Is anyone else skinny-fat?

When I moved here ( completely different part of the UK to where I was born and bred ) I was in my 40's and a size 8

I now live in a county with some of the highest obesity rates in the UK

Portion sizes here are HUGE - seriously HUGE

I piled it on. Yet I looked around me and said well Im not as big as so and so and carried on

Aged 58, I weighed in at 11.4 stone and was obese wearing size 14 jeans and 18 tops, yet I could look about me and say Im not big ( compared to a lot of those about me )

Aged 60 Im 9.2 stone ( hover around 9.4 ) wear size 8 jeans and 10/12 tops

I am skinny fat by the medical definition and by the OP's definition. I have blubber

Im pretty fit, although not strong

I have to watch what I eat constantly. My self control is nigh on non existent so I have to control what is actually being bought so the temptation isnt here in the house

The weight shifted slowly, very very slowly - 1/2lb to a 1lb a week and so many STS. Yes I went to SW, I still go, I still follow their principles - loads of veg, loads of protein, easy on the carbs, cook from scratch, avoid processed foods - plain common sense really yet after 20 years of falling in to bad eating habits, I needed to be re taught - re programmed in a way and by still going it keeps me focussed , stops me short when I slip back into bad habits

So yep Im skinny fat because Im still carrying too much body fat , still officially obese and I know I have to start with the weights but I keep putting it off because I have an injury to my neck and shoulder ( severe, long term, not going to go away ) and Im scared Im going to make things worse

What nonsense I'm 5ft 9.5 and 11st 9. BMI 24, comfortable size 12. I would like to be under 11st.
I assume if you modelled you are 6ft or more which may be different but definitely not at 5ft 8.

I've just got down to a BMI of about 26.5, lowest weight I've been in a while. I look pretty good naked, I'm still overweight. I find it very odd because I'm thinner than so many people I see, it just shows how normal being overweight is now. It's not skinny fat, it's just plain old fashioned fat.

I completely understand where you’re coming from. I’m 74, 5,6 and 11stone 4. I ride horses walk my dogs so arms and legs are toned. I don’t drink, eat biscuits, cakes and have a healthy diet. But I carry all my extra weight on waist and tummy. I’ve never had a waist, nor did my mother but I’m classed as over weight! I don’t look it either. Finding clothes to fit is a nightmare. Because I have skinny legs I sort of look ok. I’ve given up trying to lose weight because it comes of the wrong parts of my body. Just try to accept it and live your life. X

When I was your weight and height, my GP told me I needed to lose weight. I look back on that conversation (21yrs ago) and I am so incredibly grateful.

I went home, joined Ww online, lost 18lb in 10 weeks and I've never got that fat again. I have a photograph of me then and I look awful.

After each baby I lost the weight in 5 months. If I put on weight now, it never goes more than half a stone more than I am comfortable with and I lose it in a couple of weeks.

I'm 47, been on HRT for 3yrs, do weights at home in my garage, miles of fast walking and swimming for cardio and I eat 30g+ fibre a day.

You need to get your act together op. Otherwise with that attitude, you will be on here in 5 years moaning about your 'peri menopausal weight gain' and 'shifting the pounds'.

Since having my son I'm the lightest I've been in years but I don't feel slim in the slightest

Just a note to say it helped me to think of it as my goal is gaining/maintaining muscle and getting heart-healthy, rather than losing weight or getting skinny. The latter means there is an end date to the exercise and you just yo yo. Getting heart healthy and gaining/maintaining muscle means you are consistently exercising as part of your daily routine… until you die! And you’ll live longer and be more able to enjoy life with a fit and healthy body. It makes a huge difference to daily quality of life to feel spritely and healthy.

I'm about a 12/14 ( I have been bigger) but I'm very big breasted and small waisted so I look in proportion.

But @TwelvePercent we just need fewer calories when we're over 40. It's a sad fact - I can't lose weight now until I stick to 1200 calories. 1600 calories a day would make me put on weight. And, I need to walk 15000 steps a day too. I do all of this because I don't want to weigh 11.5 stone.

The OP has misused the term skinny fat. She isn't skinny and is overweight. But she says she can't or won't calorie count and eats too much wine/chocolate/carbs. So for her the answer is clear - she needs to calorie count and stick to a reasonable calorie target for her age and height.

I'm size 8-10 and BMI 26 so definitely overweight. Would not consider myself skinny anything. My fat jiggles for sure. All bodies are different. Just try to concentrate on you, not how you compare to others.n

It's just that you used a slightly bonkers thread title, weirdly overthinking a hugely common condition. Your thread title should have been is anyone else a bit overweight but not obese. Yes, quite a few million people actually.

