A healthy guide to losing body fat
A healthy guide to losing body fat
Are you looking for healthy ways to reduce your body fat? With so much advice out there, it can be a minefield to work out what’s safe and healthy and what advice you should avoid.
In today’s blog, we’re going to take a look at body fat, why it’s important, healthy body fat percentages and what you can do to tackle stubborn areas of body fat.
Why is body fat important?
The human body needs some body fat to function properly. In fact, body fat helps to provide energy, regulate your hormones, maintain a stable body temperature, safeguard your immune function, help your body to process nutrients, and so much more.
Problems arise, however, if your body fat is too high or too low.
High body fat can increase your risk of developing health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer or osteoarthritis. On the other hand, if you lose too much body fat, it can affect your fertility, immune system and damage your heart.
What is a healthy body fat percentage?
As we discussed in our guide to the optimum weight definition, it’s challenging to give an exact figure for a healthy body fat percentage.
Indeed, no number offers a complete picture of your overall health because there are many variables.
For example, women tend to have slightly more body fat than men. Body fat percentages also vary widely across different races and ethnicities, which means that definitions of ideal weight, etc., are steeped in cultural and racial bias.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a rough estimate of body fat based on height and weight but it doesn’t take into account things like lean muscle or bone mass. Also, your BMI doesn’t consider how your body fat is distributed – this is important because fat around your abdomen carries far higher health risks than fat in other areas.
Broadly speaking, as an average across the entire population, body fat percentage guidelines are as follows (Source: American Council of Exercise):
Women
Essential Fat: 0%-12%
Athletes: 14%-20%
Fitness: 21%-24%
Acceptable: 25%-31%
Obese: 32%+
Men
Essential Fat: 2%-4%
Athletes: 6%-13%
Fitness: 14%-17%
Acceptable: 18%-25%
Obese: 26%+
However, we should note that the healthy body fat percentage increases slightly as we age. For example, a healthy range is 8-20% for a 20-39-year-old but it goes up to 13-25% for some aged 60-79 years.
How to measure your body fat percentage
There are various ways to measure your body fat but not all of them are accurate. Some of the most popular methods include:
· Calculating your BMI – the NHS offers this online BMI calculator.
· Tape measure – it is possible to estimate your body fat using your neck, waist and hip measurements (for women) or neck and stomach measurements (for men); the online US Navy body fat calculator can process these measurements for you.
· Callipers skinfold test – this method using callipers to pinch and measure the fat on certain areas of the body; it can be useful for identify where on your body you are carrying excess body fat. You may need to ask a doctor or personal trainer to do this for you to ensure more accurate results.
· Smart scales – these scales measure body fat, water, bone density and muscle mass as well as your weight; they vary in accuracy but can be a convenient way to benchmark your body fat at home.
· Hydrostatic weighing – this is one of the most precise ways to measure body fat and consists of weighing you on land and then fully submerged in water and calculating the difference. Although not widely available, some universities with sports science programmes offer hydrostatic weighing, as well as medical research centres, gyms and some other fitness centres.
· Dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan—The DEXA scan uses low-level x-rays to calculate the amount of body fat, muscle, and bone in your body. The advantages of this scan are that it is quick and it takes bone into consideration when comparing body fat to muscle. There are some private companies offering DEXA body composition scans in the UK.
You can find details about other methods to measure your body fat percentage in this article by Healthline.
Reducing your body fat
If you feel that losing body fat would be beneficial for your health, you should speak to a GP or Advanced Nurse Practitioner in the first instance. We have many patients here at Medikaur who we support with overall weight loss (for example, through the National Medical Weight Loss Programme) or targeting stubborn areas of body fat (more about this below).
Most people find it’s possible to lose body fat by eating fewer calories than they expend and exercising regularly.
However, it’s important to be sensible. If you eat too few calories, for example, you may end up losing fluids and muscle; although this should bring your overall weight down, it may not actually reduce your body fat, which means you could be masking potential health risks.
A good approach is to aim to lose weight slowly (1/2 – 1 pound per week) and continue exercising to maximise fat loss and minimise muscle loss.
Tackling stubborn areas of body fat
If you follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly and still struggle with stubborn areas of body fat, you’re not alone!
Common problem areas include hips, bottom, thighs, upper arms and under the chin.
There can be a number of reasons why it’s a struggle to shift certain areas of body fat. Your hormones, for example, or how your body handles insulin can cause fat to accumulate around your tummy and hips. Speaking to a GP or Advanced Nurse Practitioner can help you to rule out or treat the causes of body fat that won’t go with diet and exercise.
There are some innovative and non-invasive treatments that can help to breakdown stubborn pockets of body fat.
Aqualyx fat dissolving injections are an excellent option for typical trouble spots such as love handles, a double chin, the abdomen and tummy area, the back, or chest area for men. These injections contain a compound solution made with polymers and a synthetic form of deoxycholic acid, which is naturally present in the human body and plays a role in how we break down fats.
When injected into targeted fat cells, Aqualyx causes them to break down and be eliminated naturally by your body’s lymphatic system.
A treatment like Aqualyx is ideal for tackling those final few pounds – the icing on the metaphorical cake for all your hard work.
Keep an eye out for next month’s blog when we’ll be looking at healthy ways to reduce body fat.
Want advice about shifting those stubborn pockets of fat that are adding lumps and bumps to your silhouette?