For the Skinny-Fat People
04-24-2016, 01:55 PM
#1
FitDay Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 10
For the Skinny-Fat People
I've always been tall and skinny but haven't always been in shape. Coming out of the Army I was 6'1" and a healthy 160lbs. I was 21 then.
By the time I was 28 I was 200lbs but with skinny arms and legs and a beer gut. I looked like a marshmallow on top of 2 Popsicle sticks. I've heard it referred to as "skinny-fat" and that seems accurate to me.
I started running, because it was something I did in the Army and unfortunately, Just getting up and running 2 miles is OK when you're 18, but not at 28 (especially being totally de-conditioned). I hurt my knees and ended up walking with a cane for a month.
So I started slow, limping 1/2 a mile with the cane. Then 1 mile, then I lost the cane and walked normally. Then I started jogging 1 mile and increasing distance by 1/4 mile every week or so.
At some point I was able to do my 2 miles, but couldn't seem to break an 8 minute mile or go any further, because either my lungs would quit (I have asthma) or my knees would hurt. I was going back to college at the time so the next fall semester I took weight training and swimming as electives.
By the next summer I was working out 5 days a week, running swimming and weights. The gut was gone and I was a healthy 175lb. I had developed good skeletal muscle with the weights and boosted my endurance with the swimming so I was now running 4 miles a day, 5 days a week.
I really got into running and eventually I was doing 6 miles a day and my weight was back to my post-Army weight.
Shortly thereafter I met a nice woman and moved away to live with her. She was a gym goer, so we went to the gym together and stayed in shape.
Within the last 5 years or so I really got into lifting heavy and reduced my cardio to 1 day a week and weights (bench, dead lift, squats, curls, overhead press etc.) 3 days a week. I also started eating more protein rich foods to help develop and maintain muscle mass.
I now weigh about 200lbs again, but this time it's all muscle. I get "you're muscular, do you work out?" from people instead of "You're really skinny", which is a pretty good ego boost.
My current goal is to hit a strong, steady 205-210 and keep lifting heavy. I just made the 1000lb (275lb bench press, 335lb squat, 405lb dead lift) club at age 43.
Just wanted to put it out there in hopes of inspiring people to get on a mission and push the limits of what their body can do. Whether you are fat, skinny, or skinny-fat, you can do it. Just set small goals, take your time and make a plan. Don't sweat the setbacks and always keep pushing forward and you will win. You only lose if you quit.
By the time I was 28 I was 200lbs but with skinny arms and legs and a beer gut. I looked like a marshmallow on top of 2 Popsicle sticks. I've heard it referred to as "skinny-fat" and that seems accurate to me.
I started running, because it was something I did in the Army and unfortunately, Just getting up and running 2 miles is OK when you're 18, but not at 28 (especially being totally de-conditioned). I hurt my knees and ended up walking with a cane for a month.
So I started slow, limping 1/2 a mile with the cane. Then 1 mile, then I lost the cane and walked normally. Then I started jogging 1 mile and increasing distance by 1/4 mile every week or so.
At some point I was able to do my 2 miles, but couldn't seem to break an 8 minute mile or go any further, because either my lungs would quit (I have asthma) or my knees would hurt. I was going back to college at the time so the next fall semester I took weight training and swimming as electives.
By the next summer I was working out 5 days a week, running swimming and weights. The gut was gone and I was a healthy 175lb. I had developed good skeletal muscle with the weights and boosted my endurance with the swimming so I was now running 4 miles a day, 5 days a week.
I really got into running and eventually I was doing 6 miles a day and my weight was back to my post-Army weight.
Shortly thereafter I met a nice woman and moved away to live with her. She was a gym goer, so we went to the gym together and stayed in shape.
Within the last 5 years or so I really got into lifting heavy and reduced my cardio to 1 day a week and weights (bench, dead lift, squats, curls, overhead press etc.) 3 days a week. I also started eating more protein rich foods to help develop and maintain muscle mass.
I now weigh about 200lbs again, but this time it's all muscle. I get "you're muscular, do you work out?" from people instead of "You're really skinny", which is a pretty good ego boost.
My current goal is to hit a strong, steady 205-210 and keep lifting heavy. I just made the 1000lb (275lb bench press, 335lb squat, 405lb dead lift) club at age 43.
Just wanted to put it out there in hopes of inspiring people to get on a mission and push the limits of what their body can do. Whether you are fat, skinny, or skinny-fat, you can do it. Just set small goals, take your time and make a plan. Don't sweat the setbacks and always keep pushing forward and you will win. You only lose if you quit.
04-25-2016, 02:45 AM
#2
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,225
'Just set small goals, take your time and make a plan. Don't sweat the setbacks and always keep pushing forward and you will win. You only lose if you quit.'
This is a great message! Your story illustrates it very well. Thanks for posting this.
This is a great message! Your story illustrates it very well. Thanks for posting this.
04-25-2016, 07:26 AM
#3
FitDay Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 10
Glad it's appreciated. Another thing I thought about later is that it's OK to change your goals down the line. Sometimes you set the bar too high and you realize you're going to have to grind it out for longer than you thought. Sometimes you realize that what you thought you wanted was OK at the time but experience teaches you that another way is better.
