On my new scale there is a function by which
body fat percentage can be determined. I've put off checking this, probably because my husband seemed eager for me to have another set of numbers to track and I get rebellious (he would call it bratty). I should have listened to him. It would have been helpful to have a baseline. I finally checked it today and, friends, the news is not good. I'm at
35%. If I'd checked it when we first tried out the scale, I'd know if my recent slow but steady weight loss was due to losing fat or if I'm also losing lean muscle. The good news is that this is the kick in the butt I've needed to push myself with exercise. My plan was to get to my happy weight
and then start amping up the muscle building. Time to actually use the fitness DVDs I've acquired and see if I can get my body fat percentage down into the "acceptable" range.
So, just as I'm on the verge of getting into the normal range for BMI (and feeling happy about it), I find have another challenge to tackle. I'm in this for health, not necessarily skinny jeans so I need to take this new number in my life as seriously, or more seriously than my weight. Guess the real question is: Can I have MizFit/Michelle Obama type arms by November?
| Description | Women | Men |
|---|
| Essential fat | 10–12% | 2–4% |
| Athletes | 14–20% | 6–13% |
| Fitness | 21–24% | 14–17% |
| Acceptable | 25–31% | 18–25% |
| Obese | 32%+ | 25%+ |
This just in...a
body fat percentage chart that takes age into account:
Women
41-60 yrs | Under fat
23% | Healthy
23-35% | Overweight
35-40% | Obese
40% |
Maybe I was getting a bit dramatic. Still, it was good to increase my motivation with regard to exercise.
~♥~
