Every Lifter’s Nightmare: How Do I Avoid Skinny Fat

When you’re cutting, you want to appear lean and shredded. Learn how to diagnose if you’re at risk of becoming “skinny fat” and what you can do to avoid it.

“Skinny fat.” You’ve no doubt come across this phrase before. Sure, it may appear to be a negative thing, but what exactly does it signify?

Simply put, skinny fat is a state in which you appear thin with clothing on but have no visible muscle definition or even look overweight with your shirt off. To put it another way, you have a high body fat percentage but very little muscle mass, yet you’re not overweight.

I believe most Americans fall into the skinny fat category – and it’s clear that this isn’t something you want to be. What is the best way to avoid becoming skinny fat? And, if you’re presently thin and fatty, how can you improve your situation and create a muscular, athletic physique?

Am I at risk of becoming skinny thin?

If you’re not already skinny, attempting to lose weight puts you at an exceptionally high risk of becoming skinny.

Weight reduction may be achieved in two ways: healthily and unhealthily.

Healthy weight reduction occurs when you lose weight while maintaining (or increasing) your lean muscle mass. Because of this, the majority, if not all, of the weight you lose is due to stored body fat. This lowers your body fat percentage, making you appear slimmer and more defined.

When you lose weight and muscle mass simultaneously, it’s known as unhealthy weight loss. While you lose weight, a portion of the lost fat comprises stored body fat, while another comprises lean muscle tissue. The result is that you’re lighter yet don’t appear much slimmer.

You become a smaller version of yourself: yes, you lose fat, but you also lose muscle.

So, the obvious concern is: how can you make sure you healthily lose weight while retaining muscle and avoiding skinny fat? I’m glad you asked…

How Can I Avoid Getting Skinny Fat When Trying to Shed Weight?

The most excellent way to reduce weight and avoid becoming skinny is to eat fewer calories and lift weights. It’s that straightforward!

When you lift weights, you offer your body a reason to keep on building muscle. People often concentrate on doing cardio when they’re trying to reduce weight. However, this isn’t always a bad thing in and of itself. However, if it causes you to neglect your strength training regimen, it could become an issue. According to several research, people who strength train while reducing weight have more muscle and less fat than those who only do cardio to reduce weight.

Now, however, lifting weights on their own is insufficient. You can still get skinny fat by lifting weights a few times weekly. The essential thing is that you keep your strength. Individuals who decide to reduce their weight frequently modify their lifting program. They believe that because they’re concentrating on burning fat, they’ve been permitted to stop lifting heavy weight. They change their approach and start doing more cardio and lifting lighter weights for a more significant number of reps to achieve the same goal.

Please don’t make the mistake I made! If you squat 225 pounds and press 185 pounds for three sets of 8 regularly, then reduce the weight and increase the reps to 15 or 20, you risk burning muscle tissue and developing skinny fat. You must offer your body the motivation to retain every last gram of muscle tissue. This involves strength training, which is the simplest way to do this while losing weight (or maintaining or increasing) your strength levels.

To make your body add muscle mass, you must apply the same stimulus that prompted your body to develop all of the muscle tissue it currently has. You must keep pushing yourself in the gym and lifting heavy to maintain muscle mass.

What About my Diet?

Maintaining your strength is more complicated since you naturally have less energy when you lose weight. This is because you must consume fewer calories than your body needs to lose weight.

The implication is that you must lose weight gradually to preserve maximum muscle mass. Eating little and creating a large calorie deficit in the hopes of losing weight fast has the opposite result: It makes it much more challenging to keep your strength up.

Because of these 2 factors, this is the case. First, because you consume fewer calories, your body will have significantly less energy when you go to the gym, making it difficult to lift with the same intensity as if you were not restricting them.

Second, as your body burns more body tissue to provide the energy you aren’t getting through your diet, it must burn even more when reducing your calorie intake. This is why you lose weight. When a bodybuilding diet plan is created to restore muscle, it may need to devour muscle and fat to compensate for such a large deficit.

The lesson to be learned is? You should be patient and lose weight at a steady and controlled pace. I recommend limiting yourself to 1 pound per week to preserve as much muscle mass as possible.

I’m Already Skinny Fat. What Should I Do?

Don’t worry if you’re already skinny fat; with a little effort, you can improve your situation. There are two obvious options for you to consider:

1. Make sure you’re focusing on building muscle and growing your frame’s muscle mass.
2. To lower your body fat percentage, focus on reducing weight while preserving muscle (following the guidelines above)

These strategies will help you become more muscular and less skinny. But, which option is superior for you?

Depending on your unique circumstances, the answer to this question may vary. If you don’t have much muscle mass, the best strategy is to work on getting more robust in the gym and gaining muscle. Don’t worry about restricting your diet or reducing weight just yet.

If you have muscle, but it’s hidden by a thick layer of fat (you have a high body fat percentage), it’s best to concentrate on reducing weight and maintaining (or increasing) your strength at the gym. To speed fat reduction, perform a couple of days of cardio each week, but don’t go crazy.

Consider what is more essential to you: gaining bigger or losing weight? If you’re unsure whether you fall into one of the two categories above, consider which option matters most: growing larger or getting skinnier. Please choose, and then focus your food and training around it.

Keep in mind that you’re already improving your body and overall quality of life by eating healthy and exercising regularly. Keep pushing to improve, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have your ideal physique yet – eventually!