So, you ended up skinny fat after weight loss?
Sure, you look thinner, and people compliment you on your results. But you still have plenty of fat covering your body, and you’re nowhere near the fitness model physique you aspire to have.
Like most people, you’ve probably gone about losing weight ineffectively. Let’s explore what that means, why it’s bad, and how you can get out of the situation.
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Two Reasons Why You’re Skinny Fat After Weight Loss
1. The Deadly Combo
The traditional weight loss approach typically combines cardiovascular exercise with an extreme diet. In some cases, people don’t do any exercise and only focus on cardio, which is a mistake. Doing so leads to rapid weight loss, tricking people into believing they are doing the right thing.
The problem is, traditional weight loss approaches don’t work in the long run. Sure, you might lose more weight initially, but that progress comes at a cost. For one, you have to deprive yourself to lose weight rapidly. Doing so makes you food-obsessed and ready to give up the progress for a slice of cake. After all, yo-yo dieting is quite popular precisely because people seek the quick solution, fail, go back to square one, and jump to the next gimmick.
Second, rapid weight loss increases the risk of excessive muscle protein breakdown (1). Yes, you lose some fat, but you also lose a lot of muscle mass, strength, and overall physical functionality. As a result, you become thinner, but you don’t lose the fat covering your body to reveal your muscles.
2. Poor Pacing
Traditional weight loss approaches carry another significant issue that most people never discuss: poor pacing and lack of monitoring. You jump headfirst into the process and burn out in a matter of weeks. But here is the thing:
Weight loss is not a sprint but a marathon. You have to pace yourself, conserve your energy, and know when to push or step off the gas pedal. In doing so, you can make steady progress, last longer, and reach your goals. After all, you wouldn’t set off to complete a marathon by sprinting, then why do so with fat loss?
Plus, the lack of monitoring (no calorie tracking, weigh-ins, circumference measurements, or progress photos) keeps you blind. You know that you’re making some progress initially, but that’s because you’re restricting your calories significantly. But what happens once your metabolic rate downregulates and you stop losing weight? Most people panic, get frustrated and give up.
Pacing yourself allows you to lose fat at a reasonable rate, maintain your muscle, and possibly slow down the metabolic downregulation from dieting (2). More importantly, pacing yourself gives you room to drop your calories more and more as weight loss stalls. For example, you might start losing fat at 2,500 calories. But due to the natural metabolic decline, your calorie intake will have to keep decreasing to keep you on track:
Weeks 1-4: 2,500 calories
Weeks 5-7: 2,400 calories
Weeks 8-11: 2,250 calories
Weeks 12-15: 2,100 calories
The above is just an example, but you get the idea. The best thing you can do is track your calories and protein, eating as much food as possible while still losing weight.
Having said that, you might be wondering, “Okay, that’s great. But what if I’ve already become skinny fat after weight loss?” Let’s discuss.
How to Go From Skinny Fat to Lean And Muscular After a Long Weight-Loss Journey (3 Steps)
Tackling the skinny fat physique after a long weight loss phase is challenging. You’re at a disadvantage, but this doesn’t mean your situation is hopeless. In fact, the process is relatively straightforward, but you have to be purposeful. Plus, many people lose weight and become skinny fat, so you can rest assured that you’re not alone.
If the above describes you and you can answer with a ‘Yes’ to the three statements below, you fall in this particular skinny fat category and should read on:
1. You don’t particularly like how your body looks, but everyone has been complimenting you on your successful weight loss.
2. You were somewhat active during your weight loss phase, but it was primarily cardio with little to no resistance training.
3. You went about weight loss traditionally: lots of cardio with a restrictive diet or clean eating.
This category of skinny fat folks is a bit trickier to fix because you’ve already spent time in a calorie deficit and now have to give your body some time to recover. Your metabolic rate has slowed down, you feel hungrier, and you’re food-obsessed (2, 3). Dieting further is not ideal because it will drain you mentally and lead to further muscle loss.
The best thing you can do in this situation is a recovery diet. Whether you’re looking to shed extra fat or start gaining muscle, the recovery diet is a mandatory step, so don’t skip it. Also, don’t worry if you haven’t been tracking calories so far. We’ll fix that right now.
Step #1: Calculate Your Caloric Needs
Calculating your caloric needs is essential for setting yourself on the right track. You can transition into eyeballing food down the road, but tracking calories and weighing foods will teach you valuable portion control and mindful eating skills.
Start with a basic BMR formula. For example:
Women
BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men
BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)
(Source.)
Once you have a BMR value (the number of calories your body burns at rest each day) use the below multiplier to determine your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE):
- Sedentary (little or no exercise): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
- Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
- Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
- Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
- Extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
(Source.)
Doing the above calculations will give you a rough number of how many calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight. It then becomes a matter of tracking your calories and progress (which we’ll discuss next) once you’ve calculated your TDEE.
Let’s do a quick example calculation before moving forward. Joey is a 28-year-old man who is 5’11” (71 inches) and weighs 165 pounds. So:
BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
BMR = 66 + (6.23 x 165) + (12.7 x 71) - (6.8 x 28)
BMR = 1805 calories
Once we have our BMR, we must multiply that by one of the above values, depending on our activity level. Be honest here because there is no point in overestimating your calories, only to gain weight rapidly. An average value of 1.55 should work well enough for most people, but yours might be higher or lower. So:
1805 x 1.55 = 2797 calories (TDEE)
Once we have a calorie goal to work with, we have to start tracking calories to ensure accuracy and a consistent intake. It can be challenging, but weighing your meals and logging them gets easier with time. You can go by feel, but I don’t recommend that for most beginners because estimating your calorie needs and intake takes experience, which you likely don’t have.
