what does skinny fat look like?

Here some tips to become skinny-fat:

1. Eat a Vegan Diet – If you don’t want to eat any meat, your body will just eat you instead. Unfortunately it’s on a low fat diet in this case.

2. Do lots of cardio – Training your body to be catabolic, breaking down muscle and to store fat is great if you want that “I used to be 300 lbs until I got sick” look.

3. Take lots of thermogenic fat burners – Nothing like turning up the furnace while the windows are open. The room might get warmer, but the bill in the end is never pleasant. Thermogenic maybe be short term fat burners, but in the long run they are more muscle burners and long term fat storers.

4. Go on a low calorie starvation diet – The HCG diet is a great examples. It’s like paying for the experience of a prison camp without making any new undesirable friends.

5. Join weight watchers – Obviously the only point these people haven’t gotten is that if you want to be healthy you should eat a healthy diet and exercise. Is there an app for that?

6. Take a spin class – Did you know spinning classes actually increase lower body fat. Do enough of them and you might slim your waist after you have completely fried your adrenals, but by then you will be sports some major cottage cheese thighs.

7. Never pick up a weight ever – I’m serious, it will make you so huge you will have to walk sideways down the hall to your office. Ok not really, but you know that age old testament, if you don’t use it you lose it. Well it’s pretty accurate when it comes to muscle tissue. If you don’t want to be Skeletor for next Halloween, then you might start moving some iron.

8. Skip meals – Skipping meals is like training for fat storage. The more you go without proper nutrition the more you tell you body to store fat for these long breaks.

9. Eat lots of Gluten – Nothing says lose muscle and store fat like a highly inflammatory food that depletes your body of vital nutrients and damages your digestive tract making it harder for you to get nutrients from the rest of your diet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/skinny-fat_b_1799797.html

Here some tips to become skinny-fat:

2. Do lots of cardio – Training your body to be catabolic, breaking down muscle and to store fat is great if you want that “I used to be 300 lbs until I got sick” look.

6. Take a spin class – Did you know spinning classes actually increase lower body fat. Do enough of them and you might slim your waist after you have completely fried your adrenals, but by then you will be sports some major cottage cheese thighs.

I think these points were a bit much.

Agreed... I do a lot of cardio, including spinning, and I'm hardly "skinny fat".


(BTW, that first photo is of Karolina Kurkova, one of THE most famous Victorias Secret models. That photo was actually photoshopped to give her a bit of extra fat... she doesn't look like that at all. It's a fake photo. I understand it is for example purposes but it's not real.)

Regardless, "skinny fat" is a relative term. What one person considers SF another may not. Its like asking, "what does a fat person look like? What does a skinny person look like?" It is going to depend on the person answering the question.

Medical terms of "Obese" and "Normal weight obesity" are much less subjective however. They are based on body fat percentages and are actual medical diagnosis, not just someone's personal opinion. I think that more people should be aware of Normal Weight Obesity, as it is an actual medical condition and carries risks of heart disease and diabetes just like Obesity does (as well as other ailments) but does not garner the same attention. If the term "skinny fat", disgusting as it is, helps to get that information out there and draw attention to NWO perhaps its a good thing.

Like others have said, normal weight obesity is a medical term, a diagnosis that would be made by a professional after blood tests and medical examination. 'Skinny- fat' is a colloquial term that perhaps originally derived from the medical term of Normal Weight Obesity, but is now being used for body-shaming, and is directed at anyone, mostly women, who do not lift heavy, or those who eat at a lower calorie amount, and like to do cardio for exercise.
No one on this site has the credentials or ability to diagnose anyone else on here as being 'skinny-fat' based solely upon the way they look, or their choice of exercise method.

Mental retardation is a medical term used by professionals, however, the term 'retarded' has become a very offensive term that is no longer acceptable, as it is used as an insult and is very offensive to those with disabilities.
I would hope that the un-official term of 'skinny-fat', would become no longer acceptable for use on this site as well. But as long as body-shaming still exists, I imagine this term will continue to be used. And young women will continue to feel shame every time they see it described on here and they look in the mirror to see they are less than perfect.

Yes, it is grossly misused on this site every day, and is used as an insult.

I actually haven't seen that either. I don't think the term skinny-fat is offensive. If someone appears thin but their body fat % is in the overweight to obese range, they are fat. Body fat percentage is a much better indicator than BMI and no one is shaming anyone. You are entirely too sensitive.

I have never been accused of being too sensitive by anyone, other than my older sister who is a blatant 'witch' who covers up her low self-esteem by insulting everyone in her path, then if they call her out on it, she says they are 'too sensitive'. But that is just my issue with her.

