Is being skinnyfat that unhealthy?

404namenotfound

Can't we just say "out of shape" like we used to before this cutesy term was invented?

I'm not sure what it means to "eat like a fat person."

I eat a lot of bad food, and if I didn't have such a fast metabolism/slim build I'd be fat. That's what I mean eat like a fat person. I feel lucky I'm not fat.

I was really out of shape IMO but I didn't think that fully encapsulated the problem I was talking about.

Also I went to take some pictures to give people an idea. After looking in the mirror I can see I'm better than I was a little over a month ago when I started working out. I'm actually not as bad as I was thinking I was. I probably am more on the lines of just being out of shape.

Either way the question still stands. Is my diet bad? Will I have problems eating bad food once a day 5 days a week?

jofjltncb6

Tagging to see potential butthurt over the use of the term "skinny fat" by the OP to describe the OP.

Bleh, skinny fat is the most obnoxious term to hit the fitness world--makes me cringe. When did it become an official thing?

Good call, Achrya. That escalated predictably.

tempehforever, OP used a term where (most) everyone understood the meaning. Why are you here calling OP out for it?

chatogal

Tagging to see potential butthurt over the use of the term "skinny fat" by the OP to describe the OP.

lol...yup...it's a terminology that really annoys me

ItsCasey

I just want to make an observation that I hope will help you with this problem. Now, I've been out of college for nearly a decade, but I live in the city where I went to college, and I am on campus regularly for football games and other random things. I see a lot of "skinnyfat" students. It really amazes me that at 31, I am leaner and hotter than these skinny chicks walking around with most of their body hanging out of their clothes. And I just want to shake them and say "Lay off the beer and pizza, and go to the gym once in a while because this WILL catch up to you."

The thing is, right now, you're probably healthy as a horse. But if you keep up with this habit of eating whatever and not caring what your body looks like, that won't be the case for much longer. I didn't give a flying crap what I ate in college, and aside from all the walking around campus, I didn't get any exercise. I didn't start to put on weight until my junior year. I was obese by the time I graduated and stayed that way for the next 5 years. It was because the only thing that changed about my lifestyle was that I was even less active after I graduated. I worked all the time, I ate a lot of fast food, I got no exercise, and I stayed fat.

If I had gotten a handle on my diet and started building the habit of regular, intentional physical activity when I was in college and if I had taken advantage of the access to a dietician and a gym and personal training services that I had as part of my tuition and fees, maybe I would never have gotten fat and had to deal with all this crap in my late 20s. What I am saying is, why wait? You're young, you're healthy, you're not overweight. Do it now. Don't wait until you become older and unhealthy and overweight. It'll be that much harder, and you'll be less likely to even bother.

jonnythan

Sedentary adults lose something like a pound of lean mass a year. A similar thing happens to bone mass.

Think about how much (or little) lean mass you have now.

Now imagine how little you'll have when you're 70.

Now imagine how you're going to stand up from the recliner with quads and glutes that are thin as paper and knowing that if you fall you will break your hip and spend months in a hospital.

Yeah it sounds like it's infinitely far in the future and it's not that big a deal, but it really is. Go look around at a nursing home and see all the people whose quality of life is nonexistent because they are confined to walkers or wheelchairs due to lack of strength and bone density.

Weak and sedentary is no way to go through life, not only because you're weak and sedentary, but your health suffers for it. Just being a "healthy" BMI doesn't do much for you if you're still overfat and under-muscled. Your bones break easier, you can't move things, you are more prone to injury, your blood pressure slowly rises, plaque collects in your arteries, and your heart is weaker.

Do you want to be awesome, or do you want to be mediocre? The choice is obvious to me, but then again I see a lot of people who are completely satisfied with across-the-board mediocrity. Maybe that's you.

calibriintx

Bleh, skinny fat is the most obnoxious term to hit the fitness world--makes me cringe. When did it become an official thing?

I think its a good term for what I have going on. I'm skinny but deep down I eat like a fat person and sometimes I feel fat. I also have a gut even though you can't see it when I have my shirt on.

Can't we just say "out of shape" like we used to before this cutesy term was invented?

I'm not sure what it means to "eat like a fat person."

If the OP just referred to himself as out of shape, I wouldn't know what that meant. Maybe they're obese? Maybe they they're a little overweight? Maybe they're rail thin and can't open a jar of pickles? I know what skinny fat means. What's the problem with it?

RGv2

Wait.......you can only grab the fat over your abdomen when sitting down?

I can while standing up too I just get a lot less of it. This would be easier if I could post a picture. Would that be appropriate?

you can if you want, but this sounds like 98% of the population. Even at 7% BF I could pinch "flab" over my abdomen.