Is fat just fat?

[RoseLilly]

Ok so my question is about body fat.
I am not particularly overweight I don’t think, although not at my ideal weight I know.
I am a 61 year old female, 5ft tall and currently weighing 111lb.
My question is this. Are my fat, flabby thighs and stomach rolls fat or lack of muscle tone.
I am active and walk as much as possible but due to chronic fatigue don’t exercise as such. However I am not sure that this is the answer as even when I was a lot more active and exercising frequently I still had this issue with fat legs.
So could it just be good old fat and I really need to be a lower weight than I think.
Everything else about me is fairly slim and petite.

[pundit999]

Hi RoseLilly
You BMI is in the middle of the healthy range.
You should not worry and just keep following the plan.
If you are concerned about legs, may be you can do some strength training for them.
But if I were you, I'd not worry.

[Keepyerplantieson]

Hi Rose,

Adding to pundit's reply, your BMI may be quite fine but BMI doesn't differentiate between weight due to fat and weight due to muscle - a pound is a pound is a pound. As we age (speaking as a female in my 70's), there is a natural tendency to lose muscle which is called sarcopenia. If you feel that your body has more fat than it should and yet your weight is in the normal range, strength training can help, as pundit suggested. I discovered strength training about 10 years ago and wow! Now in my 70's, I am stronger than I ever was when I was younger, and my only regret is that nobody told me earlier how beneficial strength training is for women. There are, of course, trainers and programs that can help, but I couldn't afford any of that, and based my regimen on a book called Strong Women Stay Young. I bought a few free weights and have faithfully followed that program ever since. And the best part is, it's fun.

[RoseLilly]

Hi to my repliers.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
I think you are probably both correct in what you say.
Unfortunately having CFS and Fibromyalgia any kind of exercise tends to leave me exhausted and in pain.
I am definitely healthier for this regime of eating as I can see when I compare myself to others around me who don’t seem to care about what they consume. But unfortunately these 2 health problems are persistent.
I will stick with the walking.
I will however see if I can get a copy of that Strong Women Stay Young as I seem to remember reading that a few years back and liking it. There may be something I can implement.

[pundit999]

You can do this simple Yoga exercise and increase muscle mass.
Do about 10 repetitions or however many you can do comfortably:

[michaelswarm]

How long have you been following the McDougall Program, and how compliant are you?

Some people have been able to put their fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue into remission with WFPB diets.
https://www.drmcdougall.com/articles/st ... m-lambert/
https://www.forksoverknives.com/success ... -relapses/

The second success story, Corinne Nijjer, hosts a podcast, and has interviewed multiple other people who have also put their fibromyalgia into remission.

[RoseLilly]

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed an answer to this question.

[KillSwitch]

Hi Rose,

I know that I am a little late to this conversation, but I pretty much agree with what pundit said. I would try weight training 1st to see if I could improve things naturally. I am not a huge fan of medical procedures (esp. invasive ones) but there are less invasive things like Cryolipolysis aka cool sculpting that could help you in this area.

There is a small risk (from cool sculpting) of something called PAH or Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia like what happened to Supermodel Linda Evangelista that you should be aware of however.

I wish we had some pictures so we could see exactly what you are talking about but you may feel uncomfortable doing this.

You are 61 now. Was this a same concern for you when you were in your 30s and 40s?

[RoseLilly]

Hi Rose,

I know that I am a little late to this conversation, but I pretty much agree with what pundit said. I would try weight training 1st to see if I could improve things naturally. I am not a huge fan of medical procedures (esp. invasive ones) but there are less invasive things like Cryolipolysis aka cool sculpting that could help you in this area.

There is a small risk (from cool sculpting) of something called PAH or Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia like what happened to Supermodel Linda Evangelista that you should be aware of however.

I wish we had some pictures so we could see exactly what you are talking about but you may feel uncomfortable doing this.

You are 61 now. Was this a same concern for you when you were in your 30s and 40s?

Thank you for replying, no reply is ever too late as far as I’m concerned.
Don’t worry I won’t be doing invasive surgery, my budget doesn’t stretch that far!
It seems to be a problem I’ve had ever since I can remember although it’s much worse as I’ve got older. I’ve always being pretty active even since the M E struck in my mid 20s.
I guess the one time I lost my cellulite was when I ate an extremely strict raw and fat free diet and drank nothing but fennel tea.
But it wasn’t viable and I was always hungry.
I have eaten whole and plant based but although I lose weight the ugly pouches of fat on the backs of my thighs remain.