I weigh exactly the same weight in both pictures!

The last typical diet that I was on produced the result on the left.  I lost weight very fast, and probably half of it was muscle.  On the right, I lost weight slowly and gained muscle along the way.  Which picture do you think is the best?

There are many old life insurance charts around that will tell you exactly how much you should weigh depending on you height – they are generally wrong for most people.

BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is a very popular indicator of body composition today.  It basically uses a formula that takes into account your height and weight.  It doesn’t work for people who are very obese, very skinny or have a lot of muscle.  The BMI in the above pictures is exactly the same.  As you can see it just gives you a number – nothing meaningful.

One thing that you can’t cheat with is your actual body fat percentage.  It is a very good indicator of body composition.  The two above pictures have a very different amount of body fat. 

There are several ways to test your body fat.  I used to use a body fat scale by Tanita that sends a electrical impulse up one leg and down the other to measure your body fat percentage. (Don’t worry, you don’t feel anything!)  I found that it was fairly accurate when I had a lot of body fat, but as I became leaner and gained muscle, it started to be off by more than 5%.  However, even if the exact percentage is wrong, it still shows if you are losing fat.

The best way to get your body fat measured is at a fitness facility with old fashioned calipers.  They use the calipers to pinch your skin at various sites to measure the thickness.  I get mine measured at a local YMCA and it costs me $10 per test.  The accuracy of this test is very high.  The difference in results is usually because of the skill level of the person giving you the test.  Ask for the most experienced person to give you the test, or at least always use the same person each time.

You can never get to 0% body fat.  There is a level of body fat called “essential fat”.  Basically, it is needed in your brain, nerves, glands, heart – in fact every internal organ to protect and insulate them.  Women have more essential fat then men and cannot safely get to the same percentage levels. Professional marathon runners can get as low as 3% in men and 9% in women – and that’s skinny!

Men are considered overweight at 25% and obese over 30%.  Women are considered overweight at 30% and obese over 35%.

If you want to see your hidden “six-pack”, you need to lose the fat off of your stomach first.  You will start to clearly see your stomach muscles when men get below 9% and women below 15%.  My picture above is at 11%.

One of the most important reasons to get your body fat tested while you are losing weight, is to see if you are losing muscle.  You don’t want to look like the picture on the left, when you could look like the one on the right.