WHAT'S THE PERCENTAGE IN A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE?
By Carin Decker
Lean At Last
We have so many percentages to keep up with, we probably should keep a calculator in our left hand at all times. Don't miss the 50% Off Sale, eat less than 20% fat, have 42% fewer cavities and take an umbrella for the 10% chance of rain.
A healthy body is measured in percentages too. Women should have 18-25% body fat, and men should have 15-20%. Body fat is stored energy, and it gives our bodies shape and contour. Neither too much nor too little is healthy.
DANGEROUS DIETING
If a diet sounds too good to be true...(yep, you know the rest!) I am horrified at fad diets that claim, "Just take these pills and the fat melts away without exercise." It simply doesn't work that way. Restricting food intake without exercising is more than self-defeating. It's downright dangerous.
When the body needs more fuel than it is receiving, it turns first to inactive lean muscle tissue. This results in a quick, temporary weight-loss, but destroys your best chance at permanent fat loss. To make matters worse, when the weight comes back on, it doesn't come back as muscle. (It's not possible.) The weight comes back as pure fat which sends your percentage of body fat even further out of kilter.
EXERCISE
Exercise is the only way muscle tissue develops. Even with the use of steroids, muscles can only be increased with exercise. Here are the three stages of a dangerous diet.
Phase 1: Suppose you weigh 165 pounds which is comprised of 30% fat (49 pounds) and 70% lean body mass (116 pounds). You go on a diet hoping to reduce your percentage of body fat from 30% to 25%.
Phase 2: On a low-calorie diet without exercise, you lose 10 pounds-5 pounds of fat and 5 pounds of lean body mass. Now you weigh 155 pounds, but you've lost some of your fat-burning muscle tissue.
Phase 3: When your diet ends (and it always does), you regain those 10 pounds. Since your body cannot replace muscle tissue without exercise, the 10 pounds you regain are pure fat. You now weigh 165 pounds again, but this time it is comprised of 33% fat (54 pounds) and 67% lean body mass (111 pounds).
Your "no exercise" diet has increased your body's percentage of fat from 30% to 33%! Your goal of 25% is even farther away, and you are in worse shape now than when you started. How many quick and easy weight-loss schemes can your poor body stand?
A healthy lifestyle must include some moderate exercise to retain lean muscle tissue which keeps your body's percentage of fat in line. When it comes to muscles, "use them or lose them."
Published in
The Daily Sun