Tired of being skinny fat.

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Replies

  • workingtwerking
    workingtwerking Posts: 34
    To those who actually gave me advice, thank you so much! And you guys that posted your transformation pictures, I'm really impressed. Great job.
    And to those lovely stupid fcks who thinks that body shaming is okay, you can just piss the fck off. If you're not aiming for a lower bf% or getting rid of fat (or simply getting healtier), why in the world are you on this site?
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    So I've been reading on here for weeks on end. (And, actually, your reply is probably more germane to the original topic than the lengthy derail about poster rudeness)

    As I understand it, fat loss requires a calorie deficit -- but I can't gain much muscle eating at a deficit. And I really shouldn't lose a lot of weight, I'm already underweight and my upper body looks pretty bony.

    Pretty much at a loss as to how to effectively tackle the problem.

    Depends on what your goal is and how comfortable you are with the level of fat on your body.

    Not that it's my business or my decision, but you look fine in your picture. I mean, you are under 19% body fat apparently (how did you measure that?). If you want more muscle, you'll need to eat a calorie surplus and gain some fat in the process. If you want to lose the fat you have left, you'll have to eat a calorie deficit and lose a little of the muscle you have. Either way, you're going to have to do strength training (what is your routine now?).

    People will get all up in arms about this, but women can get away with being skinny with a few bones showing way better than guys can. Plus, it's summer. So if I were you I'd probably be eating slightly under maintenance while lifting to chip away at the fat without touching lean mass. Then when it's time to wear more clothes start running a calorie surplus.

    That assumes you want to look good now. The more efficient thing to do, in terms of recomposition, would be to run a fairly aggressive bulk now.

    Jonny- do you realize you are telling someone who is very underweight at a BMI of 16 and a BF% of less than 19%, that she must eat at a calorie deficit to lose the fat she has? Please tread carefully here, not only for her sake, but for the other young women reading this.

    To the person who you are answering here- you do NOT need to eat at a deficit. Please increase your calories by increasing protein, and then you can start a lifting program to gain some more muscle mass. If you do not increase your calories, your body will start to eat what muscle tissue you have now to fuel your workouts.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,371 Member
    Depends on what your goal is and how comfortable you are with the level of fat on your body.

    Not that it's my business or my decision, but you look fine in your picture. I mean, you are under 19% body fat apparently (how did you measure that?). If you want more muscle, you'll need to eat a calorie surplus and gain some fat in the process. If you want to lose the fat you have left, you'll have to eat a calorie deficit and lose a little of the muscle you have. Either way, you're going to have to do strength training (what is your routine now?).

    People will get all up in arms about this, but women can get away with being skinny with a few bones showing way better than guys can. Plus, it's summer. So if I were you I'd probably be eating slightly under maintenance while lifting to chip away at the fat without touching lean mass. Then when it's time to wear more clothes start running a calorie surplus.

    That assumes you want to look good now. The more efficient thing to do, in terms of recomposition, would be to run a fairly aggressive bulk now.
    BF% was measured using electric impedence.

    I just want the pants I wore 5 years ago without a muffin-top to fit the same way again. I've gained no weight in that period of time, it just seems that my flesh has shifted around or softened up or something -- either that or a whole bunch of waistbands have magically shrunk hanging in the closet. :laugh:

    I started a strength routine about 2.5 years ago, using a "home gym" type machine. I'd hit peri-menopause and wanted to preserve muscle plus maintain bone density. The only appreciable result was that my forearms took on a bit of a ropey/wiry appearance. If I was at home I'd post a particularly unattractive pic to show what I mean -- they look like skinny old lady arms.

    After reading all the hype about heavy lifting for women and seeing the results posted on here, I decided to go that route and I've been at it for about 5? 6? weeks. I won't pretend that I'm able to lift "heavy", I can't even start with a 45 lb bar as I'm still struggling mightily with an OHP of 20 lbs -- which is the same weight I began with. None of my other lifts are progressing either. :sad: All of this has gained me an inch on my waist and 1.5 inches on my hips, basically the exact opposite of what I was hoping to accomplish. And the added flesh isn't nice, firm muscle tissue, it's just more soft stuff. Very frustrating!

    I'm guessing that I actually have to get into "heavy" lifting to do any meaningful body recomp but I'm not going in that direction very fast.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Heavy is relative. You should focus on *progression*. Try a 25 lb OHP and see how it goes, for instance.

    Also, 5-6 weeks isn't going to be enough time to see any real reasults on an iscaloric recomp program. If you want to see real gains, up the calorie intake and gain some weight.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,371 Member
    Heavy is relative. You should focus on *progression*. Try a 25 lb OHP and see how it goes, for instance.

    Also, 5-6 weeks isn't going to be enough time to see any real reasults on an iscaloric recomp program. If you want to see real gains, up the calorie intake and gain some weight.

    I'm so wobbly, that 20 lbs is in danger of coming down on top of my head -- think I'll wait a bit on the 25lbs!

    So how long does progression take anyway? I'm lifting faithfully every second day.

    And I have NO problem with gaining weight as long as I don't pack on any more flab. I can't afford to replace my entire wardrobe, and there are already a few pants that I can't wear (or won't wear, because they look like I'm stuffed into them like a sausage).
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Heavy is relative. You should focus on *progression*. Try a 25 lb OHP and see how it goes, for instance.

    Also, 5-6 weeks isn't going to be enough time to see any real reasults on an iscaloric recomp program. If you want to see real gains, up the calorie intake and gain some weight.

    I'm so wobbly, that 20 lbs is in danger of coming down on top of my head -- think I'll wait a bit on the 25lbs!

    So how long does progression take anyway? I'm lifting faithfully every second day.

