I'm Skinny Fat! What's The Best Approach To Fix This?

[machine-less]

Hey guys, I'm 5'7 and I weigh 150 pounds. I'm skinny fat with a belly. I'm not sure what my body fat percentage is but I'll guess and say 18%. It's been said that I should consume 1,800 calories a day and I don't eat close to that which would put me in a calorie deficit by default. I'll say I consume probably about 500 calories a day on average. My diet is mostly plant-based which consists mostly of leafy greens, salads, quinoa, sweet potatoes, steel-cut oatmeal, and fruits/nuts.

I've done an inordinate amount of research on the benefits of cardio and muscle-building on various fitness websites.

I have a few questions that need serious answering:

(1) Since I'm skinny fat, should I work on cutting the belly fat first and then work on bulking at a later time? Some experts say you should target either fat loss or muscle-building individually, but not simultaneously.

(2) Many experts say that if you want to gain and build muscle, limit or stop the cardio completely. Currently, I do steady-state cardio 3 times a week which is pretty ideal so that I'll be losing the belly fat but not stifling any muscle growth. I run for about 2.0 miles and burn 300 calories on each session totaling the loss of 900 calories a week.

Is this okay for burning the calories throughout the week or is this simply pointless? Because I'm consuming more than 900 calories a week. I'm consuming 3,500 calories within a week to be exact (500 calories a day). Should I switch over to a calorie surplus instead?

(3) Should I do weight-lifting and then cardio within the same day, literally right after each other or on different days entirely?

(4) As far as my workout schedule goes, would it be better to engage in split-workouts (targeting specific muscle areas on different days) or go full body instead?

My current workout plan:
Mon- Chest & Cardio
Tues- Back
Wed- Legs/Abs & Cardio
Thurs- Shoulders
Fri- Arms & Cardio
Sat - Rest
Sun- Rest

(5) Does counting calories even matter or should I just eat according to portion size? (eating roughly the size of my fist)
 

Edited June 10, 2016 by machine-less

[ChimpBrain]

2 hours ago, machine-less said:

Hey guys, I'm 5'7 and I weigh 150 pounds. I'm skinny fat with a belly. I'm not sure what my body fat percentage is but I'll guess and say 18%. It's been said that I should consume 1,800 calories a day and I don't eat close to that which would put me in a calorie deficit by default. I'll say I consume probably about 500 calories a day on average. My diet is mostly plant-based which consists mostly of leafy greens, salads, quinoa, sweet potatoes, steel-cut oatmeal, and fruits/nuts.

I've done an inordinate amount of research on the benefits of cardio and muscle-building on various fitness websites.

I have a few questions that need serious answering:

(1) Since I'm skinny fat, should I work on cutting the belly fat first and then work on bulking at a later time? Some experts say you should target either fat loss or muscle-building individually, but not simultaneously.

(1) Many experts say that if you want to gain and build muscle, limit or stop the cardio completely. Currently, I do steady-state cardio 3 times a week which is pretty ideal so that I'll be losing the belly fat but not stifling any muscle growth. I run for about 2.0 miles and burn 300 calories on each session totaling the loss of 900 calories a week.

Is this okay for burning the calories throughout the week or is this simply pointless? Because I'm consuming more than 900 calories a week. I'm consuming 3,500 calories within a week to be exact (500 calories a day). Should switch over to a calorie surplus instead?

(2) Should I do weight-lifting and then cardio within the same day, literally right after each other or on different days entirely?

(3) As far as my workout schedule goes, would it be better to engage in split-workouts (targeting specific muscle areas on different days) or go full body instead?

My current workout plan:
Mon- Chest & Cardio
Tues- Back
Wed- Legs/Abs & Cardio
Thurs- Shoulders
Fri- Arms & Cardio
Sat - Rest
Sun- Rest

(4) Does counting calories even matter or should I just eat according to portion size? (eating roughly the size of my fist)
 

"I'll say I consume probably about 500 calories a day on average." -- this is *extremely* unlikely.

 

1) if you're very out of shape you can both build muscle and lose fat at the same time. The closer you get to "in shape" the harder this becomes. So it depends on where you're at as to what you should focus on.

2) Don't stop doing cardio, but stop jogging. For improving body composition jogging is literally the worst form of cardio there is. Look into different methods of HIIT instead.

3) For a beginner trainee frequency trumps intensity and volume, go with a full body routine or a push/pull/legs type routine.

