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What is skinny fat, and how do you fix it?
"Skinny fat" means a normal weight or BMI but a high body fat percentage and little muscle: you look slim in clothes but soft, with a belly. Roughly, that's above about 20–25% body fat for men or 30–35% for women at a normal BMI. The fix is building muscle: lift weights 3 times a week, eat 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kg, and eat around maintenance. Dieting alone makes it worse: a man of 70 kg (154 lb) at 25% body fat would have to drop to about 62 kg (137 lb) (BMI 19.5) to reach 15% without gaining muscle.
How to tell if you're skinny fat
- Your BMI is normal (18.5–24.9), but your body fat is above the healthy range for your age (healthy body fat percentage).
- Your waist is more than half your height (visceral fat).
- You have little visible muscle and a soft belly, and you get out of breath or tired easily.
Measure it: the box above (or the body fat calculator) estimates body fat from a tape measure, and BMI vs body fat explains why BMI misses it.
Why dieting alone doesn't fix it
| Man, 178 cm | Woman, 165 cm | |
|---|---|---|
| Today | 70 kg, 25% fatBMI 22.1 | 58 kg, 33% fatBMI 21.3 |
| Diet only, keep muscle | 61.8 kg at 15%BMI 19.5 | 51.8 kg at 25%BMI 19.0 |
| Recomp: build muscle, lose some fat | 68.0 kg at 18.4%+3 kg muscle, −5 kg fat | 56.0 kg at 27.0%+2 kg muscle, −4 kg fat |
Cutting alone takes you towards an underweight BMI and still leaves little muscle, and in practice some of what you lose is muscle, which makes it worse. Adding muscle changes the shape at almost the same weight.
How to fix skinny fat
- Lift weights 3 times a week: full-body, compound lifts (squat, press, row, deadlift), adding weight or reps over time.
- Eat 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kg every day (protein calculator; foods: high-protein foods).
- Eat around maintenance, or a small deficit if your waist is over half your height (maintenance calorie calculator).
- Walk daily and sleep 7–9 hours.
- Track waist, strength and photos, not just weight: in a recomp the scale barely moves.
This is body recomposition. Split your calories into macros with the macro calculator.
Should a skinny-fat person bulk or cut first?
Usually neither: recomp at maintenance for the first months while you learn to train. If body fat is on the high side (above about 25% for men or 35% for women), a slow cut with lifting first; if you're lean but small, a slow lean bulk. More in bulking vs cutting. For the lean bulk, see how to gain weight. Calories for that: weight gain calculator.
How long does it take?
Most beginners see a clear change in 3–6 months: lifts going up, waist down a few cm, clothes fitting differently. The full change takes about a year of steady training. Measure body fat every 4 weeks the same way (how to measure body fat).
Sources
- Gallagher D, Heymsfield SB, Heo M, et al. Healthy percentage body fat ranges: an approach for developing guidelines based on body mass index. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;72(3):694–701.
- Cava E, Yeat NC, Mittendorfer B. Preserving healthy muscle during weight loss. Adv Nutr 2017;8(3):511–519.