What exactly is skinny fat?

Clarecbear82
Clarecbear82 Posts: 369 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I personally never heard of this term until I came here. So I finally looked it up on Google and all I can work out is its people who are thin with no muscle definition! Is that what it means and if so what's so wrong with that? A lot of the pictures under that where of people with bodies I could only dream of having. So is that what it means or have I got it completely wrong?
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Replies

  • missfancy1980
    missfancy1980 Posts: 326
    High body fat percentage while still retaining a good shape (people wouldn't say you were overweight). Usually refers to people who eat the way they always have regardless of age, do little exercise, and still look normal, but their body fat percent is on the high side because of lack of exercise/ growing older.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,380 Member
    Basically low scale weight/healthy BMI but not 'toned' as many people would say.
  • tammietifanie
    tammietifanie Posts: 1,496 Member
    http://www.crossfitsouthbay.com/2011/05/skinny-fat/


    This website has great info on what is Skinny fat !!!
  • annameier8706
    annameier8706 Posts: 417 Member
    Low weight, high body fat %
  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
    Low to normal BMI, but a high body fat %. Meaning - very little muscle mass. Usually as a result from not lifting or dieting properly and losing muscle mass when losing weight.

    The goal of any diet should be to lose fat and maintain any existing muscle mass. When you diet too hard, don't do resistance training, or don't eat enough protein you can lose muscle mass along side your fat.

    This makes you a smaller version of your former self and is difficult to change.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
    exactly.... the big thing for me is that just because you're skinny doesn't mean you are healthy or in shape (but those folks tend to act like they're so much healthier and better than bigger people).....
  • rebeccap13
    rebeccap13 Posts: 754 Member
    http://www.crossfitsouthbay.com/2011/05/skinny-fat/


    This website has great info on what is Skinny fat !!!

    Favorite blog post ever.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    To answer your q "is there anything wrong with being skinny fat?" Depends on what you are comparing it too. If you are overweight or obese then yes, skinny fat is excellent, if you are thin then your goal is to get more muscle definition b/c a toned body at any size looks better and fits into smaller clothes b/c of how muscle vs fat distributes itself (fat is physically bigger, weighs the same as muscle but takes up more space).
  • OLFATUG
    OLFATUG Posts: 393 Member
    Unfortunately? Me. I do lift weights, but I'm convinced my six year old daughter is stronger than me. Someday I'll get that fat% down where it belongs... -=sigh=-
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    skinny fat looks good with cloths on, not off.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    To add to what others said, a person that is skinny fat likely also have health issues, or t least is not as healthy as someone who is the same size but fit.

    I'm sure you've seen girls with muffin top....if they wore pants that actually fit you likely wouldn't think they have any fat on them, but since they wear pants that are way too tight, this squishes their fat up, creating the muffin top over their jeans. At first glance they are not overweight because they still appear small, but their body fat percentage is higher than what it should be for someone of their size.
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,810 Member
    It has to do with body fat percentage. For example, I weight 30 pounds more than a girl that I know. If you were to look at the 2 of us, she would obviously be the thinner one, so you'd assume she's in better shape than I am. BUT we have the exact same body fat percentage, she has high cholesterol and high blood pressure (I have neither of these things) and I am more physically fit than she is, even though she is thinner.

    Basically, skinny doesn't mean healthy. A person can be slim and appear to be in good shape, but really have no muscle definition and have a higher body fat percentage than they should, and be very physically unfit. This is why the # on the scale is so arbitrary and BMI is a totally pointless number (many professional athletes have very high BMIs but very low body fat percentages), but your body fat percentage is the most important number of the 3 to pay attention to.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    They also may have some of the same health problems as an obese person.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    exactly.... the big thing for me is that just because you're skinny doesn't mean you are healthy or in shape (but those folks tend to act like they're so much healthier and better than bigger people).....

    There was alot of this argument on grocery buggy judging last week in a thread and although you are not wrong, statistically thin people even ones who do not exercise regularly or watch what they eat are still in the minority when it comes to illnesses and disease.
  • jennifer52484
    jennifer52484 Posts: 888 Member
    My mother in law is 4'11" 90-98lbs, very tiny frame. But she has a very high %body fat, high cholestoral. I would consider her skinny fat.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    skinny fat looks good with cloths on, not off.

    That's such a great blunt answer, ty!
  • rowbseat13
    rowbseat13 Posts: 147 Member
    I've been "skinny fat" my entire life, mostly because I'm 5'11 and can gain or lose a pretty significant amount of weight without it showing... But as many people have pointed out, that doesn't mean I'm healthy at all. For a long time in high school and most of college, I ate whatever I wanted and didn't get much exercise. I was still skinny, but there was nothing healthy about my lifestyle. Only in the last couple of years have I actually gotten more muscle definition and less body fat. And as someone else already mentioned, my favorite little phrase of encouragement is "Skinny girls look good in clothes; fit girls look good naked." :)
  • robinogue
    robinogue Posts: 1,117 Member
    :grumble: ME :angry:

    Here's a good example... I'm 5"3, 118.8lbs BMI: 21 BF% 26.8
  • teagin2002
    teagin2002 Posts: 1,900 Member
    I personally never heard of this term until I came here. So I finally looked it up on Google and all I can work out is its people who are thin with no muscle definition! Is that what it means and if so what's so wrong with that? A lot of the pictures under that where of people with bodies I could only dream of having. So is that what it means or have I got it completely wrong?

    Yes you are correct :)

    the reason people don't like it here is because with skinny fat the food cals a person would eat to maintain is very low vs a body with more muscle mass.
    Muscle burns cals at rest while fat does not, so the probability of maintain is much higher at a regular caloric intake (eating without a deficit) when the body has more muscle.

    If this is what you want luv then more power to you :flowerforyou:

    Edited to add, I am 5'4" I wear a size 8 US jean (37, 25, 37), I weigh 174 lbs and my BF is 22% to 24% depending on the machine. I eat an average of 2000 cals per day lift 4 days a week and walk/jog everyday and am working on lowering my BF% to expose more muscle. I am doing this because I like food a lot and I like eating food so the more muscle mass I have the smaller my size will be and the more I can eat and maintain my current body. Another reason is I actually like this look a lot.
  • OLFATUG
    OLFATUG Posts: 393 Member
    skinny fat looks good with cloths on, not off.

    Dammit. I wanna look good naked. :(

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