I have lots of advice I could give people, not as a professional, but based on my own experience, if you think people would be interested.
04-18-2017, 05:23 PM
#5
FitDay Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 20
I've always been tall and skinny but haven't always been in shape. Coming out of the Army I was 6'1" and a healthy 160lbs. I was 21 then.
By the time I was 28 I was 200lbs but with skinny arms and legs and a beer gut. I looked like a marshmallow on top of 2 Popsicle sticks. I've heard it referred to as "skinny-fat" and that seems accurate to me.
I started running, because it was something I did in the Army and unfortunately, Just getting up and running 2 miles is OK when you're 18, but not at 28 (especially being totally de-conditioned). I hurt my knees and ended up walking with a cane for a month.
So I started slow, limping 1/2 a mile with the cane. Then 1 mile, then I lost the cane and walked normally. Then I started jogging 1 mile and increasing distance by 1/4 mile every week or so.
At some point I was able to do my 2 miles, but couldn't seem to break an 8 minute mile or go any further, because either my lungs would quit (I have asthma) or my knees would hurt. I was going back to college at the time so the next fall semester I took weight training and swimming as electives.
By the next summer I was working out 5 days a week, running swimming and weights. The gut was gone and I was a healthy 175lb. I had developed good skeletal muscle with the weights and boosted my endurance with the swimming so I was now running 4 miles a day, 5 days a week.
I really got into running and eventually I was doing 6 miles a day and my weight was back to my post-Army weight.
Shortly thereafter I met a nice woman and moved away to live with her. She was a gym goer, so we went to the gym together and stayed in shape.
Within the last 5 years or so I really got into lifting heavy and reduced my cardio to 1 day a week and weights (bench, dead lift, squats, curls, overhead press etc.) 3 days a week. I also started eating more protein rich foods to help develop and maintain muscle mass.
I now weigh about 200lbs again, but this time it's all muscle. I get "you're muscular, do you work out?" from people instead of "You're really skinny", which is a pretty good ego boost.
My current goal is to hit a strong, steady 205-210 and keep lifting heavy. I just made the 1000lb (275lb bench press, 335lb squat, 405lb dead lift) club at age 43.
Just wanted to put it out there in hopes of inspiring people to get on a mission and push the limits of what their body can do. Whether you are fat, skinny, or skinny-fat, you can do it. Just set small goals, take your time and make a plan. Don't sweat the setbacks and always keep pushing forward and you will win. You only lose if you quit.
By the time I was 28 I was 200lbs but with skinny arms and legs and a beer gut. I looked like a marshmallow on top of 2 Popsicle sticks. I've heard it referred to as "skinny-fat" and that seems accurate to me.
I started running, because it was something I did in the Army and unfortunately, Just getting up and running 2 miles is OK when you're 18, but not at 28 (especially being totally de-conditioned). I hurt my knees and ended up walking with a cane for a month.
So I started slow, limping 1/2 a mile with the cane. Then 1 mile, then I lost the cane and walked normally. Then I started jogging 1 mile and increasing distance by 1/4 mile every week or so.
At some point I was able to do my 2 miles, but couldn't seem to break an 8 minute mile or go any further, because either my lungs would quit (I have asthma) or my knees would hurt. I was going back to college at the time so the next fall semester I took weight training and swimming as electives.
By the next summer I was working out 5 days a week, running swimming and weights. The gut was gone and I was a healthy 175lb. I had developed good skeletal muscle with the weights and boosted my endurance with the swimming so I was now running 4 miles a day, 5 days a week.
I really got into running and eventually I was doing 6 miles a day and my weight was back to my post-Army weight.
Shortly thereafter I met a nice woman and moved away to live with her. She was a gym goer, so we went to the gym together and stayed in shape.
Within the last 5 years or so I really got into lifting heavy and reduced my cardio to 1 day a week and weights (bench, dead lift, squats, curls, overhead press etc.) 3 days a week. I also started eating more protein rich foods to help develop and maintain muscle mass.
I now weigh about 200lbs again, but this time it's all muscle. I get "you're muscular, do you work out?" from people instead of "You're really skinny", which is a pretty good ego boost.
My current goal is to hit a strong, steady 205-210 and keep lifting heavy. I just made the 1000lb (275lb bench press, 335lb squat, 405lb dead lift) club at age 43.
Just wanted to put it out there in hopes of inspiring people to get on a mission and push the limits of what their body can do. Whether you are fat, skinny, or skinny-fat, you can do it. Just set small goals, take your time and make a plan. Don't sweat the setbacks and always keep pushing forward and you will win. You only lose if you quit.
05-06-2018, 06:22 PM
#8
FitDay Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 9
I often see the skinny fat syndrome in women who do lots of cardio and don’t do any resistance training. The cardio keeps them slim but doesn’t build enough muscle to keep their body fat levels down. As you get older, your metabolism naturally slows down. Building muscle helps to keep your metabolism up and your body fat levels down. Avoiding resistance training can cause the skinny fat look.
