PLEASE help! Skinny fat for years and it's killing me.

[ABBHAI]

Hello guys.

I've been hitting the gym for over a year now but its been on and off lately because of lockdown. I can't seem to understand why I have a belly and abnormally large love handles, as you can see from my photos. This is has started to give me extreme anxiety, loss of focus and depression. I feel good about myself with a shirt on because I don't have puny arms or a small chest or inverted shoulders, however, as soon as I have to take my shirt off, it gets extremely embarrassing. I really want to go to the beach and learn how to surf but this is really taking a toll on me.

I do a bit of cardio, I try and eat healthy, I barely, ever have sugary products, I never drink alcohol - I don't know what more to do. I've looked around threads and got the inclination that this may be genetic but my 16 year old brother seems to have lost any belly fat and has a six pack (I'm 20).

Please tell me what to do and if this is something I can ever get rid off. I would really like to otherwise I'm going to go crazy. Please tell me what sort of a diet/exercise plan I should follow. Please help.

Thanks!

[TolerantLactose]

Honestly, it looks like you've never step foot in a gym. What is your goal, to lose the fat or put on muscle?

[ABBHAI]

Honestly, it looks like you've never step foot in a gym. What is your goal, to lose the fat or put on muscle?

This is the problem. I was skinny before this but even then I didn't have a flat stomach. I've put on decent size on my arms but I suppose a lot of it is fat.

My goal is to lose the fat and put on muscle. What would you suggest is a good way to go about it?

[TolerantLactose]

My goal is to lose the fat and put on muscle.

It's possible to do both but you don't have the knowledge or experience to do it. So you wind up stuck in limbo. Pick one goal.

[ABBHAI]

It's possible to do both but you don't have the knowledge or experience to do it. So you wind up stuck in limbo. Pick one goal.

So, if I choose the goal to lose the fat - how would I go about this? I've read everywhere online that it's inefficient to primarily focus on cardio and that you should continue weight lifting - which is what I do but the fat doesn't go away.

[ABBHAI]

Please help guys. I really need this support. Your advice will be highly appreciated.

[TolerantLactose]

So, if I choose the goal to lose the fat - how would I go about this? I've read everywhere online that it's inefficient to primarily focus on cardio and that you should continue weight lifting - which is what I do but the fat doesn't go away.

If you want to lose fat, you have to be in a calorie deficit. Using cardio is not optimal, in my opinion. You're better off reducing your intake.

So far, all you've said is that you "hit the gym" and that you "try and eat healthy", which is not very informative. Describe your diet and training in detail. Include numbers.

[xsquid99]

You don’t even look that bad, you just need to pick a goal. “Eating healthy” and “hitting the gym” really says nothing though.

Please go back 1 page, read the “Don’t Look Past the Basics“ sticky at the top of the forum. Then go to the Nutrition Forum and read the macro and calorie counting sticky thread. Then go to the Workout Program forum and pick a program to follow from one of the sticky threads like Fierce 5 or All Pros.

[SuffolkPunch]

I suspect if you continue to try to lose fat, you'll just look smaller without really gaining much muscle definition. I'm not saying don't do it - just that ONLY dieting is not going to get you to your final physique. At some point you need to spend a long time gaining muscle mass using a weights program that features progressive overload.

And please supply the information people request, being as honest as possible otherwise they can't give you the best advice possible.

Are you using a well known routine like Fierce 5 which plans progressive overload for you? I'm guessing not.

[AlexSays]

You have to gain muscle mass and you need to lose fat before you'll start looking good. Choose one to do first it doesn't matter which as you probably won't start to feel better until a cycle of both:

Lose fat first: you will end up skinny and looking like you've never touched a weight. Then gain mass after to solve this problem

Gain mass first: you will likely end up with even more fat and looking soft. Lose fat after to solve this problem

You likely won't be happy until you've gone through phases of the above multiple times

It's a long road and requires commitment and consistency. You aren't going to develop a physique that makes you feel good in 6 months but you can make progress

[Luclin999]

Hello guys.

I've been hitting the gym for over a year now but its been on and off lately because of lockdown. I can't seem to understand why I have a belly and abnormally large love handles, as you can see from my photos.

So... you basically wasted your time in the gym for over a year now.

It looks like you are one of those people that goes to the gym, lifts the same light weights over and over, never pushing themselves, eating very little protein (50-70g per day) and then comes to places like this saying "It's impossible for me to gain muscle!!".

I have friends like this that ask how I managed to go from obese to athletic looking, however when I tell them that it was all hard work and diet, they never want to follow through or put in the effort required to do it themselves.

"No pain, no gains" is really how it works when it comes to building muscle. Muscle will not grow unless it is stressed to the point where there is at least some degree of damage (micro tears) in the fibers and cannot rebuild/repair that damage without the proper nutrition (primarily protein) required to do so.

