Body Fat Calculation and Health
Also, the higher your percentage of fat (and the smaller your percentage of muscle) the less
calories you need to maintain your weight and therefore the easier it is to gain weight. This is because muscle
is more metabolically active than fat tissue.
Body
Fat Percentages and Lean Muscle Mass
When in ideal shape, body fat will make up
about 15% - 18% of a male's body weight and 18% - 22% of a female's. The remainder of the body's
'lean weight is
composed of water (55%-60%), muscle and other lean tissue (10%-20%),
and bone and
minerals (6%-8%). In other words, a 150-pound woman who is within or
close to her ideal body
fat composition range at 22% will have approximately 33 pounds of fat, 86 pounds of weight composed primarily of water,
20 pounds of
muscle and other lean tissue, and 11 pounds of bone and mineral weight. This total then makes up her total weight of 150
lbs.
Now take the example of
another woman who weights 150 pounds, but has 30% fat on her body. She would have 45 pounds of fat on her body, and
the rest of her
weight would be divided among muscle, bone and water. Her non fat body composition might look like this, 79 pounds of water
(53%), 17 pounds of muscle (12%), and 9 pounds of bone and minerals (6%). Both women weight
150 lbs. and
are about the same height, but one looks much different because she has less body fat.
Body fat
percentage
Generally accepted as a better gauge of weight loss
progress and
fitness than scale weight.
The method of calculating body fat from body measurements
as used by HealthSmart Nutrition is the fourth most accurate method. Hydrostatic testing underwater is first.
Electrical testing of body mass resistance is second and body fat measurement by caliper is third. Although
it is not the most accurate, if you record your measurements carefully and consistently using the measurement
taking instructions given, you will have a good relative gauge of how much body fat you are gaining or
losing. To our knowledge, the HealthKeeper software is the first program to offer this body fat percentage by
measurement feature.
For higher accuracy you can override the automatic body fat
measurement calculator and enter your body fat percentages done by hydrostatic testing underwater,
electrostatic testing of body mass resistance or body fat percentage done by the caliper method. One product
we highly recommend is the Tanita bathroom scale. It does very accurate electrostatic testing of body mass
resistance to determine your body fat percentage in seconds.
The more accurate of method you use for tracking your body
fat percentage the more accurately you will be able to use the Lean Body Weight
tracker.
More about Lean Body
Weight
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