Are You Skinny Fat?

So, the question of the day is what is the big deal about being skinny fat? What is considered skinny fat? I’m sure you’ve seen these women, and the men exist, too. But, today, we’re gonna focus on the ladies. These are the women who are still a size two, or a size zero or a size four. They’re in the smaller range of the size numbers. And they look fantastic, right? And I think for a lot of us that have more curves, we can be quite envious of them. But the crazy thing is, if you’re as skinny fat, which means that they have a higher percentage body fat and a lower amount of lean muscle mass, your health risks could be higher than you realize. 

What can also be very misleading about this is even if their BMI, their body mass index is in the normal/healthy range, they can still be skinny fat. But being skinny fat, there’s nothing really healthy about it. 

And why is that? If you are someone who is skinny fat, you are actually at the same health risks as somebody who is a little more obviously overweight. So you are still going to have risk for insulin resistance, and high blood pressure and body fat. Especially that visceral body fat that is a deeper body fat and really likes to hang out around your internal organs. And the cause of it also very similar to people who obviously have a couple of pounds to lose. 

This is where you have a poor nutritionally based diet. You might not be eating a lot. Your calories are restricted and very, very limited. There’s a good chance you might be eating something more processed, labeled as diet food and non-fat or gluten free. All the buzzwords.

And the problem with that is you’re not nutritionally providing for your body. And a lot of times too, you’re supplementing with alcohol, because alcohol can also sort of fill you up a little bit. 

The other thing that can cause it is that you’re just not really exercising the way you should be. Maybe you do go to the gym, but maybe you’re there for more for social reasons. 

And finally, if you’re getting a little bit older, it could very, very much be linked to hormonal imbalance because as estrogen starts to decrease, our metabolism starts to slow down. So if you’re skinny fat is going to encourage even less eating. It’s going to encourage our bodies to hold on to fat a little bit harder. 

What do you do? How do you stop it? How do you get rid of it? Again, this is all the things we already know. This is about really looking at your diet and cleaning it up. Getting rid of all the processed foods. Ditching all the diet food and start filling up with plant based, whole foods and grains. And when you’re working out, work out and do some great resistance training, get some good aerobic activity. 

Also let’s look at your sleep. That has a role in your health and your body weight. Also dealing with stress. That’s going to have a big impact on how your body is holding onto fat. 

So if you’re skinny fat, it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re not broken. You just have to tweak a few things in your diet and lifestyle. 

Peace and Love!