I am secure enough at 49, that I am not going to have my self-worth affected by anything a stranger on an internet forum throws at me. However, there are many young girls on here that are still struggling with body image and self-worth, and when they see pics posted on here and people responding how horrible the girl's body looks, and they look in the mirror and see the same thing, it can be quite damaging.

If you honestly have not seen anyone on here use skinny fat as an insult, go read some of the 1200 calorie threads. That term gets thrown around a lot in those.

Some people may not have a problem with it, and may even use it to describe themselves, but that doesn't take away the fact that it is often misused, and is used as an insult towards certain body types.

One poster above described it as someone who has skinny arms and legs and a lot of fat in the midsection. Are you not aware that this is a genetic body shape? It is called an apple shape. Apples carry their extra fat in their midsection, whereas Pears carry their extra fat in their hips and thighs.
They both can lose body fat all over, but the last place it will leave is where they predominately carry that BF. That is the hardest fat to lose. You cannot spot reduce fat, so it doesn't matter what type of exercise you do, only an overall calorie deficit will get rid of that fat.
Yes, building muscle will help raise your BMR so that you burn more fat, but you can't determine where they fat will come from.

I am an apple shape. Even at my thinnest, I have always had extra fat around my waist. Even 20 yrs ago, when I was training with pro body builders and had some amazingly strong, well-defined muscles, and not an ounce of fat anywhere else, I still had fat in my midsection. There is only one inch between the bottom rib and my hip bone. Doesn't leave much room for the 'hourglass' shape. lol.

I was not 'skinny-fat' then, and now, 40 pounds heavier, I am not 'skinny-fat' either. Now I am just fat, but getting leaner.

I just wish we could get away from the skinny and fat labels and concentrate more on Healthy or Unhealthy.

ETA, and yes, I do see the irony in my last 2 statements :bigsmile:

I seriously think you're reading insults in to factual statements. High visceral fat is not an insult, it's a dangerous medical condition. A person can be a healthy weight, but if they have high visceral fat they're at equal risk for obesity-related diseases- including hypertension, diabetes, stroke, high cholesterol, cancers, etc- as any other obese person. In fact, their risk might be higher, because they're less likely to be aware of the risks and adjust their lifestyles accordingly.

As far as apple vs. pear shapes- yes, it is a body type. Unfortunately, it's much riskier to have an apple body-type than a pear type. Two women, otherwise equal- at the same body weight and same BF%, if one is a pear and one is an apple, the pear has much lower disease risk factors. It's not 'shaming' to be aware of clinical risk factors. One of the reasons that waist-to-hip ratio is currently being favored as a better risk factor predictor is that carrying midsection weight is dangerous. Unfortunately it does mean that apple shaped people may have to work harder and maintain a lower body fat percentage to be equally healthy as their pear-shaped counterparts.It sucks, but it's reality.

This is me. This is what skinny fat looks like & I hate it! Trying to get rid of it. I am probably the textbook definition.

You look great.

You aren't skinny fat. Looking at your picture, I'd guess about 25% bf (dangerous to guess)
Skinny fat is 35%bf or higher for someone with a BMI in the "normal" range.

Good luck onyour goals! Please understand that your body is normal and fine - you can go for more fit look, if that is what you want. But let go the hate.

Yes, this. Don't mistake "I'm not at my goal yet" for something "there's something wrong with me."

Here some tips to become skinny-fat:

1. Eat a Vegan Diet – If you don’t want to eat any meat, your body will just eat you instead. Unfortunately it’s on a low fat diet in this case.

2. Do lots of cardio – Training your body to be catabolic, breaking down muscle and to store fat is great if you want that “I used to be 300 lbs until I got sick” look.

3. Take lots of thermogenic fat burners – Nothing like turning up the furnace while the windows are open. The room might get warmer, but the bill in the end is never pleasant. Thermogenic maybe be short term fat burners, but in the long run they are more muscle burners and long term fat storers.

4. Go on a low calorie starvation diet – The HCG diet is a great examples. It’s like paying for the experience of a prison camp without making any new undesirable friends.

5. Join weight watchers – Obviously the only point these people haven’t gotten is that if you want to be healthy you should eat a healthy diet and exercise. Is there an app for that?

6. Take a spin class – Did you know spinning classes actually increase lower body fat. Do enough of them and you might slim your waist after you have completely fried your adrenals, but by then you will be sports some major cottage cheese thighs.

7. Never pick up a weight ever – I’m serious, it will make you so huge you will have to walk sideways down the hall to your office. Ok not really, but you know that age old testament, if you don’t use it you lose it. Well it’s pretty accurate when it comes to muscle tissue. If you don’t want to be Skeletor for next Halloween, then you might start moving some iron.

