Stop Skinny Fat Archives - Home Workout Ideas

How to Lose Belly Fat for Skinny People

January 11, 2013 by Jay Leave a Comment

If you are skinny and still have fat around your belly to lose then you might be what is known as ‘skinny fat’. This term applies to people who are generally skinny but still have ample amount of fat at certain parts of their belly. People like this tend to be skinny and fat at the same time . This type of fat can be the hardest to lose as you have to work harder to force your body to give up these fat stores.

Why it is Harder to Lose That Last Bit of Fat

If you’ve ever been heavy before, thanks to too much fat, and are now skinny, you will know that the excess fat you have at the start is easier to lose. This is mainly because at a heavier weight, your daily recommended calories intake, to maintain your weight is high. If you are overweight, you might have a daily calorie allowance of 4,000 calories or more. It is fairly easy to reduce that number by 500 calories a day as you can still eat 3,500 calories a day and lose weight. Once you’ve lost a lot of weight and your daily calorific intake is down to about 2,000 calories a day, finding places to trim off a few hundred calories a day is a lot harder.

This means that in order to lose those last fat stores on your body you need to work a lot harder. You need a two pronged approach which includes cleaning up and refining your diet as well as starting an effective workout regimen. This will help you transform your body from being skinny fat to lean and toned.

How Weight Training Can Help You Lose Belly Fat

To lose belly fat, or any other stubborn stores of fat you might have left on your body, you will need to help your body become an efficient calorie burning machine. By weight training with the goal of adding muscle to your body, you will increase your body’s resting metabolic rate which means that it will burn more calories on a daily basis. As muscle eats a lot more calories than other body parts, just adding a few pounds of lean muscle can help speed your body’s metabolism up and ensure less calories are left over to be turned into fat. You don’t have to go over the top and bulk up to achieve this increase in fat burning abilities. Although most people don’t do this, women in particular, it is one of the best ways to go from skinny fat to toned.

By adding simple weight training exercises to your gym or home workout routine you can begin to start shifting those stubborn areas of fat from your belly and other area. Such home weight training exercises can include:

Squats
Lunges
Chest Presses
Shoulder Presses
Rows
Pull ups
Bicep Curls
Tricep Extensions

Cardio exercises like running, waking or cycling is good for increasing your fitness levels and burning calories but it won’t speed up your metabolism like weight training can and it won’t change your body type from soft and skinny to toned and athletic. Muscle is needed for that and the best way to develop lean gains if by exercising at home or the gym with weights.

If you want to know more about losing fat even if you are already half skinny, visit the skinny fat home workout guide today.

How to Go From Skinny Fat to Toned

December 16, 2012 by Jay Leave a Comment

If you are currently in the body type demographic known as ‘skinny fat’ then you probably want to know how you can transform your body into a more toned and athletic shape. When I was skinny fat, a few years ago, my first reaction to sort the problem out was to hit the treadmill and try and lose fat the way I saw other people trying to do so in the gym. Although this helped me improve my fitness levels, which at the time were severely lacking, it didn’t do much to cure my skinny fat situation.

How I Went from Skinny Fat to Toned

What worked for me was starting to lift weights in the gym. As I was pretty weak when I first started going to the gym I was intimidated by the free weights and the guys that used them. In the first few weeks and months I stuck to the cardio area and spent my time in the gym pounding away on the running machine. Things didn’t really help in terms of changing my body type but I kept on regardless, I didn’t have any other options.

Eventually I moved onto the resistance machines which didn’t look quite as scary as the free weights. After a few months of using these machines I started to notice a little muscle tone developing where before there was none. It wasn’t long before I found myself maxing out the weights on these resistance machines.

It appeared I was becoming strong for the first time in my life!

It was at this point that I started to realise that the only way to get toned and no longer be skinny fat was to lift weights in order to make my muscles grow. Those first few months doing just cardio were great for my fitness levels and introducing me to the gym but they didn’t do much to improve my physique. Yeah I lost a few pounds but my overall body shape didn’t change. I still had fatty areas around my upper body that gave me that classic skinny fat look I hated.

How Weight Training Stopped Skinny Fat in its Tracks

Using the resistance machines helped a little, as it gave me my first bursts of muscle and strength but these machines can only take you so far. It was time to do something different. Equipped with my new found strength, although still technically a weakling, I plucked up the courage to move onto the free weights. At first I was a typical bicep boy and only concentrated on my chest and bicep muscles. However, once these muscles started to develop I soon realised a balanced physique was important. Not only would it help keep my body balanced but it would help improve my posture.

With this in mind, I began also training my back, shoulders and lower body muscles and as I did so I noticed my shape changing for the better. The love handles and muffin top were receding and where once I had the early stages of moobs (or man boobs) I was developing pectoral muscles. But it wasn’t just me who noticed these changes taking places, co-workers who I hadn’t told I’d started using the gym began noticing and making positive comments. I had reached stage three in the five stages of getting in great shape. There was no turning back. The genie was out of the bottle.

