BMI versus Body Fat....What's the Difference?

OK...this morning I want to talk about BMI versus body fat....because I finally broke down and bought a Fitbit ARIA scale. I had heard so many good things about it....and I knew it linked up to my Fitbit (I have the FLEX), and it measures BODY FAT! COOL!

So I gave myself a delayed Christmas present and ordered it. (My husband said, 'What was wrong with our old scale?'...and he was right, of course....but of course our old scale didn't measure body fat. Also the ARIA is personalized for up to 6 users, so I was able to add HIM in, and it'll help keep track of HIS weight, too. It addresses you by initials! And it 'knows' who is who somehow. (apparently it can be wrong, though, but you just 'tap' it and it'll cycle through the users until you find 'you').

We got the black one and it's sleek looking....it's really a beautiful scale. I even kept it 'out' in the bathroom, it's so pretty! LOL...(doesn't take much to make ME happy LOL).

Anyway....but the first time I stepped on it, I nearly DIED of shock when the body fat percentage came up at like, WAY higher (sorry, I won't say what it was, it's too embarrassing) than I thought it would be!

And I was like, "HUH?".....I mean, I KNOW I gained weight over the holidays....I'm now back OP and working to get it back off again....but I didn't gain THAT much. My BMI is still pretty good! So what's the deal?

Well, BMI is a standard measurement - a calculation, an equation that computes a number based on how much you weigh and how tall you are, that most doctors and professionals use to measure your Body Mass Index (that's what it stands for). TSFL uses it to guide people to a 'healthy' weight...or rather RANGE of weights, because even though it takes into account your height, it still has a range because there ARE differences in body frames. There IS such as a thing as a 'large frame'. If you have large hands and feet, if your wrists and ankles are large (the bone itself), then you've got a large frame and can 'carry' more weight.

Here's the National Institutes of Health BMI chart:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educ...MI/bmi_tbl.htm

A healthy BMI for a woman around 5'7" is 24 or less, and what that corresponding weight is depends on your height. When you initially join Medifast or TSFL, you will choose your goal weight....and a goal will be recommended for you. You may or may not shoot for this goal. Some people like to start out higher, and see how they feel when they get lower. I think this is a great idea, especially if you have a lot to lose, so you won't get depressed thinking about how far you have to go. Take it in smaller chunks and it's easier!

But BMI doesn't measure the FAT on your body. And there's a difference!

BODY FAT, on the other hand, is what your personal trainer is going to be concerned with if you join a gym. It's what she's measuring with those calipers....it's that exact amount of FAT in your body that you can even have calculated exactly by more exact means, i.e., going to a University and having them do it in a water tank (too much trouble, in my opinion). It's also a calculation but it's your total amount of body fat divided by your weight....so it tells you how much of YOU is pure FAT.

Now before you get all upset....SOME fat is absolutely ESSENTIAL for our bodies to have. Even the leanest of athletes has SOME fat, without it we would all DIE. But you CAN lower your percentage...and the lower your percentage, the more muscle you have in relation to fat...and the leaner you LOOK.

BODY FAT is what is hanging over your jeans when you have a 'muffin top'. BODY FAT is what jiggles when you wave goodbye in the upper arm (triceps) UGH. BODY FAT is what we ALL want ... GONE!

Unlike BMI, you can't just look it up on a chart, though. It has to be measured via calipers or....a scale like the ARIA...or as I said, go to a University and have it computed. Because calipers are error prone (and I'm not great with them) and because I'm nowhere near a University that does this sort of test, I chose the scale. And YIKES the number is WAY higher than I want...or even expected.

But here's why. Since I went 'nuts' over the holidays, EVERY SINGLE POUND I gained? Was pure FAT. So my fat percentage is higher. As I lose weight? THAT's what I will lose....FAT. And we lose FAT on this program, NOT muscle, because we're eating a lot of protein and we're getting all the rest of the nutrients our bodies NEED, so our bodies don't recruit from our muscles for energy, they take directly from that FAT in your belly or on your butt or ... wherever.

So....the good news is, if your body fat percentage goes up, you can get it down, ALONG with your BMI, by staying OP.

AND you can help this process along by....EXERCISING! Yep...that's why personal trainers use it. If you work out, you will be reducing your body fat (if you do it regularly), and increasing your lean muscle mass. That means that, even at the same weight, you'll fit into a smaller size jeans than you did when you didn't exercise regularly, because your body fat is less.

That's why people can even be 'skinny fat'. They may be fine on the BMI scale, they may be thin, but they have higher body fat percentages than someone who weighs the same as them but works out. They aren't as 'firm'.

You know what I'm saying if you've done any kind of exercise. You can FEEL yourself getting more toned, more firm, more fit.

THAT is true fitness and health and slimness. It's not just about the scale. It's how you LOOK and FEEL.

And when you reduce your body fat? You FEEL BETTER.

So even though I had 'sticker shock' when I looked at my body fat percentage on my new ARIA scale, it also is MOTIVATING me to 'keep on', because it's another piece of validation....another number I can watch go DOWN as my fitness and health go UP!

Keep on keepin' on!

Linda
angiecat6@comcast.net


Here's the ACE Body Fat Chart:

What I'm shooting for?  Is FITNESS.  But that's the 'ultimate'.  Right now I'd be happy to be 'average', since as I said, what I gained I gained as pure FAT!  UGH.  But it WILL come down.  I know that.  Because the program WORKS.

I hope this helps avoid any confusion between the two measurements. Bottom line, STAY OP and BOTH measurements will come down to normal ranges. THEN you can work on the body fat at the gym or doing a sport or whatever, if you want to. But it's NOT essential. You can be perfectly healthy with an AVERAGE body fat, if your BMI is OK. Even if your BMI is a little higher, if you feel good and like how you look and you're not in your 20s anymore, you're doing FINE!

Linda
angiecat6@comcast.net