[Anomen]

As the guys above told you, you need to pick a goal and go for it.

Personally in your position I would first build a better frame in terms of muscles and only then going for the fat loss cause if you start cutting now you will look and feel even weaker.

Also if you can afford it a blood test wouldnt harm, I had a skinny fat body back in my late teens and it was due to low test and horrible habits...once I fixed it my body improved very quickly with low effort.

[ExpSaysItAll]

Skinny fat = lack of muscle + too much fat

It's the worst of the worst body type, but I have seen worse than you...

Eating is the key here, training is secondary. IMHO, you can train all you want no matter how hard you will not change a thing, you need to count calories and stick to serious diet.

I myself, was skinny-fat once, then i ate too much and became full-fat-fat type. At first I felt good because i was never that big before, my shirt fit more, basically i became big by both muscle (little) and fat (a lot). Then food became addiction, i was easily hungry and ate lot of calories per day. That time I had zero knowledge about nutrition, i didn't count calories, I just ate as much as i could. Big mistake i made.

Don't repeat my mistake, if you decide to bulk first, do it slowly. But personally I highly suggest that you start by cutting... yes you heard me. CUTTING as long as you can maintain your lift and eat enough protein you WONT LOSE MUSCLE. Most weight you lose will be fat... Yes.. you will look thinner, skinnier, weaker but things need to be changed right? skinny-fat people just don't know what to do first so they eat as maintenance level and don't go anywhere. When they eat more they look fatter and then stop eating, when they eat less they look even thinner especially in cloth then they eat more, spinning wheel end up looking same skinny-fat.

I have been there, diet is the key. I rather became skinny-skinny type first then start lean bulking. The lower body-fat, the better body composition will be, meaning body will put excess calories into muscle rather than fat when you bulk. Again... this is my personal advice...

[ABBHAI]

Thank you so much everyone! You guys have been very helpful! I will individually reply to all of you very soon and explain the specificities of my diet.

As far as lifting weights is concerned, I can assure you that I have no been stagnant, I have constantly increased the weight. I started out at barely being able to lift 20 KG on the bench, whereas now I can easily do 3 sets of 60.

Thanks a bunch guys! I will keep on posting on this thread to learn from all of your knowledges.

[ABBHAI]

You have to gain muscle mass and you need to lose fat before you'll start looking good. Choose one to do first it doesn't matter which as you probably won't start to feel better until a cycle of both:

Lose fat first: you will end up skinny and looking like you've never touched a weight. Then gain mass after to solve this problem

Gain mass first: you will likely end up with even more fat and looking soft. Lose fat after to solve this problem

You likely won't be happy until you've gone through phases of the above multiple times

It's a long road and requires commitment and consistency. You aren't going to develop a physique that makes you feel good in 6 months but you can make progress

Thank you so much for your thorough response brother. I will focus on eating clean (will post my diet soon) but trying to gain size first because I'd rather be able to fit a shirt.
Again, thank you. Will keep you guys updated here and keep turning to you for advice.

[ABBHAI]

Skinny fat = lack of muscle + too much fat

It's the worst of the worst body type, but I have seen worse than you...

Eating is the key here, training is secondary. IMHO, you can train all you want no matter how hard you will not change a thing, you need to count calories and stick to serious diet.

I myself, was skinny-fat once, then i ate too much and became full-fat-fat type. At first I felt good because i was never that big before, my shirt fit more, basically i became big by both muscle (little) and fat (a lot). Then food became addiction, i was easily hungry and ate lot of calories per day. That time I had zero knowledge about nutrition, i didn't count calories, I just ate as much as i could. Big mistake i made.

Don't repeat my mistake, if you decide to bulk first, do it slowly. But personally I highly suggest that you start by cutting... yes you heard me. CUTTING as long as you can maintain your lift and eat enough protein you WONT LOSE MUSCLE. Most weight you lose will be fat... Yes.. you will look thinner, skinnier, weaker but things need to be changed right? skinny-fat people just don't know what to do first so they eat as maintenance level and don't go anywhere. When they eat more they look fatter and then stop eating, when they eat less they look even thinner especially in cloth then they eat more, spinning wheel end up looking same skinny-fat.

I have been there, diet is the key. I rather became skinny-skinny type first then start lean bulking. The lower body-fat, the better body composition will be, meaning body will put excess calories into muscle rather than fat when you bulk. Again... this is my personal advice...

THIS is easily the best comment I could've read all day. Thank you so much. I will focus on this advice. Do you mind if I turn to you for advice with regard to my progress in the future, since you are coming from a similar position?

Thank you!

[Ghawk21]

Skinny fat = lack of muscle + too much fat

It's the worst of the worst body type, but I have seen worse than you...

Eating is the key here, training is secondary. IMHO, you can train all you want no matter how hard you will not change a thing, you need to count calories and stick to serious diet.

