How do I get lean when I'm skinny fat?

retro_gamer
retro_gamer Posts: 127 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, like everyone else I'd like to have abs and 10 percent body fat, my diet is pretty much junk food for the most part. For example I eat everything a dietician would tell you not to, fast food, chips, TV dinners and processed food. I'm somewhat active on some days I'll take a long 6 mile walk that burns off some calories, I think I destroyed a lot of my muscles because I lost 150 pounds. Right now I'm 200 pounds from when I was about 350. I feel like my body is fighting against me to lose weight but that could also be the fact that I only eat junk food, I'm wondering if I cleaned up my diet, like if I ate eggs and chicken breast and the good foods that everyone recommends if that would lean up my body, I just ate 5 eggs fried up with tomato and peppers for dinner because my mom cooked it for me and she usually never does, so When I want to eat healthy I usually buy pre cooked chicken breasts from wegmans that are 250 calories each, but that's expensive, so just to recap. I'm trying to lean up my body and wondering if eating healthy food helps. Because right now I'm just going calories in calories out and eat whatever I want, also according to my my Fitbit I eat mostly carbs then fat and then least of protein, my diet is basically all f***ed up and I need help

Replies

  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    Do you do any other exercise than walking? If you don't strength train, I'd add that in. And up your protein. You can still have your junk food, but prioritize your protein first. Cleaning up your diet may or may not help you lean out. It MAY give you more energy that you can exert into physical activity that will reshape your body. It WILL PROBABLY ensure that you are getting the micronutrients required for your body to perform optimally. It MAY reduce bloating from sodium/water retention.

    Honestly I eat a larger amount of junk food that most on here probably. But I make sure I hit my protein goals, eat lots of veggies and fruits...and then spend my leftover carbs and fats on things like chips and chocolate rather than sweet potatoes and avocados.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    Lift weights and try to follow the calories and macro splits this site gives you for a few months
  • lmoore7156
    lmoore7156 Posts: 1 Member
    I agree that you need to add in strength training or pilates. What you eat will matter. My favorite cook book is Cooking Light Way to Cook. It will teach you how to make those chicken breasts yourself so that you don't have to spend so much money. The cheapest way to do it is learn to cut up a whole raw chicken. There are you tubes about that too.
    But good job on your remarkable weight loss. Your calories in vs calories out is working. So yes--strength train. Body by Jake is good. The walking that you do is good too. Body builders tend to eat massive amounts of protein and vegetables to get that way.
    I don't think you have to change everything and do "all or nothing." Maybe just start making 1-2 of your meals a day clean. Or, maybe just one meal a day "junk" or "fast food." Continue to watch your calories.
    No matter what--you are a true success story already.
  • tiffaninghs
    tiffaninghs Posts: 200 Member
    lifting weights is what helped me.. ive put some weight back on and im so soft and looking skinny fat. i do lots of cardio which isnt helping
  • This content has been removed.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    There are many extremely useful stickied threads with info relating to any and all of your concerns and questions about nutrition and exercise. Spending some time reading, understanding and absorbing the info provided would be a great place to start!
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Are you 200 lbs or 150? Your post is confusing.

    If you're 200 lbs you may just be fat still.

    If you're 150, you're skinny fat and you're way overdue for starting a strength program.

    Yeah, I was reading he was 200. Going back I'm not so sure now. I agree with this though. 200 pounds is still fat. 150 pounds is skinny fat. Either way the OP needs to follow some sort of lifting program.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    edited August 2017
    OP: Lift weight to maintain muscle mass and do cardio and eat at a minor deficit to lose fat.

    You can eat all the junk food you like as long as CI is less than CO.

    HOWEVER, in order to maintain muscle you need to lift weights and eat protein AND in order to lose fat you need eat mainly low GI carbs to reduce sugar blood levels.

    A paleo diet is best to achieve this. Google it.

    Won't get into how much protein or what macros because I don't think you're ready for that level of detail yet.

    First, fix your diet. Get control over what and how much you eat. This is CI.

    Second, start doing cardio regularly to increase CO.

