What exactly is skinny fat?

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  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Its HARD to build muscle. it can be work to maintain it...its EASY to lose it.

    thats why its valued.

    I just don't buy that. It's easy to build muscle to a certain point and then maintain it. That point will vary greatly from person to person based on many things including age and sex. But at that point where you stop gaining easily but can maintain with moderate exercise is likely the amount of muscle you need to live healthily. It might not be as pumped or as thin as you wish you were, but what we wish and what our body needs to be heatlhy are often not the same thing.

    Will gaining more muscle make you more healthy? Possibly, but not certainly. Just because you work hard and gain enough muscle to lift, squat, push, pull, etc. XXX weight, does not mean that your body needed that in order to be healthy.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Its HARD to build muscle. it can be work to maintain it...its EASY to lose it.

    thats why its valued.

    I just don't buy that. It's easy to build muscle to a certain point and then maintain it. That point will vary greatly from person to person based on many things including age and sex. But at that point where you stop gaining easily but can maintain with moderate exercise is likely the amount of muscle you need to live healthily. It might not be as pumped or as thin as you wish you were, but what we wish and what our body needs to be heatlhy are often not the same thing.

    Will gaining more muscle make you more healthy? Possibly, but not certainly. Just because you work hard and gain enough muscle to lift, squat, push, pull, etc. XXX weight, does not mean that your body needed that in order to be healthy.

    What are you defining as easy and what is that certain point?
  • lbetancourt
    lbetancourt Posts: 522 Member
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    skinny fat looks good with cloths on, not off.

    Dammit. I wanna look good naked. :(

    ditto. but, that's not going to happen, ever for me. :(
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    this is without a doubt, a womans perspective.

    Well, I am, without a doubt, a woman. :happy:

    I'm not talking about massive amounts of muscle. Just a normal amount, which I think is what I have. I'm not excessively muscular. I don't have a very low body fat percentage. I consider myself... normal. And dead sexy, but that's besides the point.

    For me, and I don't think I'm some kind of genetic freak in this matter, it took a lot more effort to lose more muscle than fat than it took me to retain most of the muscle I already had.

    For me, to lose a lot of muscle, I had to eat under 1000 calories a day. For me, to retain most of my existing muscle (which, like I said, isn't a lot, but enough to make me healthy and fairly strong), I ate about 1800-2000 calories a day, got adequate protein and got regular exercise including cardio and strength training. For me, the 30-60 minutes of exercise I might do a day is a lot easier than it was to eat very little food.
  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
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    I have loose skin which can give off the appear of skinny fat but my body fat percentage is 10. Its tricky.

    Doubtful. Very doubtful. Women's essential body fat is around 10-12%. Looking at your picture I can tell without a doubt you aren't 10%.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Its HARD to build muscle. it can be work to maintain it...its EASY to lose it.

    thats why its valued.

    I just don't buy that. It's easy to build muscle to a certain point and then maintain it. That point will vary greatly from person to person based on many things including age and sex. But at that point where you stop gaining easily but can maintain with moderate exercise is likely the amount of muscle you need to live healthily. It might not be as pumped or as thin as you wish you were, but what we wish and what our body needs to be heatlhy are often not the same thing.

    Will gaining more muscle make you more healthy? Possibly, but not certainly. Just because you work hard and gain enough muscle to lift, squat, push, pull, etc. XXX weight, does not mean that your body needed that in order to be healthy.

    What are you defining as easy and what is that certain point?

    Easy = Eating a healthy diet and regular moderate to high intensity exercise. Certain point = the point where you stop gaining with that level exercise. (how much muscle you had to begin with will determine how much, if any, you gain)

    Many of these posts make it sound as if you do this you will at some point you will suddenly start losing muscle and gaining fat unless you constantly keep increasing the intensity of your workout. That is not true.

    If you were very obese before starting, it's possible to lose some muscle and still have enough to live healthily because it might not take as much muscle for you to exercise at 130 lbs as it did just to carry around 300 lbs.
  • ganesha303
    ganesha303 Posts: 257 Member
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    2. You seem to think that gaining muscle is something that you do AFTER you lose the fat. Building lean muscle is the best way to burn the fat away to begin with.

    I'll take that one step further and say it's more a matter of retaining muscle than building it. If you're carrying around an extra 30-50-whatever amount of pounds everywhere, you probably have a decent amount of muscle. Eat right and exercise to keep it.

    Skinny fat, in my opinion, is the result of dieting with the main goal being the number on the scale and losing it as quickly as possible. People who immediately set themselves to lose 2# a week, especially if they only have 10-20 pounds to lose, are setting themselves up to be skinny fat. Then they lose the weight, aren't happy with the results because they lost just as much muscle as fat, and think they need to lose even MORE weight.

    If they'd set out to lose a half pound a week, and monitored their progress by measurements and photos, they'd probably have reached their goal body long before they reached their goal weight, because the majority of the weight they lost would have been fat.

    yes.
  • fatboypup
    fatboypup Posts: 1,873 Member
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    i went from fat to skinny fat and am heading back to fat again ....... i love this ride .. UGH
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
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    Easy = Eating a healthy diet and regular moderate to high intensity exercise. Certain point = the point where you stop gaining with that level exercise. (how much muscle you had to begin with will determine how much, if any, you gain)

    Many of these posts make it sound as if you do this you will at some point you will suddenly start losing muscle and gaining fat unless you constantly keep increasing the intensity of your workout. That is not true.

