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?

You've already answered your own issue. You know what you need to do, you need to cut out the booze, and cut down the chocolate.

Habits can usually be broken after about 3 weeks or so. Set yourself a challenge to just cut out the booze. It'll be a bit weird to begin with because you're used to it being part of your day - but you'll get over it.

And, as other posters have said, do weight bearing exercise - including pilates (which is body weight-bearing). You may say you don't have the money for the gym but if you aren't drinking multiple bottles of wine a week then you'll have plenty of money.

@Caligirl80 I agree. When I drank, I never blamed alcohol for my excess pounds. (I always said liquids didn't count!) But since cutting out booze, I've lost 6 lbs. I wasn't overweight and was surprised it made such a difference seeing as I drink other things instead of wine.

Me!

Its ridiculous. I'm a size 8 and literally have stick thin arms and legs, ankles and wrists you can circle with one hand with space, really narrow and bony shoulders. Im also 5'9". If you saw me in the street you would think im really lanky.
But every single piece of weight goes on my torso. I have surprisingly generous breasts and hips, and most importantly of all, a genuinely fat belly. I also have some upper back fat.
Basically, its like i have the limbs of a model, and then the torso of a flabby size 10. The discrepancy pisses me off, I would be okay with my torso if I had the nice thick legs to go with it, but i look really disproportionate.

My plan is to massively cut back on alcohol, which i believe is my main issue, and start doing strength training in the gym.
Anyone with a similar body shape want to go on the journey with me?!
I do accept though that I probably will never have a flat stomach: all the women in my family seem to gather weight around their middle. But I think ditching all the booze I drink and building muscle will surely help.

Also, kind of hard to explain, but my belly fat is everywhere: its not like I just have a little pouch, its like i have a proper round lower belly but then also rolls starting right under my bra strap. I hate it!

My step mother eats almost nothing but drinks loads of wine and she’s obese. Wine ( and inactivity) definitely makes you fat. Cutting that out is a good place to start.

I’m a size 10/12 and I think I’m skinny fat as well my thighs are huge I feel your pain!

I'm 60, 5'7" and 11st.
At 40 I was 9.5 to 10st.
My diet is exactly the same, I exercise maybe half as well. Still probably more than most people.
Given up wine because menopause.
My point is, get things under control at 40, because it really is much much harder as you age.
Most of my extra weight is around my stomach, it's well named, "middle age spread". 🤷‍♂️

I went to a day of having measurements taken, brain scans and heart scans etc to contribute to the research for the Biobank. I’m a size 8, weigh 8 and a half stone but an hideously untoned. When I was surprised at my body fat % from the machine measurement, the guy very factually told me that I was “skinny fat”….

I wouldn’t use the term skinny fat to describe someone who’s a size 14. Usually a size 8 or 10 who is skinny but does absolutely zero exercise so their body is made up of fat with no muscle tone. They are still skinny but wobbly.

Usually it’s those people who have a very fast metabolism, can eat what they want and it catches up with them by the time they hit their 40s.

I was skinny fat in my early 20’s before I discovered the gym.

One thing I've learned is that weight has to be discussed very carefully among women (and to some extent among men) because it can bring out so much hidden trauma and related entrenched beliefs.

I'm a size 14 and at my recent health check the nurse said I was on the higher side of overweight. My blood pressure is good, my cholesterol is good, I'm fairly fit, I eat well and I exercise and overall I reckon I look pretty good. I have no interest in losing any weight, but the constant message is I must want to lose weight, or if I don't want to lose it I must have some sort of excuse for that. I don't. I look fine, I feel fine. I weight train because there is osteoperosis in my family and I want to build muscle density.

In my family all the issues people have had have come from being too thin. My mother is struggling to put weight back on after an illness and they are constantly trying to bulk up my grandmother. My DH's family is even worse - his brother has huge issues from being too thin (not from an ED, purely genetic) and my MIL has had a ton of investigations caused by recent weight loss (they couldn't find anything). Being too thin is a huge factor in frailty as people get older.

Of course obesity has its issues but I think there is too much unhelpful focus on thinness.

I’m tall and gangly with extremely long legs and arms (I have marfanoid habitus due to a medical condition) and I have found the complete opposite being tall. My sister is the same.

