Do you look at yourself in a full-length mirror while changing before a strength training workout? Maybe you examine yourself while you’re getting dressed for work in the morning. At some point, we’ve all done a quick scan of our body to help figure out where we’re at in our fitness journeys.
Does this sound familiar? You aren’t completely dismayed by what you see. Your wrists are slim, your hips seem to be slender, and your legs even have a little bit of muscle tone to them. The problem is around your midsection, where you can’t see any definition. You have a layer of fat there that needs to go.
Welcome to the phenomenon of being skinny fat. Also known as normal-weight obesity by medical practitioners and nutritionists, this is a state where your overall BMI and figure disagree with each other. You’re skinny in some areas and small-boned, but you have a high level of fat compared to muscles.
So, how can you get rid of skinny fat and get toned? Read on to discover some suggestions from the experts at My Fit Foods.
What Causes Skinny Fat?
In general, the most common cause of being skinny fat is an unbalanced diet and exercise regimen. When you consume more calories than you burn off, your body will store them for later use, mostly in the form of belly fat. If you have a healthy diet and spend time in the gym, then this is less likely to happen.
However, there are additional causes of skinny fat, which we’ll explore below.
Genetic Predisposition
Some people are simply genetically predisposed to being skinny fat. If one or more of your parents could be considered as having normal-weight obesity, then you may have inherited the genes as well.
Slower Metabolism
Your metabolism, which is the rate at which you burn calories while at rest, can slow down for many reasons. Being out of shape, aging, and certain health conditions can all lead to a slow metabolism, which makes you more prone to end up with a skinny fat body type.
Age
As you get older, your metabolism slows down, and you may notice that you start to gain weight in certain areas. For women, those areas are the thighs and midsection. In men, it’s mostly in the belly area. Simple aging can lead to being skinny fat.
Poor Diet
Those sugary drinks and snacks taste good and provide you with a short-lived energy burst, but they’re actually harming your body. When you eat them, your body can’t deal with all of the sugar at once, so it stores some of it in the form of belly fat.
Over time, this adds up, and you’ll see those fat stores when you look in the mirror.
Stress
High levels of stress can lead to increased body fat and make weight loss harder to achieve. The more stressed out you are, the more likely you are to eat a poor diet high in simple carbs since those sugary treats are on hand and provide the reward center of your brain with a nice boost.
Plus, being stressed out can cause your pancreas to not function correctly, leading to the storage of belly fat and insulin resistance over time.
What’s Wrong With Being Skinny Fat?
At the outset, being skinny fat doesn’t sound so bad. After all, you’re still skinny, right?
Actually, this is the wrong way to think about it. There are a number of issues that can come about with falling into the skinny fat category, such as:
Heart Disease
The more weight that you have around your midsection, where those who are skinny fat tend to notice their weight gain, the better your odds of ending up with heart disease.
Numerous physicians point out that this is a sign that you’ll more than likely end up gaining more weight as time goes by, and that your cardiovascular system isn’t as healthy as it seems. You could end up with high blood pressure, hardened arteries (known as atherosclerosis), and even high cholesterol counts.
Diabetes and Trouble Processing Carbohydrates
Another condition that being skinny fat could potentially lead to is diabetes. When you end up with a lot of belly fat, your body starts to have issues processing insulin. As a result, you could have insulin resistance, which occurs when your system no longer effectively deals with the insulin your pancreas creates.
High blood sugar is problematic and can lead to a number of other health problems, so it’s crucial to lose this weight in order to lower your chances of ending up with diabetes.
Obesity Due To Lack of Nutrients and Muscle Loss
Being skinny fat can very quickly lead to obesity, which is why the condition is also called normal-weight obesity. The visceral fat that appears around your abdomen didn’t appear there overnight and is the result of spending too much time not exercising enough and excess caloric intake.
Both of these bad habits can lead to additional weight gain sooner rather than later, as well as a slowed-down metabolism. If you keep up these bad habits, you could end up being very overweight and even obese, according to body mass index (BMI) measurements.
How Can You Get Rid of Skinny Fat?
As you can see, falling into the skinny fat category can lead to several problematic health issues, as well as a number of others, such as osteoporosis, a high resting heart rate, and even a lack of energy.
To get rid of that belly fat so that you can feel better and like the way that you look in a mirror, you’ll need to do some of the following things:
Eat Healthy, Whole Foods for Body Recomposition
If you want to lose the belly fat that makes you, well, skinny fat, then the first thing that you’ll need to do is eat a healthy diet. Forego the sugary treats and drinks, and stick to eating a number of fruits, vegetables, enough protein, and more.
Follow the food pyramid or plate, keep an eye on the number of calories you’re consuming each day, and you’ll be on your way to losing your skinny fat.
Exercise for Muscle Growth and Fat Loss
Now comes the “get toned” part of the equation. In order to get rid of your skinny fat, you’ll need some amount of muscle mass. The key here lies in the balance between high-intensity weightlifting and bodyweight exercises, like push-ups, and cardio workouts, such as jogging, speed walking, or spending time on an exercise bike.
The cardio helps you burn fat, while the resistance and weightlifting exercises provide some muscle definition and tone. A combination of the two can help you get rid of your belly fat and put you on the road to good health.
Below are some exercise tips to help you get rid of skinny fat:
- Compound lifts: Squats, deadlifts, and bench presses all engage multiple muscle groups at once. If you’re trying to build as much lean muscle as possible, lifting heavy weights at low reps should be your philosophy.
- Lift weights often: Any physical activity can help you burn through your calorie intake, but weight training makes a bigger difference in the muscle-building department. When you want to cut those love handles, adding more lifting to your workout plan is the way to go.
- Barbells over dumbbells: This tip goes along with the idea of prioritizing compound exercises. Dumbbells work fewer muscle groups at a time, meaning they won’t help you change your body composition as much. Skinny fat people, especially beginners in the gym, should prioritize barbell exercises as key parts of their training program.
Get Plenty of Sleep To Block Fat Gain and Boost Fat Loss
Sleep plays a huge role in your help. When your body and mind are resting, your body is repairing itself. If you don’t get enough sleep, not only will you reach for those sugary treats for energy, but you’re also more likely to end up gaining belly fat.
To get rid of your skinny fat physique, you’ll need to get at least six to seven hours of sleep a night.
Get Up and Move Around To Create a Calorie Deficit
It’s easy to spend too much time sitting. If you work a job that requires you to be at a desk and computer, then you more than likely don’t get up enough. This can lead to skinny fat, which is why ensuring that you move around during the workday and become less sedentary overall is one method of helping prevent and correct the condition.
Lower Your Stress Levels To Lower Your Body Fat Percentage
We’ve already discussed how stress and belly fat are correlated, so it makes plenty of sense that lowering your stress levels can help you rid your body of skinny fat.
Exercising can help relieve stress, but you can also try self-care habits, yoga, meditation, or even learning how to control your body and its reactions through biofeedback. All of these tools can help prevent additional belly fat from forming.
Are You Skinny Fat? Get Help Gaining Muscle
If you fall into the skinny fat category and want to get toned, you may have to make some lifestyle changes. Following a better diet and exercising (both cardio and resistance training) are the first steps.
An overall healthy lifestyle, including plenty of sleep, not sitting for too long a time, and lowering your stress levels, are also the keys to getting rid of your skinny fat. Before you know it, you’ll have the physique that you’ve always wanted and the health to go with it.
Have any questions about this or anything else? Feel free to contact us for help with your diet plan!
Sources:
5 Signs You Might be Skinny Fat | Health
A Top Trainer Shared His Simple Plan to Fix a 'Skinny Fat' Physique | Men’s Health