Thin But Have 17 Percent Bodyfat

I have a strange problem in that I am a thin person, but have high bodyfat. I am 6 feet tall and have 17% bodyfat. And it seems to be all in my stomach! I weigh 158. So if I want to get down to 10% fat and see abs, I guess that means I have to loose 11 lbs? So that means I would weigh 147 lbs. I know that is weak; but I don't care at this point- I just want to see abs. This week I started doing 40 minutes of cardio every morning and the meter says I'm burning 300 calories. I have no idea if this is good or not. I may add another 40 minutes at night before going to bed. Do you think this is enough to make an impact, or do I need to burn more then 300 calories on the bike? Thank you for your help. -Adamtron

You are skinny fat.

1lb does NOT equal 1% of bodyfat.

You should go on a bulking program.

Do you lift?

Well I'm not sure if I'm doing the math right, but since my goal is to be 10% bodyfat and I'm 17% now, I figure that means I need to loose 7% fat. Then I multiplied my weight of 158 by 7% and that's about 11 lbs. Is this right? Anyway, I have started lifting dumbells and doing chest on Monday and Thursday and Biceps on Tuesday and Friday. I am going to try to increase the weight 5 lbs each week. I have also started doing 100 situps every morning.

i have the same problem, my belly is the only fat part of my body, i look great until my shirt comes off, unfortunately i am just as stumped as you right now.

Yeah, I have been going to the beach more often and I want to be able to take my shirt off. It is a frustrating problem because people keep telling me I look fine and don't need to go on a diet, but I can hide my stomach with clothing. I hired two different personal trainers this year, but neither one of them helped me get results. Hopefully someone here can help us. If not I'm going to do 3 hours of cardio a day and if that doesn't work, I'm going to get liposuction!

Yea you're ding the maths correctly. To keep the same lean weight of 131lbs, you'd be 146lbs at 10% bodyfat.
But you'll lose some lean weight along with the muscle if you cut, so you'll probably end up at somewhere around 140lbs by the time you reach 10% which would give you a lean weight of 126lbs with 14lbs fat.


I wouldn't do 100 situps, do a few sets of weighted crunches.

[QUOTE=boyscouT]You are skinny fat.

[/QUOTE]

bs is right, being skinny fat sucks, trust me. Definetly start bulking as said. If you cut now you will be very upset with the results. Get yourself a solid foundation before trying to lose anymore weight. You might even drop a few %BF while bulking if you watch your diet well.

yeah I agree, just clean bulk for a bit

i have the same problem i am 6 feet 4 inches tall but put weight on in specific areas chest and waistline. and when i lose body fat it doest tend to take it from these areas easliy unless i keep going nad going which in turns means the rest of me is far to skinny. do u drink much aclcohol? that can contribute. i think a mix of cardio and wieghts with a calorie deficit is the key. i go back and forth quite a bit but have had good results doing this

OK. Thanks for the feedback guys. That's good advice. I met with a trainer/nutritionist and he said one problem I have is that I am only eating 2 or 3 times a day and so my metabalism has shut down. So now I have to eat 5 times a day, due cardio for 40 minutes each day and lift weights. So I will try this and see if it works. But yeah, he said I did the math correctly and that in order to get down to 10% bf and see abs, I would weigh 145lbs and be 6 ft tall, so that sucks! But I guess being lean with abs is better then average looking with no abs. I just feel like I have a LONG uphill battle. I read some of these fitness model stats on the net and these guys have size 46" chest. I'm 38", so I can't even imagine attaining that much muscle- probably physically impossible for me. I think I might look OK at 40" and leaned out. We'll see what happens in the coming months.

start lifting 4x a week, cardio hiit for 20min 2x a week, eat 4-5 meals a day, get extra cals to grow, some bulk cee, and lots of on whey. try get big for 3months or so, and then cut

a) you'll look better after you cut
b) cutting will be easier w/ the extra muscle

adamtron and tobetheman...i totally agree with all of the above...time for a bulk...im just like u guy, im 'skinny fat' also with most of my fat in the one spot...the midsection...to clean bulk, cardio once or twice a week is enough...and have around 300 calories over your maintenance (the only difference between a clean bulk diet and a cutting diet is the amount you eat)...lift 4-5 days a week, hitting your upper and lower body...check out the journals section for examples/inspiration

Being fat sucks. I used to be fat, just check my pics. I then lost a lot of the weight then I was skinny fat. Now I have muscle and am getting leaner by the day as I am cutting. I suggest you bulk cleanly!

My pics are in this order: fat > skinny fat > recent

yogurt whats wrong wid da boobs?

[QUOTE=tobetheman]i have the same problem, my belly is the only fat part of my body, i look great until my shirt comes off, unfortunately i am just as stumped as you right now.[/QUOTE]

its like these words came out of my mouth as well.

im 100% happy with my progress everywhere, except my belly. Nothing i do is working, including strict dieting, cardio, high rep workouts, etc.

And it all went to hell once i quit smoking :(

damn Cortisol :eek:

I am still having the same issue, only it is worse. I lost 8 lbs by dieting and cardio, but now the scale says I am 150 lbs at 17% bf. My body is really getting on my nerves now. I am confused on what to do. I really want to get rid of this fat, but it seems like I am loosing muscle in the process. Maybe I should just focus on building muscle and the muscle tissue will help burn the fat? I know I am fighting genetics because my Dad and Brother have the same body type. But I also think that maybe if I learn what to do and put in the extra effort that I can make an improvement. At this point, I would be happy just to flatten my stomatch, it doesn't have to be Brad Pitt abs or anything, I just want to look decent! Will doing crunches have any effect at this point or do I need to wait until I get the body fat lower? Here is a pic of what I'm dealing with:

I have an easy solution.

