Body Fat Percentages and Health

FAT – We all have it. We all need it. Some people carry more than others. Carrying more fat than needed is bad news and it increases our risk of many diseases, i.e. High blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

Obesity leads to a significantly higher risk of health problems.

Also, often we don’t like the look of how much fat we are carrying. We don’t feel we are sexy with too much fat, we sometimes feel that our clothes don’t look good, etc.

What is Body Fat?

Body fat protects our organs, cushions joints, controls temperature, stores vitamins and is an energy store for the body.

In its simplest terms, we have two types of abdominal fat:

Subcutaneous fat – A lot of people get concerned with this type of fat, because it’s the fat that can be seen. It is adipose tissue that lies superficially close to the skin.

Visceral fat – Doctors and health care professionals are more concerned with this type of fat, because its association to significant health risks). It is adipose tissue that lies around the central organs (the viscera).

It is considered a lot more harmful to our health than subcutaneous fat. It affects the viscera and causes conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

Some people are not that concerned with this type of fat, because it’s not visible. But it is very important and we should be more concerned with it.

What is deemed as a

‘healthy range’ of body fat?

Below there are two tables. One shows the different categories for women’s body fat ranges and the other for men. Women generally carry more body fat, due to their make-up.

How do we reduce our body fat?

It comes down to energy balance.

The amount going in (consumed) Vs the amount that we burn off (expand).

Food is fuel. We eat and drink to survive. Food gives us energy to perform every day tasks, like breathing and moving.

Each food has a caloric value. If we don’t use those calories for energy expenditure (moving, exercising, etc), it is stored as fat and therefore put on weight and increase the risk of the diseases mentioned above.

If we either consume less calories, burn off more calories than we are consuming, or a combination of both, we will lose fat and reduce the risk of diseases mentioned above.

Top Tips for reducing Body Fat:

1. Get into a calorie deficit.

As mentioned above, you need to put yourself in a calorie deficit. Firstly, you need to find out what your “maintenance” is. This is the amount of calories needed to stay at the same weight while performing all the physical tasks you currently do. If you need help with this, we will be writing a self-help guide on this subject.

2. Move, move and move some more!

The more you exercise or physical you are, the more calories you burn. Plus you will be using muscles and pumping blood around your body and therefore becoming much healthier and fitter in the process.

This doesn’t mean punishing yourself by pounding the treadmill for hours on end, when you hate it. Find something you enjoy – football, rugby, fitness classes. There are loads of ways to become physically active – and don’t have to cost a lot either.

3. Track what you are eating

If you don’t know how much you are eating per day, how do you know how much to reduce it by to lose fat?

There are lots of free food trackers that take the guess work for you (I use MyPT Hub with my clients) or there’s MyFitnessPal, which is also excellent.

You need to be honest with what you are inputting into the system, otherwise you are just cheating yourself.

4. Cut out processed foods

Have you noticed that if you eat rubbish, you generally feel like rubbish, especially if you aren’t physically active?

Processed foods generally come from packets and tins. Try to stick to fresh, whole, one-ingredient foods which are much healthier for you.

5. Don’t cut out carbs!!!

Some people think carbohydrates are the enemy and they make you put on weight – WRONG! Carbs don’t make you fat. Fat doesn’t make you fat. Eating too much of anything will make you fat.

If you did cut out carbs, you will be lethargic, miserable, hungry and have no energy whatsoever.

Carbohydrates are an energy source for the body, which we need.

6. Don’t fall for quick fixes and fad diets.

These days, there’s a new claim to drop X amount of weight in a week.

You often see celebrates endorsing some product or another – I wonder why?

Because they get paid shed loads of money for posing with the latest health trend, which they don’t use!

Stay away from quick fixes. They may work in the short-term, but as soon as you come off the diet, you will pile the body fat back on. Stick to slow and steady fat loss, with a controlled, balanced diet.

Unfortunately, there is no miracle quick fix approach to fat loss. The faster you lose it, the more chance it will come back on – fact.

The guidelines state that people should aim for 1-2lb of weight loss per week to be healthy.

Follow our Top Tips and you should be on your way to a fitter, healthier version of you.

If you need more help and advice, get in touch with us on social media