Thin but not necessarily healthy? You may be a Tofi

by Martha Edwards (Subscribe to Martha Edwards's posts)
Dec 10th 2006 8:44PM

I have a friend who, despite being a size 2, always insists that her body is fat. "I know I'm skinny," she tells me, "but trust me, I probably have 100% body fat. I never work out and I have very little muscle." I always tell her she is being ridiculous, but she may have a point. According to this, people with a certain build are called Tofis, which stands for thin on the outside and fat on the inside. It's a bit scary, actually. Tofis can have an unhealthy and frankly dangerous build-up of fat around their organs, but unlike an obviously obese person, they may not know they have a problem. Only by digging further and doing scans and tests will doctors realize just how much fat Tofis have. The article suggests that, despite their appearances, Tofis have more to worry about health-wise than the rest of us.

I'm one of those people who can gain weight just by looking at a piece of chocolate cake, and I never thought I'd say it, but that might be a good thing. I can tell when I'm consuming too much fat, and I can cut back. But Tofis don't have the warning signs that most people do -- yikes!

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Comments (89)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

AmStarr 12-12-2006 @ 2:09PM

Language and grammar need to be checked.

msarkozi 12-12-2006 @ 2:22PM

With the luckily renewed spotlight on anorexia and other severe body image related disorders, and the associated dangers, we need to be very careful that we do not mis-inform about the percentage of people that TOFI may include.

Monica 12-12-2006 @ 2:30PM

Interesting bit of information. And, what would a blog be without the ever present critic, yes that's you amstarr.

Dale Woosley 12-12-2006 @ 2:35PM

How would I go about finding out if I have accumulated fat on the inside? Does fat show up on MRI's and X-rays or other tests needed? Have seen photos of fat accumulations around hearts and other organs and understand that such accumulations are bad news, but how can we know if we are a tofi?

Katie 12-12-2006 @ 2:38PM

I am one of these people - 5'4, 110 lbs, and completely out of shape. I'm actually afraid to get into better shape because I struggle with being underweight. Excercising more could cause me to lose weight that I don't really have to lose. However, I do try to be aware of my health and diet. While I'm not the best, I could be much worse.

Kat 12-12-2006 @ 2:40PM

Dang!

Mikki 12-12-2006 @ 2:43PM

Spelling and grammar aside, this is a great article. I have a friend exactlt like this. I really hope she doesn't have this illness. Thanks for the information!

Lisa 12-12-2006 @ 2:44PM

Oh I can be one of those.... I wonder if my doctor knows about this. I always wondered where my fat goes? I eat like a pig, stay thin and never work out. Uhmmmmmmmmm. Oh well!!!

Lisa

Yvonne Levy 12-12-2006 @ 4:51PM

Great posting!

I am a personal trainer and throughout my 10 years of experience I have worked with numerous clients, many of them fitting in the Tofi category.

I think that, since our society gives outer physical appearance priority over internal health, people may just limit themselves to doing whatever it takes to look good on the outside.

People who don't put on the pounds easily may automatically assume that they are "lucky" as their physical appearance and size is not an issue of concern, therefore they bypass the important healthy habits like diet, exercise and medical check-ups, all these crucial for maintaining their well-being.

I constantly tell my clients to watch what they eat and exercise regularly, even if their weight and shape is not an issue, and most important, everyone, including apparently healthy people, should have a physical check-up once a year.

Remember, looks can be deceiving...

Steph 12-12-2006 @ 2:56PM

I agree with the first post. It's very annoying to read an article that appears to have been rushed during the writing process. I hope more time was spent on your research, but your credibilty is in question at this point. Did someone actually pay you to write this? I do thank you for promting me to find information relating to health elsewhere.

Steph 12-12-2006 @ 2:54PM

I agree with the first post. It's very annoying to read an article that appears to have been rushed during the writing process. I hope more time was spent on your research, but your credibility is in question at this point. Did someone actually pay you to write this? I do thank you for promting me to find information relating to health elsewhere.

Martha 12-12-2006 @ 2:55PM

Hi,
I apologize for the spelling mistakes. I'm not sure what the grammar issues are but I've changed the arrangement of some sentences to make them clearer. Thanks for letting me know. Feel free to point out any further errors you may see.

Take care,
Martha Edwards

M&M 12-12-2006 @ 3:11PM

I know how you feel about walking past a piece of cake and it attaching itself to your ass.... i never really thought it was a good thing until i thought about it like this...

Martha 12-12-2006 @ 3:11PM

Steph,

I did not write the article that my blog post refers to. The blog post itself does not contain any scientific research -- it merely points to another source of information, which I have summed up. Therefore, I do not think that my credibility is an issue here. I am not an expert in the field, nor do I claim to be.

Martha Edwards

Cindy 12-12-2006 @ 3:20PM

Funny stuff! I didn't find any spelling errors in the article, but Mikki, Mikki, Mikki, what is THIS word? exactlt

LOL

To the real issue now: I believe that even skinny people should exercise. They will build a bit of muscle, and that can only help rather than hurt them.

PLEEEZE! 12-12-2006 @ 3:20PM

Good God, who cares about the errors. DEAL with it, people! Steph, you just took it a little bit too far. Her credibility is in question due to spelling and grammar errors. Get a life.

Meela 12-12-2006 @ 3:21PM

This is nothing new. You see these people EVERY day of your life. A healthy size 2 woman is going to have visible muscle tone, good skin color, and she will be firm, not jiggly. A "Tofi" size 2 will be flabby, have bony arms and legs, sallow skinned (usually), and often times despite their small size, they have a gut. The same goes for men. If a skinny guy has man-boobs and stick arms and legs, he's a "Tofi".
Just being thin has NEVER been equal to being fit.

tr 12-13-2006 @ 12:01PM

Knock it off. This is just another one of those articles to get people freaked out. Oh, and I'm sure there's medication for this just like everything else too. Chalk another one up for the pharmaceutical companies who work in conjunction with the medical profession.

Jack 12-12-2006 @ 3:27PM

It's interesting that the people who are pointing out grammatical errors have ones themselves. What was that one about throwing stones in a glass house?

SH 12-12-2006 @ 3:36PM

Isn't it funny that someone wrote a comment complaining about the grammar and/or spelling of the article, and they didn't even use correct spelling themselves? Its "promPTing" not "promTing".