The Warrior Blog

“Skinny Fat” - Is it a real thing? (It certainly is - and could be ruining your metabolism!)

Perhaps you have heard of this phrase – Skinny Fat.

I ran into a buddy of mine and he told me that he just got back from a visit with his doctor. His doctor told him that he was becoming “skinny fat”, and he asked me if that was a real thing.

Well, it is. Let me explain, as it can be extremely detrimental to your health. Additionally, I’ll give you a few strategies to try to offset what can be a pretty nasty downward spiral.

My friend is about 5‘ 10” and 185 pounds. He’s been at that weight for a long time. You would think that would be a good thing. But herein lies the problem.

Let me use some hypothetical numbers, and I think you’ll get the idea.

In 1990, my friend had 15% body fat. That means he was carrying 157 pounds of lean tissue and 28 pounds of fat.

In 2000, his body fat of increase to about 20%. (Life happens.) This put him at 148 pounds of lean tissue and 37 pounds of fat.

By 2010, he was at 25% body fat which equates to 139 pounds of lean tissue and 46 pounds of fat.

And today in 2020, he is at about 30% body fat. This equates to about 130 pounds of lean tissue and 55 pounds of lard. As you can see, he’s losing approximately 10 pounds of lean tissue per year and replacing that with increased body fat.

Remember, the scale is not moving – he is still 185 pounds. He’s probably still able to wear the same suit he did decades earlier and looks absolutely fine. (I assume he doesn’t look so good naked. Just sayin’.)

Note that he’s losing approximately 10 pounds of lean tissue per year. If you’re not weight training and watching your nutrition, this amount of muscle loss can be alarmingly “normal”.

The real issue is that his body is becoming less “metabolically active” every single year. It requires energy – or calories - to mobilize that muscle throughout the day. For example, a 185 pound man with 15% body fat just burns more calories each and every moment of every single day then does a 185 pound man with 30% body fat.

In fact, over the last decade he’s probably burning about 400 calories less per day while doing the exact same activities that he did a decade earlier! You can see how inactivity can create a horrible downward spiral in our physical (and probably our mental) health.

So what do we do?

  1. Resistance training! Go lift weights. Build muscle! I’m not talking about being a professional bodybuilder. I’m talking about working to at least maintain your current amount of muscle mass.
  2. Have the proper nutrition to support that resistance training.

By the way, cardio will not fix this. Don’t get me wrong, cardiovascular training is great for the heart. It is just not going to fix this situation. In fact, it will probably do just the opposite, as extensive amounts of cardiovascular training can burn more muscle, hence, putting you in a worse position than you were in before.

If you fear that you are experiencing this, please contact me for a free no obligation consultation.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Or, please share this information with a loved one.

Let’s get healthy together!


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https://www.todayswarriorcoaching.com

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