I am roughly the same weight as OP and a size 8. I am far heavier than all of my size 8 friends but can fit in much smaller clothes sizes. It also takes much more weight for me to gain a clothes size. The only things I struggle with is the length of long sleeve tops and pants but I’d have to wear clothes 6 sizes too big to fit those. I shop in the tall section where I can otherwise I don’t wear them.

Don’t worry about it OP. Theres plenty of evidence that slightly overweight women live the longest.

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/why-being-overweight-means-you-live-longer-the-way-scientists-twist-the-facts-10158229.html

I'm skinny fat. My clothes are all a size 10. I'm 51 and 5 foot 3. I am 9 stone and I just can't get below 9 stone. Im not toned and so whilst I might look reasonably slim if I wear a very well constructed tight dress, I'm actually very wobbly.

I could literally starve myself for a fortnight though and I still wouldn't drop below 9 stone. It is just my weight now that I'm menopausal it seems. Lose the weight now before menopause strikes

Short sleeve tops are also tricky if you have long arms. Also, much high street stuff is short in the body too. With jumpers, simple classics I've always bought men's sml or medium

@labamba23 Ignoring the thread title! Yes, it’s common to see women in their early forties who are size 14, then it just creeps up and up. I know it’s been hammered home here, but if you don’t address your health issues now, your post menopausal self is going to really struggle.

To maintain my weight at ten stone, five foot 4, I need to eat no more than 1350 calories a day. It is really tough.

Firstly drop the alcohol. It’s full of calories and you’re going to lose your willpower as soon as you start drinking.

I kidded myself I was a bit chubby, slightly overweight etc. I was obese at 13 stone 7. Some blood test results shocked me into action.

If you have one take away from this thread, I hope it is to take action now, don’t leave it. Good luck.

I would agree with those who have advised tackling this sooner rather than later. It’s not impossible to sort when you’re older, but it will make life harder.

I would eliminate the alcohol apart from very occasionally. It does your body no favours and you may find that alone makes a big difference. I don’t know if you already work out, but now is the time to get into the gym and start lifting weights. Building muscle mass will go a long way to improving your body composition, paired with a diet prioritising protein (1g/pound body weight). Cardio is good for cv health, but should not be the focus for fat loss.

Dear god, read the thread and keep up if you’re going to get so outraged. I know I’m not skinny, I know I’m overweight.

I don’t think this is skinny fat at all

No, as PP have said, that's a (silly) term for a thin but untoned and unfit person.

OP is what the Fat Acceptance movement, if anyone remembers that, used to call an inbetweenie. Someone who is bigger than the fashionable ideal and would be "fat" in Hollywood,but not so big they stand out or have it seriously impact their life.

And never mind all that anyway. Health isn't measured in dress size, nor is attractiveness. How's your actual health and body fat percentage, OP?

BMI asks you to input your height. So yes, it's suitable for all heights.

I mean if that's how you feel 🤷‍♂️

But to some of us it's just shorthand for "I'm slim but my stomach is large".

Once again you’ve misunderstood my use of the phrase which is fine because I think I’ve probably misused it. I didn’t realise it was actually a term, I just came up with it to describe myself - ie an overweight person on the lower side of overweight. Not clinically obese, not noticeably ‘fat’ but still wobbly.

I am not calling myself skinny in any way.

I kidded myself I was a bit chubby, slightly overweight etc.

Same same. As said above, if the average woman is now 16, it's really easy to think that I'm heavy, but still slimmer than average, it's not too bad! And now I'm just average, yeah sure a bit heavy, but I don't really stand out. And now I'm maybe a bit bigger than average, but it's not too bad..
Average is already overweight/obese.

Yes, prosody but not clothes sizing

I definitely am because my BMI is quite low but my actual body fat percentage is really high. It was even when I was running 4 days a week training for a half marathon and lifting heavy weights 3 days a week plus all the extra walking I do every day. I just couldn't shift the extra fat even when I ate well.

I've really let things slide recently, I'm eating too much of all the wrong things and due to an injury I'm not running or gymming as much although I'm still walking loads.

I really need to start eating better, I'm gaining weight which when I'm short is really noticeable and if I carry on I'll end up being overweight. I'm not going to count calories yet, I'm just going to get back into the habit of eating better, getting back in the gym and trying to get to the bottom of this injury so I can pick up proper running again.