BODY COMPOSITION
The body is composed of water, protein, minerals, and fat. Scales weigh total body mass but the scale does not tell you whether that weight is fat, lean mass or water.

Don't Measure Fitness With The Scale

Lean body mass represents the weight of your muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, and internal organs. Your body composition is more important than your weight in determining fitness and health.

Use Percentage Of Body Fat To Determine Whether You Need To Trim Down.

Isn't Body Composition Genetic?
Body TYPE (we’ll discuss body types in a future newsletter) is genetic. Some aspects of body composition are based on heredity (such as where you tend to store excess fat) but for most of us body composition is related to lifestyle; exercise and nutrition. After about age 16, changes in body fat are due to changes in fat cell size not number. These cells expand (or shrink) to accommodate excess calorie storage.

Can I Change My Body Composition?
Yes. To increase or decrease your percent of body fat you need to create the right balance between the calories you consume and the calories you burn. The most effective way to do this is to decrease your consumption of fat and increase your activity level.

How many calories are in 1 pound?
About 3,500 calories. It doesn’t matter if they are food calories coming in or calories burned by exercise going out. If you eat 3,500 calories more than your body needs, you will put on about a pound. If you use up 3,500 calories more than you eat, you will lose about a pound in weight.

EATING TIPS

1. Skipping meals shuts down your metabolism.   

2. Eat balance meals.

3. Don’t eat junk. Unless you workout at night avoid carbs before bed.

How Much Fat?
For men, the ideal percentage of body fat is between 12 and 18%. Over 25% body fat for men is considered obese. For women, the ideal percentage of body fat is between 16 and 25%, with over 30% being considered obese.

How Is Body Fat Measured?
Underwater weighing is considered the most accurate measurement tool. Obviously, this method is not available easily. A tool available with any of the personal trainers at J’s BIG GYM is a skin-fold caliper, which measures the fat below the skin’s surface. The easiest way, although not a tool that measures percentage, is a tape measure. Invest (99 cents) and use it once a week.