Why is Body Fat Percentage the Best Measure of "Weight Loss" Success?
Body fat percentage is the best way to determine whether or not your weight loss efforts are successful.
What? What about weight? We are talking about weight loss after all, aren't we?
When most of us talk about losing weight, we generally mean weight specifically from our efforts to burn fat.
Therefore, measuring you body fat percentage is a much better way to measure the success of your weight loss and fat burning programs.
There are many ways to measure the success of your efforts to "lose weight." A few of them are:
- Total Body Weight,
- Body Mass Index (BMI),
- Body Fat Percentage,
- Waist Circumference and Waist to Hip Ratio, and
- Lean Body Mass.
Which Measure is the Best Way to Measure "Weight Loss?"
This is an important question. If you choose to measure the wrong thing, you may not meet your goals.Let's take a moment to determine exactly what you want to achieve when you undertake a weight loss program. Most likely, the objective is not simply the weight loss itself. There is usually another reason. Why do you want to lose weight?
Do you need to improve your overall health through a reduction in body fat? Or do you want to look better for your upcoming trip to the beach? Or do you want to finally see a ripped set of abdominals?
Defining the real goal of your weight loss venture ensures that you choose the best measurement of your success.
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A Business Example
In business, for example, a company may decided that by measuring and improving revenue, we will become more profitable. But what if, in order to increase revenue, the company's costs increase disproportionately due to marketing or other expenses? Was revenue the right measure?
Or was it perhaps the cost to produce the good? Would they be more profitable had we chosen that a measure? What if they choose price as our measure? Undoubtedly if the company charges more per unit, our profits will increase. But what if they sell fewer units due to the increased price?
As you can see, measuring the right thing is hugely important. Obviously, in this example, the company should measure "profit" as their measure of success. And profit is made up of a combination of revenues and costs. Therefore, by choosing the correct measure, the company will also keep track of the measures that relate to profits as well - revenues and costs.
Relating it Back to Weight Loss
The scale can be extremely useful in measuring your weight loss success; however, it can also be a huge de-motivator if we use weight loss as our only measure of success. Have anyone ever said to you, “A pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat?” While this statement is obviously absurd at first glance – a pound is a pound – the concept that is conveyed is an important one.
What the statement tells us is that a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. When you start (or resume, as the case may be) a weight lifting program, you will build muscle. You may even build muscle faster than you burn fat. Sometimes, you will not be able to see the added muscle until you lose sufficient fat.
Therefore, it is possible that you can step on the scale one day and it show that you did not lose any weight, or even gained some. You did not achieve any weight loss, yet you physically take up less space. In the end, is that not what we want?
Even bodybuilders, who spend their time working out to build muscle to actually take up MORE space, cannot rely on a scale to tell them if they are in contest shape. In fact, many of the people who want to build muscle actually don't want weight loss, they want to weigh more!
Generally, however, when someone says that they want to lose weight, they are really desiring to taking up less space – fitting into a smaller size of jeans. Most people would probably be satisfied with their current weight if they were a few sizes smaller.
Therefore, the term "weight loss" is misleading. So much so that it can lead to diet failure when people rely solely on the scale as their indicator of success.
Even those people who what to lose a few extra pounds before that beach trip, do not necessarily want to lose weight, they simply want to show off their hard work in the gym.
What they all want to do (bodybuilders included) is to lose fat.
Body Fat Percentage is the Best Measure of Success
Business often refer to the best measure of success as the "primary metric" or "measure of merit."If our goal is to look good on the beach, or take up less space, or get a ripped midsection, our primary measure should generally be fat loss, not weight loss.
What is Body Fat Percentage?
Body fat percentage is the percent of your total body weight that is comprised of fat.
If you are trying to lose weight by reducing fat, then, all else held equal, you are trying to reduce your body fat percentage. In the same manner, if you are attempting to build muscle, you also want to decrease your body fat percentage to show off the fruits of the time you spent in the gym. You do this through a combination of increasing your lean body mass and the amount of fat that you burn.
The problem with measuring percentage of body fat, however, is that it is difficult to estimate exactly with a formula.
It is less important, however, that the measure be absolutely correct than it is that the measure be directionally correct. That is, based on changes in your body’s composition, does the metric accurately measure the direction and approximate size of that change.
Recall the scale. Even if we are meeting our goal of reducing body fat, it may show an increase in weight - it will not be directionally correct.
What are the Methods for Measuring Body Fat Percentage?
Water Displacement Method
The most accurate way to measure body fat percentage is with the water displacement method. This is done by completely submerging you in a tank of water and measuring the overall displacement. Because fat is less dense than muscle and bones, it is relatively straight forward to estimate percentage of body fat. However, this is often expensive and time consuming to perform, and cannot be performed in the home.
Skin Fold Calipers
Skin fold calipers are readily available in the market place and can be used to provide an estimate of body fat percentage. This method is often used when you visit a fitness center, but can be easily used at home.
You use the calipers to measure a pinch of the skin at particular areas around the body. This provides us with an estimate of the thickness of subcutaneous (below the skin) fat.
These measures are then placed in a formula to derive the percentage of body fat. You will get some variation in the results depending on who is administering the test. However, if the same person takes the measure in the same way each time, then your results should be directionally relevant.
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, or BIA
The next method is by using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, or BIA. BIA is used by some fitness centers, but less accurate (but directionally relevant) methods are available on many home scales at an affordable price. Generally speaking, in the home method, a person stands with bare feet on two conductors located on the top of the scale. A small electrical charge is sent through the body. Since the amount of electrical resistance is different between fat, muscle and bone, the amount of resistance between the two conductors provides an estimate of body fat percentage.
Formulas
Finally, there are several formulaic methods that are readily available. The United States Naval method is perhaps the most accurate and is directionally correct. This method has a slight variation for men and women, and takes into account neck girth, height and weight for both men and women. The formula for women also includes hip circumference.
It is important to remember that this method uses the metric system. To use the formulas, you must first divide your height, and waist, neck, and hip circumference in inches by 0.3937 to convert these measures to centimeters.
What are the Formulas to Measure Body Fat Percentage?
There are two formulas - one for men and one for women - to measure body fat percentage.The formula for men is:
The formula for women is:
where "waist", "neck", and "hip" are all circumferences (distance around) in centimeters.
Use this free body fat percentage calculator to quickly use the above formulas to estimate your body fat percentage.
Have you seen the Army Body Fat Worksheet? It is a quick and easy way to estimate body fat percentage using the formulas above.
What are the Guidelines for Body Fat Percentage?
The American Council on Exercise provides the following guidelines on the percentage of body fat for men and women:| Classification | Women (% fat) | Men (% fat) |
| Essential Fat | 10 to 12% | 2 to 4% |
| Athletes | 14 to 20% | 6 to 13% |
| Fitness | 21 to 24% | 14 to 17% |
| Acceptable | 25 to 31% | 18 to 25% |
| Obese | 32% + | 25% + |
However, if you goal is to see your six pack, your body fat percentage needs to be less than 10% for men and 14% for women to begin to see your abdominal muscles.
At the end of the day, it is clear that your percentage of body fat is the best way to measure your "weight loss" success!
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