I myself, was skinny-fat once, then i ate too much and became full-fat-fat type. At first I felt good because i was never that big before, my shirt fit more, basically i became big by both muscle (little) and fat (a lot). Then food became addiction, i was easily hungry and ate lot of calories per day. That time I had zero knowledge about nutrition, i didn't count calories, I just ate as much as i could. Big mistake i made.

Don't repeat my mistake, if you decide to bulk first, do it slowly. But personally I highly suggest that you start by cutting... yes you heard me. CUTTING as long as you can maintain your lift and eat enough protein you WONT LOSE MUSCLE. Most weight you lose will be fat... Yes.. you will look thinner, skinnier, weaker but things need to be changed right? skinny-fat people just don't know what to do first so they eat as maintenance level and don't go anywhere. When they eat more they look fatter and then stop eating, when they eat less they look even thinner especially in cloth then they eat more, spinning wheel end up looking same skinny-fat.

I have been there, diet is the key. I rather became skinny-skinny type first then start lean bulking. The lower body-fat, the better body composition will be, meaning body will put excess calories into muscle rather than fat when you bulk. Again... this is my personal advice...

Did you even look at his pics? He's really not that fat at all, just no muscle mass. If he cuts now he's going to look sickly, like Christian Bale in the Machinist. He should be starting a slow bulk and add some muscle mass. 200 Cal surplus and a proper training program followed consistently.

[Luclin999]

Thank you so much for your thorough response brother. I will focus on eating clean (will post my diet soon) but trying to gain size first because I'd rather be able to fit a shirt.
Again, thank you. Will keep you guys updated here and keep turning to you for advice.

"Eating Clean" is meaningless.

You can overeat almost any type of food and still gain weight, even "clean" foods.

To control your intake you have to weight/measure/log literally everything that goes into your mouth.

Anything else is just guessing.

[ExpSaysItAll]

Did you even look at his pics? He's really not that fat at all, just no muscle mass. If he cuts now he's going to look sickly, like Christian Bale in the Machinist. He should be starting a slow bulk and add some muscle mass. 200 Cal surplus and a proper training program followed consistently.

Yes he's not full fat, but still i see quite fat on his belly.... the lack of overall muscle mass also contribute to making him look small in appearance. I couldn't count his six-packs, I see no 11 line. I speak from my experience so I suggest cutting, there will be NO MUCH difference when cloth-on. But when shirtless he will look much better. I'm one of people who prefer "lower-end" range of body fat when it comes to bulking or cutting.

[ExpSaysItAll]

THIS is easily the best comment I could've read all day. Thank you so much. I will focus on this advice. Do you mind if I turn to you for advice with regard to my progress in the future, since you are coming from a similar position?

Thank you!

Thanks bro, I'm happy to help, and others here too.
You will also have to study, and experience everything by yourself. take everyone's recommendation into account and decide the best for you!!

Speaking from experience and I consider myself intermediate level at best, for me the lower range of body fat is where the magic happen. I used to stupidly bulk up and end up around close to 30% body fat. Basically I have unknowingly trained my body how to store fat. Muscle memory is real, in case you don't know FAT MEMORY is real too. When I diet down and cut back below 15% BF and tried lean build, it was hard. My body used to be exposed to that high amount of fat, every surplus I ate tend to end up being fat!! My body is just more efficient at storing fat. It sucks bro....

You can start by bulking if you like. There really is no universal right answer for us, skinny fat !!! (We have 2 jobs to do which is build muscle and lose fat lol) Like I said if you want to bulk first you must know when to stop. Our body is big balancing act, if you eat in surplus, it will try its best to use all the surplus calories, NEAT will goes up etc When you consistently eating in surplus tho, body just don't know what to do and will be forced to store it at fat, and if you do crazy dirty bulk like i did, body will synthesize more fat cell to store evenmore fat!!! Yes body will build muscle too, but it can only build at extremely painful slow rate.... that's the truth bro

So the key is to do cycles of sensible cutting and sensible bulking and it takes time... Choose your plan, have one goal in mind at a time.

[Ghawk21]

Yes he's not full fat, but still i see quite fat on his belly.... the lack of overall muscle mass also contribute to making him look small in appearance. I couldn't count his six-packs, I see no 11 line. I speak from my experience so I suggest cutting, there will be NO MUCH difference when cloth-on. But when shirtless he will look much better. I'm one of people who prefer "lower-end" range of body fat when it comes to bulking or cutting.

My problem with this logic is guys like OP, who have next to no muscle mass, end up looking like skeletons before they see their abs. Wasting months trying to get there just so you can then start bulking up is a waste of time in in my opinion. He could eat in a slight surplus and start looking better quicker by focusing on building muscle. Either way he needs to pick a goal and stick to it and find a better lifting routine because it sounds like hes been fuking around for a year, not training.

[CommitmentRulz]

OP your #1 'problem' is not too much fat, but it is not enough muscle.