How You Can Go From Skinny Fat to Toned

If I could go back in time I would go straight to the free weights section of the gym and start building some muscle and get toned to stop being skinny fat. Even women should take this approach when trying to put a stop to being skinny an fat. Cardio is great for fitness levels but if you want to make that body composition change then you need to introduce something new to your body to change its shape and how it is held together. Increased muscle tone is the way to do this and that can only be down by lifting heavy weights. If you want to make the change to a toned and more athletic looking body, whether you are male or female, learn from my mistakes and start training those muscles to come to live and give you the healthy, toned look you desire.

Workout at Home to Get Toned

The good news is you don’t even have to set foot in a gym to sort your body out. Now with the easy availability of all types of home fitness equipment and the number of home workout routines available on the web, you can start your road to aesthetics from the comfort of your own home. A few dumbbells or kettlebells are all you need to start performing all the necessary workouts to make the switch from skinny fat to toned and athletic. You don’t need to wait for months like I did to pluck up the courage and start using the free weights at the gym. You can take your first steps on the road to recovery from where you are sitting now, reading this. What are you waiting for?

If you are unsure where to start head over to our guide to kettlebell training for men and women which covers the best weights to buy and the routines to follow in order to meet your goals.

If you are tired of not looking how you want to, it’s time to shape up at home!

Can You Be Skinny and Fat at the Same Time?

December 16, 2012 by Jay Leave a Comment

Being skinny and fat at the same time would seem like a paradox, right? How can you be two things that are opposite of one another at the same time? Well unfortunately, in the case of being skinny and being fat, you can be both at the same time! When this happens the term ‘skinny fat’ is used to describe someone with this condition. When skinny fat has set in, a person will have relatively low body fat levels hence the term skinny, but will also have little to no muscle tone, giving them a fat, flabby, wobbly look. If you are unsure of whether this applies to you, read our article on how to find out if you are skinny fat or not.

This means that a person can look in average shape while fully clothed, but can actually be hiding a multitude of sins! On the scales their weight might not ring any alarm bells, but someone who is skinny and fat will have both the negative characteristics of someone who is skinny and fat. In order to put a stop to skinny fat syndrome, let’s start by taking a look at how someone could end up with this problem.

How Do You Become Skinny and Fat?

There two most common ways someone becomes skinny fat are as follows:

Was previously overweight and lost a lot of fat
Was previously skinny and then started gaining fat

When I was skinny fat, you can read about how I beat this condition it here, it happened because I was previously skinny and thin, and then slowly started putting on weight. I did no exercise or weight training so I didn’t have any muscle tone to help burn off the extra calories I was slowly starting to consume. Having been naturally skinny for years, my diet was pretty poor, which was ok in the past as I never put on fat, but as I got older and out of my teens, my metabolism started to slow down. I still looked in relatively good shape with my clothes on but I was starting to develop pockets of fat around my lower stomach and chest areas. Skinny fat syndrome had crept up on me with my noticing!

My story is not unique and as a lot of naturally thin people get older their metabolism begins to slow down and they can no longer eat the type of foods they once did without paying the consequences. At this point, it is either time to clean up your diet or start regular exercise, preferably both!

The second common way that people end up being skinny fat is if they were once overweight and then dieted or did lots of cardio exercise to lose the fat. For this group of people, becoming skinny fat can be a real kick in teeth as they did all that hard work of cleaning up their diet and exercising but still didn’t end up looking how they wanted to. By taking this approach to get in shape (diet and cardio) the weight can be dropped but it often ends up with the person being a smaller version of themselves, with all the flabby and wobbly areas resolutely intact.

Why is there still fat on my belly? The reason why certain people hold fat in certain areas is down to genetics. We have fat cells all over our bodies. As we consume fat, the fat cells fill up. Where you have the most fat cells is where you will get fat first and lose fat last. Some people have lots of fat cells on their chest, belly or upper arms, others on their thighs and lower back, it could be anywhere. Skinny fat people tend to have a lot of fat cells around their waist giving them the love handle muffin top look. This means the last place they will lose fat is around these areas, making it very hard for them to get a flat stomach and visible abs.

How to Avoid Becoming Skinny and Fat

If you are going from skinny to skinny fat or from fat to skinny fat, one of the best ways to avoid this happening is to include weight training or resistance training as it is also known, into your exercise routine. By building muscle you will develop a toned and firm body. This applies to men and women. Women often avoid weight training as they are afraid of bulking up and developing too much muscle. This is not the case! As women don’t have as much of the muscle building male hormone, testosterone, as men in their bodies, their propensity to building muscle is much, much lower than men.

By weight training, women will develop a toned, athletic looking physique that will help them eliminate the common areas they have complaint with such as bingo wings, flabby stomachs and saggy upper legs. By weight training, these areas can become firm, toned and uplifted. Without it, the opposite is the case.

For men, weight training with the aim of building muscle can result in better posture, a more athletic looking physique and less wobbly bits. For both men and women, one of the biggest benefits of weight training is the amount of calories it burns as well as the fact that is speeds up your metabolism, causing your body to burn more calories on a daily basis. For more information on this, read out article covering why toned is the new skinny.

