Skinny Fat - Enlighten Me Please

MityMax96

I will lift til the day I die! I'm 43 and feel 23. I'm fighting gorgeous young men off with sticks! Haha!

:noway: :noway: :noway: :grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

*note to self, never approach her, you will get beaten*

Of course I ain't young though

neandermagnon

I first heard the term as being synonymous with normal weight obesity

normal weight obesity = having a weight that's within the healthy BMI range, while your body fat percentage is in the obese range.

This is more common than people realise, and it's also the main reason why BMI is flawed, as people with normal weight obesity far outnumber people who are in the overweight or obese BMI range while their body fat percentage is healthy (yes the latter exist too, they're just less common and I'd hazard a guess that they're all large framed strength athletes or large framed manual workers who have to lift heavy things on a daily basis)

So basically, if BMI tells you you're obese, then unless you're large framed and lift very heavy things on a regular basis or a similar level of exertion of the muscles, then you're probably obese.

However, if BMI tells you that you're in the healthy range... well, you might have a healthy body fat percentage, but there's quite a significant likelihood that you're actually carrying too much body fat. If you're sedentary or small framed, this is more likely to be true. So BMI is kind of useless really.

MityMax96

This would be me, skinny fat

neandermagnon

This would be me, skinny fat

you dont' look remotely skinny-fat in either picture. you look like you have a reasonable amount of lean mass and a healthy body fat percentage... maybe more fat than you want and less muscle than you want, but you look like you have enough muscle under the fat to not be skinny-fat.

MityMax96

hmm...
I don't know, I look at those pics, I see it differently.

But thank you. :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

JoyeII

This is why BMI is a useless number.

Springfield1970

I will lift til the day I die! I'm 43 and feel 23. I'm fighting gorgeous young men off with sticks! Haha!

:noway: :noway: :noway: :grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

*note to self, never approach her, you will get beaten*

Of course I ain't young though

Puts stick down.

How yoooooo doing?

Willowwisp23

It means someone that is normal weight but has a high percentage of body fat.

It annoys me when people use it just because they don't like a certain aesthetic though. You get people posting pictures of two women, both slim, neither skinny fat but one is a paparazzi photo, taken in bright sunlight, she has a tiny bit cellulite and compare that to a studio lit photo of a women with a totally different body shape and usually 10 years younger. Then it seems to be another way to make people feel rubbish about their body.

AllOutof_Bubblegum

To answer you question, these are examples of "skinny fat". These ladies are in no way overweight, but as you can see are severely lacking in muscle definition. This can be the result of eating at too-large of a calorie deficit, while not strength training to preserve muscle mass. The overall look is one of slightly saggy, droopy looking skin, with no firmness. That is what is meant by skinny fat. Hope that answers your question.

DeguelloTex

It answers the question quite vividly.

Aaron_K123

My understanding is this. There is this number that the health industry uses to evaluate your health based on your weight called BMI. BMI only takes into account your gender, your height and your weight and is based off population averages.

A person with very high muscle mass but low bodyfat will appear to be overweight by BMI where a person with very low muscle mass but high bodyfat could appear to be in a healthy weight range.

The latter is what has been termed "skinny fat". You actually have an unhealthy amount of bodyfat but your muscle mass is so low that you appear to be at a healthy weight.

A person who is skinny-fat can resolve the issue best not by trying to diet with a large calorie deficit but instead eating at maintenance or above and trying to build up some muscle THEN try to lose the fat later after building up muscle.

PikaKnight

Thank you all SO much! When I last weighed myself, before I started my diet (I refuse to weigh again till August), the scale said my body fat is 24.2% and muscle mass is 23.3%. Does that classify me as skinny fat?

You can't rely on the scales for the body fat measurements.

How do you feel? Would you like to be firmer? Same weight but tighter, smaller waist, rounder booty? More energy, tighter and glowing skin, stronger bone density and able to eat a bit more without gaining?

Lifting will do that for you.

