Why Looking Fit and Being Metabolically Fit Are Not the Same Thing

There is a troubling reality I have come to recognise over decades of training, coaching, and thinking carefully about the body. You can be muscular. You can be athletic. You can be strong. You can look perfectly lean in your clothes. And you can still, beneath the surface, be carrying one of the most dangerous health threats in modern life. The eye is easily deceived, but the body keeps an honest record. Scripture reminds us that “the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7, NKJV). The same principle applies to our health. Longevity is not about looking fit. It is about being metabolically fit. And the difference between the two can quite literally cost you years of your life.

As a sixty-two-year-old competitive CrossFit athlete and a qualified pharmacist, I have learned something that the wellness world does not say often enough. Muscle is protective. Visceral fat is destructive. The shape of your physique tells you very little about the health of your organs.

Let me explain.

There are two kinds of body fat that matter in this conversation. Subcutaneous fat is the kind you can pinch, it sits under the skin, it is visible, and although it is not ideal in excess, it is not the main threat to your longevity. Visceral fat is something else entirely. It sits deep inside the abdomen, wrapping itself around your liver, pancreas, intestines, and even your heart. You cannot pinch it. You often cannot see it. And it is uniquely dangerous because it behaves like an endocrine organ in its own right, actively secreting inflammatory cytokines, TNF-alpha (Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha), IL-6 (Interleukin-6), and excess free fatty acids into your system. Over time, this hidden fat drives insulin resistance, fatty liver, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and hormonal disruption. You can be “big” because of muscle, or “big” because of inflammation. They can produce similar-looking bodies. They lead to entirely different outcomes.

The good news is that you do not have to guess whether you are carrying it. You can measure. The simplest measure is waist circumference. For men, anything above 102 centimetres (40 inches) puts you in the high-risk category, but in longevity-focused circles we aim much lower, ideally under 94 centimetres, and even better under 90 for optimal metabolic health. An even more powerful indicator is the waist-to-height ratio. Take your waist measurement and divide it by your height. Anything above 0.5 is a red flag, and this single number is one of the strongest, simplest longevity markers available to anyone willing to use a tape measure.

Your bloodwork will tell you even more, often long before your mirror does. Fasting insulin is one of the most revealing numbers in modern medicine, with optimal values sitting below 5 µIU/mL. Triglycerides should ideally stay under 1.0 mmol/L (or 90 mg/dL), and your triglyceride-to-HDL ratio is one of the most powerful real-world proxies for insulin resistance. Elevated ALT can suggest a fatty liver. A raised hs-CRP reveals systemic inflammation. An HbA1c creeping above 5.6 percent is often a quiet early signal of metabolic dysfunction. And if you are serious about longevity, a DEXA scan every few years can quantify your visceral fat directly. These numbers are not vanity metrics. They are early warnings, and they deserve to be taken seriously.

Now consider the other side of the equation. Muscle is the most under-rated longevity asset in the human body. The loss of muscle as we age, known as sarcopenia, is strongly associated with frailty, falls, insulin resistance, and increased mortality. Muscle is not merely cosmetic. It is a glucose sink, a metabolic engine, and a hormone-regulating tissue. Where visceral fat secretes inflammation, muscle secretes anti-inflammatory compounds. Where visceral fat steals years, muscle adds them. The more lean mass you can build and sustain, the better your metabolic flexibility, your resilience, and your capacity to age well.

So what do you actually do about all of this?

The most important shift is to lower chronic insulin, because visceral fat thrives in high-insulin environments. That means reducing refined carbohydrates, eliminating sugar where possible, prioritising protein, and, where appropriate, considering time-restricted eating. Build resistance training onto that foundation. Lift heavy. Squat, deadlift, pull, carry. Strength training is non-negotiable for men over forty, and frankly, it should be non-negotiable for women too. Add steady-state Zone 2 cardio several times a week, easy rowing, cycling, or walking that builds mitochondrial density and metabolic flexibility. Protect your sleep, because chronic cortisol elevation drives visceral fat storage as surely as sugar does. Manage your stress, because living in sympathetic overdrive signals the body to store energy around the organs. And for men, address low testosterone honestly with your doctor if symptoms are present, because low T and increased visceral fat almost always travel together.

In the end, the question is not how much you weigh. The question is what kind of weight you are carrying. You can be ninety kilograms and metabolically elite, or eighty-five kilograms and metabolically inflamed. The scale does not know the difference. But your bloodwork does. Your waistline does. Your mitochondria do.

The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2, NKJV).

True health is whole-life health. It is metabolic, muscular, spiritual, and mental.

Build muscle. Eliminate visceral fat. Protect your metabolic engine.

That is how you stay strong into your sixties and beyond, not for vanity’s sake, but for the stewardship of a body God designed to last.