skinny fat

I remember the first time I heard the term “Skinny Fat”.  I was reading a post on the PALEO DIET, which was talking about the epidemic of young women of normal weight, who had spindly arms & legs —- and big bellies.  Believe it or not, there is actually a medical term for this —- MONW.  It stands for Metabolically Obese — Normal Weight.  These people do not carry enough lean body mass (muscle), but also have too much Visceral Fat (deep abdominal fat surrounding their organs).  And although these folks might fit into the perfect spot on a height / weight chart, they are not healthy —- and they are certainly not “skinny”.  Don’t believe me?   Let’s take a look at a couple of recent studies from the peer-reviewed medical literature.

Not quite a year ago, the August 2012 issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) published a study done at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.  The study concluded that almost a quarter of the “normal weight” population would fall in to the MONW category.   Think of it another way.  According to government statistics, nearly 70% of the adult American population is currently overweight or obese.  This latest study brings the total closer to 80%. And here is the real kick in the teeth.   These MONW individuals die off at twice the rate of visibly fat people if they have DIABETES.  But forget the adults for a minute, lets look at the younger generation. 

If you pay attention, you will notice that a lot of today’s teens could be classified as MONW.  A study published one year ago this week in the medical journal Pediatrics shows us that things are even worse than we thought.  Yes, they admitted that teen obesity was a huge problem that is related to a host of serious health problems.  But they also admitted that nearly one in four teens of normal weight had at least one of the signs of METABOLIC SYNDROME (pre-diabetes), such as high BP, HIGH CHOLESTEROL, UNCONTROLLED BLOOD SUGAR, etc.  In fact, many experts are saying that when the rubber meets the road, only about one in five US children could truly be categorized as healthy. 

This is one of the biggest reasons that our government school’s OBESITY PREVENTION PROGRAMS are failing so miserably.   They fall into the trap of modern medicine; always trying to tie one’s health to one’s weight (HERE).  The so-called “skinny” people feel they are justified in eating whatever they want since they fall into the proper spot on the Height / Weight Chart.  The problem is that they are not only undermining their health with these bad habits, sooner or later they will end up visibly undermining their weight.   We all know that skinny guy who is constantly scrounging for food —- loading up on fast foods, junk foods, and deserts.  Trust me.  He won’t be the “skinny guy” forever.  If you think your body will perpetually be able to keep up with the steady barrage of SUGAR, JUNK CARBS, and TRANS FATS, and still maintain a normal weight, just show up at your next High School Reunion.   You will be in for a rude awakening! 

OK; so you realize that you likely fall into the MONW (Skinny Fat) category.  What can you do about it?  Actually you can totally reverse it and get healthy in the process.  And the cool thing is, you are ahead of the game since you do not have huge amounts of weight to lose.  For you it will be more about redistributing the weight you currently carry.  Make the proper changes to your diet and lifestyle, and let your weight take care of itself.  What are these changes you ask?  Although I have immense amounts of detailed information on my website, it can be broken down to three simple steps. 

• EAT A WHOLE FOOD-BASED DIET:   It is imperative that you eat a diet based on WHOLE FOODS and Whole Food Supplements.   As you might imagine, this will likewise help you to………

 

• AVOID PROCESSED FOODS AND SUGAR:  Eating low on the Glycemic Index (LOW CARB or PALEO) will help you CONTROL YOUR BLOOD SUGAR.  These first two steps will help get rid of the “fat” part of Skinny Fat.  This next step will help you gain some lean body mass (muscle) and change your body’s shape as well as provide your metabolism a significant boost.

 

• LIFT WEIGHTS / DO SOME SORT OF RESISTANCE TRAINING:  Although I am in no ways against things like walking or biking, it is imperative that you add some sort of RESISTANCE TRAINING to your exercise regimen.  In case you need some more information on this topic, go HERE.