What is Body Fat Percentage?
Body fat percentage is the measure of fat in a person’s body. A person who weighs 140 pounds and has 10 percent body fat, for example, has 14 pounds of body fat. The best way to drop body fat fast is to eat foods that nourish the body, because you cannot lose fat by not eating.
Body fat consists of essential body fat and storage body fat. Essential body fat is needed for the body to maintain life and reproductive functions. Because of childbearing and other hormonal factors, essential body fat is higher in women than in men. Storage body fat is adipose tissue, which protects the internal organs of the abdomen and chest. The term ‘body fat’ includes both essential and storage fat.
Fat regulates temperature and cushions and insulates organs and tissues. Fat is the major way the body stores energy; it is considered an important measure of fitness. But too much body fat causes problems for the body. The higher the percentage of body fat, the fewer calories a person needs to maintain or gain weight. Put another way, the more body fat a person has, the easier it is to gain weight and the harder it is to lose or maintain weight. Also, a body fat percentage above the recommended level increases the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, gallstones, osteoarthritis, type 2 diabetes, and other weight-related diseases.
Recommendations for healthy body fat percentages differ among the various medical authorities. The American Dietetic Association cites a body fat of 15-18 percent for men and 20-25 percent in women. The Aerobics and Fitness Association of American recommends 12-15 percent for men and 18-22 percent for women. Athletes usually have much lower body fat than non-athletes.
Percentages can go as low as 5 for men and 10 for women without compromising health. Because the endocrine and nervous systems require some body fat, percentages should not go below these minimal levels, nor should they be maintained at these low levels.
Losing Body Fat Quickly
Body weight consists of both lean body mass (or muscle) and body fat. For most people weight gain means fat gain; the body fat goes up as a result of weight gain, while the muscle tissue remains more or less the same. In order to drop body fat fast you need to lose only fat and keep the muscle, which burns calories. With a reasonable weight loss diet you can lower your body fat percentage without losing muscle. With fad diets, crash diets, and diet pills, on the other, hand, you lose mostly water so the body fat percentage does not go down.
In fact, weight cycling, or yo-yo dieting, tends to increase the body fat percentage. When you lose weight through an extreme diet you also lose muscle. When you gain the weight back–which you will–you put on fat, not muscle. The result is more fat, less muscle, and a higher body fat percentage.
Because excess calories turn into body fat, you have to use up more calories than you consumer in order to lose fat. Exercising while dieting helps reduce fat while reducing muscle loss. Cardiovascular exercise, such as interval training, can be part of a healthy program for reducing body fat. Moderate exercise like walking or swimming five times a week for 30 minutes each time can also help burn fat.
Diet for Dropping Body Fat
On any diet it is important to not starve yourself and not deprive yourself of all the food you like. You can make small changes to the food you enjoy to help you lose body fat. For example:
- Choose beverages with molasses, honey, or other natural sweeteners instead of high fructose corn syrup. Better yet, replace sweet beverages with green tea or water.
- Substitute low fat yogurt for sour cream.
- Eat foods with whole grains instead of white flour.
- Use olive oil instead of butter.
- Eat more vegetables and fewer carbohydrates. Especially limit carbohydrates, even whole grains, toward the end of the day.
- Reduce (or eliminate) alcohol and candy.
- Eat low fat cheeses such as jarlsberg and Neufchatel instead of higher fat cheeses like Swiss cheese and cream cheese.
- For snacks eat lean protein (chicken breast, egg whites, low fat yogurt, fish), nuts, or fruits and vegetables.
Start your day with a high protein, high fiber breakfast within three hours of waking. Skipping breakfast is a major contributor to obesity, as is eating breakfast out. A low calorie high protein shake is a convenient way to get the protein you need.
When you eat at a restaurant it is impossible to control exactly what you eat; your choices are limited and temptations are endless. Plus, you simply do not know exactly how your food is prepared. If you do eat out, choose lean proteins such as fish or white meat chicken. Order your food baked or broiled instead of fried. Ask the waiter to hold the sauce and not to bring bread to the table. Drink water instead of soda or liquor and skip dessert unless they offer fresh fruit.
Eating frequently burns more calories than eating fewer large meals, so eat small meals every two-to-three hours. If possible, avoid eating your biggest meal at the end of the day. And don’t go to bed hungry.
Before You Start
Before you start a diet and exercise program to drop body fat fast, consult your physician to make sure your program is safe and healthy for you. It’s also a good idea to meet with a trainer who can help you create a personalized workout plan to help you lose body fat and achieve your weight loss goals.