That’s when the word ‘thick’ started to mean something different to me. It felt more about structure, about a certain kind of presence.
Then there were other instances where ‘fat’ seemed to be the only word that fit what I was seeing, or rather, what I was feeling when I looked at myself sometimes. It felt less about a strong build and more about just… extra. Softer, without that same underlying firmness. Again, this was all just my own internal monologue, trying to sort it out for myself.
My Own Messy Journey With It
Now, why am I even rambling on about this? Because it hit home for me, big time. A few years back, I decided I wanted to get ‘bigger’. I had this idea that ‘bigger’ automatically meant ‘stronger’ or ‘more impressive’. So, I embarked on my grand plan.
My genius strategy basically involved these steps:
- Eating pretty much everything I could get my hands on. Pizza was a food group.
- Doing some random exercises I’d seen online, with no real rhyme or reason.
- Hoping that I’d magically transform into some kind of powerhouse.
And guess what? I got bigger! My clothes started feeling tight. I was definitely packing on the pounds. I remember telling my friend, feeling all proud, “Yeah, man, I’m getting thick!”
He just kinda looked at me, gave me this sideways glance, and said, “You sure about that, buddy? Or are you just getting… well, fatter?”
Ouch. That one stung. But you know what? He wasn’t wrong. I went home that day and took a long, hard look in the mirror. And it wasn’t the ‘thick’ I had envisioned. It was just… puffy. I felt sluggish. My ‘workouts’ were a joke. I was just gaining weight, and not in a good way. It was definitely not the ‘thick’ that felt strong and capable.
That was my wake-up call. I realized I’d completely misunderstood. I started talking to people who actually knew what they were doing, especially this older guy at my local gym. He was the one who really laid it out for me. He explained that ‘thick’, in the way I was aspiring to, often came from dedicated training, building actual muscle, having a solid foundation. ‘Fat’, he said, was more often the result of just excess calories without the work to turn it into something functional.
So, I had to unlearn all my bad habits. It took a long time. I had to change how I ate, how I trained, focusing on real strength and conditioning, not just trying to inflate myself. It was a proper slog, let me tell you. I’m still on that journey, not pretending I’ve got it all figured out. But now, when I think about ‘thick’, it’s tied to that feeling of being solid, capable, and yeah, maybe a bit bigger, but in a way that feels earned and strong. And ‘fat’ is, for me, a reminder of what happens when I’m not being honest with myself about my efforts and my goals. It’s a very personal distinction now, forged in my own sweaty, often frustrating, experience.
