| Weight Management Tips:
Improve Your Body Composition
The Four Cornerstones of Sensible, Healthy
Weight Management, Part 2
Lifestyle
& Behaviors | Body Composition | Progress
Tracking | Support
| Transitions
Weight
Management | Stress
Management | Diabetes
“Muscle dictates metabolism.”
~ Dr Shari Lieberman, Nutritionist &
Author
FACT: Losing pounds
is the least important
aspect of losing weight.
Sounds ironic, doesn’t it?
What really counts is losing
body fat while building muscle.
We are NOT talking here about becoming a professional weight
lifter. However, muscle makes your metabolism more efficient
and enables you to burn more body fat. The more body fat you
burn, the looser your clothes become!
FACT: Body fat takes up about
15% more room than muscle.
For example, if you gain ten pounds by building
muscle and, at the same time, lose ten pounds by burning fat,
you will weigh the same but you’ll look slimmer and
feel better!
Programs that make you weigh yourself but do
NOT emphasize the importance of measuring your body fat percentage
as well as your waist, hips, and chest circumferences, do
NOT give you the big picture.
In addition, programs promising that you’ll
“lose 11 pounds in 7 days” make you lose them
in the form of lean body mass and water, usually as you starve
yourself half to death. When your body doesn’t get enough
nutrients from food, it will break down your muscles, bones
and other tissues to get what it needs.
FACT: Losing more than two
pounds per week can be dangerous!
Face it: you didn’t gain all that extra
weight overnight. More likely, you have been putting on a
few pounds per year over several years. Why would you expect
to lose them all in a couple of weeks?
Losing slowly enables your body to readjust
itself to its new ratio of lean body mass to body fat. Consequently,
it prevents your body from going into a shock, and you from
looking horrible with ugly skin bags that might form if you
lost a large amount of body fat too quickly.
Programs that help you improve body composition
— more muscle and less body fat — do so by promoting:
• Healthy eating habits and food choices
that help you maintain stable metabolism.
• Physical activity that helps you
build muscle and burn fat.
• Herbal supplements that further support
various aspects of your metabolism.
FACT: Optimal
body composition varies based on gender and age.
Use the following chart to find out what your
body fat percentage should be. You can measure it with a special
bioelectrical
impedance analysis (BIA) scale, which uses a weak
electrical signal to determine how much of your body is fat
and how much is lean body mass.
|
If you do not own a body fat measuring
scale yet,
find one online and earn some cashback for your
purchase — just click the 
button below.
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|
| AGE |
BODY
FAT PERCENTAGE
|
| Too Low |
Desirable |
Acceptable |
High |
Very High |
| WOMEN |
| 19–34 |
< 11% |
11–20% |
21–25% |
26–30% |
> 30% |
| 35–49 |
< 14% |
14–24% |
25–29% |
30–34% |
> 34% |
| 50–59 |
< 16% |
16–27% |
28–33% |
34–37% |
> 37% |
| 60+ |
< 17% |
17–28% |
29–34% |
35–38% |
> 38% |
| MEN |
| 19–34 |
< 6% |
6–14% |
15–21% |
22–25% |
> 25% |
| 35–49 |
< 7% |
7–18% |
19–24% |
25–28% |
> 28% |
| 50–59 |
< 8% |
8–20% |
21–26% |
27–29% |
> 29% |
| 60+ |
< 8% |
8–20% |
21–27% |
28–30% |
> 30% |
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Lifestyle
& Behaviors | Body Composition | Progress
Tracking | Support
| Transitions
Weight
Management | Stress
Management | Diabetes |
Weight Management Tips