If you’re into workout or health nutrition: you already know what ‘skinny fat’ means. But if you don’t know, we got you. At the end of this article, you’ll be an expert on the topic.
What is ‘skinny fat’?
Skinny fat is a situation where people who appear to be at a normal weight, or look lean, but are actually carrying a high fat %, and have a low amount of muscle mass.
If you only look at your BMI (body mass index: based on height and weight) it would indicate that you’re in a healthy range but your body fat percentage is actually higher than what it is.
We can’t rely on BMI alone because it doesn't track your weight according to your bone, fat, or muscle mass, like a smart body scale would do.
What causes ‘skinny fat’?
Numerous things can lead to being ‘skinny fat’:
- Lack of muscle mass
- Lack of protein eating
- Lack of strength training
- Being on a caloric deficit for too long
- Stress
The best way to know if you’re ‘skinny fat’ is to track your body composition and analyze all the data concerning your body (and more importantly your body fat).
Once you have all these data (and your body fat percentage), compare it against the recommended percent body fat ranges:
-
8-19% body fat for healthy men
-
21-33% for healthy women
If your result is that your body fat exceeds these ranges but you have a normal weight when you stand on your smart body scale, you may be skinny fat.
Don't panic! Do not start opening 15 tabs and search for “15 secrets to lose weight in 3 weeks” or other magic recipes like this. Being skinny fat just means you have a little, but super cute, belly belly! We look forward to seeing you in a future article where we will share tips on how to reduce your skinny fat!
Let us know on our social media at @noerdenofficial !