Start doing heavy weighted abs once or twice a week. I'm Skinny fat but helped rectify this by bulking up and training with low reps and low volume. Yeah I put on alot of fat, but most skinny fat people have extremely strong mid sections.


Do the ab work, you may not see complete abs, but your gonna have strong abs. Skinny fat is basically having the genetics of a strong warrior due to the strong midsection on a leaner body.


Do the ab work, and use lower reps and work on improving strength in the main exercises, squat, dead, and bench. Eat enough solid foods to gain weight. In your case you have very very little muscle. You need to gain about 20-30 lbs before you even worry about getting below 13% b/f.



As a skinny fat, I lost 15 lbs of fat and only dropped 2-3% total bodyfat. Its all about strength gains(low reps, few sets) and clean eating for the skinny fat, and regular cardio and probably low volume.

[QUOTE=WorldMuscle;25634071]
As a skinny fat, I lost 15 lbs of fat and only dropped 2-3% total bodyfat. Its all about strength gains(low reps, few sets) and clean eating for the skinny fat, and regular cardio and probably low volume.[/QUOTE]

Thanks WorldMuscle. I'm going to take your advice. It sounds like you know what I'm going through. I was at 180 with 22% bf and after dropping to 150, I'm still 17% bf after loosing 30 lbs. My body just doesn't get the message. I am going to focus more on the muscle building and ab work now and check the results in 3 months. Thanks for your help. -Adamtron

[QUOTE=adamtron;25613231]I am still having the same issue, only it is worse. I lost 8 lbs by dieting and cardio, but now the scale says I am 150 lbs at 17% bf. My body is really getting on my nerves now. I am confused on what to do. I really want to get rid of this fat, but it seems like I am loosing muscle in the process. Maybe I should just focus on building muscle and the muscle tissue will help burn the fat? I know I am fighting genetics because my Dad and Brother have the same body type. But I also think that maybe if I learn what to do and put in the extra effort that I can make an improvement. At this point, I would be happy just to flatten my stomatch, it doesn't have to be Brad Pitt abs or anything, I just want to look decent! Will doing crunches have any effect at this point or do I need to wait until I get the body fat lower? Here is a pic of what I'm dealing with:[/QUOTE]

you arent 17% bf. are you strictly going by what the scale says (natoriously inaccurate in regards to composition) or are you taking other composition measurements such as with calipers? imho, you cant get a six pack without looking emaciated if you dont build up some muscle.

do you lift weights at all?

[QUOTE=qw3r;25642111]you arent 17% bf. are you strictly going by what the scale says (natoriously inaccurate in regards to composition) or are you taking other composition measurements such as with calipers? imho, you cant get a six pack without looking emaciated if you dont build up some muscle.

do you lift weights at all?[/QUOTE]

I'm going by what the scale says, but I do have calipers, so I will test it again tonight. The last time I compared the scale to the calipers, it was very close, maybe only 1 percent difference so I've been trusting the scale. Yeah I don't won't to look emaciated and my friends keep telling me that I'm loosing too much weight, so I am going to have to build some muscle and hope that that burns the fat off. I lift weights, but I have not been consistent because I appear to be a hard gainer and see very little results for my labor. I just moved to a new apartment complex that has a gym, so I'm going to get back into it, I just wasn't sure where to start.

[QUOTE=qw3r;25642111]you arent 17% bf. are you strictly going by what the scale says (natoriously inaccurate in regards to composition) or are you taking other composition measurements such as with calipers? imho, you cant get a six pack without looking emaciated if you dont build up some muscle.

do you lift weights at all?[/QUOTE]

OK QW3R, I tested with calipers and it said I am 15%, so it looks like the scale (with the electric current test) was off by 2% and you were right. At any rate, I started doing 40 minutes of treadmill every morning, while increasing the incline. I also started lifting the heaviest weight I can in the gym and I bought a 25lb plate for doing weighted crunches. I'm not sure if I'm doing them right, I am holding it across my chest and doing sit-ups with them. So I'll see what happens. I'm hoping that I can drop 5% fat by June (2-3 months). I want to thank everyone for the help and suggestions you've given me. -Adamtron

[QUOTE=boyscouT;12359905]You are skinny fat.

1lb does NOT equal 1% of bodyfat.

You should go on a bulking program.

Do you lift?[/QUOTE]


im sorry but **** that! cut dude, there is noo point in bulking with 17% bodyfat, i dont care how little muscle you have, when after roughly 4 months and you have only gained like 6 lbs of muscle and are now 20% bf youre going to regret it a ton,


you will look terrible if you bulk, even if its clean, cut the **** up soon and fast, then clean bulk your way into this sport

[QUOTE=Tussmann57;28670601]im sorry but **** that! cut dude, there is noo point in bulking with 17% bodyfat, i dont care how little muscle you have, when after roughly 4 months and you have only gained like 6 lbs of muscle and are now 20% bf youre going to regret it a ton,


you will look terrible if you bulk, even if its clean, cut the **** up soon and fast, then clean bulk your way into this sport[/QUOTE]

At this point I would be happy just to get rid of the fat. I think with the genetics I have I should go for the Brad Pitt in Fight Club or Bruce Lee look LOL, although even those guys have way more muscle then me. I was thinking about adding another 40 minutes of cardio at night. So it would be 40 minutes in the morning on an empty stomach and then 40 minutes at night before going to bed (well some time to unwind first).

nah just one 40 minute session should get it. I wouldnt cut hardcore, I wouldnt necessarily bulk either. I'd hit the weights hard...do your cardio, and eat a shade under maintainance (2-300cals). This gives you the best chance to build a little bit of muscle, and cut some fat. The muscle you gain will only help to accentuate the fat loss.

Hope this helps.