8. Skip meals – Skipping meals is like training for fat storage. The more you go without proper nutrition the more you tell you body to store fat for these long breaks.

9. Eat lots of Gluten – Nothing says lose muscle and store fat like a highly inflammatory food that depletes your body of vital nutrients and damages your digestive tract making it harder for you to get nutrients from the rest of your diet.

Here some tips to become skinny-fat:

1. Eat a Vegan Diet – If you don’t want to eat any meat, your body will just eat you instead. Unfortunately it’s on a low fat diet in this case.

2. Do lots of cardio – Training your body to be catabolic, breaking down muscle and to store fat is great if you want that “I used to be 300 lbs until I got sick” look.

3. Take lots of thermogenic fat burners – Nothing like turning up the furnace while the windows are open. The room might get warmer, but the bill in the end is never pleasant. Thermogenic maybe be short term fat burners, but in the long run they are more muscle burners and long term fat storers.

4. Go on a low calorie starvation diet – The HCG diet is a great examples. It’s like paying for the experience of a prison camp without making any new undesirable friends.

5. Join weight watchers – Obviously the only point these people haven’t gotten is that if you want to be healthy you should eat a healthy diet and exercise. Is there an app for that?

6. Take a spin class – Did you know spinning classes actually increase lower body fat. Do enough of them and you might slim your waist after you have completely fried your adrenals, but by then you will be sports some major cottage cheese thighs.

7. Never pick up a weight ever – I’m serious, it will make you so huge you will have to walk sideways down the hall to your office. Ok not really, but you know that age old testament, if you don’t use it you lose it. Well it’s pretty accurate when it comes to muscle tissue. If you don’t want to be Skeletor for next Halloween, then you might start moving some iron.

8. Skip meals – Skipping meals is like training for fat storage. The more you go without proper nutrition the more you tell you body to store fat for these long breaks.

9. Eat lots of Gluten – Nothing says lose muscle and store fat like a highly inflammatory food that depletes your body of vital nutrients and damages your digestive tract making it harder for you to get nutrients from the rest of your diet.

Seriously? And what are your credentials? Cycling makes you skinny fat? What a joke. The people I cycle with are anything BUT skinny fat. Please stop bashing what you clearly don't know.

This is me. This is what skinny fat looks like & I hate it! Trying to get rid of it. I am probably the textbook definition.

You look great.

You aren't skinny fat. Looking at your picture, I'd guess about 25% bf (dangerous to guess)
Skinny fat is 35%bf or higher for someone with a BMI in the "normal" range.

Good luck onyour goals! Please understand that your body is normal and fine - you can go for more fit look, if that is what you want. But let go the hate.

Yes, this. Don't mistake "I'm not at my goal yet" for something "there's something wrong with me."

Yes, I've been guessed to b 25% But I'm 5'4 3/4 119lb. That is a bit too high of a BF% for my height & weight I would think. In a few more lbs I'll almost be underweight I hope by that point I can be 20% so I can bulk, but idk if it will happen. Once I posted with my pictures on here & people called me the definition of skinny fat.

Nnnnnnnooooooooooooooo don't do what I did. I waited until I was 5'7 and 120lbs before I started 'bulking' and as you can see on page 5 in the pictures on the left I had like no muscle so I had to gain 10lbs in hope of acquiring some muscle mass back and so I'm packing on the fat again. Back up to about 20%BF now. Some day, I well have that line down my stomach...it was the vaguest thing ever and I was about 17% BF. Retain the muscle you have now *creepy voice while rattling weights* train now.

This is me. This is what skinny fat looks like & I hate it! Trying to get rid of it. I am probably the textbook definition.

You look great.

You aren't skinny fat. Looking at your picture, I'd guess about 25% bf (dangerous to guess)
Skinny fat is 35%bf or higher for someone with a BMI in the "normal" range.

Good luck onyour goals! Please understand that your body is normal and fine - you can go for more fit look, if that is what you want. But let go the hate.

Yes, this. Don't mistake "I'm not at my goal yet" for something "there's something wrong with me."

Yes, I've been guessed to b 25% But I'm 5'4 3/4 119lb. That is a bit too high of a BF% for my height & weight I would think. In a few more lbs I'll almost be underweight I hope by that point I can be 20% so I can bulk, but idk if it will happen. Once I posted with my pictures on here & people called me the definition of skinny fat.

Nnnnnnnooooooooooooooo don't do what I did. I waited until I was 5'7 and 120lbs before I started 'bulking' and as you can see on page 5 in the pictures on the left I had like no muscle so I had to gain 10lbs in hope of acquiring some muscle mass back and so I'm packing on the fat again. Back up to about 20%BF now. Some day, I well have that line down my stomach...it was the vaguest thing ever and I was about 17% BF. Retain the muscle you have now *creepy voice while rattling weights* train now.

