To Lose Body Fat

When trying to lose weight, you may wonder if there is a “Lose body fat diet” that you can follow and how much does it matter what types of food you eat when trying to burn fat?  Well, you may be surprised to know that even more than exercise, the largest factor in weight loss and especially with body fat loss is proper nutrition.

Proper nutrition is just so vital as this is what will be feeding your muscles as they grow and your fat is burned.  Without eating the right foods, your muscles will starve and you’ll find yourself back to where you started.

Here’s a great list of foods that should be part of your fat burning diet:

Skim Milk, which contains very little fat yet loaded with calcium acts as a metabolic trigger, boosting your metabolism.  Many studies have shown that those who daily consume low fat dairy products such as skim milk and low fat yogurt burn twice as much fat as those who don’t.

Whole grains such as whole grain cereal and whole grain bread are excellent sources of fiber and complex carbohydrates which help keep insulin levels low and your metabolism high.  You might have heard a lot of talk about how carbs are keeping you fat but this is not true at all.  Your body needs carbohydrates to function normally and starving your body of carbohydrates is no way to lose weight.  What you should stay away from are the processed carbs such as white bread.

Fish such as salmon and albacore tuna is probably the best meat for your body.  Not only is it highly rich in protein but is also a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids.  These fatty acids help keep your leptin hormonal levels down which as a result increases your calorie burn rate.

Dark colored vegetables such as tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, peppers, and asparagus are extremely healthy for your body especially if they are eaten raw or lightly steamed.  Dark colored veggies particularly contain large amounts of vitamins and minerals and vegetables are low in calories and high in fiber; the best combination for burning fat and feeling full.

These foods should definitely help you shed fat but instead of having a preset lose body fat diet, use the foods listed above as well as other fat burning foods and prepare yourself a variety of meals each day.  If you need ideas there are lots of great fat burning cookbooks you can buy.  The goal here is to change the way you eat so that it becomes part of your healthy lifestyle and no longer a “diet”.

If you’re aiming to lose body fat you’ll probably ask yourself what the ideal body fat percentage is.

Firstly however it’s important to understand a little about the role of fat in the body and why fat is a actually a good thing.  I know that might sound strange in this day and age of the media constantly telling you fat is bad but the truth is fat is essential to your body and without this essential fat your body would not be able to function normally.  Attempting to go below what’s known as your “essential fat” is not only bad for your health but extremely dangerous.

A typical human body has anywhere from 50 to 250 billion fat cells which are stored in many different areas throughout the body including the thighs, waste, buttocks, around your organs such as the kidneys and liver and even within muscle.  Fat has many uses within the body including the insulation and protection of vital organs but the main purpose of fat is to store energy for future use.  When your body needs energy it can break down the contents of fat cells using enzymes to release fatty acids into the bloodstream which can then be transported to any area of the body.  Your body can then convert these fatty acids into a usable form of energy, adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

Now that you know a bit about how fat is used in the body and why it’s important, with this frame of mind should you set your ideal body fat goal.  Unsurprisingly there is no one ideal percent body fat for everyone but you can set a realistic goal for yourself by taking into account your age, gender, and body type.  You should also determine whether you are aiming to be at an athletic level of body fat or just in a healthy range.  The following are some charts indicating the ranges for body fat percentage in both men and women:

Body Fat Percentage Chart for Men

Body Fat Percentage Chart for Women

As you can see from the charts above, your ideal body fat percentage is very dependent on your age and gender.  Another thing that’s evident from these charts is that the ranges for women and men are very different. Women naturally have more body fat than men and for good reason. Fat is vital for reproduction so in case of pregnancy fat stores are maintained on a woman’s body.

Lastly, it’s important to note that your ideal percent body fat is also very much dependent on how you feel and what level your individual body performs it’s best so do not think that lower is automatically better.

As an alternative to the body fat scale, body fat calipers can also be used to measure body fat relatively accurately.  Body fat calipers resemble a pair of large tweezers which are used to measure skin folds in order to calculate the amount of fat under a person’s skin, otherwise known as subcutaneous fat.

When using calipers, you need to measure skin folds in at least three areas of your body which must include your belly, thighs, and triceps.  If it’s your first time using calipers, it’s highly recommend that you let a professional do it the first few times and ask him to show you how.  That way you can learn to use them in the correct manner and vastly improve your accuracy when measure your own body fat.

Calipers can range in quality and price widely, from $10 all the way up to $300 or more.  Why such a vast range in price?  Well, as with most things you get what you pay for and when buying a pair of calipers, it’s no different.  Now that doesn’t mean you need to buy the most expensive pair of calipers on the market and a higher price doesn’t necessarily mean better accuracy.  The most important things to look for when buying calipers is to find some that are of a reputable brand such as those by Accufitness or Lange and that can hold a steady level of tension.  If the calipers you buy can not consistently hold a steady of tension, the accuracy can be thrown way off. All this being said you should be able to get a decent pair of calipers for $30 to $40.

How accurate are body fat calipers?  Well, like anything the answer is “it depends”.  The biggest factors that can affect their accuracy however include the person using them and the quality of the fat calipers.  On average though, if used properly fat calipers have about a 3-4% margin of error.  Overall they can be slightly more accurate than a body fat scale simply because they are not influenced by external factors such as whether you recently worked out, drank water, or ate a meal; all of which can affect your typical body fat scale.

Though underwater or hydrostatic weighing is by far the most accurate way to measure body fat, it’s just too impractical.  Using body fat calipers, like the body fat scale, is a great alternative to this and much more convenient and economical for the average person.