What do you do when your fat but underweight??!

SaebraSpirit
SaebraSpirit Posts: 150 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Heya my name is Alex and I don't know about you but I struggle with fattier thighs :(
Since March last year I have lost 14.4kg of weight (31lbs).
I used to weigh 67.8kg and now I weigh 53.4kg at a height of 5'9", my BMI now being 17.9, good you'd say? No!

I was on the Paleo diet/lifestyle for the start of this year and did really well with it (I love it! So much energy and health!) but pressure from my family (they didn't approve of paleo :O)forced me into bad diets with unfortunately lots of sugar and carby things but a high caloric defecit, as you can imagine I lost more than I wanted to and it was all my lean muscle mass!
So now I look almost anorexic on my top half however I have huge, fatty thighs and everything is like jelly even though I am now classed as underweight.

Personally I have now returned to paleo and now go to the gym 3 times a week to lift weights and do short but intense cardio sessions (10-15mins) and then I have Saturday being my sprint day. Furthermore I walk to and from my college and around my town every day.
I havn't noticed much change yet but I know that I really must rid all this excess fat and build the muscle again.
If anyone can give me some advice on what to do it would help so much!
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Replies

  • sailawaykate
    sailawaykate Posts: 126
    Loved doing paleo (now I am too poor to continue for a while, lol)! I, too, suffer from thighs-holding-all-my-fat syndrome. :) So here are some suggestions:

    1. Eat more. (aim for full-fat everything, high-quality meats, etc., just don't eat all the processed stuff)

    2. Lift heavy. You're not going to bulk up, but you'll gain functional strength and more muscle mass will help up your weight without gaining fat back (even on a higher-calorie diet). You're probably getting enough protein already on paleo, but make sure you're hitting your macros in that arena so you don't lose any more muscle mass.

    Cardio is good, too, just don't focus too much on it if what you're going for is muscle gain. Sounds like you're getting a good bit already, and are off to a good start for your goals.

    P.S. Ever tried Stronglifts 5x5?
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Permabulk
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    I personally wouldn't do any cardio, I would bulk by eating more calories, and lift heavy 3-4 times a week. You're actually in a good position to gain some nice muscle.
  • djeffreys10
    djeffreys10 Posts: 2,312 Member
    Eat clean, about 10-15% over tdee. Hit your macros. Lift heavy. Long, slow bulk.
  • GuybrushThreepw00d
    GuybrushThreepw00d Posts: 784 Member
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Faz4QQQPJQY
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    Add 15-20 lbs of muscle.. which means switching between bulk/cut cycles until you are more normal or towards the higher end of the acceptable range.

    Also, what do you classify as fat thighs? I find this is more of a perception thing.
  • MattN1972
    MattN1972 Posts: 117
    Read about body composition. You lost some muscle while losing. Like everyone has said, lift some weights with a quality structured program.
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
    I would start working on my body image and acceptance. Youre not fat and you dont have fat thighs. You may always be a bit pear shaped, but slim pear shaped is nice.

    Also if youve been heavier before, it may be that your thighs will never be as firm as you would like.

    I do hear you, because i am pear shaped too, and the only time ive actually been happy with my bottom half, is when my top half was gaunt and bony. Its a compromise. Ive actually decided to try and keep my bodyweight a little higher than it was for the sake of not showing my ribs and having a gaunt face, even if my legs are a little bigger than id like.

    At 17.9 BMI you really need to think about putting on a couple of pounds. Hopefully of muscle, but really, worrying about flabby legs when you are quite a bit underweight, is much more a state of mind than anything physical
  • PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot
    PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot Posts: 596 Member
    Add more protein, and start throwing in some significant work with weights. The extra muscle will help immensely with burning excess bodyfat. I'm trying to do this myself now, I've lost ~50 lbs, but a lot of my upper body muscle went with it as I run ~40+ miles per week. good luck!
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    10% over TDEE. An intelligently designed full-body lifting routine you can do 3 times a week. Minimal cardio (enough for heart health, but not so much you'll create a deficit). Bucketload of protein. Time. Consistency. Hard-work.

    Ditch the mirror. Obsession over a body part when you're already this skinny is a sign of a dark and dangerous beginning. Focus on healthy things like getting enough food and hitting PR's in the gym. Enjoy life and don't obsess!
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    Eat at a small surplus of calories, lift heavy. You'll gain some muscle, which in your upper body would help even things out a little.

    Later on you can work on cutting (losing fat) but I'd say wait until you are just above what you'd consider an ideal weight before you do that.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
    If you could measure your body fat that would cut down on totally arbitrary advice. BMI is a useless number for individuals. You may be skinny fat which means it is probably a good idea to go on a slow bulk with only a slight calorie surplus.


    You didn't lose muscle because you started eating "carby things". If you lost muscle (no measurements of lean mass given so we don't really know), you lost it by running a calorie deficit and not using Those muscles. Paleo isn't going to allow you to put on significant muscle while not lifting. There is no diet for that.
  • squatsandlipgloss
    squatsandlipgloss Posts: 595 Member
    I would start working on my body image and acceptance. Youre not fat and you dont have fat thighs. You may always be a bit pear shaped, but slim pear shaped is nice.

    Also if youve been heavier before, it may be that your thighs will never be as firm as you would like.

    I do hear you, because i am pear shaped too, and the only time ive actually been happy with my bottom half, is when my top half was gaunt and bony. Its a compromise. Ive actually decided to try and keep my bodyweight a little higher than it was for the sake of not showing my ribs and having a gaunt face, even if my legs are a little bigger than id like.

    At 17.9 BMI you really need to think about putting on a couple of pounds. Hopefully of muscle, but really, worrying about flabby legs when you are quite a bit underweight, is much more a state of mind than anything physical

    All of this.
  • broscientist
    broscientist Posts: 102 Member
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Faz4QQQPJQY

    ^^
    These guys act ridiculous but, they actually offer pretty good advice.

    You lift weights, so you are already doing somethings right. What kind of a program are you on?
    Intense short cardio is OK.
    Walking a lot is excellent.

    As for your diet, make sure you are getting enough protein. 1 gram protein per lbs of body weight. (Paleo is not essential but, definitely will give you adequate protein), I got nothing against Paleo but, I need to eat ice cream once in a while.


    As for the "fatty thigh", I'm afraid that you are probably genetically stuck with that to a certain extent. To truly get rid of it, you would have to lose more fat. You can safely get down to around 15% bodyfat but, any lower than that, you will start getting into that unhealthy level. So, whatever your thighs looks at 15% body fat is probably what you will have to accept.

    Something that you can do, is make your leg more "Shapely". This is where lifting heavy weight will do wonders. Lifting will actually increase the size of your thigh, but, it will "look" slimmer due to the nice shape it will create. Also, working out your shoulders and upper back will help give the illusion of an "hourglass" look.
  • SaebraSpirit
    SaebraSpirit Posts: 150 Member
    Thanks everyone for the advice! It was great reading all the commentry!
    I realize I am who I am and nothing can change it :)
    But I can atleast give my body more health and better strength! :D

    So I gather I must lift weights about 2-3x a week, Im gonna keep sprinting as I know thats gonna really help the thighs and I'll walk an hour or two every day with some running sometimes just to get that nice feeling of the wind rushing through your hair :)
    I realize it will take a while to notice any large effects, I estimate I will definately notice some improvement in the next two months? Is that a fair guess or should I be expecting longer?
  • fruitninja93
    fruitninja93 Posts: 17
    If you're underweight then I don't think your thighs are actually fat! More likely they are a bit bigger in proportion to the rets of you, which is really skinny! So if you want to look more in proportion, try to gain more muscle in your stomach, arms and upper body, which will make you look a bit less pear shaped. But being pear shaped is no bad thing - although you can do some stuff to work on your shape, overall we have a shape that we were made with and there's not that much we can do about it! I also am bottom heavy and however much weight I lose my thighs and bum are bigger than my top half... this is something I always used to stress about but now I've come to accept it. It sounds cheesy but everyone is different and as long as you're fit and healthy (which for you means gaining a bit of weight!) there's not too much to worry about!
  • tonytoo
    tonytoo Posts: 307
    ...Im gonna keep sprinting as I know thats gonna really help the thighs...

    Read it all again! Stop doing cardio, just lift weights and walk a few miles.
  • KAbena
    KAbena Posts: 50 Member
    weights weights weights!
  • hsnider29
    hsnider29 Posts: 394 Member
    ...Im gonna keep sprinting as I know thats gonna really help the thighs...

    Read it all again! Stop doing cardio, just lift weights and walk a few miles.

    Sprinting isn't going to help trim your thighs. ^^Ditto.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    Yea, we think you missed it. Essentially


    1. Reduce cardio
    2. Significantly increase calories to allow a surplus
    3. Increase weight training
    4. Bulk


    If you feel it's necessary to do sprints, you just have to eat more as your TDEE will increase. And obviously, if sprints were the best thing for your legs, you would already be happy with where they are.
  • green_owl
    green_owl Posts: 62 Member
    Paleo is great! but don't cut out dairy if you're underweight. for the thighs do some heavy squatting instead of runing.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    You have a picture up, and you do not have fat thighs, they are quite slim. Case closed.

    But for those of you coming into this thread wondering what to do in the situation where you are underweight but squishier then your heavier counterparts, these are the steps:

    1) Pick up a heavy lifting routine. Heavy lifting means lifting things that are about 85% of your heaviest rep, for about 5 reps.
    2) pick up a calorie surplus. Slowly put on weight. You're underweight, and you're higher fat then you want to be. The goal here is to put on muscle mass, so when you do a cut, instead of the previous fat you had at your weight, there will be a firmness where there wasn't.
    3) Stay there until you're about 10lbs or so into the healthy weight range.
    4) Do a cut. Slowly lose weight. If you take before and after pictures, you'll notice that if you compare pictures at the same weight, you will be significantly slimmer and firmer. Same weight:
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    photo.jpg
  • j6o4
    j6o4 Posts: 871 Member
    Slow bulk and then a slow cut when your happy with the amount of muscle you put back on.
  • fivethreeone
    fivethreeone Posts: 8,196 Member
    I lost an inch and a half from my thighs this summer on the Bedrest Thigh Reduction Protocol!

    Here are the directions:
    1) get serious injury. Foot injuries are preferable, but really it could be anything affecting the legs.

    2) get placed on bedrest (you will need a doctor's permission for this)

    3) Rest daily, 23-24 hours, without fail. I tried 7 weeks, you can go longer if you want.

    4) Atrophy!

    Seriously though,my thighs have never looked worse. Can't wait to get back in the gym and hit that squat rack.
  • jalara
    jalara Posts: 2,599 Member
    Short answer: Make an appointment with a professional dietitian who is actually qualified to help you as being underweight has very real health risks. Taking advice from the internet isn't always the best idea.
  • icyeyes317
    icyeyes317 Posts: 226 Member
    Stop listening to everyone else. You know what you like, and what you are doing. You loved paleo, so eat paleo. You loved lifting, so lift. make YOURSELF happy, not everyone else.
  • darkguardian419
    darkguardian419 Posts: 1,302 Member
    lift weights.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,030 Member
    Eat a moderate surplus and do some high volume workouts to add some muscle.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Does the change in your eating habits, being underweight and thinking your thighs are fat triggering old habits from bulimia?

    What the...?

    From OP's profile. She used to be bullemic.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    If that's you in your pic, I think you may have body dysmorphic disorder, because your thighs are not fat - AT ALL. They probably just need some firming if anything. Agree with other posters who emphasize strength training and clean eating as a focus. I think you will like the results. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

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