The growing ‘to be fit’ awareness trends everywhere push you too to get on the scale. The weight reading seems satisfactory and you declare yourself as fit as a fiddle.
Lesser we know, that an arbitrary reading on a traditional scale is not an indicative measure of your fitness levels. When it comes to body weight, there is more to explore.
Putting it simply, your body is composed of muscles, bones, fat, and water.
They altogether contribute to your body weight and hence, need to be in certain ratios to declare an individual as ‘healthy’ or ‘fat.’
That being said, two people with the same body weight can have different bone mass, muscle mass, fat, and water content in their bodies.
Coming to body fat, can be of two types; ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’. Essential body fat is present inside your organs like the liver, intestines, and kidneys; which is essential to run the normal functioning of the body.
Now, non-essential fat is the one that is excessive and stored underneath your skin layers and we all know this can be seen hiding beneath your belly, shoulders, arms, and thighs. This type of fat is a risk carrier to your health and can lead to various cardiovascular and lifestyle diseases.
There can be various ways to assess body fat like measuring through skin calipers, body densitometry through underwater weighing, Dual X-ray absorptiometry scan (DEXA scan), and Bioelectrical Impedance Assessment (BIA).
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there are healthy body fat percentages based on your age. For people aged 20 to 39, women should aim for 21 per cent to 32 per cent of body fat. Men should have 8 per cent to 19 per cent.
For people 40 to 59, women should fall between 23 per cent to 33 per cent and men should fall around 11 per cent to 21 per cent.
If you are aged 60 to 79, women should have 24 per cent to 35 per cent body fat and men should have 13 per cent to 24 per cent.
Women naturally have a higher body fat percentage than men. Their body fat will also naturally increase as they age.
Henceforth, a clear inference that can be drawn is; that to stay healthy, the goal should be ‘fat loss’ and not mere weight loss.
We have plenty of physical activities that support fat loss. Walking, cycling, swimming, jogging, running, yoga, Pilates, and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) are to name a few that help tremendously. Pick yours after discussing it with your fitness expert, and it will not disappoint your fat loss aspirations.
Moreover, bring nutritious and wholesome foods to your table and set the portions right to build sustainable and healthier eating practices.
Do not overdo, do not deprive yourself, and do not run after fancy fad diets, keep it simple, and not to mention; catch on an early and ample amount of quality night sleep.
With these quick pro tips, you are good to go on your fat loss journey!
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