Does weight matter

 Often the starting point of most fitness drives after Christmas is to lose the “weight” that we have put on.  A weekly or even daily “weigh-in” can become the b all and end all of the goal.  Is it worth it?

When you weigh yourself, you weigh the total of you. Your hair, your skin, bones, tendons, the food you have eaten, the drink you have drunk and so on. The total sum of this can fluctuate throughout the day and from day to day.  What drives most people is to lose body fat. We want a leaner body where we can see the definition of our shape, for clothes to sit nicely and not to feel uncomfortable, to be able to move with ease and not be distracted by too much wobble.

Ideally, we would want to measure the percentage of our body that is fat.  This is not so easy to do although not impossible.  You can buy some scales that aim to give you a rough estimate through sending an electronic signal through the lower body and measures the ”impendence” or the slowing of signal by it having to travel through fat.  This is the most common way that we see this done in everyday use – it is basically, stepping on the scales. Being dehydrated does affect the reading, plus there will always be a slight error margin for the machine itself.  You can use callipers to pinch an inch – but you need help to do this and again there is room for human error.  The most effective way is to be weighed under water – not easy to do.  So, how can we stay motivated to keep at our goal when after a week of working hard and eating well, the scales may not have changed, or you have only lost a pound?

First thing to do is to measure yourself at the chest, waist, hips and thighs. Repeat these measurements on a weekly basis.  Secondly, get an item of clothing that feels a bit snug and try it on each week. Finally, (not for the faint hearted) take a photo of yourself in underwear each week to see any changes.

A normal range of body fat is

	Women	Men
Essential Fat	10-12%	2-4%
Athletic	14-20%	6-13%
Fitness Level	21-24%	14-17%
Healthy  Range	25-31%	18-25%
Overweight	32% plus	26% plus
Obese	40%+	32%+

These images will give you an idea of what this looks like (thanks to nerdfitness for these fab pics)

The next question is how do we go about reducing body fat?  

It has to be a combination of diet and exercise.  The diet needs to be as “clean” as you can, so have a look at some of the earlier posts as well as keep an eye on ones coming up. The “Tough Love” diet will get things going, or even the 5:2 if you prefer.  I will keep posting exercise challenges and food ideas for you as well – but today, strip off, weigh, measure and photograph. We are looking for 1-2lbs weight loss a week – more than that can be down to losing water and muscle mass so be careful. Xx