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Body Composition 

weight loss

What are the scales actually telling you? 

Do you understand your body weight?

WEIGHT is usually on of the first topics that come up in social discussion when people find out what my occupation is.  The number you are seeing when you step on the scale is not telling you the whole story about your personal health.

For most of us weight loss is about loosing the fat mass and hopefully gaining a higher lean muscle mass, but how do you know your losing or gaining the right type of body mass? Yes you could be losing or gaining weight according to the scales however what type of weight is the question.

If you really want to understand what your weight really means in relation to your personal health then we need to look at other metrics besides the number on a scale for success.

BMI and Body Composition:

Body Mass Index (BMI) is based on averages; it only provided us with an estimation of body fat that can be calculated using a person's height and weight.

A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 means your weight is normal, or "acceptable”

A BMI between 25 and 29.9 means you are overweight, and those with a BMI over 30 are considered obese.

REMEMBER this is only an estimation and is not reliable for everyone as it does not distinguish what percentage of total weight is lean tissue mass or fat mass. Your desired weight may also vary depending on your personal [and] health goals. Yes it is also possible to have a BMI status of normal weight but still have an unhealthy amount of fat compared to lean muscle.

 

Body Composition: refers to the proportion of fat tissue you have, relative to lean tissue (muscles, organs, etc.)

We know that if you can improve your body composition you can improve your quality of life and overall wellness. A higher lean muscles mass can also help naturally boost your metabolism, which is essential to weight maintenance.  Weighing yourself on a regular bathroom scale does not tell you your water, fat or lean mass percentage is. If you have a good body composition, your body fat percent is in a normal ‘healthy’ range.

Body Fat Ranges

 Source: Tanita Australia 

 

Body Composition Measures:

 

Take Home Messages:

If you’re interested to learn more about the impacts of body composition on metabolism then click here to read my blog on metabolism.