SkinnyFat

[someguy1984]

What do you do if your SkinnyFat? I consider myself in this category. If i bulk, I'll end up with too much body fat, but if i cut I'll look to small and be nothing. My arms are small, but i have pudge on my stomach. So, when i walk it will move a bit, but i only weigh 146lbs and I'm 5'7. My legs are pretty muscular and so is my back/chest, but i can grab a decent amount of fat from my stomach. Also, when i bend over a little fat/skin will roll over and i can grab a good chunk. I used to weigh about 40lbs more 5 years ago, but i have lost the weight slowly...I believe it's genetics that is keeping this body fat, or excess skin.

What do you do? Eating around maintenance, maybe a bit more seems logical to try and gain muscle and tone up...But, this IS NOT A SIMPLE PROJECT.

Here are some pics. This might help.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a26/Camaro0wner/noname.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a26/Camaro0wner/jkkjk.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a26/Camaro0wner/jkhg.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a26/Camaro0wner/jk.jpg

 

[QuestionGuy]

I used to be in the same boat, i was always a chubby strong kid, untill i decided to loose weight and then i was a skinny fat kid who lost his strenght, lol...sad but true...it took me and most people here years to dial in what they need to do to become lean...If I were you, I would not worry about that little fat you got on you.............I would proceed wiht a bulking phase that you need to keep moderatley clean wiht a lot of good supplements and extremely lifting heavy weights (for you).....once you see how it is to prepare your food, think about your food, and worry about your food intake constantly all day long, you will get a littme more discipline and motivation because you will also see some results...in the long run, bulking now will have a better effect on you both physically and mentally, because cutting take the biggest discipline of ALL, unless you are the next Jay Cutler, I can pretty much guarantee that you will not have the emotional and mental discipline it takes to do a good cut, and thus you will get disapointed and quit.......

 

[someguy1984]

I've actually been losing a little weight. Yes, i do have the motivation to cut. I track all my food on livestrong and have been for 6 months. Honestly, I'm addicted to it. I literally have been eating perfectly healthy and have seen no difference between eating *not so perfect.* I consume no hydrogenated oil, no bread, all EFA's and take fish oil. 1g of potein per LBM and at least 60g of good fats everyday. Honestly, it seems like i can throw in a cheeseburger, or fries occasionally and it wouldn't make a difference...

In the situation I'm in, it's a tough struggle to figure out what to do, because my genetics clearly want to keep that fat. So, your opinion is to bulk a bit? (Slowly) Although, this seems like your implying a cut could be possible, but difficult?

 

[sexy_animal]

Reduce your carb intake, lift 3 times a week, and do cardio like a motherfucker.

You're not going to get outstanding results by just doing things "a little bit". Getting to the next level will take more hard work and way more discipline.

 

[someguy1984]

Alright, i'll continue and go for it.

So, i need to be eating a calorie surplus, correct?

 

[QuestionGuy]

I've actually been losing a little weight. Yes, i do have the motivation to cut. I track all my food on livestrong and have been for 6 months. Honestly, I'm addicted to it. I literally have been eating perfectly healthy and have seen no difference between eating *not so perfect.* I consume no hydrogenated oil, no bread, all EFA's and take fish oil. 1g of potein per LBM and at least 60g of good fats everyday. Honestly, it seems like i can throw in a cheeseburger, or fries occasionally and it wouldn't make a difference...

In the situation I'm in, it's a tough struggle to figure out what to do, because my genetics clearly want to keep that fat. So, your opinion is to bulk a bit? (Slowly) Although, this seems like your implying a cut could be possible, but difficult?

of course eating bad here and there isn???t going to make a difference, and "eating perfect" can actually set you back a bit because you need to have your body guessing and trick it into producing......And yes, you can eat bread, I eat bread every day..(Two slices of 100% wheat toast)....Make sure you drink a lot of water....

It sound like our bodies are very much alike.....But you need to overcome, I put on about 45-50 pounds of muscle in 7 years and if I was to put my progress on a graph, it would look worse than the stock market.......Your problem is that you simply do not have any muscle right now, so even if you successfully cut, you would have nothing to show for it at the end???..you need to be patient and work on some muscle, up your protein a bit to maybe 2g per pound, drink a lot of water and workout hard???