4) Of course calorie counting matters, but if you want to do it you need to buy a food scale and actually track what you eat, not just guess and say "I think I eat 500/day". Who says you should eat a portion the size of your fist? a portion of what? A salad the size of your fist might be 80 calories with 1g of fat, a handful of of mixed nuts might be 350 calories with 30g of fat. 

 

[machine-less]

@ChimpBrain  

(1) I wouldn't say I'm in the best shape as of yet, but I'm making significant progress. My endurance level is pretty high but my strength is somewhat lacking.  

(2) Awesome, I've heard a lot about HIIT cardio. Everyone talks about it.  How often should I do it a week? Because I was thinking of just swapping the steady-state sessions out for the HIIT cardio sessions (Mon, Wed, & Fri) which would give me a day of rest between them.

(3) Could you give me some examples of a full body routine? And what exactly is a push/pull/legs type routine? 

(4) Excellent point with the portions... but just how many calories should I be eating a day, with my desire to both lose belly fat and gain muscle? Would it be best to go with a calorie deficit or surplus? I also looked up some food scales on Amazon so I'll be ordering one soon.

Thanks for the info, man!

[JKG]

My full body workout looks like this:

I firstly do a proper warm up, not just 5 minutes of jogging, but also preparing your joints for the workout. A good example could be this.

Then I do a kind of circuit training. I do about for about 3 to 5 minutes exercises for each muscle group. I firstly do exercises for the back and biceps (pull movements), then exercises for the abs and lower back, then chest, shoulders and triceps (push movements), and at the end my legs. When I am done with one circuit, I make a short rest and repeat this for 3 to 5 times. The number of repetitions depends on how I feel that day.

I only use bodyweight exercises. For me weights are really unnecessary because there are so many hard exercises you can do with your body, e.g. a planche. I like it to workout outside instead of a gym with weights. Especially as a beginner bodyweight is more than enough to build a lot of strength and muscles.

Here is a short list of which exercises you could do for each muscle group. Pick yourself some

• Back and Biceps:
  Pull ups, chin ups
  Easier: Reverse Row Sit-Back, negative pull/chin ups
• Core:
  Plank, Side plank
  a use full video
• Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
  normal push ups, variations of push ups (video)
• Legs
  body weight squats
  jumping
  lunges

I do this workout for about three times a week.

[machine-less]

@quantum

Great stuff man. I may have to give this routine a try!

Questions:

(1) You mentioned that you do this 3 times a week. On which days? Do you space them apart for rest days (recovery)? What exercises do you perform on your rest days?

(2) Where does the cardio fall into this routine? And are you more in favor of steady-state cardio or HIIT cardio?

Edited June 12, 2016 by machine-less

[JKG]

@machine-less

Ideally you should do it with recovery days in between each workout, e.g. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday the strength training. And then I would ideally do cardio, in my case running or biking on three other days, here Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. If this is too much for you, I would do a bit less cardio workouts. Or you could do one day this strength training, then the next day cardio, and then a recovery day, and repeat this until you feel like you could handle more workouts. But don't do too much. If your body needs a recovery day, give him one.

This routine with six workouts a week is pretty intense, and in my case hard to schedule with school. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I for example have school until 4 or 5pm. So you have to look that the workout fits with your other schedules. Just look, that you do at least two strength workouts a week, and more if its possible.

Like I already said, I do running and sometimes biking as a cardio workout for about 45 to 90 minutes. My goal with this is to build or keep my endurance level high. Sometimes I also do a few intervals while running. But you don't need to go running, just do something that you enjoy.
I personally don't really like HIIT workouts. Aerobic endurance is at the beginning more important than anaerobic endurance, which you build through intense workouts. But if your goal is rather to burn more calories / fat, HIIT workouts are also fine. You should still be doing some aerobic workouts, not just HIITs because those are a really intense for your body.

[aurum]

First off, you are not consuming 500 calories a day while also exercising. So your first challenge is to figure out what that number really is. Buy a scale if and measure all your food. Don't even let 50 calories go uncounted. 

Once you know how much you're actually eating, figure out your calorie expenditure (here is a good calculator http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) and how much you need to be eating to be slightly above total calories in. This will allow you to cut fat and build muscle at the same time.

Use MyFitnessPal app on your phone to keep track of everything. And then just do the work everyday.

[Path]

https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Basic-Barbell-Training/dp/0982522738/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465895827&sr=8-1&keywords=starting+strength+basic+barbell+training

The greatest book on barbell training; the most efficient method of strength training used by men over hundreds of years.

