5 Signs You Are Skinny Fat Or Metabolically Obese

5 Signs You Are
Skinny Fat Or
Metabolically
Obese
Manjiri Nadkarni
Ayurvedic MD, Registered Holistic Nutritionist

What is Skinny Fat?
“Skinny fat” can be understood as a person who falls within the normal ranges of body
weight and yet holds excess body fat in his/ her/ their body. This means that the person
is metabolically obese but has a normal body weight.
Being skinny fat can pose greater risk to the person as they have the risks that obesity
poses like
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Increased inflammation in the body due to proinflammatory cytokines secreted by
body fat
Hormonal imbalance as body fat has the capacity to secrete hormones like estrogen
Increased risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes as well as hypertension due to
increased visceral fat
Increased risk of cancers related to excess fat
Poor mood, less energy, more fatigue related to inflammation in the body.

A skinny fat person also has a lowered muscle mass in addition to excess body fat and this is the
reason for their ‘normal weight’ on the scale. This poses them at greater risk to health issues
related to lowered muscle mass like
1. Lowered physical strength, endurance and stamina leading to constant fatigue
2. Lowered immune function
3. Decreased metabolism
4. Greater risk of insulin insensitivity
5. Poor recovery from illness or surgery
Medically, skinny fat is similar to a medical condition called sarcopenic obesity where people
struggle with lowered muscle mass (sarcopenia) in addition to obesity (high body fat).

How Your Body Weight and BMI can be
misleading when it comes to your health?
Many people just assume that if their weight and/or BMI is normal, they have nothing to worry about. While
height weight charts as well as Body Mass Index can indicate overweight or obesity, these are often misleading
when it comes to skinny fat.
Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult men and
women.
BMI Categories according to World Health Organization:
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
BMI can be misleading incases of pregnancy, athletes (due to higher muscle mass, thus a higher weight) as well
as in case of skinny fat (lower muscle mass, but higher body fat could be within normal ranges)
Thus looking skinny or within normal BMI doesn’t mean you’re healthy if you are skinny fat.

How to test for Skinny Fat?
The mirror as well as the weighing scale are both unsuccessful at understanding skinny fat. The best way to test for Skinny fat
is by testing body composition via Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) device.
A BIA machine is a device that uses a small electric current passed through your body to measure body composition.
In my practice I use Impedimed DF 50 which is a quick and easy device for BIA testing that is non invasive as well as highly
effective to monitor your body fat, muscle mass as well as hydration status.
The Impedimed DF50 I use for measuring body composition in my clinical practice is much more accurate than a weighing
scale or a hand held device.
It can read the following parameters
Fat mass
Muscle mass
Hydration status
Basal Metabolic Rate
Water retention
Phase angle or cellular health index

While optimal fat mass show variable ranges as per age and
gender, here are the ranges as per American Council on Exercise

How do people become skinny fat?
There are various ways people can become skinny fat
Heredity - whether your fat is stored in your mid section (visceral) or under your skin
(subcutaneous) can be governed by your genetics and heredity.
Eating junk food - while some are blessed with a higher metabolism, I have often noticed that
poor dietary habits- eating too much greasy fast foods, high sugar intake contributes to excess
fat build up in the body
High toxicity - Eating foods full of preservatives, pesticides, dyes and chemical additives as
well as environmental pollutants create a toxic situation within the body. Your body fat traps
these toxins to ensure your body undergoes minimal harm from them and thus the more
toxicity you have in your body, the more body fat your body will hold on too

Severe calorie restriction and crash diets make your body store fat while losing muscle mass
Lack of exercise especially resistance or strength training leads to muscle loss and excess fat gain
Hormonal imbalances related to insulin insensitivity and cortisol imbalance can contribute to skinny fat.

What are the signs that you are skinny fat?
While a body composition test can give you the definitive answer whether you are skinny fat,
these are some signs that show you are skinny fat
You have high fat around your waist line - aka muffin top
While you are normal weight on the scale, you dont look toned
You feel weak and lack strength due to lowered muscle mass
You are diagnosed with high cholesterol or high triglycerides
You are borderline diabetic or have a higher HbA1C

How to lose fat without losing excess body weight?
Being skinny fat can be challenging as you want to ensure that you lose excess body fat
without losing the muscle mass and your weight. In my clinical practice, I help my clients get rid
of skinny fat by developing a nutritional plan that is based on the principles of Ayurveda, that is
custom tailored to ensure you lose body fat, while building muscle mass and maintaining body
weight. This also ensures that your body inflammation is lowered and you gain strength and
build your overall health.
Complete Metabolic Reset is my signature program that can help you lose the fat, gain
muscle mass as well as tons of energy.