Stop Saying "I'm FAT" - Learn English Expressions

Last summer I was in shape, I went to the gym almost every day

but then Christmas came and then I was eating chocolate every day

So there's a reason that the camera stops around here-ish

You can't see how soft the middle is

I mean I'm not fat just kind of chubby

so today we're going to learn a bunch of different words to mean fat to mean thin to mean athletic

and the words which describe the changes that can happen to your body

when you go to the gym, change your diet, all of that fun stuff

Let's begin!

So these are some adjectives to describe this body type

Now if you want to describe someone

It sounds insulting to say "You know that guy, he's kind of fat"

instead it's better to say "You know the guy, he's kind of big"

"Big" that's the less insulting way of describing the body type

medically you would say "Obese" or "Overweight" those other words doctors would use

"Obese" and "Overweight"

"Puffy" - You know when you wake up in the morning and your face is like...

Like a little fat hamster

Then you would say "My face is so puffy"

"Chubby" - It means fat but kind of in a cute way

Think of a baby

You would describe a fat baby as being "chubby". It's cute

"Aww your baby is so chubby"

"Chunky" - If you describe a baby as chunky, it's kind of cute

if it's not a baby, it sounds very insulting. Same with this one actually

yeah maybe don't call anyone over baby aged "chubby" or "chunky"

Trust me they won't like it

Okay how would you describe this body type?

there are a bunch of different adjectives. Some sound positive, some sound negative.

It's important to know the difference

"Thin" and "skinny" both of them can sound positive and they can sound negative

It depends how you say it. Example The positive way:

"Do I look fat?"

"No you look really thin really skinny"

But it can be in a negative way for example if someone looks ill

you might say

"Oh my god have you seen Dave?"

"No, why is he ill?"

"like, dude, he's fine but oh my god he's very thin

or

"...He's very skinny"

so both can sound positive they can sound negative it depends how you say it

These however, they're all compliments

"Slim", "Slender", "Svelte", and "Lean"

these are all compliments. They're all saying you have this body type

and you look great. Simple.

Now of course if you're ill if you're malnourished if you're not eating anything

there are some negative words that you can use

so these ones they don't sound good they're kind of insulting, so "Lanky"

that specifically means you're very skinny and very tall

and again it's not a compliment

"You are really lanky"

that is not a compliment

"Gaunt" and "scrawny" they both mean you look thin and unhealthy

maybe you're ill maybe you're not eating

but you look bad and skinny

your body can change depending on your diet or your exercise

First let's look at diet

The word "diet" just means the food you eat

For example if your doctor asks

"So tell me about your diet"

Your doctor is simply asking "What food do you eat"

that's it

but if we add a verb with "diet"

now we're talking about counting calories, reducing sugar

and bad unhealthy foods and generally eating more healthily

so you can say

"I'm getting chubby I need to go on a diet"

"To go on a diet" To start eating more healthily

when you change your diet to be more healthy

then you would say "I AM on a diet I'm on a diet"

"Get those donuts away from my face I'm on a diet...

...no actually give me the doughnuts"

I also mentioned to reduce something in your diet for example sugar

if you want to say "I need to REDUCE the sugar in my diet"

you could say this

"I need to CUT DOWN ON sugar"

"Cut down on" means reduce

use the preposition on with an object

If there's no object, don't use "on" for example

"Aly why aren't you eating doughnuts every day?"

"Well I'm getting chubby now so I need to cut down"

so remember that rule

Now for me this happens every few months

I start here and I go to here

so how can I talk about this change

You can say "I put on weight" or "I gain weight"

you can also talk about specific weights for example

Every Christmas I put on three kilos, that is all in chocolate!

now usually students will say this: "I put on my weight" or "I gained my weight"

No! Don't say that

We don't say "I put on my weight"

Just "I put on weight" or this specific number

also if you started wearing size small or medium

and then you wear large or extra-large, you would say

go up a size, for example

"Last year I put on weight and I went up a size"

if you start with this body type and you change to this body type

you can say

go down a size for example I was a large

but I went down a size, now I'm a medium

that's not true I'm still a large

and when your body goes from this to this, we don't say put OFF the weight

You say "lose" or "drop" weight for example

"Did you...?"

"Yeah yeah I lost weight I dropped like 10 kilos"

and again we don't say "I lost my weight" or "I dropped my weight"

no just "I lost weight", "I dropped weight", or the specific weight that you lost

you might also hear the expression to "be in / out of shape"

for example if you say "He / she is in shape"

Typically they mean this

and if you're out of shape, it could mean you're a bit chubby or you're this

your athletic ability is zero and

if you run for five minutes you will die like me

to describe the change from out of shape to in shape you can say

"Get in shape" for example

"He got in shape after going to the gym every day"

Very specifically if we mean you gain muscle, there are different words

You bulk up, You beef up, You get hench.

I think this is only a British expression, Americans maybe you can clarify

but I think "Get hench" is only a British expression

these are adjectives to describe this body type

"muscly", "hench", oh...

"jacked" too

"The guy is so jacked, I think he lives in the gym"

You can have lots of muscles you can be muscly and be a bit chubby too

however if you want to say...

You have the muscles but zero fat You say these...

"Get ripped", "Get shredded", "Get lean"

"Shredded" - You will hear that on adverts or see it in a commercial for like protein powder

stuff like that

In conversation it's not very common to say "shredded".

"lean" - yes that's common

"Ripped" - Very specifically is this lots of muscle no fat

So, for example

"Dude summer is coming soon. I'm gonna eat no bread and get super ripped!"

okay there's another word. It sounds really douchey but...

You can also use the adjective "swole"

my friends and I will use this word as a joke to be funny

because the type of people who use "swole" seriously, is this guy

"Bro, am I looking swole?"

"Bro!"

"SO SWOLE!"

"Yeah?"

"SO SWOLE!"

"Yeah?"

so you can use it, you might hear it

but you'll hear it from that guy and you don't want to be that guy

So for me personally I have like a cycle I'll go to the gym loads

I'll get jacked but then I'll get lazy and really relaxed and I'll get a bit chubby

then I'll get skinny

then I'll go to the gym again and it's this weird cycle

that's usually what happens to me every year

So in the comments tell me your experience with weight changes

Did you go on a diet? Did you get jacked?

Are you shredded? you swole bro?

Have you ever looked gaunt?

When I was like 17 I looked really gaunt I just wasn't eating anything

Let me know

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