Buy it and read it

[Tancrede Pouyat]

Body composition is 80% diet. Buy a scale that measures body fat because other ways won't work for skinny fat people. Your only sugar intake should be fruit. No quinoa, no sweet potatoes, no rice of any kind, no whole grains, only fruit. Nuts and vegetables do have sugar but that doesn't matter because their glycemic load is 0,so they don't increase blood sugar.

Here's my diet to maintain weight. 2 servings of high protein high fat foods  (meat, eggs, fish; 1 steak = 1 serving, it's actually pretty small). 5 servings of fruit, 3 would allow weight loss, 7 weight gain. And 5 servings of vegetables. All of this is per day.

I recommend you quit your complex carbs and eat only 3 fruits a day until you hit ideal body fat percentage. Don't count calories, it's useless.

[charlie2dogs]

On 6/10/2016 at 8:57 AM, machine-less said:

Hey guys, I'm 5'7 and I weigh 150 pounds. I'm skinny fat with a belly. I'm not sure what my body fat percentage is but I'll guess and say 18%. It's been said that I should consume 1,800 calories a day and I don't eat close to that which would put me in a calorie deficit by default. I'll say I consume probably about 500 calories a day on average. My diet is mostly plant-based which consists mostly of leafy greens, salads, quinoa, sweet potatoes, steel-cut oatmeal, and fruits/nuts.

I've done an inordinate amount of research on the benefits of cardio and muscle-building on various fitness websites.

I have a few questions that need serious answering:

(1) Since I'm skinny fat, should I work on cutting the belly fat first and then work on bulking at a later time? Some experts say you should target either fat loss or muscle-building individually, but not simultaneously.

(2) Many experts say that if you want to gain and build muscle, limit or stop the cardio completely. Currently, I do steady-state cardio 3 times a week which is pretty ideal so that I'll be losing the belly fat but not stifling any muscle growth. I run for about 2.0 miles and burn 300 calories on each session totaling the loss of 900 calories a week.

Is this okay for burning the calories throughout the week or is this simply pointless? Because I'm consuming more than 900 calories a week. I'm consuming 3,500 calories within a week to be exact (500 calories a day). Should I switch over to a calorie surplus instead?

(3) Should I do weight-lifting and then cardio within the same day, literally right after each other or on different days entirely?

(4) As far as my workout schedule goes, would it be better to engage in split-workouts (targeting specific muscle areas on different days) or go full body instead?

My current workout plan:
Mon- Chest & Cardio
Tues- Back
Wed- Legs/Abs & Cardio
Thurs- Shoulders
Fri- Arms & Cardio
Sat - Rest
Sun- Rest

(5) Does counting calories even matter or should I just eat according to portion size? (eating roughly the size of my fist)
 

maybe you should be listening to a good fitness trainer, instead of asking opinions

[CA19]

Hmm...500 calories seems too low,where are you getting this number from?

 

(1) Skinny fats can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.So, in the beginning I'd recommend to build muscle.

(2) Don't stop cardio!It's good for general health.Running might be too intense though,might interfere with your weight training (Especially HIIT).Walking,biking are better suited for weight training.

(3)You can do them on the same day if you want to,but why not do them on alternating days?That way you'll be doing something everyday to stave off boredom.

(4) Here's a tentative schedule:

Mon-Chest & Triceps & Shoulders

Tues-Cardio

Wed-Back & Biceps

Thur-Cardio

Fri-Legs & Abs

Sat- Cardio

Sun-Day off

(5) Figure out how many calories you're eating right now, get a kitchen scale and for a week count all the calories you're eating for each day. Add all the total calories for the week,divide by 7,then you get what you require each day average for maintenance.To bulk,just add 200-300 calories above that.

 

[Nunzia]

If you normalized mechanically eat for a few years -your body will stabilze to where it wants to be. We all come in various forms of body sizes and shapes. Weight is just a number. Your current country will have a guideline to follow. I'm in Canada so I do try to follow the Canada food guide. The 80/2O rule keeps me at balance. Which means I do incorporate sweets into my diet. Yeah. No bad foods for me. It's about a balance within.  But I do work at farmers markets and raise my own meat on my farm and have gardens as well. 

500 calories a day could indicate an eating disorder. It's not enough. A body at rest doing nothing all day needs a suffient number of calories for ur own heart, brain and organs to function properly. It's way more than 500 calories. Your fighting your own body and putting your own metabolism under much strain by depleting it. Really reflect within and get a life couch or a  - nutritionist professional to help you in this area. 

All the best to you. 

