Help me I'm "skinny fat"

[Sexentric]

I really dont know what to do about this. I always thought I was reasonably healthy. I eat pretty well, work out 4 or 5 times a week and my BMI is 24. All good I hear you say! Except I've just discovered my fat is 32.3% whixh puts me in the obese category. I dont know how to sort this out. I have all the metabolic risks of being obese but I cant just lose weight because im pretty slim already (although obviously not around my organs!) I also have very high cholesterol. WTH do I do? I have PCOS so am going to see if my dr will try me on metformin for insulin resistance but any other tips?
Anyone else in the same boat?

Was this from one of those body fat scales? They’re totally unreliable. a bmi of 24 cannot have you being obese and I’d perhaps be more concerned about why you’re checking your body fat levels when you’re within the healthy range?

enjoy your life and the meat suit it serves you well. Ditch the scales.

Usually this is due to a lack of muscle mass and protein in your diet. Try to up your protein intake and start lifting weights to build muscle if all your exercise is currently cardio.

I do lift weights 2 or 3 times a week. I dont eat meat though so maybe my protein intake isn't as high as it should be. We DO eat fish.
I have a belly but slim arms and legs so I think it's pretty accurate that I have too much fat sadly.

Unless this was a DEXA scan then any body fat % is going to be very inaccurate and based on a generic algorithm rather than actually measuring your body fat.

What is your waist to height ratio? Where you carry your body fat is relevant to health and waist size is an indicator of that.

I’m skinny fat too and I’ve found it’s largely genetic, and the only thing that works is lifting weights. And you won’t build muscle as fast as someone who has higher muscle mass.

Metformin can be a great drug to take for pcos, regardless of weight/size etc. I am the shape (apple) that seems to be more prone to storing fat around the middle, therefore more fat around vital organs, as it sounds like you are too. Taking metformin can be difficult, esp when you start and are slowly increasing the dosage. I had a period of 3-4 months where being near a loo was an absolute necessity due to the side effects. The drug itself will very likely mean you will lose weight - I lost a fair amount, although I can’t even remember now what I weighed at the time. It was over 20 years ago now, quite early on when it was only starting to be used for pcos. I saw the endocrinologist a few times, they did a lot of blood tests, and it made a massive difference in my symptoms. Some symptoms I had no idea were because of my hormones, but turned out to be due to testosterone. I think taking it for pcos is a very good idea, tbh. I was also given spironolatone (sorry, I cannot recall actual spelling!) too but that just made me sick, possibly to do with how it interacted with some existing meds I was taking, so had to eventually stop taking that. But that too was a good drug, and so help a little with things like body hair, but unfortunately that didn’t work for me. Personally, if you are able to access metformin (I don’t know if you still have to see an endo or not anymore) then I would definitely give it a go, but be aware the side effects can be pretty explosive and sometimes you need to go back down a step in dosage and then increase it again after a while but once you’re on full dose the side effects do wear off. I’m still on it, 20+ years later.

Not that skinny if your BMI is 24.

Do you do heavy compound lifts with progressive overload? That’s the only way to build muscle and it can’t be done without protein. You could try a tracking app to see if you are getting enough.

Well no. Id have never called myself "skinny". The reason I was checking was because my belly is more wobbly than I want. But "skinny fat" is the word that Google used to describe my body composition.

Thank you for such a in depth response. Yes I have used metformin before. In fact I stopped in 2016. It regulated my periods, helped my skin and excessive hairiness. My doctor is open to me taking it again to see if it helps with all that and the cholesterol issues, dependant on blood results. So im booked in for a test next week. I dont know if its likely to help my fat issues as well though. I'm hopeful.

I have no idea what this means! I do functional fitness classes which incorporates both strength and power exercises and I increase my weights (a little bit) every few weeks. Basically whenever the exercise starts to feel easier. I try and keep.it so that its a struggle to finish each set. I think that's what you meant? Protein though im not sure of. I do have greek yoghurt for breakfast every day with almonds and blueberries. I think that's pretty high protein. Also try and have protein every meal bug like I said I dont eat meat. Maybe that is an issue?

You don't need to eat meat for protein, especially when eating fish. Eggs, lentils, beans, tofu, dairy etc are all excellent, healthy sources of protein.

