Math 101: Caluclating My Lean Body Mass

"The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple." ~ S. Gudder

I currently weight 244.8 lbs @ 39.1% Body Fat...... but how much of my weight is actually fat?

To figure this out you need to use the following formula:
(Current Weight x Current Body Fat %) / 100
(244.8 x 39.1) / 100 = 95.72 (# of lbs of body fat I currently lugging around).

Holy crap.... that only leaves 149.08 lbs of lean body mass.

If I take my current lean body mass of 149.08 and add my goal body fat of 15% to that
(Current lean body mass + Goal Body Fat %) = Goal Weight
(149.08 + 15%) = 171.44 lbs

What????? 171.44 lbs???? That's no where near the 190 lbs I thought my goal weight should be. I know that ultimately it's not the # of lbs. one weighs but how you feel and how healthy you are, but 171.44 lbs.??? This can't possibly be right....... is it???

I know guys that weight 160 - 170 lbs and their frames are much smaller than mine.

Hopefully someone out there can let me know if my math is sound.

How Did You Calculate That?

"Two percent of the people think; three percent of the people think they think; and ninety-five percent of the people would rather die than think."
~ George Bernard Shaw

I'm sure more than one of you have wondered how I come up with the "% of me lost" number..... so I figured I'd share the mathematical formula to figuring out that number:

((IW - AW) / IW) x 100 = Weight Loss %

LEGEND:
- "IW" is your 'Initial Weight', or the weight you were before you started your weight loss.
- "AW" is your 'Actual Weight', or the weight you are currently.
- Just in case your math is rusty, the "/" sign means divide.

Source: Ezinearticles.com - never used this site before.

How To Guide: Exercising to Burn Fat

"Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness" ~ Edward Stanley

When it comes to how I look & feel, I could care less about how much I weigh. Whether I weigh 240 lbs or 190 lbs, it makes no difference to me; providing that the weight I'm at is at a healthy body fat %........which indicates that the majority of the weight would be in the form of lean muscle mass, bones, water...etc.

As you know, I think that the BMI is crap.... therefore based on the above line of thinking my main focus is really on losing fat and lowering my BF% to a healthy range......but what is a healthy BF% range? This depends on what source you prefer to abide by.

This graph based on NIH/WHO BMI guidelines. As reported by Gallagher et al at NY Obesity Research Center.

~ Tanita

It's not easy finding a clear, concise and agreed upon answer.....trust me, I spent quite awhile Googling an answer. If anyone out there is aware of a reliable, trusted source let me know....as for now I'm going to stick with the above graph as my guideline.

So, based on the above graph, my "healthy" body fat range (34yrs old) is between 8 & 20%. My primary goal is to get out of the obese range. My secondary goal is to move from the "Overfat" range down into the "healthy" range. My final goal is to shoot for a target somewhere around 15% body fat....but realistically I'm not sure if this is too lofty of a goal, or not lofty enough. I should have a better idea as I move from one goal to the next.

Now that I set goals in regards to reducing my BF%, the next question is what is the ideal way to exercise in order to lose the optimal amount of BF? I've done enough reading (magazines, books & online) to know that there are some very good exercise routines, created specifically for this purpose. However, I'm not ready to change my exercise routine....maybe when I've lost another 10-15 lbs. For now I'm content to just keep using my elliptical machine, walk & do some light muscle building exercises.

Up until just recently I still believed that there was an optimum HR (Heart Rate) to exercise at the would put you in what is know as the "fat burning zone". In this zone you burn a higher % of calories from fat. If you exercise too hard your HR rises and takes you above this "fat burning zone" and you end up burning a higher % of calories from stored carbohydrates. This belief is true, but it's flawed. Consider the following:

For example, say a 140-pound woman performs either a fairly easy walk or a high-intensity jog. After 1 hour, she would have burned the following in total and fat calories:

Busting the Fat-Burning Zone Myth Moderate Intensity High Intensity (60-70% max HR) (70-80% max HR) Total calories burned: 192 278 % of fat calories burned: 75% 50% Total fat calories burned: 144 144

As you can see, you would burn just as much fat and significantly more calories by working out at a higher intensity. What's more, high-intensity aerobic exercises kick your metabolism into high gear even after you're done working out.

~ Prevention Magazine

Based on this information it's better for me to exercise at 70-80% of my maximum heart rate. To do that I need to figure out what my HRmax (Heart Rate Maximum) is.

A 2003 study of 43 different formulae for HRmax, concluded that the following formula was the most accurate:
HRmax = 205.8 − (0.685 * age)

- Wikipedia

Using this formula my HRmax is 182 bpm (Beats Per Minute). To exercise at the 70-80% HRmax I need to raise my HR to between 127 - 146 bpm.

