explain.... skinny fat

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vade43113
vade43113 Posts: 836 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
can someone explain, this to me? I have been overweight all my life, and this concept is as foreign to me as Japanese tacos. I mean, those who say it, look great to me... I am not bashing the people who use the term but, just confused by it's meaning.

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  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    Someone whose body weight is relatively low for their height (good BMI) but their body fat percentage (the ratio of the weight of their body fat to overall body weight) is high.

    The scale is one of the least accurate (and most used) measures of overall health.
  • Pudgebrownie
    Pudgebrownie Posts: 73
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    "Skinny fat"..


    Not sure who coined this or what the urban dictionary says but this is what "I" think it means..


    Skinny fat is a term probably used to described individuals that are not overweight, perhaps in the recommended weight or lower, but are not necessarily healthy. They may have high cholesterol, among other health issues but ones that are not visible to the eye. Could also be those that are slim but not toned, thus "skinny fat" comes into play.
  • pengem789
    pengem789 Posts: 45
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    I never understood this term until I became a massage/muscle therapist. There are people who are not technically overweight but they do not have muscle. They look "thin" but when you touch them, it's all (technical term here...) "Squishy" This is not attractive. That's why I find it more appealing if someone has a few extra pounds but has a nice muscle/fat balance as opposed to being a certian size but having no firm muscle tissue in their body. Trust me, it's not attractive.
  • invictus8
    invictus8 Posts: 258 Member
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    Really skinny-fat doesn't make much sense -- the person just has excess fat that he/she wants to lose, just like a lot of other people. Nothing special about the skinny aspect; many people who claim they're skinny-fat aren't actually that skinny, in fact.
  • Zangpakto
    Zangpakto Posts: 336 Member
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    Someone whose body weight is relatively low for their height (good BMI) but their body fat percentage (the ratio of the weight of their body fat to overall body weight) is high.

    The scale is one of the least accurate (and most used) measures of overall health.

    Exactly this...

    I also know people worry about loose skin, and I'll tell you what, 99/100 it is just stubborn fat that you need to get rid of...

    But yea, being skinny yet when you take shirt off you still look fat... that pretty much sums it up I guess!
  • KittieLea
    KittieLea Posts: 1,156 Member
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    skinny but no muscle tone.
  • azsuzi
    azsuzi Posts: 1,169 Member
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    I copied an article that I read called "Skinny-Fat and Diabetes" and posted it in my blog: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/azsuzi/view/skinny-fat-and-diabetes-168700
    Excellent information and an eye-opener for me. Just goes to show that what you eat really does matter.
  • ahmommy
    ahmommy Posts: 316 Member
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    I consider myself skinny fat at 5'10", ~145, and 25% body fat. Do I look awful? No, but I could look a lot better. I'm focusing on increasing strength and decreasing body fat.

    Weight is just one measure of health. There are a lot of overweight people out there who are active and take care of themselves. Those people are more healthy than a skinny person who eats crap and never exercises.
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
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    its pretty simple- healthy body weight HIGH body fat!
  • McLifterPants
    McLifterPants Posts: 457 Member
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    I didn't really understand it either until I started comparing people with low body fat percentages and developed muscles to those with higher BFP and less muscle. They may wear the same size, but the difference in how they are built is evident even to the naked eye. Now I see "skinny fat" people walking around all the time; girls who probably wear a 0, but whose arms still look soft, not toned.
  • RachelRemkes
    RachelRemkes Posts: 12 Member
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    Yep, I call myself skinny fat. I'm not overweight but am in the process of toning up wobbly thighs and tum :-).
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    Another term for "skinny fat" is TOFI (thin outside, fat inside). Some people that have low muscle mass may look thin but can have a lot of internal (visceral) fat that surrounds the vital organs and can be dangerous to health. Dieting without any exercise or strength training does not tend to decrease the levels of visceral fat and so someone may have lost weight and be smaller on the outside but may not have improved their health.
  • SailorJerrysRum
    SailorJerrysRum Posts: 38
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    Man, I remember one of my high school pals, a couple of pounds away from being underweight and she barely ate full meals. When she did eat it was the $1 bag of potato chips and some pop. So she was under-eating but what she consumed was pure junk.

    http://www.verkehrsinfo.at/fisico311_afp_91365a.jpg/story/153.635

    The image above is for people who needs visuals.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    Yep pretty simple like others have said. Someone that is thin but has a relatively high body fat content. Lots of people dont like the term because it usually gets attached to people like marathon runners, which I dont feel is necessarily fair.

    This site is full of people that reach their weight loss goal and are not happy with how they look. This is usually because they had a very large calorie deficit and/or did insane amounts of cardio while doing little to no resistance training. Sure they lost a ton of weight but a large portion came from lean body mass and not body fat. So they reach a number on the scale the whole time bragging about how fast they lost it and then wonder why they dont look all ripped or "toned". Or they want to lose the weight and then get "toned" by starting strength training after.

    Got to lift the weights even while cutting. Muscle is very expensive to maintain calorie wise. If you put your body in a large calorie deficit it will find the most efficient way to spend those calories. If it feels the muscles are not necessary, it may sacrifice them to reduce the calories needed.

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