    A moderate 15-30 session in the AM and another in the PM should burn at least 300-500 cals a day. Chose whatever type of cardio that you like to do and can stick with.

    Before proceeding further, you need to figure out what your maintenance TDEE is Ie., how much CI and CO results in NO weight gain or loss.

    Once you've figured this out, drop CI by 500 cal/day. If you got it right, you should lose 1# per wk.

    Third, after you get 1 and 2 in hand, find a gym and start a beginning lifting program, like Starting Strength or Stronglifts, which you'd 3x's a week on top of the cardio.

    Then, incease cals so that you are only at a 250 cal/day deficit which should reduce weight loss to just 1/2# per wk. Continue until you reach your goal eeight and then readjust diet to achieve maintenance.

    If you do this and stick w/it for at least 6-9 months, your body will be transformed.

    Good luck!
  • Treece68
    Treece68 Posts: 780 Member
    He lost 150 he is currently 200lbs
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    If you are "skinny fat" then you are already lean.

    LOL, what? No, no, you are not lean if your skinny fat. You are a lighter overall weight but high body fat %. That is the definition of "skinny fat".

    No, that isn't the definition of "skinny fat". Skinny fat is when you are at a lighter overall weight but other indicators such as blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. indicate a higher health risk. If you have a high body fat % then you are just fat, regardless of what your health risk indicators say.

    You seem very confused.

    Google it.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    6hmk2ta0wcj5.png
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    If you are "skinny fat" then you are already lean.

    LOL, what? No, no, you are not lean if your skinny fat. You are a lighter overall weight but high body fat %. That is the definition of "skinny fat".

    No, that isn't the definition of "skinny fat". Skinny fat is when you are at a lighter overall weight but other indicators such as blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. indicate a higher health risk. If you have a high body fat % then you are just fat, regardless of what your health risk indicators say.

    You seem very confused.

    Google it.

  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    edited September 2017
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    If you are "skinny fat" then you are already lean.

    LOL, what? No, no, you are not lean if your skinny fat. You are a lighter overall weight but high body fat %. That is the definition of "skinny fat".

    No, that isn't the definition of "skinny fat". Skinny fat is when you are at a lighter overall weight but other indicators such as blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. indicate a higher health risk. If you have a high body fat % then you are just fat, regardless of what your health risk indicators say.

    You seem very confused.

    Google it.

    One of the first results from a search:

    http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/expert-answers/normal-weight-obesity/faq-20058313
    ...You can have a normal weight, but if your body fat percentage is high enough, you may be considered obese — a condition known as normal weight obesity. Normal weight obesity means you may have the same serious health risks as does someone who's obese. Obesity is defined as having an excessive amount of body fat — not as weighing too much...


    Another: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0060673
    ...In the early eighties, Ruderman et al. described a specific type of obesity defined as metabolically obese normal weight subjects (MONW). These individuals were characterized by normal body weight and BMI, but presented hyperinsulinemia, insulin-resistance, and increased type 2 diabetes, hypertriglyceridemia and cardiovascular diseases predisposition [14], [15]. Few years later, De Lorenzo et al. [16] among other authors [17], [18] used the term normal weight obesity (NWO) to identify individuals who have normal body weight and BMI but high % BF, accompanied by total lean mass deficiency. Therefore, MONW is a subset of NWO and from a conceptual and clinical perspective it is important to differentiate these two conditions...
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    SCoil123 wrote: »
    6hmk2ta0wcj5.png
    mmapags wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    If you are "skinny fat" then you are already lean.

    LOL, what? No, no, you are not lean if your skinny fat. You are a lighter overall weight but high body fat %. That is the definition of "skinny fat".

    No, that isn't the definition of "skinny fat". Skinny fat is when you are at a lighter overall weight but other indicators such as blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. indicate a higher health risk. If you have a high body fat % then you are just fat, regardless of what your health risk indicators say.

    You seem very confused.

    Google it.

    Hmmm, looks like Google confirms what I originally said.
This discussion has been closed.