Once I've managed to lose another 10-15 lbs I will return to this topic and reanalyze my exercise regimen. Hope this post helps everyone.

How to Guide: Measuring Body Fat

"The devil has put a penalty on all things we enjoy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in soul or we get fat." ~ Albert Einstein

Lately I've been reading a lot of other bloggers weight loss blogs & I've noticed that many of those who list there body fat % on their site have much lower percentages than I do. I started to wonder just how accurate my body fat % actually was.

For those of you that don't know my body fat % listed on this blog is based entirely on the results given by my Tanita scale. For additional information on how often I weight myself & how I tabulate my numbers click here.

After asking around a bit and finding out others peoples methods I figured a little research was necessary on my part to figure out the following:

• How many different methods are there?
• How accurate is each method?
• What method will I use for my blog? (if I decided to change methods).

After a few hours of probing the internet, some in-depth reading, and some number crunching this is what I came up with:

~ How many different methods are there?

In short a lot.... however there are 10 methods that are more commonly used by gyms, at home, and by the scientific community. Out of the 10 methods only 3 are easily accessible by the typical weight loss blogger (bolded). Here are all 10 methods listed in alphabetical order:

1. BIA Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis
   
2. BOD POD (Air Displacement)
3. Calipers (Anthropometry - Skinfold Measurements)
4. Computed Tomography (CT....know as CT Scans)
5. DEXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry)
6. Hydrodensitometry Weighing (Underwater Weighing)
7. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
8. NIR (Near Infrared Interactance)
9. Online Body Fat Calculators
   
10. Total Body Electrical Conductivity (TOBEC)

1. BIA: sends a weak electrical current through the body, via bodily fluids/water. The current travels faster through areas with a high water content such as lean muscle mass, while it slows down through fat. The current returns to the originating source and the impedance (total electrical resistance) is measured using a scientific formula (Z = R + iX). The impedance measurement combined with the individuals, height, weight, and body type (age, gender, fitness level) allows for the estimation of their body fat percentage. BIA is the method my scale uses.

Pro's: Quick and easy to use. Relatively inexpensive. Widely available.
Con's: Test is affected by food/water intake, so it's necessary to use this method under consistent conditions.....ie: first thing in the morning, after visiting the bathroom and before eating/drinking.

3. Calipers (Anthropometry - Skinfold Measurements):

"Using hand-held calipers that exert a standard pressure, the skinfold thickness is measured at various body locations (3-7 test sites are common). Then a calculation is used to derive a body fat percentage based on the sum of the measurements."
~ New Fitness

Pro's: Easy to do. Inexpensive. Widely available (personal use or by a trained professional)
Con's: Test results are subjective (depends on: quality of calipers, skill of the person taking the measurements). Also the more obese the subject being tested, the harder it is to get an accurate measurement.

9. Online Body Fat Calculators:

Online body fat calculators can be found all over the internet. They calculate your body composition based on measurements taken at various parts of the body. The calculators take this information, feed it through some type of a formula, which gives you your body fat %. The area's measured, and the formula used varies depending on the site visited and the criteria of the the calculator being used by that site.

Pro's: Free & easy to do. Available all over the internet.
Con's: Test results vary significantly depending on the testing criteria & source. Very generalized. Can be inaccurate.

If you are interested in learning more about the other testing methods not discussed read the following article by www.new-fitness.com

~ How accurate is each method?

Of the 3 methods accessible by the typical weight loss blogger, body calipers are considered to be the most accurate, but only if the test is done by a trained individual, using quality equipment.

BIA testing used by scales comes in second, but it's important to keep a steady hydration level and test under consistent conditions for accurate results.

Online body fat calculators finish last. Results can be all over the board, but if you don't have access to the above 2 methods it can at least give you something to gauge your progress by.

~ What method will I use for my blog? (if I decided to change methods).

I've never had the opportunity to try the caliper method, however I would be willing to give it a shot in the future.

Using my scale my current body fat % as of this morning is 35.1%

Here's a list of some online body fat calculators that I found on the internet, and my body fat % calculated by them using today's measurements:

www.healthcentral.com = 26.1% body fat.
www.runnersworld.com = 33.0% body fat.
www.he.net = 34% body fat.
www.healthstatus.com = 34.1% (US Navy Formula) & 31.3% (YMCA Formula)
www.csgnetwork.com = 36.3% body fat.
www.dietandfitnesstoday.com = 33.9% body fat.
www.about.com = 34.1% body fat.

If you use an online body fat calculator that you believe is more accurate and isn't listed above, let me know and I'll add it to the list. Based on the 3 methods accessible by the typical weight loss blogger, I think I will stick to my scale. After all it's already paid for.

I hope this post has been useful. Let me know if I missed anything, made any errors, etc.