Is anyone else skinny-fat?

[labamba23]

I am a size 14, weigh about 11.5 stone at 5’6/7. I don’t think walking down the street anyone would look at me and think I look noticeably ‘fat’ but I also know that I am technically overweight and I am carrying excess fat around my belly and thighs. Compared to my size 8 friends I feel huge, compared to my size 20 friends I feel smaller.

I think there’s a whole group of people like me who are overweight but at the lower end. I think of myself as a skinny fat person if that makes sense.

I am finding it hard to lose weight, mostly because I’m not very good at tracking calories and I do have a few vices (mostly wine, chocolate and carbs) that I struggle to give up. I know people who have been very overweight who have managed to drop a lot of weight very quickly but it doesn’t happen like that for me even when I try.

Im not desperately unhappy with my appearance but I think if I could lose between 1-2 stone I’d feel a lot better. Health wise I am more worried as I’m 40 soon and know I need to look after myself better. It’s almost harder when you don’t have as much to lose, or is it just me?

I mean this kindly but I wouldn’t say a 14 is skinny fat… I would say someone who is an 6/8 and unhealthy eg lives off cigs and Diet Coke as skinny fat!

I wondered if you feel it’s not worth doing much about because you feel you’re ’only A bit’ overweight…

Size 14 isn’t skinny fat.

Getting the focus back away from the phrase skinny fat… what have you tried so far to lose weight?

I'm 9 stone, 5 foot exactly, size 8. I am almost overweight according to BMI. I need to lose 6lbs to look a million times better, but it's so hard! When you're my height, literally every lb makes a big difference. It's so frustrating. So yes, you can be a chubby/overweight size 8!

I am a size 14 and fat. Not skinny anywhere.
i think you are in denial.

I think skinny fat is the casual term for what health scientists call "normal weight metabolic obesity". This why the NHS (or should be) moving more towards hip waist ratio or ABSI instead of BMI. There are many, many people whose BMI is normal, but who are carrying too much fat particularly around the abdomen. These people do worse on health measures than those who are heavier but have more muscle and less fat. The main culprits for this sort of weight are sugar and alcohol, though there are strong genetic drivers for it. The solution is usually resistance training, especially for women, with a slight caloric reduction and sufficient protein. Not a dramatic deficit, which will cause more muscle loss. I'm against crash diets in all but the most extreme of circumstances for exactly this reason (though there are professionals that disagree with me on this).

Well done. I’m turning 60 and have always been under 10 stone. This past decade I’ve been edging over 11. Weighed myself early May and was just shy of 12 stone looked and felt awful.
All my friends have been losing weight, exercising and eating healthily and without exception they all look great.

Therefore since early May I’ve been 100% determined and I have lost a stone.
Im really short of money at the moment so I’ve literally just eaten less - not bought any food - counted every calorie - weighed portions and myself. Spent less money on food and also my older clothes are starting to fit.
I’m absolutely determined to lose the next stone 🙏

I know you say you don’t get on with counting calories OP, but just work out how many calories there are in the wine and chocolate you have per week. If you take those away from your intake it will make a difference.
And buy yourself flowers or something nice with the money you save.

I wish I hadn’t used the phrase skinny fat now as so many people are failing to actually read my posts and presuming that I’m calling myself skinny. I know size 14 isn’t skinny. Once again, I am saying it’s at the lower end of overweight and given that the national average is a size 16 I think I’m correct in saying that.

I don’t think I look out of place or ‘fat’ walking down the street but by my own standards I know I could do with losing between 1-2 stone.

I have managed this in the past by doing SW but I put all that back on. Also tried eating in a calorie deficit and that worked albeit much more slowly than SW but I put it all back on again because like I said, I’m not good at sticking to these things long term. I’ve never been a gym goer but I have tried to make sure I get at least one walk in a day. I am thinking about doing some weight training from home but I just totally lack the energy and motivation for it if im honest. I need to find my fire and just start because ultimately im not happy with myself and i know im not doing my health any favours.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

Yes - this is the exact definition of skinny fat.

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.

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 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.

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.

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'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

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.