Skinny fat

Hey guys! So i started my new lifestyle journey 2 months ago because i was really unhappy of how i looked (i am what they call skinny fat, which means i have a low BMI, i am very slim, but have a quite high body fat percentage and also all my fat is stored on my belly). I started doing research and found out that i had to lose fat while also gaining muscle (body recomposition). I started going to the gym 5 days a week and counting my calories very strictly (i’ve not eaten any fast food or unhealthy food since i started this journey). The thing is in the first month i wasn’t aware of the tracking calories process, i actually started doing it a month ago. In the first week of cutting (with an average of 1100 cal/day), I lost almost 1kg and dropped 0,7% body fat. In the following week (~1300 cal/day), I lost another 0,4kg and dropped 0,3% body fat. In the third week (~1200 cal/day), I gained 0,2kg and 0,2% body fat. My question is: why did that happen? I didn’t have a calorie surplus. Also, I tracked my macros and apparently my body responds well to 130g carbs, 50g fat and 70-80g of protein. My initial weight was around 52kg. This morning i weighed myself and I have 50,8 kg, 14,5% body fat and 40% muscle mass. Is the scale accurate though? because it seems that my body fat is kinda low, but i do have a pretty large belly.
Sorry for the long post, but i just want to know what exactly should i do to drop the belly fat. Any help is highly appreciated! Thank you
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Replies

  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
    Hey guys! So i started my new lifestyle journey 2 months ago because i was really unhappy of how i looked (i am what they call skinny fat, which means i have a low BMI, i am very slim, but have a quite high body fat percentage and also all my fat is stored on my belly). I started doing research and found out that i had to lose fat while also gaining muscle (body recomposition). I started going to the gym 5 days a week and counting my calories very strictly (i’ve not eaten any fast food or unhealthy food since i started this journey). The thing is in the first month i wasn’t aware of the tracking calories process, i actually started doing it a month ago. In the first week of cutting (with an average of 1100 cal/day), I lost almost 1kg and dropped 0,7% body fat. In the following week (~1300 cal/day), I lost another 0,4kg and dropped 0,3% body fat. In the third week (~1200 cal/day), I gained 0,2kg and 0,2% body fat. My question is: why did that happen? I didn’t have a calorie surplus. Also, I tracked my macros and apparently my body responds well to 130g carbs, 50g fat and 70-80g of protein. My initial weight was around 52kg. This morning i weighed myself and I have 50,8 kg, 14,5% body fat and 40% muscle mass. Is the scale accurate though? because it seems that my body fat is kinda low, but i do have a pretty large belly.
    Sorry for the long post, but i just want to know what exactly should i do to drop the belly fat. Any help is highly appreciated! Thank you

    If you're truly at 14% body fat which I doubt, you shouldn't be cutting at all.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    For recomp you are usually eating at maintenance and using a progressive strength training routine to build muscle. Recomp is very slow - plan for 2 years to see final results. If you are trying to see something happen in 3 weeks, then maybe recomp is not well suited for you. Maybe a more traditional bulk/cut cycle would be more in line with your goals, or even something like Leangains where you cycle up/down from day to day.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    How tall are you? There comes a point where cutting is not going to help you, and adding mass/bulking, will provide much better results. If you are or are close to being underweight, then it's generally a good time to bulk.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
    Eat more, lift more. Follow a lifting program. You should not be losing weight when recomping, but with your low bf%, you should actually bulk instead.
  • alexandracraia
    alexandracraia Posts: 7 Member
    Thank you everyone for your replies! @psuLemon I am 172cm. Guys, I don’t think the scale is pretty accurate though, because I do have a lot of belly fat and there is no way that I am at only 14% body fat. I would probably estimate it at around 20-25%. I thought about bulking, but that means I’ll get an even bigger belly and I really don’t want that to happen. My goal is to lose the abdominal fat, no matter how many months it would take.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Thank you everyone for your replies! @psuLemon I am 172cm. Guys, I don’t think the scale is pretty accurate though, because I do have a lot of belly fat and there is no way that I am at only 14% body fat. I would probably estimate it at around 20-25%. I thought about bulking, but that means I’ll get an even bigger belly and I really don’t want that to happen. My goal is to lose the abdominal fat, no matter how many months it would take.

    posting pictures may be helpful? we'd then be able to give better advice on whether a bulk/cut or recomp would be best
  • alexandracraia
    alexandracraia Posts: 7 Member
    Thank you everyone for your replies! @psuLemon I am 172cm. Guys, I don’t think the scale is pretty accurate though, because I do have a lot of belly fat and there is no way that I am at only 14% body fat. I would probably estimate it at around 20-25%. I thought about bulking, but that means I’ll get an even bigger belly and I really don’t want that to happen. My goal is to lose the abdominal fat, no matter how many months it would take.

    posting pictures may be helpful? we'd then be able to give better advice on whether a bulk/cut or recomp would be best

    ubbb8l3va9wc.jpeg
    3jnap6ffv2hh.jpeg
    a0rd7ss2mdma.png

    The first one is from like 5-6 weeks ago, the one in the yellow shirt is from today and the last one is me flexing.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    edited August 2018
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Thank you everyone for your replies! @psuLemon I am 172cm. Guys, I don’t think the scale is pretty accurate though, because I do have a lot of belly fat and there is no way that I am at only 14% body fat. I would probably estimate it at around 20-25%. I thought about bulking, but that means I’ll get an even bigger belly and I really don’t want that to happen. My goal is to lose the abdominal fat, no matter how many months it would take.

    If I am converting correctly, you are 5"6, 110 lbs? If that's right, you are already underweight. Losing weight is not going to help how you look at all, and even if you do lose weight it still might not shrink that area like you want it to.

    If you refuse to gain a little weight, at least eat at maintenance and work a progressive lifting program to build some muscle. I'll add - we are always our worst critics and tend to see what we consider our weak spots as far worse than they actually are.

    Some other things to consider - how is your posture? Bad posture can have you sticking out your belly without realizing it. And many women don't have a flat or concave midsection no matter how thin they get, it's not how we're built.

    5'7.5 bmi 16.97 so severely underweight.
  • Tattoos_and_Tea
    Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 527 Member
    You look fine in that last pic tbh
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    edited August 2018
    You're definitely not skinny fat, and considering that you're underweight, I'm also not surprised that your BF % is 14 percent.

    As Kimny said, if you want more definition, you need to recomp -- which means you need to eat more and lift heavy things.