How does someone end up skinny fat?

ummijaaz560
ummijaaz560 Posts: 228 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Is there a definitive way to guarantee you'll be skinny fat? I've seen people say losing weight too fast, or only doing cardio workouts has made them look skinny fat?

Is heavy lifting the answer?

Replies

  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    Lack of exercise, low levels of general movement, and a calorific input which does not lead to weight gain.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    StealthHealth wrote: »
    Lack of exercise, low levels of general movement, and a calorific input which does not lead to weight gain.

    And, often, too high a Caloric deficit, so the person loses a bit of lean mass.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    and not getting adequate protein
  • ummijaaz560
    ummijaaz560 Posts: 228 Member
    StealthHealth wrote: »
    Lack of exercise, low levels of general movement, and a calorific input which does not lead to weight gain.

    So is this someone that soley focuses on eating at a deficit, and not fitness? So for example if you dont workout and just eat less will you end up skinny fat?
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    If you are able to heavy lift, that's great. If you can't, try body weight training. It can be just as successful at building muscle and keeping you from being skinny fat. One thing, in my opinion, that everyone who is dieting needs, is exercise. Dieting without exercise is a sure fire way to become skinny fat.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Skinny fat is typically the result of low lean body mass. To steep of a deficit can contribute to this. Your body can only use so much of it's fat stores a day. If I remember correctly it is like 30 calories per pound of body fat. If your deficit exceeds that your body starts using its lean body mass as fuel. This results in rapid weight loss but since your losing lean body mass as well you may notice little to no change (possibly even an increase) in your BF%.
    To combat this it is recommended to have a modest deficit (no more than 1% bodyweight per week loss), adequate protein intake (0.8 grams per pound weight is the typical recommendation), and to preform some form of strength training.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    ummijaaz560 wrote: »
    StealthHealth wrote: »
    Lack of exercise, low levels of general movement, and a calorific input which does not lead to weight gain.

    So is this someone that soley focuses on eating at a deficit, and not fitness? So for example if you dont workout and just eat less will you end up skinny fat?

    Not necessarily... If you naturally carry a lot of muscle, genetics, you may not end up skinny fat at all.

    But if you do lift, and get protein, you will have a lower BF% at every weight during your weight loss journey, meaning you may hit your goal body, at a higher weight.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    ummijaaz560 wrote: »
    I've seen people say losing weight too fast, or only doing cardio workouts has made them look skinny fat?

    People also say food you eat with no one watching doesn't have calories in it, and carbs make you fat; people say all kinds of nonsense. For years I did only cardio workouts (cycling) and regular life stuff like walk to the store and carry heavy bags of groceries home. Plenty of muscle mass on me. I'm sure genetics plays a big role, but my point is that cardio exercise doesn't get in the way of having muscles.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Losing too fast and not getting enough protein.
  • BLifts38
    BLifts38 Posts: 248 Member
    i used to be the definition of skinny fat. For 2 years, i didn't pick up a weight. cardio 6 days a week... horrible, i know. i was 132 lbs but 33% body fat.... uhg terrible
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited May 2016
    A lot depends on where you are starting from....
    If you start off with low amounts of muscle through inactivity (fat/fat) then once you lose weight you will be skinny/fat.

    Seems to be a lot of people around that think they have the body of an athlete hiding under their fat - it's rarely like that.

    "Too much cardio" (it's exercise remember) is very rarely the cause of muscle loss.
  • AigreDoux
    AigreDoux Posts: 594 Member
    Partly genetics too. I am a 5'5" female who was skinny skinny at 120 lbs and fat fat at 165 lbs. And now after losing 18 lbs and 5 months of progressive resistance training (lifting "heavy") I'm medium fat at 147 lbs. I suspect I'll be skinny fat somewhere around 135 or so.

    It's tough to build much muscle in a deficit, especially if, like me, you don't have a genetic predilection for it.
  • rileyes
    rileyes Posts: 1,406 Member
    Train for muscle. For me it is a combination of medium and heavy reps. And same goes for cardio. Running 2 miles one day and sprinting short distances another.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
    I'll tell you how I got skinny fat. My kids started school and I sat on my bum all day crocheting. My diet lacked a good amount of protein and I wasn't exercising at all, no strength training, no cardio. Fixed all that skinny fatness after having my third child by lifting and cardio. Strength and resistance training will be your best friend when getting or preventing a skinny fat body.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Heavy lifting would NOT make you skinny fat.

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