Thanks. I do eat all of these. I was thinking the no meat might be better with high cholesterol anyway but i'm not sure. I dont eat meat, dont drink alcohol, dont smoke, do quite a but of exercise. It doesn't seem to be obvious (to me at least) what is causing the issue.

There may well be a genetic predisposition then? A friend of mine has this, for her cutting carbs was the answer, but she had a predisposition to type 2 diabetes, despite being thin and not eating particularly unhealthily. If you can afford it (or on NHS?), it might be worth going to a dietician who could test and advise you

Yes that’s right. However the weights need to be pretty heavy eg you can literally only do 6-10 lifts properly before failure. If you’re like me you might have wondered many times why you look bigger than other women who weigh the same. Its lack of muscle mass compared with body fat. It’s horrible and frustrating. Likelihood of being skinny fat may be genetic but I’m pretty sure we should be able to do something about it.
Also fyi do you know that it’s pretty much impossible to gain muscle mass whilst in calorie deficit? The best you can hope for (unusual) is to minimise muscle loss. So if you want to gain muscle you need to eat enough calories and probably more protein than you realise

I’m in a similar boat (PCOS, bmi of 24, weight lift and run).

I’ve done some research and will now aim for a BMI of 22 to maximise health benefits while retaining strength for weight lifting in the gym. My main focus is on reducing visceral fat and subcutaneous fat and I think you should focus on the same. This will mean losing a stone or so possibly.

Yes to more protein to build muscle. Also review your calorie intake, potentially monitoring it for a week so you understand your own calorie intake.

If you’re vegetarian are you eating a lot of cheese and dairy? That won’t help your cholesterol and visceral fat levels.

You also need to exercise more than 2/3 times a week and do a mixture of proper weight training like someone up thread suggested and cardio. Guidelines are 30 mins cardio 5 days a week plus 2 weights resistance sessions targeting all major muscle groups.

My experience of this is cutting carbs down is the only way. The PCOS/insulin resistance/prone to type 2 diabetes as you age thing. I just cannot have as many carbs as others. And if I do have carbs I have to pair them with protein

I've always been slim and always (even in my early twenties) had a body fat percentage around 30%. I was always very toned too (on the caliber test would have very low body fat) and the machine at David Lloyd said I had very low visceral fat.

So to conclude, my body fat always comes out high but I don't actually know where the fat is.

I can really relate to a lot of this post. My BMI is 22.5 but I don’t look like it is! I have thin arms/legs but lots of tummy fat (I look pregnant and have to be careful what I wear so that people don’t assume I am).

Are you also quite short? I’m 5ft2 and I find that seems to make the tummy fat more noticeable.

I’ve been doing lots of research, reading and listening to podcasts over the past year. I’m
becoming more and more convinced that I actually need to gradually increase my calories (feels like it goes against everything I naturally want to do to lose the tummy fat) and really focus on building muscle. I’m regularly doing dumbbell workouts at home and trying to increase my protein. My diet has always been good and I’ve never been overweight, but seem to always store extra fat in my tummy and it’s got even worse over the last couple of years since I turned 40. I also discovered the ‘skinny fat’ definition. I think it’s a bit of a strange phrase but it definitely describes me.

AI seems to think i need to eat WAY more protein than I do now. Apparently I should be aming for between 105 and 135g. I actually think it will mean I need to eat more food overall which is absolutely nuts.
I reckon I probably get about 50-60g a day or thereabouts at the moment

that’s definitely not enough!

There was a programme on channel 4 last week about protein myths, it was really good and had some good tips for getting enough if you are vegetation/vegan - have a watch on catch up!

Definitely cut carbs and try to focus on protein instead. Often classes are high reps (more than 10) with low weights whereas you would need to lift heavier for less reps (5-8) to build muscle. When you can do 8 reps for 3 sets you add some weight and you keep trying to do that every week. It’s not that classes aren’t useful but it will be more of an endurance and fitness result than muscle building. Would you consider getting some PT sessions to show you the form and what to do and maybe follow a women’s beginner’s strength programme instead of/ as well as classes?

Have you checked your waist to hip ratio? That might be a better measure for you than bmi and the body composition scales.

my bmi is between 20 and 21.5 and my body fat is around 27, so this year I’m going to try and build muscle and do more exercise to improve things. I’m recovering from surgery so can’t do much presently as well as being chronically ill, so it’s not going to be easy.