We all have that friend: The one who eats only mac ‘n’ cheese and cookies, does zero physical activity, yet still fits into jeans from high school. While you sweat through regular workouts and take the time and effort to cook and eat healthy meals, your friend stays thin seemingly without trying.
But looks can be deceiving. The
number on the scale doesn’t paint the whole picture.
“Skinny fat” is an unscientific,
non-medical term to describe people who appear to be at a
healthy weight, but actually have a lot of body fat and very little muscle.
Living a “skinny fat” lifestyle doesn’t come without consequences. Read on to
learn more about it, plus ways to get stronger and healthier.
Are You Skinny Fat?
While there is no formal definition of “skinny
fat,” it generally refers to people who fall within a healthy weight range
but exceed the recommended body-fat percentage and
do not meet normal ranges for muscle mass.
“The term ‘skinny fat’ is the perfect demonstration
of the misconceptions on what being healthy is,” says Cody Braun, fitness expert.
The medical term for “skinny fat” is metabolically
obese normal weight. (And since “skinny fat” isn’t the
friendliest of terms, we’ll mostly stick with MONW from here on out.) The
acronym says it all: A person can be a seemingly healthy weight, yet
metabolically obese.
