Alright alright, you’re here because the dreaded skinny fat look has taken over your body like the Venom symbiote from Spider-Man 3.

We need to work on changing that! You may look in the mirror and feel insecure about your body because your love handles stick through most of your shirts. Or maybe you choose to wear black because it hides any odd curves that just don’t make you feel confident in your body.

Trust me, I know. I used to be skinny fat for a good portion of my life (see below, a pic of me as skinny fat and one of me with more muscle on). I did all the rights things too – or so I thought. I “ate well” and worked out but never made any progress.

chaz's transformation of 1 year

With skinny fat, there are a couple of pitfalls. The first is the way that you workout. Most likely you’re not doing consistent, periodized strength training programs month over month. That’s a must-have but that’s not what this article is focused on; read here to learn how to handle that.

This article is focused on the second pitfall, eating habits. This is a monster category but the most common pitfall here is undereating. Yes, you read that correctly – undereating.

Undereating is a problem because the body goes into starvation mode. It holds onto your belly fat and love handles for dear life. Kind of like how Luke Skywalker held on to the metal post after daddy chopped his hand off! Lol.

When the body’s in starvation mode it produces the skinny fat look; depending on your genetics of course.

So the remedy here is to eat MORE; not eating more crap sugary processed foods but eating more fibrous carbs and protein.

Now that you’ve gotten an update on the skinny fat bod, let’s dive into the best foods to eat for skinny fat.

 

The Best Foods To Eat For Skinny Fat

If you just skipped to this point in the article, go back up. You need to read the high-level reason why I’m saying these foods are best for skinny fat.

As I mentioned above, you need to eat more fibrous carbs and protein. So those are the two main categories we’ll break down here.

 

Fibrous Carbs

Fibrous carbs are good for fixing skinny fat because they give the body stored glycogen to use for big strength workouts. Without enough carbs, your body will still be in the starvation mode we talked about earlier.

Fibrous carbs for skinny fat list:

  • Rice
  • Potatoes (russets, yellow, red, sweet)
  • Grainy or gluten-free bread
  • Oatmeal
  • Quinoa
  • Fruits like banana, blueberry, pineapple, apple, watermelon…etc.

Reading that you might think, “I can’t eat those carbs I’ll get fat. And fruit, ‘they’ say it has way too much sugar.” Well, ‘they’ are wrong. Yes, it has sugar but it’s fine because it also comes with micronutrients and fiber. The reason fiber is good is because fiber helps control blood glucose levels in foods that have sugar. It also helps keep you nice and full.

And potatoes are great because you can eat a crap ton of them without adding a bunch of calories. They’re quite satiating for the amount you can eat and are lower calories compared to denser processed foods.

 

Protein

This is especially important because without proper protein you won’t build the muscle you need to. Protein is muscle, literally, your muscles are made of protein. So if you don’t eat enough protein you won’t get out of skinny fat because your body will keep your arms, chest and shoulders small. You need to beef them up, no don’t worry you won’t get ‘bulky’, with solid lean muscle.

Good protein sources for skinny fat:

  • Chicken thighs, breasts, tenders, and entire rotisseries
  • Ground beef 93%, 85%
  • Ground turkey
  • Lamb
  • Pork
  • Steak as top sirloin, ribeye, and other cuts
  • Eggs
  • Fish like salmon, tilapia, grouper…etc
  • Shrimp and scallops

You can also get in protein through protein bars, protein powders, greek yogurt, and beans. But these are not significant amounts of protein and the bars/powders are processed so they typically come with more additives. So you always want these to be your secondary protein sources.

 

Those are the main foods you want to eat, filling up approximately 85% of your diet. I always tell my clients they don’t have to eat perfectly and they can enjoy their food. What that means is they never have to eliminate their favorite foods. Whether that’s pizza, Oreos, pasta, or any other indulgent food. Just have a strategy for eating them. That strategy is 85% of the foods listed above (fibrous carbs and quality protein sources) and 15% of the other foods you enjoy that aren’t in that 85% category.

 

If you’re tired of being stuck in skinny fat then set up a phone consultation with me, Chaz. I work remotely with my clients and coach them monthly to make small changes in their workouts, eating habits and mindset every week. I have a lot of success working with my clients on a week-to-week basis making those changes, so that over time they reduce fat, build muscle and genuinely enjoy life better because they feel good about their bodies.

Click Here To Set Up A Phone Consultation With Me

I hope you got a lot from the article and now know the best foods to eat for skinny fat. Peace out my friend! See you soon.

 

Disclaimers

I am not a doctor and do not recommend anything on this site, or blog post, for anyone without consulting with their doctor first. Please read the privacy policy for more information.

The information in this article is for educational and entertainment reasons, it should not be interpreted as medical advice or as a recommendation for a specific treatment. Always talk to your doctor and in the event of a medical emergency one should seek the help of a qualified and licensed health care provider.

You should understand that when participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself, and agree to release and discharge Thefitnesswrangler.com from any and all claims or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of Thefitnesswrangler.com