Hate the term skinny fat

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  • katnadreau
    katnadreau Posts: 149 Member
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    I spent most of the night last night trying to determine if I was MONW thanks to this thread haha. I have a little muscle definition in my arms and legs, and while my stomach has definitely gotten smaller, there's still quite a bit of softness to it. I'm already genetically predisposed to type two diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. I'm 32, 5'4.5, and currently 125.5, and 21 lbs down since May. Either way, this has prompted me to get out of a deficit and cut back a little more on cardio, and put more effort into my strength training. I do appreciate this thread pushing me to research the medical side to "skinny fat", and not just the aesthetic side I always seem to associate with it.
  • newheavensearth
    newheavensearth Posts: 870 Member
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    katnadreau wrote: »
    I spent most of the night last night trying to determine if I was MONW thanks to this thread haha. I have a little muscle definition in my arms and legs, and while my stomach has definitely gotten smaller, there's still quite a bit of softness to it. I'm already genetically predisposed to type two diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. I'm 32, 5'4.5, and currently 125.5, and 21 lbs down since May. Either way, this has prompted me to get out of a deficit and cut back a little more on cardio, and put more effort into my strength training. I do appreciate this thread pushing me to research the medical side to "skinny fat", and not just the aesthetic side I always seem to associate with it.

    I have the same genetic predispositions. I was prediabetic at 208 lbs but reversed it. I'm 144 now aiming for 125. I recently bumped up the weights and cut back the cardio and I'm still in my deficit. But I still ask myself if so called skinny fat is the best I can do can I accept that? I tend to get hung up on physical ideals that are outside of the realms of what I can realistically accomplish, given time, energy, and how much I really want to change my diet (another reason why I try to avoid fitspo).
  • Jackibrazil
    Jackibrazil Posts: 124 Member
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    I always thought skinny fat was a term for people who are thin/appear fit but are otherwise unhealthy? Like my old roommate. She ate taco bell twice a day. I'm talking like 2,500 calories minimum, never worked out, and still managed to be a size 2 all through college...
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I used to call myself skinny fat. I had reached a point where my collar bones were jutting out, my arms were twigs and my face looked gaunt, yet i still had a big ol squidgy spare tire. I was 5"8 and 66kgs (145lbs).
    I have since put on 5kgs which has made me look more healthy in the aforementioned areas, but the fat middle remains. I have just learnt to accept that i will never have a flat stomach AND remain healthy looking everywhere else.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    I've never actually sat and thought how the words would sound to people.

    I've used it to explain to people why they shouldn't under eat and that they should protect their lean muscle mass.

    I genuinely thank you for the thread. I'll find different words to explain it now.
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    You could describe it as a friend once did when referring to another mutual friend: "He looks like a Basset Hound. If you held him up by the collar, he could turn around in his own skin." :D

    I have an urge to disagree.

    Protecting muscle doesn't mean you're not going to get saggy skin after weight loss.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited December 2017
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    Orphia wrote: »
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    I've never actually sat and thought how the words would sound to people.

    I've used it to explain to people why they shouldn't under eat and that they should protect their lean muscle mass.

    I genuinely thank you for the thread. I'll find different words to explain it now.
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    You could describe it as a friend once did when referring to another mutual friend: "He looks like a Basset Hound. If you held him up by the collar, he could turn around in his own skin." :D

    I have an urge to disagree.

    Protecting muscle doesn't mean you're not going to get saggy skin after weight loss.

    Nevermind. Early morning confusion!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited December 2017
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    I don't have feelings about the term skinny fat, and perhaps that's because I've almost always seen someone using it on themselves, not others. But my problem with it from this discussion is that it clearly has no consistent meaning. Before this, I had assumed it meant NWMO (or whatever), which usually does not involve someone actually skinny, does not require adding muscle to fix, and being overfat is being metabolically obese, but I agree that people would hate that term as much as skinny fat, probably.

    What I mostly see is people using the term incorrectly to mean "I'm in the healthy weight range but still hate my body and think I should lose fat." Why I say that's incorrect, is that often they are unhappy not due to actually having unhealthy amounts of fat, but just because they dislike the distribution of the fat (me too, for myself, even when I've been nowhere near metabolically obese) or think they need some added muscle or recomping (again, which has nothing to do with being metabolically obese).

    I don't see it being used for someone just super slim and not muscular, but I guess I don't hang out in areas or forums where there's pressure on women to be muscular (I like a somewhat muscular aesthetic myself, but can appreciate a wide range and wouldn't be critical of anyone else's body choices). But if someone were on the bottom end of the BMI and expressed dislike of her body, I might suggest that strength training would be more helpful than continued weight loss as a focus. (I wouldn't use the term skinny fat, as she would not be fat at all and besides don't generally call others fat, but I get the impression this is the kind of advice people are taking issue with?)
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    I have read the forums for years and "skinny fat" is usually used by an OP that has lost weight and when arriving at goal is very disappointed at how they look. They want to know why, and what they should do. It is usually advised to exercise (if they are not) and perhaps lift. People who are happy with their weight loss are not given this advice. I've seen the term used mostly by the OP to describe themselves.
  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,216 Member
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    Personally, besides those folks who use it to describe themselves incorrectly, I've seen it mostly used for men who are normal BMI but have absolutely no muscle. They tend to look quite normal in clothes but shirtless, they have no shape and sometimes a bit of a belly. Very little actual LBM but quite a bit of body fat. They have no strength because of lack of muscle and usually poor cardiovascular health/endurance. If they were to lose enough BF to get to a normal range they would be severely underweight. It's actually quite common with men in their twenties or thirties who do not lift or never exercise and have a very sedentary life.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that there are other reasons for strength training than obtaining an "ideal physique", namely for the health of your bones and muscle.

    I just spent an hour at the nursing home this afternoon - what a depressing place! Many people end up in a nursing home because they no longer have the strength (i.e. muscles) to get on and off the toilet or in and out of bed.

    I've been in nursery homes, both as a visiting family member and as a volunteer. I find this argument EXTREMELY convincing.

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