heavy but not fat?

carbons2k

So Ive been talking to a few of my friends about getting the motivation to get back into the gym with about summer coming and everything. Everyone tells me im not fat and just need to 'tone' I cant help but laugh at this comment. When I tell them how much I weigh (246) they tell me im full of ****. That's my # first thing in the morning. Im 5'-9" I wear a 36 waist pants snug and 38 pants are loose on me. XL shirts or 2XL fitted shirts... I also have a friend whos just about my height and 215 and we wear the same size cloths! Could it be that the fat on my body has more mass than his? I really don't understand it... anyone have any ideas or have seen this question asked before?

4legsRbetterthan2

Some people just carry their fat better than others - when I was at my heavies I was 240ish but most people would have guessed I was 200ish. I gained really evenly across my whole body as apposed to some women who gain it all in their stomach or hips and butt. It just depends sometimes. My guess here though would be that you have more LBM under the fat than he does, and that is the real reason you weigh more. Either way, who cares, set your goals to your body and what you want.

Pearsquared

Based on your picture, it looks like you're into sports. You could have a higher proportion of muscle than your average 246 lb. person, so even though you weigh that much, you're a little bit leaner than someone who's a couch potato and weighs 246. Like 4legs said, you could also just carry your weight better than others. Standing tall makes a big difference in how heavy you look. (:

Edit: I'd also like to add that if you want to trim up some more, it's up to you. You have to live in your body, not them, so what matters is how you feel.

Sarah4fitness

Or your friends are just being nice. No one's fat is more or less "dense," that's absurd. You may have more muscle under your fat, which affects your WEIGHT, but you're not going to "tone" anything unless you shed fat and continue to build upon the muscle you have.

Some people distribute their fat differently than others. It's still fat.

uconnwinsnc

People don't want to hurt your feelings, or they feel awkward talking about it. 246 is big for 5'9, even if you were mostly muscle.

deksgrl

Body fat % is a better indication than weight.

runningjen74

Body fat % is a better indication than weight.

This - and don't use a scale to get it measured. See if you can find someone that is very experienced with calipers to measure you.

Use this to determine your objectives. Objective when losing is to lose fat not weight (which could be fat and muscle).

ninerbuff

Pro bodybuilders at 5'9" can be ripped at 245lbs. Unless you look like one of them, you're carrying a lot of extra fat. At 5'7" and 190lbs, I'm muscular, but at 18% BF right now. So at your height and being 18%, I would weigh about 210lbs. That leaves 35lbs uncounted for.

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cwolfman13

Body fat % is a better indication than weight.

I was going to say this too...

Also, people do carry the weight differently and it is possible that you have a decent ratio of LBM to BF. I was kind of in that boat as I had always been into sports and athletics...so I had a pretty good base of muscle on my frame and then I took about a decade off and got fat.

At my highest I was around 220 (@ 5'10") but most people figured I was around 200 Lb and just needed to trim a little fat. I lost 35-40 Lbs altogether and look a hell of a lot better at 19/20% BF than I did. I'd look even better around 15%, but that's a whole other issue.

I would also add that people's perception of "fat" is pretty skewed these days. Being overweight to borderline obese seems to be just kind of normal. Even at 19/20% BF, everyone is like, "you're so trim and fit"...I'm definitely more trim and I'm pretty fit...but I still wouldn't consider myself "trim"...just no longer a big old fatty.