I hear you OP!

MN is chock full of disordered eaters & anyone with the audacity to use a sentence with skinny in it when they are not size 0 will make them lose their minds. Ignore.

I have a BMI of 25 - I run, weight train, generally eat okay but at 46 cannot lose the half stone I need. I look chubby tho as I carry weight in my thighs & arms. I only ever hit my goal weight of 9'6 when I was limiting calories to 1600, walking 15k+ steps a day on mat leave and breastfeeding a hungry baby! Best diet ever.

Loving the comments telling you to 'lose it now' like that's not the entire point of the post. Some bodies are so fucking stubborn & lurve to hold that fat, and it gets so much worse after 40.

I was skinny fat until we got our pup. I'm 5'4", size 10/12, hovering around 8 stone, but post menopause I had a little soft belly and wobbly thighs. BMI is lower end of normal. Since walking the dog I've toned up my waist and legs, so now wouldn't think of myself as skinny fat, because my fat (soft) bits went to muscle.

This is me, how do I get rid of fat around my organs tho? With ivf and just having a baby 6 months ago I just can’t shift the belly. I look 4 months pregnant since I started my ivf meds 2 years ago.

I think it’s interesting that you chose to make up a term to describe your weight (and create a thread about it) that includes the word skinny. It might be worth thinking about that a little bit.

Sorry, I’m not being sarcastic or trying to be mean at all. I genuinely think you might be minimising being overweight.

Anyway, I am exactly the same height and weight as you and I definitely think of myself as overweight (and I hate it). I’m 45 and it has crept up over the last 10 years. I was previously always less than 10 stone and a size 10.

I don’t know what the answer is, as I’m probably too far the other way (probably overly critical of my weight) and that hasn’t helped me shift it either!

I’m far too in my head about it and not actually taking any meaningful action. Peri menopause and a very stressful job hasn’t helped.

Yes - this is the exact definition of skinny fat.

That's the point of it. They're skinny really, but untoned and a bit wobbly. You're just a bit tubby, sorry! (Me too, I'm a similar height and weight)

I think it's important to actually draw attention to the fact that skinny does not automatically equal fit and healthy. Skinny and numbers on the scale should not be our only goal - and this was the case when i was young, nobody talked about strength and muscles, in fact having muscles was something to avoid, so unfeminine. So now we have plenty of middle age and older 'almond mums' who are skinny but frail.

I’m the same as you OP but I call
myself ‘fat skinny’ (I see skinny fat as those who have crap diets but are still thin).

i have always been over weight, but I always ate fairly healthily (lots of fresh veg/meat, rare take aways limited alcohol, too much cake, chocolate & biscuits) ) and exercised. In 2009, I ran 5 1/2 marathons over 10 weeks so I was deffo fit but I was never smaller than a size 14 although I was toned.

Sadly since children, I have struggled to find the time for exercise so have lost the tone and put on about a stone and a half, so I’m now a large 16, (although people never believe me when I tell them weirdly.) but I’m probably about 2 1/2 stone over weight but due to the lack of tone I feel fat fat now.

The whole point of the label skinny fat is to find yet more ways of causing women to overanalyse their bodies, think about their bodies solely in terms of a pejorative label and therefore feel shit about themselves.

This term didn’t exist when I was a young woman, thank God.

Skinny fat isn't the lower end of the fat scale.
Skinny fat means you look/are slim, but you're not in shape.
Regardless, horrible term and outlook.

I understand what you mean OP, you can get complacent that you “aren’t that bad” when at the lower end of overweight.

My twopenny’s worth: you can definitely change as a peri/menopausal woman but it takes some revising of how you do it. I found the one exercise that I adore, so I actually want to do it every day it’s not a chore at all. Go and try different things and maybe you will. I changed my mindset around food to focusing 80% of it as healthy as possible to help my aging body, and then if I want the occasional cake etc that’s absolutely ok. I also eat healthy in order to be the best I can be at my favourite exercise.

I’m 5ft 6, I started my forties quite overweight after having my youngest, discovered mid forties weight was really starting to settle on my abdomen (used to be pear) and felt so sluggish, then discovered yoga and slowly became really fit and I’m now bmi 20 and a size 6 with great muscle tone. I’m fitter in my fifties than I’ve ever been and I love how I feel so much. A journey is made up of lots of little steps.

It doesn't matter what label you put on yourself. I'd say you are overweight (according to those charts doctors use). You might feel better being a stone or two lighter but that means permanently changing your diet. It can be done, it doesn't have to be punishing, but changing any habit is hard and not many people manage it.

Perhaps that is now your maintenance weight? It is fairly small.