The best way to understand this term is through an example.  Let us assume there are two women.  For simplicity, they weigh in at 100 pounds each, are the same height, but have different body compositions.  While the first women is very toned with solid muscle and has only 16% body fat (which is 16 pounds of fat) the second woman is flabby, in poor physical condition and has 30% body fat (which is 30 pounds of fat). That is 14 pounds of extra fat more than the first woman.

Understanding these differences is fundamental to loosing or gaining weight.  For example, lets say the same woman above with the 30% body fat lost only two pounds in three weeks after cutting out her favorite sweets and sweating on the treadmill.  If uninformed, she can end up discouraged with her exercise program or even worse crash dieting just to bring the numbers down on that scale.  Although the scale indicated two pounds less, her body composition changed to more muscle and less fat allowing for a longer term and healthier weight loss. 

There are many ways to estimate percent body fat.  Underwater (hydrostatic) weighing is generally accepted as the most accurate method but can be tedious, expensive, and does not lend itself to mass screening applications.  The next best method used by most personal trainers today is known as the caliper method.  Here your body fat is pinched (skinfold) at strategic locations in your body, measured, and then plugged into a formula to determine your percent body fat.  Please ask your physician, personal trainer, or nutritionist for more information.

Similarly is the misconception of percent of fat in the foods we eat, especially with today’s low fat food craze. Most packaged goods come with nutrition labels and must be read and assessed carefully.   Many Americans think they are eating low fat foods but are mislead and misinformed, here’s how.  In Europe the nutrition labels show you the nutritional value out of 100 grams (not per serving).  If the cracker label reads two grams of fat, for example, it is out of 100 grams 2/100=2% fat, a true low fat food.  In the U.S., food is labeled per serving.  If you have a cracker with only two grams of fat per serving many people think it is a low fat food.  But if the serving size itself is only three grams, that is 2/3= 66% fat.  You must not only read the nutrition labels but read into them as well.  Pay attention to the percent of fat before determining if the item is truly a low fat food.  

 Exercise and nutrition is very important, but it is even more important to do it right.   Please do your research before starting any fitness program.  Always consult your physician before engaging in any kind of weight training, cardiovascular activity or diet.  Understand your scale weight and body composition. Read food labels correctly.  If you have any questions regarding this issue please submit it to the Galaxy News Attention: Josef Weinstein and I will be happy to respond.