Body Fat – Understand how it talks
Your body’s fat percentage is a great way to measure how effective your fat loss efforts are. Our weight is the sum of all our tissue; organs, bones, muscles, body fluids, fat and other. The only one that we want to lose is EXCESS body fat. It’s very important to acknowledge that not all weight is created equal — numbers on a scale don’t matter! A client of mine was recently very concerned that she had stopped losing weight and all her efforts were no longer amounting to anything. When we reassessed her composition we found that she had lost a further 3.3%. People always talk about their ideal weight but in reality that means absolutely nothing. It is crucial to measure body fat for accurate progress assessment but body fat can tell us much much more…
How and where you store your body fat speaks volumes about your diet and lifestyle. Do you have stubborn fat that you just can’t lose or have one part of your body that all the fat seems to gravitate to? Body composition science has leaped forward in the past 10 years. Fat loss specialists can now measure and compare site data to gain a very good insight into why stubborn areas of fat develop and the best actions to combat these deposits effectively.
It is important to understand that we cannot ‘spot reduce’ fat from one specific site. It is impossible to lose fat from just your belly or just your thighs. Body fat is lost proportionately all over the body unless there is a hormonal imbalance that causes fat to remain in one area more than another. Lifestyle, hormonal and diet factors can cause fat to accumulate or stop fat loss dead in one area more than others. By addressing these factors we can reverse this unbalanced build up of fat at particular sites on the body.
Here at Body Expert Systems we can measure our clients body fat sites and provide actions to target unbalanced fat deposits or stubborn areas. The recognition of individuals BioSignature (as Charles Poliquin termed it) then allows for the prescription of nutrition and exercise plans to help target the hormonal irregularities often associated with comparatively high skinfold reading between each individual site.
For example the triceps and pectoral sites can represent androgen imbalance. These are very important hormones for both men and women. They are the building hormones and regulate the function of many organs, including the reproductive tract, bone, kidneys, liver and muscles. They play a role in sexual desire and satisfaction as well as, of course, effect body fat loss. If there is an imbalance present between these sites we recommend diet and exercise that boosts androgen levels and rebalance the body and as a result lose fat from the affected area.
Insulin resistance and poor carbohydrate tolerance are related to the ratio between anterior and posterior measurements of the body fat scan. They demonstrate that an individual does not manage blood sugar levels effectively. Poor thyroid function is also representative through body fat site ratios with estrogen dominance being apparent in the hips, quadriceps and hamstring.
The most prolific imbalance is the umbilical site… or belly fat ratio. It can be high despite low overall body fat. This site is closely linked to high cortisol and fructose consumption. Sites can also give an indication of vitamin and mineral health of the person. Enabling us to prescribe specific foods and supplements that will drastically enhance their capabilities of losing fat from stubborn areas of the body and enhance the persons feeling of wellbeing.
The unfortunate thing is that understanding of these concepts; information and practices are widely unknown in both the general population and among fitness professionals. People and trainers simply think they have to work harder to get rid of the fat, when in actual fact they might instead need to rest and nourish their body. Eat certain foods that will aid in detoxification or change the intensity at which they perform different types of exercise.
Where you store body fat speaks of your lifestyle, nutrition and activity habits. To measure and monitor your site readings is the key to unlocking and losing fat from stubborn areas.
