Skinny Doesn’t Mean Healthy!

by Samantha Montpetit-Huynh

The skinny-fat epidemic; it certainly is no surprise that society has a really warped idea of what “healthy” looks like.

With the war on obesity, some people go to the other extreme. They become cardio junkies, eat carrots, drink cayenne pepper and lemon water and try to replicate the scary anorexic images that are considered the norm these days.

A few months back, there was a lot of media about skinny-fat and exactly what that meant. It actually surprised me that it was considered such a new term seeing as I have used it for years. I always refer to those people as walking Jugheads – like the guy in the Archie comic book that could eat whatever he wanted and not gain a pound. As lovely as that would be, it scared me that at the time, I probably thought the fooled miraculously disappeared. Not.

Skinny-fat is just that. Although they may look skinny (which is a word I HATE by the way) on the outside, they are fat on the inside. They most likely have a good BMI but remember that BMI does not calculate muscle just mass. Skinny fat people are also jiggly, may have some love handles because they have very low, if any, muscle tone. They rely on their “good genes” to keep them thin but if only they knew what was really going on. A skinny-fat person can really be at risk if they don’t make changes to their lifestyle.

Earlier I referenced cardio junkies; you know, the people who religiously go to the gym 5-6 days a week and spend their entire time on the cardio machines. either running or cycling for an hour each day. Now that’s great for your heart but unless they start to incorporates some strength training into their routines, they will continue to have a higher amount of visceral fat than needed. Remember, MUSCLE burns fat, NOT cardio.

Food also plays a major role in skinny-fat people. I met a young mom once that giggled about the fact that she loves fast food and looked down and said “but I’m not fat, so I can”. Yes for now. But I bet if she were to fall down, something would snap. If you eat large amounts of fat and sugar, where do you think it’s going to go?

Visceral fat is dangerous because it’s the one that is closest to your internal organs and your heart. Although obesity and beer bellies put you at a higher risk for heart attacks, skinny-fat increases your chances too.

You are a creation of your environment, plain and simple.

Being considered a skinny-fat person is not cute nor funny and can be detrimental to your health; hence why I have been such a promoter of better terms such as “strength” and “power”. You would be surprised how many moms injure themselves just doing every day tasks. If you are someone who has always been graced with thin genes, please take note that everything we do to our bodies catches up with us eventually.

So where do you fall into in the scope of things? Are you thin but weak or healthy and strong?

Samantha Montpetit-Huynh is the mother of two beautiful girls and the founder of Core Expectations, Toronto’s only full services wellness team that delivers personal training, abdominal rehabilitation and other support services to the homes and offices of pregnant women and new moms across the GTA.