Skinny fat!?

badgyaljilly

How do I lose my belly fat? I'm 102 and 5'1 and my fat is all in my belly and love handles?

What is it? Is it my diet? Do I need to exercise?


[Thread edited by MFP moderator]

malibu927

You need muscle. Which yes, means exercise. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

Not liking the body shaming in some of these, though

serenityfrye

Lift weights. I looked way better at 110lb lifting heavy than I did at 95 doing only cardio.

badgyaljilly

S

serenityfrye wrote: »

Lift weights. I looked way better at 110lb lifting heavy than I did at 95 doing only cardio.

How long did it take you to build the muscle?

TxTiffani

Look into body recomp where you can build muscle and shape your body without losing anymore weight.

gramarye

As other people have said: lift if you want. A lot of people enjoy it and get the results they want doing it.

bambishealth

WTF is "skinny fat"??????!!!!!!!

shadow2soul

bambishealth wrote: »

WTF is "skinny fat"??????!!!!!!!

Technically it is a common term (frequently used incorrectly) to describe someone at a healthy weight who still has a bf% that puts them at the same risk level for health issues as someone who is obese by BMI standards (aka Normal weight obesity). An example would be say someone with a BMI of 23 but a body fat test like dexa showing 30+% body fat. I don't believe it is as common as the term gets thrown around.


**side note I was actually looking for a local place that does dexa today, because my scale says I'm 30% bf. While I know it's an inacurrate way to measure, it is throwing it back pretty consistently, and I want to make sure that's not actually the case.**

jemhh

shadow2soul wrote: »

bambishealth wrote: »

WTF is "skinny fat"??????!!!!!!!

Technically it is a common term (frequently used incorrectly) to describe someone at a healthy weight who still has a bf% that puts them at the same risk level for health issues as someone who is obese by BMI standards (aka Normal weight obesity). An example would be say someone with a BMI of 23 but a body fat test like dexa showing 30+% body fat. I don't believe it is as common as the term gets thrown around.


**side note I was actually looking for a local place that does dexa today, because my scale says I'm 30% bf. While I know it's an inacurrate way to measure, it is throwing it back pretty consistently, and I want to make sure that's not actually the case.**

Be aware that DEXA scans are not that accurate at the individual level. A variance of 5+% is normal, meaning that if the DEXA says 30%, you may be 25-35%.

shadow2soul

jemhh wrote: »

shadow2soul wrote: »

bambishealth wrote: »

WTF is "skinny fat"??????!!!!!!!

Technically it is a common term (frequently used incorrectly) to describe someone at a healthy weight who still has a bf% that puts them at the same risk level for health issues as someone who is obese by BMI standards (aka Normal weight obesity). An example would be say someone with a BMI of 23 but a body fat test like dexa showing 30+% body fat. I don't believe it is as common as the term gets thrown around.


**side note I was actually looking for a local place that does dexa today, because my scale says I'm 30% bf. While I know it's an inacurrate way to measure, it is throwing it back pretty consistently, and I want to make sure that's not actually the case.**

Be aware that DEXA scans are not that accurate at the individual level. A variance of 5+% is normal, meaning that if the DEXA says 30%, you may be 25-35%.

Oh jeez I hope not. That would mean dropping to 108 lbs (I think that's underweight) or adding a decent chunk of muscle mass (15 + lbs) to get to my goal of 20 % bf.

psuLemon

There are two courses of action and depending how your body will respond will determine the results. You can try to recomp where you eat at maintenance, eat around 70-100g of protein and follow a progressive overload lifting program like one of the ones in the below. Over a period of time (6,12,18+ months) you should see some increases in muscle while seeing other fat losses.

Alternatively, you might have to bulk to actively add mass and follow it by a cut. This may require 1 or more cycles to get adequate muscle since you are at the low end of a weight.

The latter is faster but not everyone can deal with intentionally gaining fat.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

liftorgohome

Try HIIT on the treadmill or EFX machine, with a calorie deficient diet and you'll lose it.

psuLemon

tjkita wrote: »

Try HIIT on the treadmill or EFX machine, with a calorie deficient diet and you'll lose it.

The OP is 2lbs away from being underweight. Do you really think recommending her to lose weight is beneficial when it's fairly obvious she doesn't have a solid foundation of lean body mass to give her good definition?

DEBOO7

I've shifted by bf% down by changing my eating. Increased my protein and reduced fat. I'm 55, 5'2", 119lbs - macros: 22g carb, 90g protein, 70g fat. I get in 10k steps a day and try to swim 1-2 times a week. My biggest issue is excess skin around the middle... no amount of exercise will shrink that! The damage of being overweight for 35+ years and age.

TimothyFish

bambishealth wrote: »

WTF is "skinny fat"??????!!!!!!!

shadow2soul wrote: »

bambishealth wrote: »

WTF is "skinny fat"??????!!!!!!!

Technically it is a common term (frequently used incorrectly) to describe someone at a healthy weight who still has a bf% that puts them at the same risk level for health issues as someone who is obese by BMI standards (aka Normal weight obesity). An example would be say someone with a BMI of 23 but a body fat test like dexa showing 30+% body fat. I don't believe it is as common as the term gets thrown around.


**side note I was actually looking for a local place that does dexa today, because my scale says I'm 30% bf. While I know it's an inacurrate way to measure, it is throwing it back pretty consistently, and I want to make sure that's not actually the case.**

The technical term is "metabolically obese normal weight" or "normal weight obesity", but "skinny fat" is easier to say and remember. Apparently, it is "very common in the general population" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9588440). Some studies show as much as 40% of the participants having this condition.

I suspect the reason it is so common is because people aren't as active as they once were. Most of the risks associated with obesity are reduced or eliminated with exercise, but rather than exercise most people try to maintain their weight through diet alone. There is no such thing as a "useful walk" anymore. I read about an eight year old who learned to drive by watching YouTube so that he could go get his sister a cheeseburger. The location he was driving to was only about a mile from his house. We've lost something when we are teaching children that the only way to get to a location a mile from home is by driving a car.