I lift weights on a small deficit now, so I think I"m maintaining MOST of my muscle. I know not all of it. But it's not recommended to bulk at 25% BF.

This is me. This is what skinny fat looks like & I hate it! Trying to get rid of it. I am probably the textbook definition.

You look great.

You aren't skinny fat. Looking at your picture, I'd guess about 25% bf (dangerous to guess)
Skinny fat is 35%bf or higher for someone with a BMI in the "normal" range.

Good luck onyour goals! Please understand that your body is normal and fine - you can go for more fit look, if that is what you want. But let go the hate.

You would have to have a very slight build to be 35+% BF and still be in "normal" BMI. Normal BMI cutoff for my height is 191. In order to be more than 35% body fat at 191, I'd have to weigh 124 pounds. My LBM is 150ish.

This is me. This is what skinny fat looks like & I hate it! Trying to get rid of it. I am probably the textbook definition.

You look great.

You aren't skinny fat. Looking at your picture, I'd guess about 25% bf (dangerous to guess)
Skinny fat is 35%bf or higher for someone with a BMI in the "normal" range.

Good luck onyour goals! Please understand that your body is normal and fine - you can go for more fit look, if that is what you want. But let go the hate.

You would have to have a very slight build to be 35+% BF and still be in "normal" BMI. Normal BMI cutoff for my height is 191. In order to be more than 35% body fat at 191, I'd have to weigh 124 pounds. My LBM is 150ish.

the thing a being skinny fat is having very low LBM

I understand that, but as a 5'7" male, 124 pounds LBM would require a ridiculously small amount of muscle, The only men I see like that are usually ill, and don't have much fat on them, besides.

This is me. This is what skinny fat looks like & I hate it! Trying to get rid of it. I am probably the textbook definition.

You look great.

You aren't skinny fat. Looking at your picture, I'd guess about 25% bf (dangerous to guess)
Skinny fat is 35%bf or higher for someone with a BMI in the "normal" range.

Good luck onyour goals! Please understand that your body is normal and fine - you can go for more fit look, if that is what you want. But let go the hate.

You would have to have a very slight build to be 35+% BF and still be in "normal" BMI. Normal BMI cutoff for my height is 191. In order to be more than 35% body fat at 191, I'd have to weigh 124 pounds. My LBM is 150ish.

the thing a being skinny fat is having very low LBM

I understand that, but as a 5'7" male, 124 pounds LBM would require a ridiculously small amount of muscle, The only men I see like that are usually ill, and don't have much fat on them, besides.

Thinking about it more, I guess it could happen, with a different body type than my own; perhaps I'm just trying to picture myself looking like that. I wouldn't think it is very common, though.

It would definitely be easier for a woman, too, since they are naturally higher in bodyfat% and less in muscle%. Perhaps 35% is not the cutoff for men.

I think it's much more common in women

Damn I used to look good-



5'3, 135 pounds, 32% body fat. Size 6-8

Eta: this is really embarrassing to see... =\. Even my face was fat.....

Damn I used to look good-



5'3, 135 pounds, 32% body fat. Size 6-8

Eta: this is really embarrassing to see... =\. Even my face was fat.....

Hmm. I'd say you are closer to 27% body fat than 32% which would give a LBM of 98.5 lbs vs 92 lbs.

This is me. This is what skinny fat looks like & I hate it! Trying to get rid of it. I am probably the textbook definition.

You look great.

You aren't skinny fat. Looking at your picture, I'd guess about 25% bf (dangerous to guess)
Skinny fat is 35%bf or higher for someone with a BMI in the "normal" range.

Good luck onyour goals! Please understand that your body is normal and fine - you can go for more fit look, if that is what you want. But let go the hate.

You would have to have a very slight build to be 35+% BF and still be in "normal" BMI. Normal BMI cutoff for my height is 191. In order to be more than 35% body fat at 191, I'd have to weigh 124 pounds. My LBM is 150ish.

the thing a being skinny fat is having very low LBM

I understand that, but as a 5'7" male, 124 pounds LBM would require a ridiculously small amount of muscle, The only men I see like that are usually ill, and don't have much fat on them, besides.

Thinking about it more, I guess it could happen, with a different body type than my own; perhaps I'm just trying to picture myself looking like that. I wouldn't think it is very common, though.

It would definitely be easier for a woman, too, since they are naturally higher in bodyfat% and less in muscle%. Perhaps 35% is not the cutoff for men.