Skinny fat - The solution (for men)

Since I get the question very often, here is something I wrote a while ago in one of my articles:

"Getting your waist size to smaller proportions should be your #1 Priority.

When you carry more body fat, you are increasing the rate at which yourTestosterone turns into Estrogen.

If this wasn’t enough of a castration, your body fat will turn your Dihydrotestosterone (responsible for male secondary sexual characteristics) into inactive metabolites.

This process works as a feedback loop:

A man gains body fat which reduces his Testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone levels (and raises his Estrogen),

making it harder for him to lose body fat and gain muscle mass.

Now that his Testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone are depleted, he will gain body fat more easily and lose his muscle mass at the same time.



We can now reverse engineer this feedback loop:

Reducing your body fat will have a positive impact on your circulating Testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone (and it will lower your Estrogen), which will make it harder to gain body fat in the long-term.

We all know by now that losing body fat is a matter of dieting.

Do whatever it takes to lose that gut ! Get disciplined and get your diet in check.

Only eat foods that are pure representatives of their macro-nutrients.


Sweet potatoes are solely carbohydrates and fiber.

Combine these foods for a month and you’ll be golden:

Chicken breasts, tuna, egg whites, oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, etc.



Once you got your diet in check, focus on heavy compound movements at the gym to raise your Testosterone and burn off the extra body fat that you have left."

The solution is to cut body-fat first and then focus on bulking !

 

What does that even mean ? You lost 20 Lbs of which 10 Lbs were fat and 10 Lbs were muscle ?

How would you know ?

Gain muscle by strength training and getting on a diet plan. You don't necessarily need to eat more but you eat to have a program with the right Macros.

Still, if your body fat is too high I would still focus solely on cutting body fat and retaining the mass. Once you are lean enough (10%-12%), focus on bulking.

 

You will need to diet to get rid of the belly. Only then should you focus on strength training.

I wouldn’t recommend Crossfit unless you want to injure yourself.

Squats, deadlifts, pull-ups and dips are all excellent movements that you can start up with (even with band assistance) that will help you burn body fat in addition to dieting. You’ll gain muscle as well.

 

It is possible.

You need to be lean first (9-10% body fat) so that you are insulin sensitive before bulking (you will gain less fat than someone bulking with an already higher body fat as a starting point).

Also, by hormonally manipulating your hormones through the foods you eat. This means tracking Macros and timing them accordingly. Keeping insulin stable, giving your body enough fats and proteins for muscle growth, and just enough carbs for performance but not so much to overspill into fat stores.

 

It will be a highly inefficient process.

You will need to combine incomplete protein sources but will gain too much body fat.

We are omnivores and our body works best if we eat complete sources (meat).

 

Will what get you lean as Brad Pitt in Fight Club ?

 

A diet plan is always individual:

You need 0,5 grams of fat per Lbs of bodyweight.

1,25 to 1,5 grams of protein per Lbs of bodyweight.

Carbs are individual and you need to experiment to see how much you can tolerate.

In my original post, I give general guideline to fix a particular problem.

An individual diet plan has 5-6 meals per day with weighted out portions depending on an individual’s goal to cut body fat or bulk.

The workout advice is pretty much universal.