Start eating around your TDEE for up to ten days, tracking your progress as you do. You can adjust your calories slightly up or down based on the results. For example, bump your calorie intake by 100 to 150 per day if you keep losing weight. In contrast, drop your calories by 100 to 150 if you start gaining too much weight.
You should also consume enough protein - around 0.8 grams per pound of body weight (4). For example, eat up to 128 grams of protein if you weigh 160 pounds. Good sources include meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cottage cheese, and protein powder supplements.
Step #2: Start Tracking Your Progress
Tracking your progress will ensure that you’re eating the appropriate number of calories to do a successful recovery diet. The idea of such a phase is to gradually increase your calorie intake over several weeks without gaining much fat. But to do that effectively, you need to:
- Track your calories
- Track how your body changes
I recommend tracking your weight and taking a few progress photos to ensure that you’re not overeating. You can weigh yourself several times per week and calculate the weekly average. For example:
Monday - 173.4 lbs
Wednesday - 173.2 lbs
Thursday - 173.0 lbs
Saturday - 172.9 lbs
Average: 173.1 lbs
Compare the averages from week to week and look for steady increases or drops in body weight.
Aside from that, take a set of progress photos and keep taking them every three to four weeks. Take photos of your front, side, and back, all in a relaxed state. Also, photograph yourself at the same time of day, using the same poses, and in the same light.
Taking a waist measurement can provide further insight. For example, if you gain weight, but your waist measurement stays the same, you’re likely okay and shouldn’t worry. Take one measurement initially, write the value down to 0.1, and measure your waist every two to three weeks.
Following the process for a few weeks will help your body recover from the diet. You’ll replenish lost glycogen, give yourself a break from dieting, and allow your hormones to normalize. Most importantly, you’ll place yourself in a good position for what to do next. Plus, resistance training will help you gain some muscle and develop beneficial habits that will come in handy in step three.
Step #3: Decide What You Want To Do Next
The recovery diet will take different periods for everyone, but most people ramp up their calorie intake and start feeling better within six to eight weeks. You’ll know that you’re almost done with the recovery diet once you start feeling better, become less food-obsessed, and start eating 400-700 extra calories per day without gaining weight. For example, if your TDEE is around 2,600 at the start, it should be at least 3,000 by the end. You can then decide what to do next, which is typically one of two things:
- Fat loss - introduce a moderate calorie deficit of 250 to 400 calories, do resistance training, and eat enough protein (around 0.8 grams per pound of body weight). Oh, and if you’re wondering: spot-reducing body fat doesn’t work.
- Muscle gain - add a small surplus of 200 to 250 calories, train hard, eat enough protein, and shoot for steady weight gain.
It mostly comes down to personal preference. You will be in a good spot to pursue either goal, so it mostly depends on what you want to achieve.
Remember that being skinny fat after weight loss is not the worst situation you can be in, but it takes some time, discipline, and patience to fix. Follow the steps I’ve outlined above, and you will put yourself in an excellent position for what to do next.
1. Cava E, Yeat NC, Mittendorfer B. Preserving Healthy Muscle during Weight Loss. Adv Nutr. 2017;8(3):511-519. Published 2017 May 15. doi:10.3945/an.116.014506
2. Trexler ET, Smith-Ryan AE, Norton LE. Metabolic adaptation to weight loss: implications for the athlete. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014;11(1):7. Published 2014 Feb 27. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-11-7
3. Jackson SE, Steptoe A, Beeken RJ, Kivimaki M, Wardle J. Psychological changes following weight loss in overweight and obese adults: a prospective cohort study. PLoS One. 2014;9(8):e104552. Published 2014 Aug 6. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0104552
4. Wu G. Dietary protein intake and human health. Food Funct. 2016 Mar;7(3):1251-65. doi: 10.1039/c5fo01530h. PMID: 26797090.
Rusty Dailey says
Hey Philip.
Thanks for this blog. I am Hoping it will save me. I have been dieting for about eight months and trying to get to my goal of 10% body fat then to start lifting harder to bulk back up with out building the fat back again But I found that I can’t get any further then 15 to 16 % body fat but I am still loosing weight (roughly 195lbs to now at 161lbs). Although I look great to most my friends and family I feel very skinny and feel I have lost now more muscle then fat and my tool box seems to indicate that to get to 10% I need to be at 130 lbs. I am 57 years old and 6,1 in height and feel this is way to skinny for me to get to that weight. But I have found from reading your blog that It seems that I am losing muscle mass more then fat at this point? I am taking your suggestion and totally revamping my caloric intake and to monitor both my weight and fat percentage over the next 10 weeks or longer to see how it goes. I hope this is the answer I have been looking for? Anyway thank you so much for your blog and web site. Both are a fantastic wealth of information and I plan to stay on course with the information you have supplied to reach my goal of that lean, fit and muscular body I have been looking for
Thanks again and Best regards
Rusty
Philip Stefanov says
Hey, Rusty! Thank you for your comment. I’m glad the posts has been of help to you.
Yes, it does seem like you have to change course because dieting for too long is never a good thing. Re-group, bump your calorie intake gradually, and decide what to do next. It can be difficult but patience and consistency will get you there.
Let me know if you have any questions! 🙂
Kind regards,
Philip