Lose Weight by Knowing Your Body Fat Percentage

How can knowing your body fat percentage help you lose weight? Body weight alone is not a good indicator of your health. When it comes to maintaining or achieving the best body weight for you there are two important factors to consider: body fat percentage and muscle mass.

There is good fat and bad fat. The good fat is required to cushion certain parts of the body such as the bottom of our feet and around delicate organs in the body. We do not want to lose this as it is necessary. The worst fat is that which accumulates excessively around the abdomen where it invades the internal organs, producing hormones that upset body chemistry and causes restrictions to normal organ function. The dangers of excess fat include diabetes, heart disease, kidney and circulatory problems, and even cancer.

The negative effects of excess fat can be countered by increasing lean muscle mass through exercise and good nutrition. The benefits of increased muscle mass are significant for good health, good looks and losing weight. Muscle burns more calories and makes it easier to lose or maintain a desired weight.

As we get older we have a tendency to lose muscle tone, strength and even bone density which can lead to osteoporosis. A well designed weight training program can counter these debilitating effects, as well as help reduce unnecessary fat.

Muscle requires more oxygen and other nutrients, and therefore as you build more lean muscle you increase blood circulation and burn more calories, even when not exercising.

Not only is your health affected, but your body shape and appearance are also affected by both fat and muscle mass. Two people with the same height and weight can look very different. The one with more muscle and less fat will always look slimmer.

If you rely solely on measuring your weight as an indicator of how you are doing health wise, you can be easily misled. Muscle weighs more than fat so as you exercise and gain muscle your weight can increase. The real indicator of your progress is the reduction of body fat.

Keeping track of your body fat percentage with a body fat monitor scale while engaging in an exercise regime and weight loss program can be very encouraging. You can see your efforts making a difference even before you can see the results visually in your body.