Chubby or fat? where do you draw the line?

[genericname85]

for men i draw the line between 25 and 30% in this image and for women somewhere around 35%.

feel free to supply your own pictures for reference or use the same percentages.

[ak667]

I might have a bit of an Asian bias but I tend to think about 9-18% for men and 20-25% for women in the "normal/healthy" range. Anything a bit above that is working towards chubby while anything below I think is working towards underfat and not necessarily something that should be sustained (might make sense for a bodybuilder to temporarily get that lean for a competition, but I wouldn't think it's a good idea to stay at less than 8% all year around, e. g.)

21-25% is also apparently around what's optimal for fertility among females. That's also supported in some medical literature with 8% and less body fat being considered "underfat" for adult men while over 19% is outside of the optimal range and starting to work towards increased health risks, while something like 21% to 25% is optimal for fertility but the range extends up to 33% or so for women for what's still considered to be a healthy range.

The pictures are also not necessarily very good approximations, as you can get a totally different idea here, for example:

ryanengelfit.com/.../Body-Fat-Percent.png

Also something to particularly avoid in my opinion is excessive visceral fat (the type of abdominal fat that tends to lead to a protruding gut which surrounds the organs) as that's the type of fat most associated with heart disease and type-2 and so forth.

In Japan they also have a "chubbiness chart" for women. 0% is considered "normal/average" while anything higher is working towards chubby and anything lower is working towards what's considered skinny/underfat:

http://i.imgur.com/xqcqMqW.jpg

[ak667]

With the Japanese chart that might seem like a harsh standard but I think that might actually represent a rather ordinary Japanese girl at 0% or close, but there's also something else to factor in. Asian women tend to have a body composition that consists of more body fat even though they have smaller, slimmer bodies. It's like slim but soft, and that's because Asian women tend to have less fat free mass in general than their Western counterparts.

So, for example, anything above 23 BMI is considered overweight by Asian standards, even though that's in the range of "normal" by Western standards. But that's not due to a harsher standard, per se, because an Asian woman with over 23 BMI, assuming she has a fairly regular body composition, is actually already at a body fat percentage at higher risk of type-2 and heart disease and so forth. She might look small and slim but she's already carrying a lot of fat on her body. So there's a genetic difference there in terms of body composition.

[genericname85]

lol "-30%"? what is this? xD you can't have "underfat" Asians are weird xD yeah i was always wondering how Asians can be so skinny anyway.

[ak667]

It's a chart that's not based on body fat percentage directly but the 0% level is around 20-25%. It's more of an informal chart that's adjusted to a crude idea of "chubbiness" that's normalized at around 20-25% body fat mapped at 0%. "Underfat" is actually medical term. When body fat percentages drop below healthy ranges that can have all sorts of adverse effects on the body like increased susceptibility of kidney failure, a weakened immune system, and irregular hormones (potential loss of periods and fertility in women and sex drives in both sexes, e. g.).

[genericname85]

that would be malnourished then, not "underfat" right? xD i mean yeah the -20 and -30 one definitely look unhealthy.

[ak667]

To my understanding it's possible to be malnourished while still having a sufficient amount of body fat, like having a significant deficiency of an essential macro or micronutrient in spite of having, say, 23% bodyfat. Specifically when the body fat becomes too low, even with sufficient food and a reasonable balance of macros and micros, like with the case of bodybuilders during competition who aren't necessarily malnourished or eating too little but have just become extremely shredded (ex: 5% body fat on a male), that's actually not a very healthy state to be in for a prolonged period of time as far as I understand.

That said a guy can still look pretty shredded at double digits of body fat, especially with a good amount of muscle mass to pop through. Take Mike Thurston. He's apparently 15% body fat according to a DEXA scan but looks like this:

prolegalsteroids.com/.../CiRZAtVXAAAXv7d.jpg

[genericname85]

oh those body builders for competitions are super unhealthy. they eat enough but they don't drink enough so their bodies are super dry, which is how you see those veins popp and ultimately can see every fiber of a muscle.

[Gedaria]

Between 22-25 ,, Sadly im about 30, need to get some off...

[genericname85]

good thing you're a man xD testosterone and muscles really help with cutting.

[Gedaria]

Sadly I cannot count on that , no testicles means no or very little testosterone. That is one reason why my weight is difficult to regulate...

[genericname85]

oh that sucks xD well still as a man your body is more capable of burning fat than that of a woman

[Gedaria]

I think I will go on the lettuce and water diet. And move into the gym might loose some weight...

[genericname85]

good luck ^^

[lomimore]

For me I'd say 30% and above is fat but I'd not go for someone under 10%.
Right now compared to the pictures am between the 30%and 35% and my goal would be the 20%option.

[genericname85]

i'm at like 25 and wanna be around 15-20 ^^

[lomimore]

Good luck!

[Darknut]

Me liiike

[Malita55]

No less than 12% no more than 25% for men. No less than 20% for women, no more than 35%

[bubble_tea]

Judging by those pics, chubby starts around 30% for men and 35% for women to me.

[genericname85]

it's funny how people have different opinions about this though xD i think we should have those judgements less "opinionated" and more "factual".

[bubble_tea]

I think overall fat distribution is more important than fat percentage. When you have all the fat in the boobs and a flat stomach, nobody's going to call you fat.

[genericname85]

xD that's not exactly desirable either though.

[bubble_tea]

It isnt? Sofia Vergara looks fantastic to me.

[genericname85]

i was actually thinking on a bizarre combination of scrwany body and huge boobs xD

[fauchelevent]

I guess for me, I'd say between 25 and 30% and for women, I like up to 40%

[genericname85]

so you'd say the 40% women would still count as "chubby" to you xD wow you're really tolerant with women... poor men :P

[fauchelevent]

I guess it's probably to do with the curves maybe? Women with extra fat don't look as big to me as men with extra fat.

[genericname85]

yeah maybe. also the "normal" fat percentage is higher for women than for men.

[AndyDoc]

Around 35% is my limit

[Decentguy]

for women, from 40% and above is fat

[Slim57]

Wouldn't go above 35%

[Lance1965]

I would draw the line at 40%.

[blubblubblub]

All the bottom rows

[genericname85]

yeah seems fitting.

[Hapinus]

I agree with you

[ROCKS128]

35% for women.

[Darknut]

Between 45 and 50