When it comes to health, body composition is an important factor.
At your doctor’s office, they may use BMI or body mass index as an indicator of your health and weight management.
BMI only takes in your height and your weight.
This isn’t a great indicator of health.
One reason is that a person with lots of muscle and minimal body fat can have the same BMI as a person with obesity who has much less muscle.
BMI also varies (because average body fat varies) among people of different ages, heights and whether they are active or sedentary. That means the data can be misleading.
In fact, I am ‘obese’ in BMI standards at 5’8 weighing 175lb.
What’s a better measure of health relating to body composition?
Body fat percentage.
What are healthy body fat ranges for men & women?
MEN:
The range of 2% to 6% body fat is essential,
The range of 10% to 24% body fat is considered healthy
and more than 25% body fat is classified as obese (carrying excess fat with risk.)
WOMEN:
The range of 10% to 13% body fat is essential,
The range of 10% to 31% body fat is considered healthy
and more than 32% body fat is classified as obese.
*Obese ranges don’t always dictate you are obese.
What they represent is there is an unhealthy amount of fatty tissue surrounding your
visceral organs.
The health risks/issues are high if the years add up without improving or decreasing this.
Body fat percentages that are higher than recommended
can increase the risk of health issues like
- type 2 diabetes,
- coronary artery disease,
- high blood pressure,
- stroke,
- hormone imbalances,
- pregnancy complications,
- kidney disease,
- liver disease,
- and cancer.
However, these are just estimates and don’t apply to everyone and body fat is one measure of health.
Two positive ways to steadily begin decreasing body fat are improving nutrition and weight training.
Nutrition cannot be skipped or overlooked.
Nor not taken seriously.
Do not make the mistake of trying to out work (more fitness) a poor diet.
That’s running in circles.
Nutrition is our foundation.
And in my opinion, we all should be striving for and following through on a strong sense of proficiency, consistency and habits when it comes to eating healthy and nutrition.
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Want to lose body fat in a healthy and sustainable way?
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