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Overweight or Overfat?
You may not be overweight, but you could be overfat and vice versa. Where health is concerned, "fat" not "weight" is the key issue. Excess fat is a factor in high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Excess fat stresses the cardiovascular system and reduces the body's ability to work efficiently. So, when assessing your ideal weight, it's the percentage of your body that is composed of fat, and not your weight in itself, that makes the difference.
Ideal "Fat" Percentages
When we talk about body "fat" we mean the percentage of your body weight that is made up of fat. This percentage varies for men and for women. For men, the ideal percentage of body fat is approximately 12-17%. For women, the ideal percentage of body fat is about 15-23%. All of us require some stored body fat for fueling energy; if the body has too little fat, it will begin to break down muscle tissue for energy requirements. The minimum essential fat requirement for women is 12%, for men 5%.
Measuring Body Fat
Underwater weighing is the most accurate measurement of body fat, and is available at some fitness centers, hospitals, and clinics. Since fat is more buoyant than lean muscle, an over-fat person will actually weigh less underwater than a trimmer person.
Another instrument for measuring body fat is skin-fold calipers which measure the fat below the skin's surface. Although it is less accurate, for many people it may be more convenient than underwater weighing. Skin-fold tests are usually fairly inexpensive and may be more readily available in some areas than underwater weighing.
The Essential Facts
For optimum health and fitness, it pays to maintain your body fat within the accepted norms. Exercise and diet go hand-in-hand in helping to reduce excess body fat. Aerobic exercise; the kind that uses large muscles for an extended period of time; uses oxygen to burn fat for energy. A diet low in dietary fat and high in complex carbohydrates can improve your body's energy reserves with a relatively low intake of calories.
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