I'm Skinny Fat & dont know where to start.

[aliceletissier]

Hi everyone,

I have been lurking on these forums for a while and have eventually decided to join and post.

As the title says, I am skinny fat.
I am 21 years old 5'1, 100lbs.

I like the size of my body, and I am 'slim' but I still have a lot of wobbly bits - especially on my tummy which I hate!

Previously I have had an eating disorder, which caused me to lose the weight - but I am now over that, and it has left me "skinny fat".

I would really like advice on where to start, as I am currently a bit overwhelmed with information.

I currently do quite a lot of cardio ~ 5 times a week. I thought this would be the way to lose the extra body fat. But I have just read that too much cardio can do exactly the opposite and hinder fat loss in those that are already small. Also interestingly I read that it can bloat you, is this true?!

Therefore, is the answer resistance/weight training?
I am worried to eat loads, as I dont want anymore body fat (to me it is logical that eating more = more fat!), but it seems that this is maybe where I am going wrong already.

Can eating too few calories also hinder fat loss?

Currently I would say I am eating around 1400 calories a day.



If anyone could help me, I would be very grateful!
I want to start my journey off on the right foot and make sure that its not just guess work

[aliceletissier]

Thank you for the reply.

I have actually just purchased a book that was recommended on here, so I'm hoping that will help too.

I would like to gain some muscle, I love the healthy/lean/fit look.
Visible obliques and good arms would be amazing.

[aproc]

It sounds like your still in that disordered thinking (which takes a long time to come out of). 1400 is too low and yes, eating to few calories hinders fat loss. I'm sure you've heard of 'starvation mode'. It sounds like your problem now if 1400 is what your maintaining on. I've dealt with eating disorders for years and when I got back to a normal weight, what really helped me was resistance training. Building muscle and eating more (it's hard to process that part) will help get your body back on the road to burning more calories. I can now maintain on the normal range of calories vs how I used to maintain on a lower calorie range like you seem to be. Having more muscle will help with fat loss as well. I'd suggest you work on building muscle first before focusing on fat loss. For a lot of people, fat loss happens along with resistance training.
Also try to cut back on the cardio a bit when you start weight training. When I started I was doing cardio almost everyday and never saw results. So I spent years spinning my wheels for nothing. Once I cut back on cardio, I immediately saw progress in weights and what I could do. I was eating a lot of food, but with all that cardio I was just coming out even and making no progress in muscle (and absolutely no fat loss).

[megdaig]

OP...you have to get out of the mindset of gaining WEIGHT = gaining [only] fat. When you eat above maintenance and lift heavy, you will gain both muscle and fat and you can minimize the amount of fat gain by controlling how fast you gain.

You can stay slim and weigh more at the same time since muscle is more dense than fat thus takes up less "space".

I highly recommend you heard this stickie on nutrition ---> http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703921

And get yourself on a weight lifting regime like Starting Strength or New Rules of Lifting For Women. And drop ALL cardio. You are underweight, you do not need to lose any more.

[darins]

Here are my thoughts - I'll be frank, but please interpret everything with the smile that's on my face as I write it. It's all constructive feedback!

Hi everyone,
I currently do quite a lot of cardio ~ 5 times a week. I thought this would be the way to lose the extra body fat. But I have just read that too much cardio can do exactly the opposite and hinder fat loss in those that are already small. Also interestingly I read that it can bloat you, is this true?!

I knew that first line would be in here before I opened the thread. Everyone falls into this trap, and believe us (all of us) when we say to chill with the cardio.

Therefore, is the answer resistance/weight training?

Yes. Be ready to work hard, much harder than you do with cardio.

I am worried to eat loads, as I dont want anymore body fat (to me it is logical that eating more = more fat!), but it seems that this is maybe where I am going wrong already.

Your logic is understandable but flawed. Also, it's not such a binary thing - you're not either starving yourself or 'eating loads' - you'll likely want to increase calories but it can be done slowly - you won't necessarily be doubling your food intake overnight. The body tends to not respond well to that.

Can eating too few calories also hinder fat loss?

Yes, absolutely.

Currently I would say I am eating around 1400 calories a day.

This sounds to me like you don't know exactly. Since we're just starting out here, keep exact logs, enter them online using Fitday.com or some similar calorie tracker, and find out for sure. No reason to be guessing with the technology out there these days!

Also, depending on the nature of your disorder you may have damaged your metabolism, which would need to be taken into consideration. Have you been to counseling or therapy regarding your disorder?

[kimm4]

Previously I have had an eating disorder, which caused me to lose the weight - but I am now over that.

I currently do quite a lot of cardio ~ 5 times a week. I thought this would be the way to lose the extra body fat. But I have just read that too much cardio can do exactly the opposite and hinder fat loss in those that are already small. Also interestingly I read that it can bloat you, is this true?!

I like the size of my body, and I am 'slim' but I still have a lot of wobbly bits - especially on my tummy which I hate!

I am worried to eat loads, as I dont want anymore body fat (to me it is logical that eating more = more fat!), but it seems that this is maybe where I am going wrong already.

Currently I would say I am eating around 1400 calories a day.

There are too many red flags in your post and it's clear you're not over your disorder. You should be working closely with professionals in the ED field.

Good luck.

[wolflikeme]

What recovery did you go through for your ED? I think that your metabolism might still be suppressed from the ED, since you should be able to maintain on much more than 1400.