So people have been telling me how I look thinner and how I need to stop losing weight and even have gotten to the point of overstepping a couple of boundaries with these exaggerated comments... which I always find weird because I look in a mirror and notice my stomach is still pretty large, as well as my thighs, and I have a lot of "goodbye" fat, as my drama teacher called it (that fat below your arm that jiggles when you wave). I still have to wear body shapers with every outfit I own, for goodness' sake, so I'm definitely not at the point of maintaining.

I saw a couple of articles about an increasing amount of people who are "skinny fat". Meaning they look great with clothes on, their BMI isn't high, but they eat terribly and they're not as "skinny" as people think. (It also mentioned they tend to have a lot of belly fat because of drinks or candy or whatever.) I'm pretty sure I'm at that point right now, even if most of the pictures I see of skinny fat people still seem to be at a much lower weight.

Did anyone escape this? Is it time to focus more on strength training to make sure my body fat percentage goes down, and make sure to really cut out all the sweets (can't say I've been at 100% with nutrition either)?

Skinny fat, to my definition, is caused by people that lose weight by just cutting what they eat and not changing what they eat as well or other aspects of their lifestyle such as exercise.

I became skinny fat once when I turned vegan and cut my portion sizes. I was also described as "gaunt". I lost weight but I lost muscle with the fat. Nasty look.

This time around, I have changed my diet to a healthy one rich in vitamins and minerals with lots of protein and vegetables. I eat a lot of very clean food and avoid processed carbs. I also exercise, specifically weight train and run. This helps me to build some lean muscle and escape being skinny fat.

I just plan on dieting until I no longer have a gut and flabby thighs, or to a medically-safe BMI of 18.5, whichever comes first. I'm at a BMI of 19.4 right now, I exercise most days of the week, and I still have both!

Well, and plus I'll have to continue to diet until the end of my life - I call this concept "Live and Diet"! - if I want to stay as skinny as I get. So there's that!

IanG - Yeah, I think I have to make sure to get my protein and get back to strength training! Thankfully the medical problem that has been plaguing me for the past few months is resolved (at least enough for me to hit the gym), so it should make a difference. (:

HungerWerks - That's exactly the problem, though! Going from exercising and dieting to just dieting even made me gain a few measurements. My weight is going down, and my BMI is fine, but with no muscle, the gut's still there :s

i am skinny fat i have a 23 bmi.My tummy is bigger than i want but im working on it i lift weights and eat healthy.

For me, there's just only so much I'll do. Like, I'm not going to lift weights, I'm not going to do crunches, for the most part, and I'm only going to exercise, including warm up, cool down, and yoga, about a couple of hours a day, five or so days a week. If the body parts that I have take more than that to get rid of - along with a very strict diet of about 1200 calories a day, with one fasting day and one eat-what-I-want day, they're staying!

Yep.

You need to focus on eating MORE food, and strength training.

I'm with you Wendy - I describe my body as a train wreck because even though I'm not terribly overweight I have a lot of rolls and globs and batwings and all. I'm tired of my lower gut actually hanging down.

Exercise is the only way to get around it I'm afraid. Especially weights to build muscle.

Thank goodness someone brought this up!

I have a very small frame (wrist circumference is 5 inches). I have been trying to lose weight again for my wedding, since I hit my 30's my body likes to sit around 133 (I am 5'4).

I wear a size 4 or small/extra small in tops. Usually a 5/6 in bottoms. Even though people say I look thin, I am like all fat and no muscle. I have tons of cellulite on thighs, butt and arms even.

I am trying to lose more weight again before starting to try and tone again. I have a real problem building muscle...like any muscle. I haven't been able to do a pushup or pull up my entire life (even when I weighed 95lbs).

My dad recently found out he may have a genetic disorder in which he doesn't build muscle and may have passed it on to me. I am considering having some testing done.

Any tips on what I can do? I have tried pilates, 21 day fix (this kills me, and I am sore for days), and just regular toning exercises (light weights, crunches, squats, lunges). I have to be careful because my heart rate gets to 180-190 with just walking on an incline and my blood pressure runs low (100/50).

You could also try running. It seems to tighten-up/slim-out the upper body (arms, waist).

Also, if you get to 110, the skinny-fat thing really won’t be an issue anymore…

Running is out, because my heart won't handle it, or my knees.

But you might be right about the 110 goal, we shall have to see!

Good thing I have almost 2 years before my wedding to figure this out.

What is your resting heart rate? Do you feel lightheaded or weak? If your resting hr is high or you have heavy periods, get your ferritin/iron tested for anemia.

My testing hr was 108 & I was blacking out, feeling short of breath, fatigued. It wasn't necessarily in my face though. I didn't know how yucky I felt until I started feeling better.

I just took my resting HR and it was 84. Usually my dizziness is from raising too fast or having my head lowered and coming back up, but I think that is blood pressure related. I am always being tested for anemia but I am always normal.

That's pretty fast. I had symptoms for 5+ years before I was finally diagnosed and it only gets worse. I walked around wondering how people could go to the gym, then clean the house, then do all this stuff, have all this energy. Now I am one of those people! Do you know what your last ferritin was?

My ferritin was 8 and even then most Drs don't recognize anemia even with the symptoms I was having. I finally ran into a good dr who referred me to a kidney specialist, who then prescribed iron. I think he said at a bare minimum it should be 50, but even that isn't optimal. He said if you're taking iron, to get tested every 6 months because you can overdose on iron.

I thought I was just a low energy person but I've just been low on iron forever!

with your HR and symptoms, it's worth getting checked out. And get a copy of your blood reports.

Also, your bp could be low because you don't have enough blood. Mine used to be low too.

Mandy-sorry for hijacking!!

Well I got my Iron/Ferritin tested and Iron was 51/ Ferritin was 10 which still fell into the normal levels. 10 seems a little borderline low to me. We shall see what the doc thinks.