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Skinny Doesn't Mean Fit and Other Fat Facts

© Mindy Herzog

There you have it. I said it. Skinny doesn't mean fit and it's the truth.

I was looking over my page statistics and noticed that one of my more recent articles on body fat was at the top. I'm not surprised. More and more people are asking for a body composition measurement. Many times they want it measured week to week. You cannot see a change in body fat over one week. You can see technician error in one week but if you're looking for changes in body fat or composition you have to give it at least 8 weeks.

The idea is to throw the scale away. You know, the scale that you step on in the morning, after your workout, and before you go to bed all the while wondering, how you gained and lost weight throughout the day. It is true that we have turned away from using the scale to determine a healthy weight but have you? Body weight is used in some calculations but it is not used as much as it was. Height and weight tables are useless for anyone, except insurance companies who don’t have anything else to go on.

Body composition or body fat has taken over as a better determination of risk and healthy lifestyle than body weight. Body composition is the difference between fat mass and lean mass. For example, what would you think of a female 5’5”, weighing 170 lbs. Some might say she needs to lose some weight. And how about a female 5’5”, weighing 120 lbs. Some would say she’s pretty slim and in good shape. The 170 lb female is a shot putter trying out for the Olympic team. Her body fat percentage is 15%, which is perfectly healthy. It appears she’s got a lot of muscle and lean tissue. The 120 lb female, who would probably like to lose a few pounds, has a body composition of 27%. Is it possible? Yes it is. Skinny doesn’t mean fit and we should lose the weight scales for determining this. Stick to body composition if you want a good and true measure of your health.

“Muscle weighs more than Fat”

Now, you can read my article on body composition to get more information about how it’s done but I’d like to give you a heads up on technique of measurement. You can get bad information and it all depends on who takes it and how. Body composition technique is a trained skill. Someone has to practice over and over on several subjects before they can accurately give results. Doesn’t mean it always happens that way.