Do You Know Your Body Fat Percentage?

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You should know your body fat percentage. Believe it or not, your body fat percentage is more important than your weight. You won’t hear this message on a weight loss commercial trying to sell you a product.

If you control your body fat percentage, you will control your weight.
Lose weight safely and steadily and it will stay off (if you continue your exercise program). If you lose weight this way, you are also building muscle and burning fat. Your body will gradually change to lean and toned. And, you will be healthy and look great. This process takes time and hard work! No quick remedies will give you the "killer body" you want.

I was reading this article about a fad diet, "Lose 18 Pounds In 4 Days." That's crazy and if you fall for that you will be sick and maybe hospitalized!

I have said this before so here it is again: losing weight and burning fat is not the most important thing in your life (it improves the quality of your life). Television commercials try to make you feel that way because they are trying to sell you their quick weight loss program! Don't buy in! These programs almost always lead you to yo-yo dieting and even more weight gain, frustration and bad health.

Quick weight loss implies that it's something that probably won't last. Health should be stressed before weight loss and beauty. It does you no good to look great if your body is a total wreck and unhealthy.

You need to know where you are fat. One of the critical measurements is your waist-to-hip ratio (waist measurement divided by hip measurement). This measurement is important because there is a correlation between chronic diseases and abdominal fat. A ratio above .80 for females and above .95 for males could put you at risk for a number of diseases, including cancer. For example, if your waist is 31 inches and your hips are 41 inches, your waist-to-hip ratio would be .76. A "skinny-fat" person could have an unfavorable waist-to-hip ratio.

Someone who is overweight and loses say, 80 pounds, can be at risk of having high body fat. How? If you lose that much weight mainly through calorie restriction (i.e., without much exercise), you will have loose, hanging skin on your body. What you need is a lean, toned body through good nutrition and consistent exercise.

Many people are confused about what Body Mass Index (BMI) means as it relates to body fat. Keep in mind that BMI is just one tool to use when you are looking at your health. Scientists use BMI as a research tool to make objective comparisons as to the fatness of a person. A person with a BMI of 25 or above is considered overweight and a BMI over 30 is considered obese.

BMI uses a person's height and body weight to measure a person's fatness. This method has some limitations because it doesn't consider a person's body type (slim, muscular, etc.) For example, a fit person with high muscle mass will tend to have a high BMI which suggests that the person is overfat. This person would actually be fit and healthy with low risk for fat-related diseases.

So, even though you might use BMI as a starting point, a person's level of fatness is best measured using a direct method which tells you where you are fat. Two methods used are under-water weighing and skinfold measurements. Under-water weighing is not readily available to most people. Having a skinfold body fat test done by a fitness professional is convenient and reasonably accurate.

So, do you know your body fat percentage? If you don’t, get it measured today by a fitness professional. Your health is at stake.

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT is a Certified Personal Trainer and former NCAA Division I athlete. Mark’s Fat Blaster Athletic Training System has been proven to give his clients the fit, sculpted and athletic-type bodies they want. Visit Mark’s sites:

My Fitness Hut http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com
Her Fitness Hut http://herfitnesshut.com
Sports Fitness Hut http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com

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