How to Stop Being Skinny and Fat

If you have already fallen victim to skinny fat syndrome, do not despair! It can be beaten. By starting to do weight training exercises you help turn your body around. There are many benefits to weight training that apply to both men and women:

Burns more calories than cardio exercise
Increases your metabolism
Tones and firms your body
Increased your strength

Some people worry about becoming bulky or too big from weight training but this is rarely the case. For women, muscle growth is very difficult and takes many years if it happens at all. For men it is easier but still requires a specific diet and dedicated training. If you start to notice you are becoming too muscular, when that is not your intention, simply change your diet and stop training as hard. People with a lot of muscle work hard for years to get in that kind of shape so that chances of it happening to you by accident are very low!

Although weight training might be something new to you, it can be started at home with only a couple of pieces of equipment such as a kettlebell or some dumbbells. You don’t need to rush out and join a gym, by following a simple home kettlebell workout routine, both men and women can start toning up and becoming more athletic looking at home and say goodbye to being skinny fat forever!

How to Know If You are Skinny Fat

December 12, 2012 by Jay Leave a Comment

Skinny fat is a relatively new term that is quickly gaining popularity. It was coined to describe people who appeared to be skinny when wearing clothes but in reality are carrying quite a bit of body fat in certain areas. Common areas for fat to be stored on people who are skinny fat would be the upper arms, chest and stomach, though it can strike anywhere!

While being skinny fat is easier to live with than being just fat, for most people it can still result in low-confidence levels and poor self-esteem, not to mention the latent health issues that go hand in hand with being overweight. For people who are skinny fat, they can often live their lives giving off the appearance of being either skinny or of average weight. But under their often baggy clothes, they are hiding a problem which can slowly dent their self-confidence.

Should an occasion arise when it’s time to disrobe such as swimming, a trip to the beach or spending time with a new partner, then anxiety can start to set in. While fat people can’t really hide their body fat levels, a skinny fat person can do a good job of keeping things under wraps, which can in fact make things worse, as none of their friends or family might have any idea they have problem areas.

So How Can You Determine if You Are Skinny Fat?

There is no one size fits all definition of being skinny fat. It is up to you to decide whether this label applies to you or not. If you decide that it does, then you can move forward and start taking steps to remedy the issue. Admitting you aren’t happy with your current situation is one of the first steps in the road to getting in great shape. Only then can you really set things in motion to attain the look or body you want.

Typically a skinny fat person will have little to no muscle tone. Tensing their upper arms will result in hardly any visible different to when that area is untested or relaxed. Fat stores around the tricep or underarm area will be pronounced and there is likely to be some wobble should you shake or prod the area. This wobbly area is known as bingo wings, in reference to its prominence on older women who are often keen bingo players. While having wings might be a good thing, in this case it most certainly is not. Remember, you can’t fly with bingo wings! Click to Tweet this.

Another area that both men and women who suffer from skinny fat syndrome have trouble with is the stomach or abdomen area. While there is a chance you might have some abdominal muscles or abs down there, but you won’t ever be able to see them while you remain in skinny fat zone. If you are in the advanced stages of skinny fat syndrome then it is likely you will have a pronounced muffin top going on. This name refers to the extra bulge of fat that hangs or pops out over your waist band. While more common in women, the number of men who have this feature is growing all the time. People say you are what you eat and when it comes to muffins and muffin tops, never a truer word has been spoken!

For men, the appearance of moobs or man boobs, fatty deposits around the chest area, can signal the sign that you are well and truly skinny fat. This tell-tale sign is one sure way of how to know if you are skinny fat or not.

How to Beat Skinny Fat Syndrome?

If anyone of the above applies to you then it is highly likely you are in the skinny fat club. My commiserations go out to you! I was skinny fat once. It’s not a nice place to be, I know that. But it could be worse; you could be just fat-fat. At least getting into good shape is more attainable for you than someone who is fully overweight and carrying fat all over their body.

The good news is fixing this mess isn’t overly complicated but it does require hard work and dedication. Did I scare you off then? Most people will press the back button on the browser at the mention of ’hard work and dedication’ but for those of you that keep reading you are over the first hurdle.

There is a two pronged approach required in order to stop being skinny fat. Part one is to start doing some exercise. Not just slogging away for hours on the treadmill, which is probably what helped most people become skinny fat in the first place, but doing resistance training which involves lifting weights. This applies to men and women and is an essential part of the road to recovery for skinny and fat people out there.

Don’t worry if you are a gym-o-phobe and hate the idea of joining the gym. This website is dedicated to training at home and can help you get in shape from the comfort of your own living room.

Part two involves sorting your diet out. It’s time to cut the crap, in terms of what you eat. We’re not talking about jumping on a fad diet and going cold turkey. Just eating sensibly, in a way that you can maintain, is enough to start improving your health and your physical appearance.

Stop Being Skinny Fat Today

By following these two approaches you can join the road to recovery and put a stop to being skinny fat today. It could take a few months or it could take longer. It depends how far down the skinny fat slope you’ve fallen and how much work you want to put in.

But you can get back to normality, and should you wish, go beyond averageness and develop your body into something to be proud of. It all depends on you…