Edited June 25, 2016 by Nunzia

[Heart of Space]

On 6/10/2016 at 7:57 AM, machine-less said:

(1) Since I'm skinny fat, should I work on cutting the belly fat first and then work on bulking at a later time? Some experts say you should target either fat loss or muscle-building individually, but not simultaneously.

(2) Many experts say that if you want to gain and build muscle, limit or stop the cardio completely. Currently, I do steady-state cardio 3 times a week which is pretty ideal so that I'll be losing the belly fat but not stifling any muscle growth. I run for about 2.0 miles and burn 300 calories on each session totaling the loss of 900 calories a week.

Is this okay for burning the calories throughout the week or is this s!imply pointless? Because I'm consuming more than 900 calories a week. I'm consuming 3,500 calories within a week to be exact (500 calories a day). Should I switch over to a calorie surplus instead?

(3) Should I do weight-lifting and then cardio within the same day, literally right after each other or on different days entirely?

(4) As far as my workout schedule goes, would it be better to engage in split-workouts (targeting specific muscle areas on different days) or go full body instead?

My current workout plan:
Mon- Chest & Cardio
Tues- Back
Wed- Legs/Abs & Cardio
Thurs- Shoulders
Fri- Arms & Cardio
Sat - Rest
Sun- Rest

(5) Does counting calories even matter or should I just eat according to portion size? (eating roughly the size of my fist)
 

1)  If you want to build muscle you probably want to bulk first.  Trust me it's gonna be easier to initially build the mass and then to shave off the fat later. 

2)  You're consuming 500 calories per day?  I hope I'm misunderstanding something because that's a shit way to lose weight and it never works in the long run.  Cardio doesn't burn that much fat at all.  It's a misconception that people get 'shredded' or 'cut' from running, because you don't. 

3)  Doesn't matter. 

4)  Looks fine.  Except you don't need to have a day for just arms.  You should be working triceps on days you do pushing motions like bench press and biceps on days where you are doing pulling motions like chin ups.  Don't isolate, rookie mistake. 

5)  Count calories until you get a good intuition for feeling how much is the right amount.  It takes a while to figure out how much is right for you.  Gonna take some experimenting.  What's more important than calorie counting though is the type of foods and the quality of the calories your getting. 

1000 calories =/= 1000 calories if you get what I'm saying.
 

Quote

1) Skinny fats can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Maybe in the beginning, but the most effective strategy is focusing on one thing. 

Quote

maybe you should be listening to a good fitness trainer, instead of asking opinions

Fitness trainers are overpriced and don't know shit a lot of the time.  Do your own research, don't have some potentially dumb shit head calculate what YOU need to do in order for YOU to reach your goals.  At best they're good for showing proper form on exercises in the beginning if you never learned in public school gym or sports.  Trainers are a fucking sham like most of the fitness industry. 

Edited June 30, 2016 by Heart of Space

[Lorcan]

On 6/10/2016 at 1:57 PM, machine-less said:

's been said that I should consume 1,800 calories a day and I don't eat close to that which would put me in a calorie deficit by default. I'll say I consume probably about 500 calories a day on average. My diet is mostly plant-based which consists mostly of leafy greens, salads, quinoa, sweet potatoes, steel-cut oatmeal, and fruits/nuts.

Simplest solution, continue eating healthy like you do, eat less, drink plenty of water, run everyday for up to 20 minutes

(You will have to do 5 minutes exercise at first as you lungs would not last 20 minutes, not to mention your legs. If you cant do 5 minutes do 3, and if you cant 3 minutes do 2 minutes. for the smaller run times  like under 5 minutes you should do it 3 or 2 times a day to build up some muscle and your lungs, eventually exspand to 20 minutes.

[Beam]

Have a search for those killer ab routines that people post on youtube , the more ab work you do the more muscle you'll make and calories you'll burn. 

sit-ups , crunches , then flat on your back do leg lift reverse crunches ,  leg punches , scissors and  hold your legs out straight at 2 inches off the ground for as long as you can.
 

Daily , for your core work imo

 

It will burn calories and build your ab muscles stupid fast , much faster then biceps or your chest and once you have the abs all weightlifting gets easier. I was in good shape once upon a time.

 

Also to start

Make pushups your friend, do as many as you can do at one time at least 10x a day  , this should only take up 10 to 20 minutes per day it will build you chest triceps , back , stomach muscles and core. The plank is great for your core , your core is where your strength starts, if its weak you'll have a hell of a time lifting weights.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Beam