I'm sick of the term "skinny-fat"

if I wanna do cardio instead of lifting "heavy" then get off my back about it! This is still the beginning of my journey, let me get comfortable with the fact that I am even moving my body anywhere besides from the bed to the couch. I haven't lifted one single weight yet and I've lost 30 lbs.

30 lbs down from 279 is healthier...any way you look at it.

That is all.

Hell I don't lift heavy and have no intention of doing so. All my exercise is cardio (running and cycling) and I can assure people that I am not skinny fat. It's a stupid bloody term anyway.

People should do cardio and resistance training not only because of building up muscle or loosing weight, also to prevent osteoporosis, as we get older. There are many healthy benefits.

Isn't 'skinny fat' referring to very skinny people who are unhealthy? So whilst they aren't fat, because of their lifestyle it's more like a 'fat' persons?

Not sure what this has to do with cardio V lifting? Except that for skinny people they don't need the cardio to lose weight, they need the lifting to get a better body?

I'm with this! I do both, alternating each day and the phrase doesn't bother me one bit because I had the above thought on it however, if someone is refering to people who only do cardio as skinny fat then it's just plain rude....not everyone wants muscles actualyl probably the majority of people simply want to look skinny and have anice tummy (those of us who have had children). Whatever you do to get there is up to you isnt it?

Yeah I never thought the term was supposed to describe anyone fit nd healthy, regardless of their methods or underlying LBM. I thought it was a term to describe people who appeared slim but were unfit, and unhealthy.

Who are all of these people that are harassing you or trying to force you to do weights (aside from people posting to this thread that YOU started).

I'm pretty sure no one actually cares what you do.

Hell I don't lift heavy and have no intention of doing so. All my exercise is cardio (running and cycling) and I can assure people that I am not skinny fat. It's a stupid bloody term anyway.

I don't like this term. Actually... I hate this term. If someone loses the weight and is ANY KIND of skinny... then they're skinny!(:

Skinny-fat is simply a term used to describe a high body fat % given a low total body weight. Someone who weighs 150 lbs and has 25% BF will look quite different from someone who weighs 150 lbs and has 15% BF. Resistance training is one tactic that can help avoid this, but it's by no means the only one.

I have yet to see a person who has a low total body weight, who has lots of fat. Seriously, skinny-fat - the new-fangled term used to describe people who are not fat but choose not to do weights - ludicrous.

That's because people don't walk around with their weight written on their foreheads.

I'm the same weight in both of these photos. My body fat percentage was probably still in a healthy range, just a higher end of healthy, so I wasn't truly "skinny fat" but I did have a muffin top, back fat rolls, much thicker thighs, double chin, etc. I had a physically demanding job at the time, so if I'd had a more sedentary lifestyle, I probably would have lost even more muscle than I did.



This is the jeans I wore then and the jeans I wear now.



The term is misused a LOT. The majority of the people called skinny fat on this site are just plain skinny or thin. Or sometimes even just plain a little overweight. One guy - not yet at his goal - who was told he was skinny fat had a slightly higher than ideal bf%... and had a slightly higher than ideal BMI. That's not skinny fat. That's normal - a normal proportion of body fat for his body weight.

Hell I don't lift heavy and have no intention of doing so. All my exercise is cardio (running and cycling) and I can assure people that I am not skinny fat. It's a stupid bloody term anyway.

I don't like this term. Actually... I hate this term. If someone loses the weight and is ANY KIND of skinny... then they're skinny!(:

Skinny-fat is simply a term used to describe a high body fat % given a low total body weight. Someone who weighs 150 lbs and has 25% BF will look quite different from someone who weighs 150 lbs and has 15% BF. Resistance training is one tactic that can help avoid this, but it's by no means the only one.

I have yet to see a person who has a low total body weight, who has lots of fat. Seriously, skinny-fat - the new-fangled term used to describe people who are not fat but choose not to do weights - ludicrous.

Are you sure you really understand the concept of body composition? It doesn't have anything to do with lifting weights. It simply refers to an individual's ratio of fat to lean body mass. Therefore, it is always relative. For example, it is quite possible (especially in the absence of exercise) for a 5'9" female to weigh 150 lbs and have 33% body fat. At 150 lbs, she has a BMI of around 23, which by that measure is well within the normal range for her height. She will be smaller than someone her height who weighs 200 pounds. However, if her body fat % is 33%, she will still face some of the health issues that a person with a BMI in the obese range might. (And for the record, yes, at one point in my life I was skinny fat).

I did mainly cardio until recently. I wanted to lose weight with doing cardio, but now I do strength training/lifting weights about twice a week to get more lean. It is important for us women, but not necessary especially in the beginning. You do what you are comfortable with and work up from there. Ignore what others are telling you and listen to your body!!!

Congrats on your success so far, and yes, you should do what makes you comfortable right now, because it will keep you coming back- that being said, weights would be a great thing to look forward to in the future- muscle burns more calories than fat, as well as all the other good stuff )

I don't use the term, but to me, it applies to people who are slim but jiggling everywhere because they lack muscle tone. Although strength training with weights is definitely a very efficient way to develop firmness it's not the only way.

I've only been working out since Feb (weights and cardio) Three weeks ago I weighed 138 and had 38.5% body fat. This was tested in a Bod Pod. That was down 2% from 6 weeks before. That is skinny fat. I've always been told how slim I am but knew I was unfit. Just didn't realize how bad. I'm 48 and never really exercised. If I wasn't strength training I would be losing lean body mass and I can't afford to lose any of that since it's so low. I will be happy to get to 29% BF which is funny because most people would still considered that way too high % It will probably take me 6 months to get to that goal but I will.
Nancy