 

[QuestionGuy]

Reduce your carb intake, lift 3 times a week, and do cardio like a motherfucker.

You're not going to get outstanding results by just doing things "a little bit". Getting to the next level will take more hard work and way more discipline.

dude, we need to get him on the CHART, then start geting him to the next level....and no, he doesnt need to do cardio like a motherfucker, he is a pretty lean kid, he just has no freaking muscle so even if he was at 6% BF he would just look like skeletor........we dont even know what his carb intake is to start wiht...and lift three times a week?? Why is thah??.............ofcourse I MUST ADD that if stuff like that works for you, then go do it because there is plenty of weird shit that worked for me...............

 

[C6zo6]

dude, we need to get him on the CHART, then start geting him to the next level....and no, he doesnt need to do cardio like a motherfucker, he is a pretty lean kid, he just has no freaking muscle so even if he was at 6% BF he would just look like skeletor........we dont even know what his carb intake is to start wiht...and lift three times a week?? Why is thah??.............ofcourse I MUST ADD that if stuff like that works for you, then go do it because there is plenty of weird shit that worked for me...............

True.

 

[someguy1984]

of course eating bad here and there isn???t going to make a difference, and "eating perfect" can actually set you back a bit because you need to have your body guessing and trick it into producing......And yes, you can eat bread, I eat bread every day..(Two slices of 100% wheat toast)....Make sure you drink a lot of water....

It sound like our bodies are very much alike.....But you need to overcome, I put on about 45-50 pounds of muscle in 7 years and if I was to put my progress on a graph, it would look worse than the stock market.......Your problem is that you simply do not have any muscle right now, so even if you successfully cut, you would have nothing to show for it at the end???..you need to be patient and work on some muscle, up your protein a bit to maybe 2g per pound, drink a lot of water and workout hard???

How do you suggest i lift? I've been lifting Mon-Wed-Fri and doing HIIT/ABS 2x a week on Thursday and Friday. The weekend i rest.

On workout days i don't have more than 135g of carbs and on off days no more than 75g. (Generally) On cardio days it's about 100g.

I changed my routine recently and it's now Push/Legs/Pull. I've been really liking it so far. (Got it from Gaz)

 

[Gazhole]

How do you suggest i lift? I've been lifting Mon-Wed-Fri and doing HIIT/ABS 2x a week on Thursday and Friday. The weekend i rest.

On workout days i don't have more than 135g of carbs and on off days no more than 75g. (Generally) On cardio days it's about 100g.

I changed my routine recently and it's now Push/Legs/Pull. I've been really liking it so far. (Got it from Gaz)

Just keep at it, and most importantly - eat a hell of a lot. You need excess calories there to fuel that growth.

How is the program going, though?

 

[QuestionGuy]

Well....Thruout the years I have come to find that the only advice you can really take is the advice and feedback that your BODY gives you.....I have taken a lot of advice, I have spend a lot of money on magazines jsut rying to find out what the pros do, msot of if did not work, untill i just started listening to my body....SO HERE IS MY ADVICE TO YOU

Make sure you are not overtraining,
If you decided to take my advice and bulk, then you need to stop doing HIT, and instead maybe take a 30 minute speed walk a day just to keep conditioning up.....Up your carbs by 100, up your..and before we do that...why dont you post your total calories, carbs, fat and protein a day..

 

[sexy_animal]

Yeah, my bad. I just thought that he would have wanted to cut and get lean and then put on lean muscle. He didn't say what his goals were, so I'd assumed that he wanted to get rid of the fat first.

 

[someguy1984]

Just keep at it, and most importantly - eat a hell of a lot. You need excess calories there to fuel that growth.

How is the program going, though?

It's going great actually. A friend of mine came to the gym with me today and tried the Friday routine. Let me put it to you this way...He was pretty exited how beneficial the routine felt and asked me to give him the exercises/periodization schedule, lol.

It really is nice.

Thanks again.

