How to Lose Body Fat in 2 Effective Ways

We are now living in this era where doctors and other healthcare professionals using charts, data or any other measurements to create the definition of health. This is why doctors and other healthcare professionals will use assess your physical health using body mass index (BMI) or looking at your body fat percentage. In fact, they are just one of the ways to assess and monitor your weight and overall body composition. To calculate your body fat percentage, take your total mass of fat divide by total body mass, then multiply by 100.

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

Below are the differences between weight loss and fat loss:

How to Calculate Body Fat

There are various ways one can measure their own body fat percentage. However, some of the methods used are expensive and yet, not very accurate. These methods include:

• Hydrostatic weighing
• Air displacement plethysmography (Bod Pod)
• 3D Body Scanner
• Dual Energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)

Skinfold Calliper

Besides the methods listed above, using skinfold calliper to measure your body fat percentage is also an option. It is quite popular as many of you do not have access to the expensive methods listed above. With this method, you can measure your own body fat and calculate your fat percentage. This method is based on the belief that approximately 5-% of your total body fat lies under the skin. Thus, you can measure the thickness of the skinfolds at standardized sites. It is recommended that you have your personal trainer or a trained professional do that for you as they would handle it more professionally and you would end up getting a more accurate result. Having the same person taking the measurements each time would increase the validity and reliability of the results.

Since men and women have different patterns of storing body fat, different anatomical sites are measured between the sexes.

For men, the skinfold sies are:

• Chest: A diagonal skinfold taken midway on the anterior axillary line (crease of the underarm and nipple)
• Abdomen: A vertical skinfold taken 1 inch lateral to the umbilicus
• Thigh: A vertical skinfold taken midway between the hip and knee joint of the front of your thigh

For women: the skinfold sites are:

• Triceps: A vertical skinfold on the back of your upper arm taken halfway between the shoulder and elbow
• Thigh: A vertical skinfold taken midway between the hip and knee joint on the front of your thigh

Ideal Body Fat Percentage for Men and Women

According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), below is a chart suggesting the ideal body fat percentage for different categories. Age is not taken in account here.

Both dieting and exercising are equally as important when it comes to lowering your body fat percentage.

Ways to Lose Body Fat

1. Say YES to Cardio

Aerobic exercise (normally known as cardio) is any type of cardiovascular conditioning. By definition, aerobic exercise means “with oxygen.” It can include activities like brisk walking, swimming, running, or cycling. When you are doing cardio, your breathing and heart rate will increase. It then helps keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy. The examples of cardio consists of brisk walking, swimming, running, jogging and more while the modern Aerobic exercise includes spinning/cycling, Tabata, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), TRX, Kickboxing, Bungee workout.

In 1922, Archibald Hill, a British physiologist, introduced the concepts of maximal oxygen uptake and oxygen debt but in the 1960s, physical therapists Col. Pauline Potts and Dr. Kenneth H.Cooper, both from the United States Air Force, advocated the concept of aerobic exercise. Dr. Kenneth H.Cooper started research into preventive medicine and conducted the first extensive research on aerobic exercise on over 5,000 U.S. Air Force personnel after becoming intrigued by the belief that exercise can preserve one’s health. Different exercises are classed into different categories based on the intensity. There are different insensiy for different age group of people.

Intensity:

Low

Age group: all age group

Maximum heart rate: 40 to 50 percent

Type of exercise: Walking, brisk walking, jogging, swimming

Moderate

Age group: 5 -17, 18 – 64, 65 & above

Maximum heart rate: 50 to 70 percent

Recommended workout time slot: 150 minutes every week

Type of exercise: Spinning, cycling, aerobic steps, water aerobic

High

Age group: 5 – 17, 18 – 64 years old

Maximum heart rate: 70 to 85 percent

Recommended workout time slot: 75 minutes every week.

Type of exercise: HIIT, Tabata, TRX, kickboxing

Health Benefits of Cardio

Among the recognized health benefits of doing regular aerobic exercise are:

• Strengthening the muscles involved in respiration, to facilitate the flow of air in and out of the lungs.
• Strengthening and enlarging the heart muscle, to improve its pumping efficiency and reduce the resting heart rate, known as aerobic conditioning.
• Improving circulation efficiency and reducing blood pressure.
• Increasing the total number of red blood cells in the body, facilitating transport of oxygen.
• Improving mental health, including reducing stress and lowering the incidence of depression, as well as increased cognitive capacity.
• Reducing the risk for diabetes.
• Reducing the risk of death due to cardiovascular problems.

High-impact aerobic activities (such as jogging or using a skipping rope) can:

• Stimulate bone growth
• Reduce the risk of osteoporosis for both men and women

Fun Fact: Listening to music while exercising can improve workout performance by 15%.

2. ‘Watch Your Mouth’

Besides exercising, dieting also plays an important role in losing fat. Your diet should adapt to how active you are each day, instead of consuming the same amount of calorie no matter what you are doing. Think about what you are going to do before the start of the day and decide what and how much fuel you need. Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the fuel. However, you cannot afford to have too much  as you are going to store the excess as body fat.

Signs of dieting done wrong

• Low mood irritability
• Extreme fatigue & brain fog
• Passing on social opportunities
• Unable to make progress on low calories
• Decreased nutrition compliance
• Intense hunger cravings, increased food focus
• Poor sleep quality (Difficulty falling/staying asleep)
• Hormonal imbalance (Loss of period, lack of sex drive)
• Lack of workout motivation, decreased performance, poor recovery

Also, it is advisable not to eat before sleep if you want to lose fat. This is because if you eat right before you sleep, you do not sleep. You may pass out for 8 hours, but your body is not sleeping since all your digestive organs are working at full power. On the other hand, when you leave 4-5 hours before bed from your last bite, you will sleep better and your cells will undergo a more extensive repair cycle overnight.

Suggestion from us

Easy Ways to Burn More Calories

1. Walk on your lunch break or after dinner
2. Walk while you are on phone calls
3. Walk or bike when running errands
4. Stretch or mobilize while watching TV
5. Stand more than you sit and fidget
6. Park further away & take the stairs
7. Do chores around the house
8. Do more active social outings

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