It’s easy to say you need to lose 10 or 20 pounds. Usually, however, that is just a guess. If you know your body fat percentage, there is another way to come up with a goal body weight. Here is how you do it.
Let’s say you are a female that weighs 150 pounds and your % body fat is 30. A reasonable goal might be to achieve a healthy 25% body fat.
150 lbs. x .30= 45 lbs of fat
150-45= 105 lbs of fat free weight
Since your goal is 25% fat, you take 105 and divide it by .75.
105/.75= 140 lbs.
So in theory, once you reach 140 pounds, your body fat should read 25%. There is one issue to consider. This estimation assumes that your fat free mass hasn’t changed. Dieting without exercise typically causes you to lose some muscle along with the fat, and when that happens you could lose 10 pounds and still be higher than 25% body fat. Exercise and a slight increase in protein will help preserve that muscle when you are losing thus improving the accuracy of this prediction.
(c) Dave Elger, 2009 All rights reserved
Weight Loss Science
body fat, fat free mass, goal weight
Concerned about your latest body fat test? You need to know that body fat analysis is an inexact science at best. The most popular method, called bioelectrical impedence, can be effective in measuring change in % fat, so even if your numbers appear to be off, at least you can measure progress. If you are trying to lose weight, that is something you’ll definitely want to know.
Article here.
Weight Loss Science
body fat, measure
Years ago as a graduate student at the Ball State University Human Performance Laboratory, I participated in a study that compared muscle fibers of trained marathoners to sedentary controls. On average, our muscle enzymes were 7 times more active than non runners. Needless to say, our group of runners had little body fat and pretty much ate whatever we wanted without weight gain.
If you are one of those who are obsessed with digital readouts that display how many calories you burn, you are missing the whole point of exercise. You eat those calories back in a matter of minutes. I believe the real benefit of exercise takes place deep inside the muscle.
Endurance trained muscles are better at burning fat, and that may be the key to successful weight loss and long-term maintenance that so many people who struggle are missing.
- from Lose It For Ever, my new book to be released in Jan 09.
© 2008 Dave Elger, All rights reserved
Weight Loss Science
Ball State, body fat, calories, muscle enzymes, weight loss
Recent Comments