Skinny Fat Love Handles

Skinny fat can exist anywhere on the body where genetic default muscle tissue should be but is not. Skinny fat tissue (1) — especially thin fat — on the love handles, seems to be one of the most common places. The following is a summary of conversations with a professional trainer experiencing skinny fat on their love handles and lower back.

Please be sure to read my article What Is Skinny Fat? (1) before proceeding, as it explains the very latest skinny fat science.

Scientist: Before you read this research, what did you think was going on with your love handles and lower back?

Pro Trainer:  I thought I had too much body fat.

Scientist: By body fat, you mean too much regular white/yellow fat?

Pro Trainer: Yes.

Scientist: But you are within safe BMI at 22.7.

Pro Trainer: I searched on Google and it told me that skinny fat is too much body fat even with a healthy BMI. I figured I still have more fat to lose.

Scientist: But that violates the Standard BMI definition. You cannot have too much white/yellow body fat and be within safe BMI. As well, Google also says that skinny fat is visceral, and you have no visceral fat.

Pro Trainer: I failed to consider that. I have had visceral fat in the past.

Scientist: How do you explain other people who are within safe BMI — or even at your identical BMI of 22.7 — who do not have the same excess body fat tissue that you have on your love handles, no less?

Pro Trainer: I guess I never thought about it until now either.

Scientist: Now that you have thought about it, how do you explain it?

Pro Trainer: Looking at the pictures, I cannot explain why.

Skinny Fat Love Handles – Genetics

Scientist: Do you think the muscle tissue on your love handles and lower back turned into skinny fat tissue — thin fat?

Pro Trainer: Muscle cannot turn into fat, nor fat into muscle.

Scientist: So, poor diet, exercise, and lifestyle cannot cause muscle tissue to turn into any kind of fat tissue, or vice versa. What, then, would have caused your love handles and lower back to lack muscle tissue and have skinny fat tissue?

Pro Trainer: I guess the only possible answer is genetics.

Scientist: And does that mean that you have been experiencing it since birth?

Pro Trainer: I guess that is true.

Scientist: You guess? What else could be the reason and cause?

Pro Trainer: It has to be genetic.

Scientist: When did you first notice the skinny fat — what types — on your love handles and lower back, and are you experiencing it anywhere else?

Pro Trainer: I first noticed thin fat and normal weight obesity around the age of 15, on my love handles, lower back, and lower stomach.

Scientist: But you are currently not showing any signs of thin fat on your lower stomach or normal weight obesity.

Pro Trainer: I have worked very hard to get rid of it on my stomach. It is harder to get rid of on my lower back and love handles.

Scientist: You realize that you did not permanently get rid of it on your stomach, you only reduced it by adding muscle mass and safely losing regular fat.

Pro Trainer: No, I am pretty sure I got rid of it on my stomach.

Scientist: So you are claiming that you turned your skinny fat tissue into muscle tissue?

Pro Trainer: No.

Scientist: Then how did you get rid of it?

Pro Trainer: What are you saying?

Skinny Fat Is Unique Genetic Tissue (Thin Fat, Cellulite) That Can Only Be Reduced With Proper Diet, Exercise, and Lifestyle

Scientist: You only reduced it to a minimum on your lower stomach. But it will “return” if/when you stop doing the exercises that built the muscle mass to reduce it.

Pro Trainer: Not if I maintain the added muscle mass.

Scientist: Correct. For the rest of your life.

Pro Trainer: That is my intention.

Scientist: You understand that there are genetically blessed people in the world who naturally have all abs genetically developed and do not have to work like you do to build and maintain their abs?

Pro Trainer: Like who?

Scientist: Joe Rogan, for one. See how even when he is experiencing too much regular white/yellow fat — how it covers his existing abs — which are still clearly visible under the regular fat…yet no signs of skinny fat tissue. You do not experience the same thing, correct?

Pro Trainer: No. Point taken.

Scientific Correlation Between Regular White/Yellow Fat Weight Gain/Loss and Skinny Fat, Including Love Handles

Scientist: When you gain regular fat weight, where on your body are you most prone to put it on?

Pro Trainer: My love handles, lower back, and lower stomach.

Scientist: Just to be clear, you have thin fat skinny fat on your lower stomach, love handles, and lower back, and those are the identical places where you are most prone to gain regular fat, correct?

Pro Trainer: Yes.

Scientist: You never noticed that obvious correlation before?

Pro Trainer: I guess not.

Scientist: You guess, or you are certain you never made the connection?

Pro Trainer: I never made the connection until now.

Scientist: And, other than genetics, what other explanation(s) exists that would explain why those are the specific areas on your body where you are both experiencing thin fat skinny fat tissue AND you have real issues keeping regular fat at bay, to avoid being normal weight obese, overweight, or regular obese?

Pro Trainer: I cannot think of any at this time.

Scientist: Thus, is it fair to say that your thin fat skinny fat tissue is genetic and you have had it since birth?

Pro Trainer: Yes.

Are You Experiencing Genetic Skinny Fat Tissue?

The Official Scientific Body Type Quiz was developed using 55+ vetted scientific variables to accurately determine your unique genetic body composition, particularly skinny fat. There is a free option available, accounts are free, and all Quizzes are private, secure, and anonymous. The other Scientific Health Quizzes — Metabolism, Diet, Exercise, and Lifestyle — are a complement.

References

1. Skinny Fat Science: What Is Skinny Fat?, July 26, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/what-is-skinny-fat/