    And I have NO problem with gaining weight as long as I don't pack on any more flab. I can't afford to replace my entire wardrobe, and there are already a few pants that I can't wear (or won't wear, because they look like I'm stuffed into them like a sausage).

    How many reps are you doing with the 20 lb? And what are you using, dumbbells, barbell, what? You should be able to progress quickly as a newbie.

    If you gain weight, you will increase your fat mass. And you will also increase the size of the muscle hidden under it, which will increase your apparent fat even more. Not much you can do about that. You'll have to decide what you want to accomplish after looking at what is possible to accomplish.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    There is a lot of benefit for a female beginner to eat at maintenance while learning form and strength and progression in weight lifting. Better to wait to do a bulk once she has stopped having newbie gains and is really solid in her weight lifting program.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,371 Member
    How many reps are you doing with the 20 lb? And what are you using, dumbbells, barbell, what? You should be able to progress quickly as a newbie.

    If you gain weight, you will increase your fat mass. And you will also increase the size of the muscle hidden under it, which will increase your apparent fat even more. Not much you can do about that. You'll have to decide what you want to accomplish after looking at what is possible to accomplish.

    I can squeak out 5 reps, but the last one is really shaky. I'm using a 10 lb barbell, except for bench press I'm using 10 lb dumbbells (as I don't have a bench). And they're wobbly too. My upper body strength seriously sucks. I could probably increase my deadlift weight at this point; however, I really need to work on my squat form before increasing that one.

    Okay, that is exactly the impression that I had of what I'd done to my body so far -- increased the volume of tissue underlying the fat and made it more apparent. NOT what I wanted. I'm a business professional and have some VERY expensive clothing. Nor do I want to go up a size for the first time in my adult life.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    To those who actually gave me advice, thank you so much! And you guys that posted your transformation pictures, I'm really impressed. Great job.
    And to those lovely stupid fcks who thinks that body shaming is okay, you can just piss the fck off. If you're not aiming for a lower bf% or getting rid of fat (or simply getting healtier), why in the world are you on this site?

    well said :smile:

    And I won't speak for anyone else but my before pic was the definition of skinny fat to me!
  • astrovivi
    astrovivi Posts: 183 Member
    To those who actually gave me advice, thank you so much! And you guys that posted your transformation pictures, I'm really impressed. Great job.
    And to those lovely stupid fcks who thinks that body shaming is okay, you can just piss the fck off. If you're not aiming for a lower bf% or getting rid of fat (or simply getting healtier), why in the world are you on this site?

    100%.

    Gosh I think my post got lost in all that malarky :(

    I hope you find it.... I am in what seems to be a similar position to you.

    Be patient and I would recommend getting a dexa scan done, if you can. It will help you figure out a proper strategy.
    ie like me, you may not be actually trying to reduce BF but building muscle (which, if your BF is low will decrease your BF% anyway).

    Best of luck!! :)
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    Found this, on a search for terms in this thread (not the stuff in the middle of it). Interested in the discussion on page 6 & 7, totally summarizes my personal frustration, which is:

    If you're at the low/middle-low BMI, options are

    - bulk - difficult psychologically for many women [incl me], especially in June

    - recomp - long and difficult for women

    - cut - risk underweight & hormonal probs; can only cut calories by so much, vs men

    Another frustration: wasting mental energy on this!
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    When I joined mfp I tried to eat at maintenance, but was apparently on a very slow cut because I continued to lose fat (a pound a month). After 6 months I started increasing my calories, slowly. But, as I continued to increase them I ended up increasing them very high and ended up going on a bulk (for the next 6 months). So, I understand that going on a bulk can be difficult psychologically. It's not really. I did it by accident. It's just increasing calories a little bit at a time and keeping an eye on your weight and your fitness (you don't even need to increase as much as I did), so that you do not take it further than you are comfortable with. I have now decreased my calories down to a conservative maintenance. It is more than I ate during the first 6 months (when I was cutting), and less than I ate when I was "bulking". Although that word is misleading because I definitely did not "bulk" up by any stretch of the meaning of that word. And I did want to gain a few pounds back. It's fun as well, to get to eat more food.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    When I joined mfp I tried to eat at maintenance, but was apparently on a very slow cut because I continued to lose fat (a pound a month). After 6 months I started increasing my calories, slowly. But, as I continued to increase them I ended up increasing them very high and ended up going on a bulk (for the next 6 months). So, I understand that going on a bulk can be difficult psychologically. It's not really. I did it by accident. It's just increasing calories a little bit at a time and keeping an eye on your weight and your fitness (you don't even need to increase as much as I did), so that you do not take it further than you are comfortable with. I have now decreased my calories down to a conservative maintenance. It is more than I ate during the first 6 months (when I was cutting), and less than I ate when I was "bulking". Although that word is misleading because I definitely did not "bulk" up by any stretch of the meaning of that word. And I did want to gain a few pounds back. It's fun as well, to get to eat more food.

    Thanks, binarypulsar - I really appreciate you sharing your experience :) I imagine that doing things slowly might minimize the worst of any option, for sure.

    In my case, I've been maintaining my *weight*, +/- 5 lbs, for 2 years at a comfortable 2000-2400 cals/day, even during periods of (injury-related) inactivity. I'm lucky in that I already get to eat a fair bit, without worrying too much about pounds on the scale going up - in fact it's difficult for me to go too low, in terms of calories.

    My body composition's fluctuated a lot though, in relation to my activity. I've had sometimes months-long interruptions, during which I've not been able to do as much strength training as I'd like. Right now, I'm really uncomfortable with my bf%, which I reckon has got to be in the high 20s, maybe low 30s. Since I last worked out regularly, my measurements have gone up an inch (no change on the scale).

    I've recently gotten back into things, though, so, hoping to see changes, between that and taking out maybe 200 calories (if I can stand it!).

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