FAT!!!

I hope everything is going well and you are still on track with your fitness program and following the healthy tips/guidelines I mentioned last in my article.

Now let's talk about FAT – and I don't mean the saturated and unsaturated types. Are you measuring up? Are you in a healthy body composition range? Do you know your lean muscle mass to fat ratio?

There's nothing wrong with getting on the scale once in a while to see how much you weigh, but that really doesn't tell you about your healthy body weight. Body fat percentage is a better indicator of health and fitness. If you care, you're aware, or you will take the time to educate yourself.

Your body has two components: fat and fat-free mass (muscles, bones). The goal is to keep the percentage of body fat in a healthy range. We need a minimum amount of body fat because it performs all kinds of critical roles in our brains, nerves, cells and providing energy. Generally, this minimum range for women is 10%-12%, and for men it’s 6-8% (these are the minimum ranges). Most athletes will fall between 12-20% for women and 6-10% for men. An average body composition is 18-25% for women and 11-15% for men.

When you are changing your nutrition (consuming more or less food) and activity level (more time or intensity) with the goal of losing, to be sure you are losing more fat while preserving muscle, get a baseline measurement of your body fat and lean muscle. Muscle plays a starring role in your metabolism. It helps burn fat and keep it off! Too many popular, low calorie diets cause you to lose fat and muscle, which actually makes your body lower its metabolism and store fat.

Because muscle weighs more than fat, you may not see weight loss on the scale. As you eat nutrient dense foods and get in better physical condition with exercise, you may actually gain muscle mass and weigh more as a result. If you know your baseline body-fat-to-lean-muscle ratio and take measurements when you lose or gain weight, it is easier to determine if you lost or gained fat mass.

Because a pound of muscle is denser and takes less space than a pound of fat, as you become fitter and change your body composition, your weight may or may not change much, but your measurements will. The best indicator is how your clothes fit – they will get looser and looser.

You can lose fat and gain muscle with simple changes to how you eat and exercise.YES, you CAN eat more and lose fat. To find out more, set up a consultation with Dr. Cindy Dallow or myself.

Please email me wendy@t2coaching.com if you have further questions.