    If you were very obese before starting, it's possible to lose some muscle and still have enough to live healthily because it might not take as much muscle for you to exercise at 130 lbs as it did just to carry around 300 lbs.


    uhh.. the bold part IS true for some of us.
    If i stopped lifting, and did your cardio plain.. I would start losing muscle.... now if I dont maintain enough cardio to offset the metabolic drop from the muscle loss, I would gain fat.. Or i could eat less.. but why would I want to do that when im enjoying what I eat?

    also, why would I want to do regular moderate to high intensity exercise? thats boring.
    Id rather just hit weights 3x a week and not worry about it.
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
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    i went from fat to skinny fat and am heading back to fat again ....... i love this ride .. UGH

    start picking up heavy things. (seriously)
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Easy = Eating a healthy diet and regular moderate to high intensity exercise. Certain point = the point where you stop gaining with that level exercise. (how much muscle you had to begin with will determine how much, if any, you gain)

    Many of these posts make it sound as if you do this you will at some point you will suddenly start losing muscle and gaining fat unless you constantly keep increasing the intensity of your workout. That is not true.

    If you were very obese before starting, it's possible to lose some muscle and still have enough to live healthily because it might not take as much muscle for you to exercise at 130 lbs as it did just to carry around 300 lbs.


    uhh.. the bold part IS true for some of us.
    If i stopped lifting, and did your cardio plain.. I would start losing muscle.... now if I dont maintain enough cardio to offset the metabolic drop from the muscle loss, I would gain fat.. Or i could eat less.. but why would I want to do that when im enjoying what I eat?

    also, why would I want to do regular moderate to high intensity exercise? thats boring.
    Id rather just hit weights 3x a week and not worry about it.

    Then that's what you should do. Doesn't make it necessary for health is my point.
  • ganesha303
    ganesha303 Posts: 257 Member
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    skinny fat looks good with cloths on, not off.

    Dammit. I wanna look good naked. :(

    ditto. but, that's not going to happen, ever for me. :(

    Not with that attitude! ;)
  • rowyourboat
    rowyourboat Posts: 125 Member
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    Okay, I admit it, I'm skinny fat! I'm 5' 2", 127 lbs. How do I find out my BF%? Will the 30ds help me lose fat and gain muscle or should I focus on lifting weights at the gym?
  • Clarecbear82
    Clarecbear82 Posts: 369 Member
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    Thanks for all your replies everyone! I get it now and realise (apart from my muscular arms from lifting kids all day) that I am skinny fat :(. I also know I will never look good naked due to the mess pregnancy has made of my stomach (lots of loose skin yuck) but I am going to try and make myself the best I can be.
  • JoolieW68
    JoolieW68 Posts: 1,879 Member
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    So answer me this.... I've lost 100 pounds and am now in the normal BMI range. Even before I lost the weight I had normal biometric numbers (good bp, cholesterol, etc), and never been told i was at risk for diabetes.

    Since I've lost the weight, my 'numbers' are even better (BP 104/74, pulse 65, cholesterol 132, LDL 69, HDL 54, and triglyceride 46). I don't have sagging/lose skin, no muffin top, have a good shape, but have never had my body fat measured. I eat healthy - low fat, higher protein, decent amounts of fruits and veggies.

    Is the body fat measurement the ONLY way to determine 'skinny fat'? I pretty much only do cardio (running).
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
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    So answer me this.... I've lost 100 pounds and am now in the normal BMI range. Even before I lost the weight I had normal biometric numbers (good bp, cholesterol, etc), and never been told i was at risk for diabetes.

    Since I've lost the weight, my 'numbers' are even better (BP 104/74, pulse 65, cholesterol 132, LDL 69, HDL 54, and triglyceride 46). I don't have sagging/lose skin, no muffin top, have a good shape, but have never had my body fat measured. I eat healthy - low fat, higher protein, decent amounts of fruits and veggies.

    Is the body fat measurement the ONLY way to determine 'skinny fat'? I pretty much only do cardio (running).

    skinny-fat isnt a number... so a BF number isnt going to tell you anything.
    are you a healthy weight but not as strong as you should be? do you lack any tone or definition of shape?
    if not... then dont worry about it.
  • JoolieW68
    JoolieW68 Posts: 1,879 Member
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    How do I know how strong I should be? My upper thighs are not reallytoned, but ya can't really tone cellulite. Just needs to be sucked off :smile:
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I think a lot of people mistake "skinny fat" for anyone who isn't very muscular.

    I used to be skinny, and had low muscle mass. But I wasn't skinny fat. I had low body fat. I was just... skinny.

    To illustrate... Me 1999 and me last month. I'm more firm now, and have a higher lean muscle mass, but I wasn't skinny fat then. My body fat percentage is probably about the same in both photos.

    butt.jpg

    On the other hand, when I lost weight about 5-6 years ago and didn't eat enough, and had a mushy belly, muffin top, back fat rolls, and a saggy bum, but weighed about the same as I do now... then I was probably skinny fat. No way in hell I would have let anyone take a picture of me in a bikini then, but I wished I had.

    Edit: CRAP! I just upgraded to photobucket pro, but I guess it hasn't activated yet.
  • cmayfield3
    cmayfield3 Posts: 176 Member
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    Most Crossfitters follow Paleo/Primal - based on real, whole food the body was designed to eat. And it's true. Body composition is like 80% diet and the other 20% is a combination of genetics and exercise.

    This is what confuses me about Crossfit. Their diet is paleo, but when it comes to exercise, running and other cardio--the exact type of exercise we are designed to do and our paleo ancestors did--is bad.

    Sure, when we were hunting and gathering, we may have had to sling an animal over our shoulder and carry it home, but mostly it was running and walking. Not Olympic lifting.
  • katcod1522
    katcod1522 Posts: 448 Member
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    skinny fat looks good with cloths on, not off.

    well he**...this is me! *looks down at the floor*

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