You have skinny legs but a noticeable belly, and you have long been told that fat is the enemy when it comes to your diet. For the most part, that belief about fat is only partially true. All calories are made different and each type of food has a different reaction on your body. Knowledge is key in figuring out how to fix your current body fat situation, so let’s begin with the basics.
Why are your legs skinny but you have a belly? Your body is in a state of being called “skinny-fat” because you are likely not taking in the right nutrition which pushes your body into a “saving mode”, where it starts to store fat in the one place where there’s plenty of room, your belly. Nevertheless, your legs might remain skinny.
Being skinny-fat may seem like a curse. But let us tell you this right off the bat that you are still better off being like this than being obese. Being skinny-fat is a very treatable condition that can be fixed with the right dietary and lifestyle adjustments. If you are ready to get that belly off of you then read on below.
Why The Belly?
You might be wondering, there are plenty of other areas around my body, why do I get to have a belly? It makes my overall body look strange.
Well, first off, you don’t want excess fat anywhere in your body. Period.
Secondly, we are genetically programmed to store excess fat on our belly because of the massive storage room it has. The belly is the “best” protruding part of your body that can grow in size and not hinder other functions. Hence, the number of fat cells around your belly is highly concentrated, meaning that they can store more fat than any other part of your body.
You should kind of consider yourself to be lucky to have skinny arms and legs because once you develop new fat cells on your legs or other areas, it can be very hard to maintain and get rid of excess body fat.
Well, how did you end up here? We’re going to go on a limb here and try to explain your situation.
You were once generally fat but you decided to do something about it so you strictly restricted your caloric intake and brought in a heavy cardio routine. You got rid of most of the fat but in the end, you found yourself to be weak and left with a belly.
Another explanation could be that you were once skinny, or even fat, but then your hormones kicked in during puberty and you started to notice changes in your body. This change, coupled with an unhealthy lifestyle, led to you having skinny arms and legs, but a bulging belly.
Regardless of how you got here, being skinny-fat is a sign that you either tried your hand at losing weight or you simply didn’t take care of your body enough until it was too late to turn back. The good news is that you can fix this but it’s going to take a lot of unlearning and re-learning about your diet and exercise.
Your Diet is Whack
The easiest place to start is your diet. Let’s be real, you and we both know that you’ve been packing extra calories for years now. You might even go 5 days without cheating on your diet but then you go ahead and compensate for the “lack of eating” over the weekends with beer, alcohol, fast food, and snacks.
The thing is, people with a belly and skinny legs, or overweight people in general, know exactly what they are doing wrong but they do it anyway since they believe that they can stop whenever they want. It is only when you break out of that mentality and set out with a proper diet plan that you realize how extremely addicted you were to your old diet. If you want to fix your skinny-fat situation, you will need to rethink what you eat.
Fat is Not The Enemy
You might have been brought up being told that fat is the number one problem in today’s diet. Well, that’s not true at all. Fat is not the main cause for you being skinny-fat. Sugar is. See, fat has an extremely important function in the body. It is responsible for a lot of important operations that you need in order to survive every day.
The type of fat you consume, however, does matter a lot. If the source of your fat comes from fried food, salad dressings, and snacks, then you are better off without it. Try taking in fat from healthy sources such as lean meat, whole eggs, healthy cheese, and avocados.
If you want to see quick and positive changes then you will have to cut off sugar from your diet. Start slowly, but gradually decrease it until the only sugar source is from fruit and veggies. This will be the hardest to do since the modern diet is literally laced with sugar. From cereals to condiments, everything has sugar these days. It’s really no wonder why people are so addicted and unhealthy. If you really want a healthy snack that you can munch on freely but with moderation, check out this Perfect Keto Bar (Amazon)
Exercise To Overcome
As mentioned before, being skinny-fat is one of the easiest conditions to bounce back from. All you need to do is introduce the right diet and start resistance training, which is where you lift weights and build muscle.
Skip on the cardio, but if you really love it then stick to doing it for 15-30 minutes once or twice a week. You can walk at a moderate pace freely every day if you’d like. Start by hitting the gym 2 times a week then increase the frequency to around 3 to 4 days a week.
Make sure you focus on your arms and legs for optimal results. The more muscle you build, the more fat you will burn. So, the key here is to build enough muscle to look even and to fix your body shape. You can also use protein supplements to enhance muscle growth. We recommend Body Fortress Super Advanced Whey Protein Powder (Click to view on Amazon).
You should also read up online about how people have overcome being skinny-fat. You will realize that it’s much easier than trimming down when you are overweight. Remember, eat right and build muscle and you are guaranteed to look your best in no less than 1 to 2 months. You will feel energized, focused, and even more motivated by the end of the first month.
A balanced lifestyle is extremely important when it comes to taking care of your body. You need to strike a balance between binging and restricting. Most people tend to be on either end of the spectrum. The goal is to be slightly more towards the middle and a restrictive diet.
You should be able to enjoy a single cheat meal every now and then; a maximum of two cheat meals a week, but you need to make sure that you put in the work subsequently to make up for it. Be honest with yourself and always keep your goal in mind and you can accomplish wonders with your body.
Related Questions
Can cardio help me get in shape from being skinny-fat? You need to stick to a low to moderate level of cardio when you are skinny-fat. A maximum of two times a week is acceptable. You should focus more on heavy lifting and building muscle. The extra muscle you put on will take care of the fat on its own, provided that you are eating right as well.
How long would it take me to get rid of the excess belly fat? If you maintain your diet by eating balanced and healthy meals, chances are that you might get to see results within the first month. The key is to get 4 days of weight lifting and 7 days of eating right, where you are only allowed at most 2 cheat meals a week.