^Agree about not relying on the scale to measure body fat %.

Here's a link with a great breakdown in regards to methods of body fat estimation

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/830595-body-fat-estimation-methods

3dogsrunning

To answer you question, these are examples of "skinny fat". These ladies are in no way overweight, but as you can see are severely lacking in muscle definition. This can be the result of eating at too-large of a calorie deficit, while not strength training to preserve muscle mass. The overall look is one of slightly saggy, droopy looking skin, with no firmness. That is what is meant by skinny fat. Hope that answers your question.

Now see I don't think that is an example of skinny fat. It is more like the poster above this one's example, bad lighting, bad positioning. They do lack muscle tone/have loose skin in the butt/legs but overall they do not look like they have a high percentage of bodyfat.
I could be wrong.

My understanding of skinny fat is a person is of normal weight with a high percentage of bodyfat.

Willowwisp23

To answer you question, these are examples of "skinny fat". These ladies are in no way overweight, but as you can see are severely lacking in muscle definition. This can be the result of eating at too-large of a calorie deficit, while not strength training to preserve muscle mass. The overall look is one of slightly saggy, droopy looking skin, with no firmness. That is what is meant by skinny fat. Hope that answers your question.

Thanks for illustrating my point of how skinny fat is used to pick on women's body's. I know plenty of lifters who also happen to have a little cellulite.

jofjltncb6

It's often used as a derogatory term, sometimes through envy.

Really?

I must be using a bad definition. I thought it was a term for those who were at a healthy weight but who had a relatively high BF%/low muscle mass. There is nothing envious about this situation. It's arguably one of the the most difficult situations from which to make noticeable progress.

MagnumBurrito

Not me- but this is what I think of skinny fat. Small shoulders, wide hips, lots of fat gained goes to love handles

QuietBloom

To answer you question, these are examples of "skinny fat". These ladies are in no way overweight, but as you can see are severely lacking in muscle definition. This can be the result of eating at too-large of a calorie deficit, while not strength training to preserve muscle mass. The overall look is one of slightly saggy, droopy looking skin, with no firmness. That is what is meant by skinny fat. Hope that answers your question.

Thanks for illustrating my point of how skinny fat is used to pick on women's body's. I know plenty of lifters who also happen to have a little cellulite.

Agreed!

AllOutof_Bubblegum

To answer you question, these are examples of "skinny fat". These ladies are in no way overweight, but as you can see are severely lacking in muscle definition. This can be the result of eating at too-large of a calorie deficit, while not strength training to preserve muscle mass. The overall look is one of slightly saggy, droopy looking skin, with no firmness. That is what is meant by skinny fat. Hope that answers your question.

Now see I don't think that is an example of skinny fat. It is more like the poster above this one's example, bad lighting, bad positioning. They do lack muscle tone/have loose skin in the butt/legs but overall they do not look like they have a high percentage of bodyfat.
I could be wrong.

My understanding of skinny fat is a person is of normal weight with a high percentage of bodyfat.

Thaaaaat's what this is? I don't get what you're disagreeing about? lol

AllOutof_Bubblegum

To answer you question, these are examples of "skinny fat". These ladies are in no way overweight, but as you can see are severely lacking in muscle definition. This can be the result of eating at too-large of a calorie deficit, while not strength training to preserve muscle mass. The overall look is one of slightly saggy, droopy looking skin, with no firmness. That is what is meant by skinny fat. Hope that answers your question.

Thanks for illustrating my point of how skinny fat is used to pick on women's body's. I know plenty of lifters who also happen to have a little cellulite.

Nobody mentioned cellulite, least of all me. Calm down.

MityMax96

I will lift til the day I die! I'm 43 and feel 23. I'm fighting gorgeous young men off with sticks! Haha!

:noway: :noway: :noway: :grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

*note to self, never approach her, you will get beaten*

Of course I ain't young though

Puts stick down.

How yoooooo doing?

Oh....Hello There.... :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: