Where my "skinny fat" people at?

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tdc8557
tdc8557 Posts: 16 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone else here dealing with the skinny fat problem? If so, how did you tone yourself up to being skinny fit? Having some ab definition would be nice right now.
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  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
    edited February 2015
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    The real answer is to start lifting heavy. Check out programs like New Rules of Lifting for Women, Stronglifts, or Strong Curves.

    ETA: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

    For me? Top abs (four pack) showed up with weight loss. Still working on the last two. Arm definition is slowly coming through swimming. Once I lost the saddlebags, my flamingo thighs came back and there ain't nothing to be done about that no matter how much I squat and cycle. (I got some hunky calves, though. Yay swim.)
  • tdc8557
    tdc8557 Posts: 16 Member
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    Nice link! I know this is the fitness board, but did you have any diets you followed or recipes you'd recommend?
  • ajwall3
    ajwall3 Posts: 187
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    I was beginning to see signs that I was losing muscle, becoming more soft than I wanted and it was because I was burning to much by running/elliptical and eating to little. I'm only running once a week (as opposed to 4 miles a day 6 days/wk) and heavy lifting with stronglifts 3x week. I'm eating at maintenance level (1710) as opposed as before (1200). Eat 1g protein fir 1 lb of body weight. I eat 115 a day. Eggs, good fats, protein powder helps me get half what I aim for. I was on my way to being SF but I had to stop and change my mindset before it got worse. I'd read up on it before and could tell that's where I was headed. I'm seeing a lot of good results after a week. Heavy weights and protein seem to be key.
  • Mikeyloye
    Mikeyloye Posts: 43 Member
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    My PT is making me so lots of strength training, it's prob to make sure when I have lost my excess I won't be skinny fat.

    Although the thought of being skinny fat over fat fat is much better. My arms have got bigger and I have small pecs showing (pretty small)

    Once the belly fats gone then who knows, I do cardio training 2-3 times a week and swimming at weekends.

    But I will tone it down once I have less body fat don't want to eat my own muscles lol
  • AndreaWhite611
    AndreaWhite611 Posts: 54 Member
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    I think I'd qualify as skinny fat. 5'4" 135 pounds. So in clothing its not looking too bad but pretty flabby without. Been doing some strength training classes and gearing myself up to start some heavier lifting.
  • SR_86
    SR_86 Posts: 58 Member
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    Me!!! I am 5'4 and 124lbs and have 34.5% body fat. I got a body composition analysis scan 2 weeks ago which recommended that I loose 6kg of fat and replace with 6kg of muscle. (So not actually loose weight!) So that's my goal. At my next scan I'm hoping to see major improvements as I've been lifting 3x a week and also doing cardio. Skinny fat sucks lol x
  • rkquade
    rkquade Posts: 17
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    Lift heavy and plenty of protein. If you want a good plan that will help to build muscle and can help you lose fat at the same time (I did in 6 short weeks), check out Shortcut to Shred by Jim Stoppani: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jim-stoppani-six-week-shortcut-to-shred.html
  • battybecks
    battybecks Posts: 147 Member
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    Yup, I'm still skinny fat. I've been doing NROLFW for a couple of month (just started stage 2) and it's looking a lot better already! Eating maintenance, lifting heavy, and doing less cardio (although I do still rely on cardio burns for those days when there is too much cheese or too much beer!). My arms are looking pretty awesome, and my stomach is flattening out a bit. Slowly slowly wins the race!
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    tdc8557 wrote: »
    Nice link! I know this is the fitness board, but did you have any diets you followed or recipes you'd recommend?

    It's an "eat any kind of food as long as you meet your calories and macros" diet.
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
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    Former (and maybe still slightly) skinny-fat dude here.

    The secret was heavy, compound lifts, eating an absolute ton, and keeping the cardio down to just a 10-15 min warmup before lifting. That is it.

    I was using isolating exercises like machines and such, but I didn't have any progress, and attributed it to my body type. I also was unaware of the mountains of food I actually needed to consume until I started counting calories.

    I started getting serious about it 9 months ago, upgraded to a big-kid gym, conquered my fear of the rack, and the results make me upset at all the time I wasted before trying to get in shape.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    I'm working my way up from "skinny fat" -- I lost about 60 pounds last year, but wasn't lifting during that period (just lots of running / bicycling) so I also lost muscle mass. Starting lifting heavy in October & have put on about 8 lbs since then (some fat, some muscle). I recently started carb cycling to try to get rid of my remaining pudge while being able to keep gaining strength...we'll see how that works over the next few months.
  • tdc8557
    tdc8557 Posts: 16 Member
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    I've been working out consistently since November and my body is starting to get firmer but I'm not seeing much muscle definition. I'm also really small-5'3 and 96.8 pounds, and that makes it confusing: do I gain weight so I can turn it into muscle? I have no idea how to decide the amount of calories I should be eating because I don't know which direction to go in. Halp!

    Maybe I should go get a scan to see what's actually going on with my body right now-where do I do that? Thanks for the responses guys! Keep 'em coming :)
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    tdc8557 wrote: »
    I've been working out consistently since November and my body is starting to get firmer but I'm not seeing much muscle definition. I'm also really small-5'3 and 96.8 pounds, and that makes it confusing: do I gain weight so I can turn it into muscle? I have no idea how to decide the amount of calories I should be eating because I don't know which direction to go in. Halp!

    Definition comes with lower body fat (assuming the muscles are there).

    Are you using a particular program (aka, Stronglifts, Starting Strength, NROL), a trainer-designed program, or just ad-hoc lifting?

    The tried-and-true method is bulk-cut -- eat a bit above maintenance with plenty of protein while you build muscle (and add fat), then switch to a deficit while continuing to lift (and usually adding more cardio on the non-lift days).

    Other methods (recomps of various sorts) are more controversial. They're certainly harder to do right.
  • SR_86
    SR_86 Posts: 58 Member
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    tdc8557 wrote: »
    I've been working out consistently since November and my body is starting to get firmer but I'm not seeing much muscle definition. I'm also really small-5'3 and 96.8 pounds, and that makes it confusing: do I gain weight so I can turn it into muscle? I have no idea how to decide the amount of calories I should be eating because I don't know which direction to go in. Halp!

    Maybe I should go get a scan to see what's actually going on with my body right now-where do I do that? Thanks for the responses guys! Keep 'em coming :)

    I got mine done at my gym. I am getting a more advanced (or accurate!) one at the hospital next month, a DEXA scan. But this is to check my bone density, the bonus is that it reads your body fat % too :) so I will have that to compare! I hope it has gone down!!
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    Started "skinny fat" when I joined. Did the low calorie diet thing, lost about 12kg, still didn't look right, just looked gaunt, despite heavy lifting (strength did go up but didn't look right) and HIIT. Cranked up the calories and continued to focus on heavy lifting, less cardio (I still play sports). Look much better now!
  • tdc8557
    tdc8557 Posts: 16 Member
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    Brolympus wrote: »
    Former (and maybe still slightly) skinny-fat dude here.

    The secret was heavy, compound lifts, eating an absolute ton, and keeping the cardio down to just a 10-15 min warmup before lifting. That is it.

    I was using isolating exercises like machines and such, but I didn't have any progress, and attributed it to my body type. I also was unaware of the mountains of food I actually needed to consume until I started counting calories.

    I started getting serious about it 9 months ago, upgraded to a big-kid gym, conquered my fear of the rack, and the results make me upset at all the time I wasted before trying to get in shape.

    I've never done real weights at a real gym before and I find it very intimidating. Any tips for how to get over it?

    Also any good ideas on how to work out the calories I should be taking in? A lot of things I've seen have said to multiply my body weight by 10, but that seems really low to me.
  • jontucc
    jontucc Posts: 142 Member
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    I am skinny fat and fat mainly in my tummy area. I am reading convict conditioning and going to have a go at calisthenics. I am really weak so have to start slowly but steadily. I am 157 cm and 5 1kg and eating 1200 calories.
  • ajwall3
    ajwall3 Posts: 187
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    tdc8557 wrote: »
    Brolympus wrote: »
    Former (and maybe still slightly) skinny-fat dude here.

    The secret was heavy, compound lifts, eating an absolute ton, and keeping the cardio down to just a 10-15 min warmup before lifting. That is it.

    I was using isolating exercises like machines and such, but I didn't have any progress, and attributed it to my body type. I also was unaware of the mountains of food I actually needed to consume until I started counting calories.

    I started getting serious about it 9 months ago, upgraded to a big-kid gym, conquered my fear of the rack, and the results make me upset at all the time I wasted before trying to get in shape.

    I've never done real weights at a real gym before and I find it very intimidating. Any tips for how to get over it?

    Also any good ideas on how to work out the calories I should be taking in? A lot of things I've seen have said to multiply my body weight by 10, but that seems really low to me.

    Don't let it intimidate you! Look, I was super nervous about starting a weight lifting regimen at my gym because they're all buff guys there and I'm this tiny shrimp of a girl lol I didn't want to look clueless or out of my depth. I highly recommend stronglifts 5x5. Www.stronglifts.com there's an app as well that's super easy. If you can't find a friend to go with you (even if it's once, it'll help you feel more at ease) ask someone who works at the gym to show you where the equipment is. Tell them what exercises you're planning to do and they'll explain or demonstrate, watch your form and help you get introduced to it. Stronglifts has videos that are good in helping proper form. Stronglifts use compound exercises not isolated muscle groups. You work more at once with compound weight exercises (squats, barbell row, bench press and deadlifts and overhead press)

    You can TOTALLY do this. All it takes is a few times and it's the same exercises so you'll get into a new comfortable routine.

    You got this! Plus gym ppl are usually really nice and willing to help!
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Pick up heavy objects. Put heavy objects down. Rinse. Repeat. Profit.

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