I'm skinny fat -- and I'm not even all that skinny!

catarata1
catarata1 Posts: 21 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hello MFP! Here's my story.

My husband and I finally decided we had enough of being overweight, out of shape, tired all of the time, and aching like we're 60 (we're in our early 30s). So we found a personal trainer and signed up for a session.

Going into this, we both thought my husband was in worse shape than me. At 5'8, 160 something pounds, I thought that I was (I hadn't weighed myself in a LONG time) slightly overweight... whereas my husband was definitely overweight (5'10/11, 240 something).

I was in for the shock of my life! First of all, I weighed 167 - higher than I thought, but not too much. But then we did a body fat composition, and while my husband's fat was somewhere in the mid 20's, mine came out at 35%! I knew it wasn't going to be great, but I had no idea I would be in what some websites call "overweight", and others "obese!"

And then reality set in. Sedentary lifestyle? Check. Unable to lift even a little bit of weight without straining? Check. Get tired and worn out just from walking around Costco and Home Depot for a few hours? Yup. It finally dawned on me that I am in MUCH worse shape than my technically "obese" husband, who can and does spend hours each weekend working on our house. Now that we've started exercising, I've realized what a wimp I am compared to him. When we're biking, I can barely get up the hills around our house, and he is literally riding circles around me.

Yes, MFPers, I am SKINNY FAT.

The first thing our recommended was My Fitness Pal -- follow the guidelines if we can, and definitely log everything, no matter what. I've been down this road before, but I want to say that I've been impressed with MFP's metrics. I set it to lose 1.5 lbs per week (per trainer's recommendations), and by golly, it's the end of week 2, and I've lost 3.6 lbs.

It's working, even though we are still tweaking our diets, and are still eating some not-so-great foods (had some delicious fried calamari last night -- but just a little), drinking, and just doing light exercise. We are eating better in general - more veggies, less junk, and at/under our net calories for the most part. And it feels great.

We're going to start our weekly sessions with our trainer tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited. I'm ready to work hard and get STRONG. My technical goal is ~ 140#, but I would be happy with a higher weight if it means that I've gained muscle. Because if I've learned anything in the last few weeks, it's that your health can NOT just be measured by a number on the scale.

Thanks for reading!

Replies

  • LivvieO
    LivvieO Posts: 164 Member
    Thanks for posting.

    I totally understand what you're saying about the body fat calculators. I 5"9, I started on MFP at 159lbs with a body fat percentage of 25.6 (still within the normal range), I'm down to 142.4 and my BF percentage has only gone down to 25.2. Either I'm using the wrong calculators or there's something wrong with the formulas on some of these site. The point I'm trying to make is that its great the these sites have motivated you to get healthy but I would recomment getting a proper test done with either your trainer or your doctor.
    Congrats on taking the steps to better health!
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    Congrats on your early success! Keep up the great work!
  • LauraElectric
    LauraElectric Posts: 51 Member
    I'm also 5'8" and in the 160's....so this is really interesting. Think I might have to find out my Fat percentage now too.
  • Nadine624
    Nadine624 Posts: 22 Member
    Starting is the hardest part. Now you just have to stick with it!!
    Great job so far :drinker: :drinker:
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Good for you for getting started! Being strong is super fun. Good luck.


    But in general I think the term "skinny fat" is over used. You are slightly overweight and lack strength. :wink:
  • Thedij
    Thedij Posts: 29 Member
    Great decisions to get a personal trainer, work alongside with your partner for this lifestyle change and to focus on body fat, instead of just the numbers on the scale.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    If you lose weight (since you are overweight) and work on your fitness (including effective strength training), you will lose fat and pounds and as a result your bf% will decrease (and you can maintain as much lean body mass as you can in the process). Good for you for realizing that you need to work on your fitness, not just weight loss. But, I also do not see this as skinny fat.
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,862 Member
    catarata1 wrote: "...and aching like we're 60...
    Hey, hey, HEY... watch it! I'm 60! :-)

    Seriously, if I'd known I would feel as good as I do now, I would have done this a long time ago. I could actually outrun and outwork my 30 year old self.
  • catarata1
    catarata1 Posts: 21 Member
    Thanks for your kind words, everyone. I actually HATE the term "skinny fat", as I think it is used to make women who are not overweight feel bad about themselves. Trust me, we do not need help with that! I'm really using it jokingly, to own the term instead of being afraid of it! And to draw attention to it. My husband gets picked on ALL the time about his weight from friends & family. But he's in a lot better condition than I am.. it just doesn't show on me (as much).

    And, southcarolina, you are more than welcome to say that you are "aching like I'm catarata" anytime!! I'm using 60 because my dad (who is in his 60's) has told me over and over again that this is part of the aging process. Please tell me this isn't true!
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,862 Member
    And, southcarolina, you are more than welcome to say that you are "aching like I'm catarata" anytime!! I'm using 60 because my dad (who is in his 60's) has told me over and over again that this is part of the aging process. Please tell me this isn't true!
    :smile: I can't speak to your Dad's situation and I first have to acknowledge that genetics plays a huge role.

    But I can tell you that in my 40's I had a lot of aches and pains that I chalked up to "advancing years". People would say "you're only as old as you feel" and I'd joke that in that case I must be 100. But after a couple of years of nutrition and exercise (weight loss was just a byproduct) I truly forget sometimes how old I really am because I can do things now I couldn't do 20 years ago because I was just too fat and out of shape.
  • 1capybara
    1capybara Posts: 162 Member
    And, southcarolina, you are more than welcome to say that you are "aching like I'm catarata" anytime!! I'm using 60 because my dad (who is in his 60's) has told me over and over again that this is part of the aging process. Please tell me this isn't true!
    :smile: I can't speak to your Dad's situation and I first have to acknowledge that genetics plays a huge role.

    But I can tell you that in my 40's I had a lot of aches and pains that I chalked up to "advancing years". People would say "you're only as old as you feel" and I'd joke that in that case I must be 100. But after a couple of years of nutrition and exercise (weight loss was just a byproduct) I truly forget sometimes how old I really am because I can do things now I couldn't do 20 years ago because I was just too fat and out of shape.
    me 2. i challenge all the 40 year olds at work to race me, no one will. :smile:

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