Skinny fat guy needs advice

[Sliimreaper__]

Since I’m new to the forum, I’ll take this time to do a quick little introduction:

im 23

5’11

227 as of this morning

 

I am not a total stranger to fitness as I’ve lost weight in the past, but I’m looking to actually put on muscle this time around (I know this is a Fat Loss thread, but just bare with me). 

 

As the title states, I have a skinny fat body:so I’m stuck in a weird spot with what I need to do. I’ve read up on calories in vs calories out, caloric surplus, caloric deficit, ect... I just don’t know which direction to start in: Do I cut the fat or do I bulk up. Any advice or guidence would be appreciated, and my apologies if this wasn’t the right place to make this post.

[TimovieMan]

Who says they are mutually exclusive?

 

You can build up muscle AND burn fat at the same time. It's going to be a tad slower, since burning fat (and eating at a calorie deficit) is going to make you lose muscle weight as well, but the muscle workouts (hypertrophy is your friend) will keep the muscle loss to a minimum and if you're not used to exercise, will even lead to small muscle gains.

I'd suggest to lower your calorie intake but up the amount of protein you take in.

[Defining]

So, fat is an endocrine organ. It's pretty complicated, all the different things that can happen in our bodies, but the crux of the story is: if you're carrying too much fat it's going to mess with your hunger/satiety hormones, and it can make it harder to build muscle too. Lose fat first - one of the guidelines (especially for men) I've heard is that unless you can see abs, you should focus on maintaining muscle/losing fat; and once you can see abs, you can start to gently bump up kcal to build muscle faster.

 

Protein intake can help spare muscle mass during a caloric deficit, as can resistance training, it'll be important for you to focus on both of those to avoid losing more muscle than absolutely necessary. One could even make the argument that with enough protein and the right workout programme, overweight beginners can gain muscle WHILE losing fat (enjoy it while it lasts, generally the first 6-12months for beginner weight lifters ). For workouts, there are lots of | options | online - pick one and stick with it!

 

What that may look like for you:

TDEE: roughly 2,400kcal

kcal burned from workouts: probably around 300kcal/hr

 

Target daily intake:

2,000kcal 

200g of protein (800kcal)

60g fat (540kcal)

165g carbs (660kcal)

 

Workouts:

3x week 1hr total whole body resistance training (this can be circuit training if you want to incorporate some cardio, but it'll kick your ass in a caloric deficit)

4x week walk outside for at least 30-45min

 

Total weekly deficit: 2,800kcal (400 under TDEE x 7) + 900kcal (3x workouts) = 3,700kcal/week. Which should give you a steady rate of roughly 1lb of predominantly fat loss a week. It may seem faster than that at first - you could increase kcal if it seems too extreme for you, or keep with it to get as much fat off right off the bat; it's up to you, just remember to be safe.

 

Don't forget to prioritise health, it'll make everything go smoother: minimum 8hrs sleep/night, at least 5 servings of veg every day, stay hydrated, minimal alcohol.

 

At the end of the day though, I'm not a trainer, doctor, dietitian, or fitness professional - I'm just a stranger on the internet. Do some research, decide what will work for you, and just start! Welcome to the boards.

 

 

[Sliimreaper__]

5 hours ago, Defining said:

So, fat is an endocrine organ. It's pretty complicated, all the different things that can happen in our bodies, but the crux of the story is: if you're carrying too much fat it's going to mess with your hunger/satiety hormones, and it can make it harder to build muscle too. Lose fat first - one of the guidelines (especially for men) I've heard is that unless you can see abs, you should focus on maintaining muscle/losing fat; and once you can see abs, you can start to gently bump up kcal to build muscle faster.

 

Protein intake can help spare muscle mass during a caloric deficit, as can resistance training, it'll be important for you to focus on both of those to avoid losing more muscle than absolutely necessary. One could even make the argument that with enough protein and the right workout programme, overweight beginners can gain muscle WHILE losing fat (enjoy it while it lasts, generally the first 6-12months for beginner weight lifters ). For workouts, there are lots of | options | online - pick one and stick with it!

 

What that may look like for you:

TDEE: roughly 2,400kcal

kcal burned from workouts: probably around 300kcal/hr

 

Target daily intake:

2,000kcal 

200g of protein (800kcal)

60g fat (540kcal)

165g carbs (660kcal)

 

Workouts:

3x week 1hr total whole body resistance training (this can be circuit training if you want to incorporate some cardio, but it'll kick your ass in a caloric deficit)

4x week walk outside for at least 30-45min

 

Total weekly deficit: 2,800kcal (400 under TDEE x 7) + 900kcal (3x workouts) = 3,700kcal/week. Which should give you a steady rate of roughly 1lb of predominantly fat loss a week. It may seem faster than that at first - you could increase kcal if it seems too extreme for you, or keep with it to get as much fat off right off the bat; it's up to you, just remember to be safe.

 

Don't forget to prioritise health, it'll make everything go smoother: minimum 8hrs sleep/night, at least 5 servings of veg every day, stay hydrated, minimal alcohol.

 

At the end of the day though, I'm not a trainer, doctor, dietitian, or fitness professional - I'm just a stranger on the internet. Do some research, decide what will work for you, and just start! Welcome to the boards.

 

 

Thanks for the lengthy response and the welcome ! 

