How To Lose Skinny Fat – Question

Hi there, Dr. Skinny Fat. I successfully lost weight down to a BMI of 21.3, but my skinny fat remains. I don’t really want to lose more weight, but I will if it will get rid of my skinny fat. As you can see from my pics, I have a lot. I do not know how to lose my skinny fat.

I have been careful with my diet, as I don’t want to lose muscle. Only fat. I eat a standard 500-calorie deficit below TDEE/BMR. My focus is on whole foods. I try to keep carbs around 150 grams, although I do eat more on some days. Social media tells me that I lost muscle from my diet and lifestyle and that caused me to be skinny fat. However, I am certain I did not have the muscle to begin with, from birth. I never had much muscle.

I do regular daily cardio exercise, either walking outside or on the treadmill. Although I do not do any resistance exercise. How do I lose my skinny fat?

How To Lose Skinny Fat – Question

Your before and after images do, indeed, indicate significant skinny fat:

Skinny fat is a lack of genetic muscle (1, 2, 3). You mentioned that you are certain that you never had the muscle to begin with, from birth. Genetics. Some people are born with more muscle, some less. This is a genetic fact (4). Those born with less muscle tissue, something must exist where the genetic muscle should be, but is not.

That something is skinny fat — IE thin fat tissue and/or cellulite tissue (1).

Although the science of skinny fat is young and we are not sure what thin fat or cellulite tissues really are. Our MRI Study (5) is working on clarification. Nonetheless, it is clear even after your successful weight loss that you are still experiencing thin fat and cellulite tissue in the same areas that you were before you lost the weight.

A 500-calorie deficit diet is the current norm (7, 8). However, muscle loss on such a diet is basically inevitable (9, 10). So, it is very likely that you have lost some muscle. But that lost muscle did not turn into regular white/yellow body fat. This is not (11, 12, 13) how human tissue works. Muscle cannot turn into fat, and fat cannot turn into muscle. Losing muscle can make any existing skinny fat — lack of genetic muscle — worse. But lost muscle does not cause skinny fat.

Diet, Exercise, and Lifestyle – How To Lose Skinny Fat

If you are experiencing skinny fat, there are four ways you can reduce it:

• Proper resistance training (14, 15), particularly weightlifting, to add muscle mass and recomposition the body. Because skinny fat is a lack of genetic muscle, the obvious solution is to add muscle mass anywhere you are experiencing skinny fat. Here is a list of exercises (16). Pilates, yoga, isometrics, and calisthenics can also help, but weight lifting is the gold standard. Keep in mind, any muscle mass you add you will have to maintain forever. If you stop doing the exercise(s) that built the muscle, you will gradually lose it and eventually return to your original genetic body composition.
• Eat a healthy diet (17). Consuming healthy whole foods daily that are rich in proper, balanced amounts or quality protein, fats, and fiber carbs ensures your body has what it needs to maintain existing muscle and add muscle mass via proper resistance training.
• Live a healthy lifestyle (18), including enough quality sleep, keeping stress minimal, and maintaining a stable and non-toxic environment.
• Pay for a few FDA-approved methods like surgery, Coolsculpting, Endermologie, Cellfina, QWO, etc. However, these methods are typically invasive, expensive, and only short-term cosmetic.

None of those solutions are permanent fixes. No permanent skinny fat fix (19) exists at this time, no matter what nonsense is promulgated on social media or elsewhere.

Scientific Health Quizzes – Determining Body Composition and Metabolism Along with Healthy Diet, Exercise, & Lifestyle

We have wrangled the latest science and developed the Scientific Health Quizzes to help you better understand your unique genetic body composition, particularly skinny fat (if any), along with your specific metabolism, diet, exercise, and lifestyle health. Accounts are free, secure, private, and anonymous (depending on what info you choose to give). Free options are available.

References

1. Skinny Fat Science: What Is Skinny Fat?, July 26, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/what-is-skinny-fat/
2. Skinny Fat Science: Skinny Fat is a Lack of Genetic Muscle – Beyond Normal-Weight Obesity, August 12, 2025. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/skinny-fat-is-a-lack-of-genetic-muscle-beyond-normal-weight-obesity/
3. Skinny Fat Science: Is Skinny Fat Genetic?, November 27, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/is-skinny-fat-genetic/
4. Skinny Fat Science: Is Muscle/Mass Genetic and How Does It Affect Skinny Fat?, November 20, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/is-muscle-mass-genetic-and-how-does-it-affect-skinny-fat/
5. Skinny Fat Science: Scientific Skinny Fat MRI Study – Proving What Skinny Fat Is, March 26, 2025. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/scientific-skinny-fat-mri-study-proving-what-skinny-fat-is/
6. Britannica: human muscle system, Shane W. Cummings and Robin Huw Crompton (Fact-checked by the Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/human-muscle-system
7. WebMD: What Is a Calorie Deficit?, July, 15, 2024, Matt McMillen and Paul Frysh (Medically Reviewed by Poonam Sachdev). https://www.webmd.com/diet/calorie-deficit
8. Cleveland Clinic: Getting into a Calorie Deficit for Weight Loss, December 29, 2025. https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2025/12/29/getting-into-a-calorie-deficit-for-weight-loss
9. Scientific American: Why You Don’t Just Lose Fat When You’re on a Diet, July 13, 2023, Adam Collins and The Conversation US. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weight-loss-why-you-dont-just-lose-fat-when-youre-on-a-diet/
10. NIH, National Library of Medicine: The impact and utility of very low-calorie diets: the role of exercise and protein in preserving skeletal muscle mass, September 7, 2023, Tom Anthonius Hubertus Janssen, Derrick W Van Every, and Stuart M Phillips. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10552824/
11. NIH, National Library of Medicine: Muscle-to-fat interaction: a two-way street?, January 1, 2010, Bente K Pedersen. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2821541/
12. Healthline: Does Fat Turn into Muscle? What to Know, March 2, 2021, Katey Davidson, MScFN, RD, CPT (Medically reviewed by Jake Tipane, CPT). https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/does-fat-turn-into-muscle
13. The New York Times: The Claim: Muscle Turns to Fat When You Stop Working Out, July 26, 2006, Anahad O’Connor. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/26/health/nutrition/the-claim-muscle-turns-to-fat-when-you-stop-working-out.html
14. Skinny Fat Science: Best Skinny Fat Resistance Exercises, September 4, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/best-skinny-fat-resistance-exercises/
15. Skinny Fat Science: The Best Skinny Fat Exercise, According to Science, August 2, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/the-best-skinny-fat-exercise-according-to-science/
16. Skinny Fat Science: Resistance Training for Skinny Fat – Weight Lifting, 40 Optimal Exercises (with Images), May 7, 2025. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/resistance-training-for-skinny-fat-weight-lifting-40-optimal-exercises-with-images/
17. Skinny Fat Science: The Best Skinny Fat Diet, According to Science, July 29, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/the-best-skinny-fat-diet-according-to-science/
18. Skinny Fat Science: The Best Skinny Fat Lifestyle, According to Science, August 14, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/the-best-skinny-fat-lifestyle-according-to-science/
19. Skinny Fat Science: How to Fix Skinny Fat, July 27, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/how-to-fix-skinny-fat/