I just get paranoid eating a lot, because i feel like I'm going to add more body fat. The only excess fat i have is in the picture. Everywhere else my skin is tight, so it's frustrating...

Currently, I've been eating about 2,000 calories a day and maintaining weight. (150g protein generally) I should probably increase to about 2300-2500 a day. Although, i feel weird eating this much on non workout days...

I was falling short on calories for a week and was eating about 1700 and dropped 1 pound...This started telling me i needed eat more to at least maintain my current weight and hopefully gain muscle slowly. I've heard that 10lbs of muscle a year is typical, if your doing it right.

 

[Gazhole]

It's going great actually. A friend of mine came to the gym with me today and tried the Friday routine. Let me put it to you this way...He was pretty exited how beneficial the routine felt and asked me to give him the exercises/periodization schedule, lol.

It really is nice.

Thanks again.

I just get paranoid eating a lot, because i feel like I'm going to add more body fat. The only excess fat i have is in the picture. Everywhere else my skin is tight, so it's frustrating...

Currently, I've been eating about 2,000 calories a day and maintaining weight. (150g protein generally) I should probably increase to about 2300-2500 a day. Although, i feel weird eating this much on non workout days...

I was falling short on calories for a week and was eating about 1700 and dropped 1 pound...This started telling me i needed eat more to at least maintain my current weight and hopefully gain muscle slowly. I've heard that 10lbs of muscle a year is typical, if your doing it right.

Good im glad to hear its going well!

It is strange eating more, and i'll be honest you will put on some fat with your muscle. Thats unavoidable. But the good news is that after you bulk, you can cut that fat off with minimal muscle loss.

Its not easy eating a tonne off food, but so long as you increase calories steadily (extra few hundred per day every week or something) it shouldn't be too bad.

 

[someguy1984]

Good im glad to hear its going well!

It is strange eating more, and i'll be honest you will put on some fat with your muscle. Thats unavoidable. But the good news is that after you bulk, you can cut that fat off with minimal muscle loss.

Its not easy eating a tonne off food, but so long as you increase calories steadily (extra few hundred per day every week or something) it shouldn't be too bad.

I know i'll gain some fat, but will the fat gain make me a less flexible and athletic person? For instance, slower runner, less stamina, etc...Generally, i play sports for fun and I'm pretty damn fast, lol.

Also, i was thinking a little extra fat on me might look ok with some muscle, so bones don't show as much. Sure, the gut will look terrible, but i might look a little healthier in clothes. (Bigger arms, chest, etc)

 

[Ryno3725]

If I were you id eat at maintenance for a few weeks and lift heavy deads/squats/bench. thin see how you look and reevaluate.

 

[C6zo6]

If I were you id eat at maintenance for a few weeks and lift heavy deads/squats/bench. thin see how you look and reevaluate.

He's obviously already been doing that and claimed he's been tracking his diet for 6 months on livestrong. He needs to make a decision on what to do.

If you continue to eat 2000 calories a day, or less. (Below maintenance) Your really going to end up getting no where. Sure, i think you'll continue to lose body fat, but you will be gaining barely any muscle. (If any) And if you don't have any muscle to show, your body composition still won't be what you want it.

Honestly, genetics is playing a huge role here and their isn't much you can do about it. Just eat a tad over maintenance, lift heavy and build muscle. Don't let yourself get fat, just get muscular. Yes, you will gain fat and it will suck. But, you will have muscle along with fat which will even it out. Then, you can cut and reveal the new developed muscle. It's a long process and I'm not old enough, or wise enough to claim how long, but my guess is years and years of lifting. Just keep at it and live a healthier lifestyle lifting weights and you'll continue to see improvements in body composition. More muscle = a better physique. Obviously, you can speed this process up with steroids, but lets not get into all that...

I've gained almost 20lbs and I'm still small and have a little gut, but for me it's not bad. I'm still thin like you, but i used to be very small. It's better getting a little more meat on you...I mean, who cares about that little bit of excess skin when you have a good size chest and arms, you know? It's worse having a little bit of extra skin and no muscular arms or chest, you know?