Man who is fit and fat

So I find some similarities in what you have shared and for the last couple years I have justified that I'm physically strong but I carry extra weight (fat) over that foundation... but then about 18months ago I had a fundamental mental change driven by 3 main factors.

1) A comment from my physician during one of my annual physicals. I don't have the exact words, but was effectively referencing that while he recognizes I have been physically big/strong the ~15yrs he's been my primary care physician, and in general my frame carries it well (6'4", broad shouldered) the truth is that I have also continued to add weight (fat) year to year as my metabolism slowed. Then he talked about how all that extra weight being carried by the body puts more stress on everything... from the synovial fluid in your joints, to all the extra tissue that your cardiovascular system must supply, etc. So his question to me was "why do you need to carry all of this muscle?" ... if you lost weight and some of that just happened to be some muscle what would that "take away" from you at this stage of your life (middle aged, married, desk job, etc.) vs everything that reducing the overall load/tax on your body's system.

I walked away from the appointment grumbling about the stupid doctor, but the more I thought about it the more valid the logic seemed, and then

2) I did some reading about the difference in visceral fat (the fat around your organs when you are carrying extra weight in your waistline even if your shoulders/arms are muscular) and the strain visceral fat around the organs put on your body, and then

3) Going back and looking at my MFP data day to day and making a connection between how my lack of fiber (because most of my calories consumed were derived from heavy protein/fat source) was probably contributing to digestive woes that were increasing in frequency of "flare ups"

So I made some fundamental shifts in my approach to things... slowly cranked up my fiber intake, which helps me feel "full" and keeps my digestive system moving in a regular manner. I also started doing more cardio, keeping strength training part of all of my workouts, but shifted more exercise to focus to our most important muscle... the heart.

For about 18 months now I have continued to exercise both cardio & strength and while I haven't had much of any "gains" in my lifts for a year an a half now (would be lying if I said that doesn't still bother me a little) I have lost over 50lbs on the scale (which then has to be fat, because loss of muscle wouldn't maintain how much weight I can move in my strength lifts).

he crazy part about it, is that most comments I've received as of late start out with "you've lost weight", but then transition to some reference about how I must be doing a lot more strength training because I look "stronger" now. I know as a measurable fact that I really haven't gained any muscle/strength, I've just been slowly peeling off the extra layers of fat surrounding it all.

Anyways... long post (and I don't offer/post much to the MFP community) but something I thought might be worth sharing, because I also self identified as "fit but fat" for years and then flipped my mindset around to be... what if I kept my "fit" but lost the "fat"? Not there yet, but I wish I would have reached this conclusion years ago.

MostlyWater wrote: »

You might be strong and fat, but you can't be both fit and fat.

I'm fit and fat. I can run longer than the average inactive normal weight person, and I'm obese. I'm quite fit compared to some people, or at least to what I used to be. I used to need to stop to catch my breath if I walked for more than 2 minutes.