 

Few questions if I may:

1. Is it that big of a deal if I can’t fit 200g of protein in my daily diet ? I’ll invest in protein supplements if I have to but I’m a bit tight on money at the moment

 

2. I’m assuming eventually I’ll have to adjust my macros and calorie needs to keep making progress... at what point should I start making adjustments ? 

 

3. What are your thoughts on intermittent fasting and working out while fasted ? I plan to hit the gym In the mornings.  

 

Ive already looked into full body weight lifting programs (starting strength) and 3 days a week fits perfectly with my schedule. Can’t wait to hit the gym Monday and get started on this path! 

[Defining]

23 hours ago, Sliimreaper__ said:

1. Is it that big of a deal if I can’t fit 200g of protein in my daily diet ? I’ll invest in protein supplements if I have to but I’m a bit tight on money at the moment

 

2. I’m assuming eventually I’ll have to adjust my macros and calorie needs to keep making progress... at what point should I start making adjustments ? 

 

3. What are your thoughts on intermittent fasting and working out while fasted ? I plan to hit the gym In the mornings.  

1. Totally up to you dude. You can absolutely do 200g of protein/day with whole foods though - no supplements needed; obviously using meat/fish is easiest (averages $2-6/portion for ~30-40g of protein, so it's $$ than other options). But if you're on a budget you can manage 150-180g while keeping the costs down. Protein powder can sometimes be less expensive than whole foods, but it depends on the quality/availability (as well as how much you can stomach). If it were me, I'd at the very least try to aim for a minimum of 150g/day.

 

2. Again, up to you - keep track of girth measurements & weight, progress in the gym, etc - after 4-6 months, you'll have a better idea of how you may want to tweak things. For what it's worth, if you were a lean 175lbs, your target intake would be right around the same as what I used as an example above; so you may in fact not need to adjust much, until you want to lean bulk.

 

3. Gonna sound like a broken record here, but it's gotta be up to you. You can experiment with IF and see how you feel - unless you're aiming at specific endurance adaptations, the physiological advantages aren't hugely significant (controlling for total kcal and protein intake). So, if you feel better/more comfortable eating fewer meals, or working out fasted, do it! If you feel like shit when you try, experiment with different protocols until you figure out what works best for your body.

 

 

Sample 'budget' First Week grocery shop, obviously your pricing may be different, but it's a start:

$86: Costco Whey Powder 4kg (125 portions; 25g protein, 2.5g fat, 2g carb, 130kcal) $0.69/serving(3/day)

$4: 1.4kg tofu (7 portions; 16g protein, 10g fat, 4g carb, 160kcal) $0.57/serving (easy to add to smoothies)

$3: green lentils 900g (if you sprout it, 12x 2c portions; 18g protein, 40g carb, 1g fat, 215kcal) $0.25/serving (counts as a veg!)

$6: 2x dozen eggs (2eggs/portion; 14g protein, 12g fat, 2g carb, 110kcal) $0.50/serving

$4: 1kg peanut butter (32 portions; 8g protein, 14g fat, 8g carb, 180kcal) $0.13/serving

$2.5: 1kg rolled oats (25 portions; 7g protein, 2.5g fat, 26g carb, 150kcal) $0.10/serving

$5: 4L milk (8 portions; 16g protein, 16g fat, 24g carb, 300kcal) $0.62/serving

$7.5: Frozen Broccoli 1.75kg (14 portions; 3g protein, 0.5g fat, 6g carb, 45kcal) $0.54/serving (2/day)

$5: Frozen peas 1.5kg (14 portions; 5g protein, 0.5g fat, 15g carb, 90kcal) $0.36/serving (2/day)

$5: Frozen green beans 1.5kg (14 portions; 2.5g protein, 0.5g fat, 8g carb, 45kcal) $0.36/serving (2/day)

$11: Frozen blueberries 2kg (13 portions; 1g protein, 1g fat, 19g carbs, 80kcal) $0.85/serving

 

Daily grocery budget should work out to around $8-10/day once you factor in stuff like spices & salsa (low cal sauce that tastes good on just about everything ), and macros are pretty damn close if you have a portion of each every day. Apart from buying the protein powder in bulk, every week should be around the $50 mark; not bad, considering it includes 8x fruit/veg a day. Monthly grocery should be within the $300 mark.

 

Obviously, you could have less protein and more variety, or more legumes (peas, lentils, etc.) to push the costs down even further - beans are cheap. Meal planning tools like https://www.eatthismuch.com/ are also great if you need help with putting together ingredients lists/recipe ideas. And everything changes if you don't like some of these foods, you don't have time or facilities to cook, etc. Again, at the end of the day, you have to decide on what works best for you!

[watsonwillam]

How is it conceivable to be both "thin" and "fat" in the meantime? 

The thin husky person look is caused mostly by having too little muscle. 

In the event that you don't have a great deal of muscle, it's conceivable to look thin fat, regardless of whether your muscle versus fat ratio is moderately low. 

A person who's bearing a ton of muscle will look really damn amazing even at 15% muscle to fat ratio.

 

 

My life is my message

[khang20]

If you do not have time to make your own food, i will recommend you to order healthy food. It will help you a lot to lose fat. I live in Denmark and i do not have time to make my own food because of work. Which healthy takeaway it makes it easier for me to eat healthy and lose fat and i am skinny fat as well. The solution i use i called "Slankepakke" in danish which means sleekpackage