Looking at our weight has been the most common way to define health and wellbeing of an individual for so long. But our body contains so much more than the weight we see on the scale. Ever heard of BMI? What about BMR? Body Fat Percentage? Lean Body Mass? Pretty sure you have, but if you feel like you might be missing on something, and want to understand those phrases better, tag along, we’ll break down some of the ingredients in just a bit.
However, before we drill through the phrases, I would like to share with you my experience with all the weight and height shenanigans. It’s pretty often I hear the phrases “I need to loose wait to suit the criteria”, “My height is so and so, what is the ideal weight for me?” and other of the same type. There is no right answer for those questions !
The weight of your body is just a number on a scale, it’s all the sub-weight materials that create the answer if you should change your life style, not your weight.
Weight is the summation of different anatomic parts of the body, and has a direct effect on some of them. Now that we’ve cleared that of the way, we may begin our journey through some of the main aspects of body weight ingredients.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Maybe the most common of them all, usually comes on the form of “I weigh ‘X’ and my height is ‘Y’, should I gain/loose weight?”.
So what exactly is BMI? Metric speaking, it’s your weight in kilograms divided by you height squared in meters. The normal BMI score range is between 18.6 and 25, and according to BMI anyone under 18.6 is underweight and over 25 is overweight, with varying levels of obesity along the way, depending on the exact score.
Let me tell you this, I really do not like this method of measuring the body. Should someone be underweight, that should raise a flag, and further tests should be done, including blood tests, before they should be recommended to gain weight, it is very possible that they are perfectly healthy and do not fit into that formula. On the other end of the chart, I am considered overweight and unhealthy according to the chart, my score (while writing this article) is 27.8, almost 3 points above the health max score, so I am considered unhealthy.
To conclude BMI, it is very common but reflects the body very poorly, I do not use this score with my clients.
Body Fat Percentage (BF%)
Fat has got a very bad reputation in recent years, it is an unjust reputation if you ask me. Each and everyone of us has fat, and it’s not a bad thing. Fat is a base material in the human anatomy and is used through different processes and mechanism in the body. We need fat, but having too much or too little of it, can be a serious health hazard.
So what is a normal amount of fat? There is no one true answer to fit all! depending on your gender, and your age, your BF% can vary. In general, males would have less body fat compared to females, and youngsters would have less body fat compared to older ages.
There are many tables regarding fat percentage, some are more accurate than others, some use labels that are hurtful and not scientific, but overall, most are showing the same data. If you are not sure if your fat percentage suits your body and age, you can consult a professional from the field, and ask them to show you the table they were using to determine your condition.
The lower BF% we have, the more Lean Body Mass (our next subject) our body has, meaning our weight is mostly muscle and not fat. The ideal condition is having more muscle mass than fat, your body weight, for that matter, has no relevance.
Lean Body Mass (LBM)
Muscles. No right and wrong here, no chart of recommendations, the goal is simply to have enough. What is enough? Well, that depends on your overall goal,
enough can be the right amount to keep your body moving and performing daily activities without reaching early fatigue, while maintaining good BF%.
Bone Mass
Let’s break a myth to begin with, there is no such thing as heavy bones. On average, for women bone mass should be about 2.4 Kg, and for men about 3.3 Kg. As with BF%, bone mass is gender related, however, unlike BF%, it is also dependent on body weight. The more you weigh, the bigger bone mass you should have.
Why is it important to keep track on your bone mass? It could indicate an issue or a bone related disease. Let’s say you are a man, who weighs around 80 Kg, and have a bone mass of 3.1 Kg, or if you are a woman 70 Kg with a bone mass of 2.35 Kg, this is a red flag. Low bone mass might indicate osteopenia or osteoporosis, or it could also be an error with the measuring machine, non the less, I would refer away to do a bone density test to make sure there is nothing to worry about. A low bone mass could result with an unwanted injury, and set back the whole process.
Bone mass is health related, and can cause a lot of issues if overlooked. Make sure to have it checked regularly along with the rest of the characteristics.
Water Percentage
As most of you had probably learned in biology class during middle school or elementary school, most of our body consists from water. Water are a crucial ingredient in our body, many physiological processes depend on our body water. While the range differs between men and women, I like to remind people that about 60% of our body is water, so both males and females should have that, or close to it.
Getting some real numbers, for females, the range for water percentage should be around 45 – 60% while males should be 50 – 65%. There is no specific recommendation for people to drink, there is the 2 litter recommendation, but if you are staying within a hot environment you should probably drink more. If you stay in a cold environment and hardly loose any liquids, you might not require those amounts.
Stay hydrated is not just a motto, it would actually help you feel better and allow your body to operate on the max.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
This is basically, the amount of calories you burn each day in order to perform basic functions such as breathing, thinking, digesting, maintaining your muscles working, etc. There are 3 main formulas to calculate the BMR for each body, 2 are pretty general and do not require too much data on the person, and one that is a bit more specific and uses also the BF%.
We’ll start with the original formula of Harris Benedict, for men: 88.362 + (13.397 × weight in kg) + (4.799 × height in cm) – (5.677 × age in years), and for women: 447.593 + (9.247 × weight in kg) + (3.098 × height in cm) – (4.330 × age in years). As can be shown, for the same sex, same age, same height and same weight, the BMR would be the same, even though one individual would have slightly more muscles than the other, which would require more calories for the BMR.
Using Benedict’s formula, Mifflin St Jeor revised it and created a slightly more accurate formula. For men: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) – (5 × age in years) + 5 and for women: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) – (5 × age in years) – 161. Still no use of the LBM, which would bring the same results for the case described above.
A more accurate formula, in my opinion, belongs to Katch-McArdle. This formula takes into consideration the BF% which in reverse would bring the LBM, the formula as is follows: 370 + 21.6 * ( 1 – BF%) * (weight in kg). Choose which ever formula you think suits you, note that the result should be changed should you live a more active life, and know the calorie intake you require for your goal.
Of course there are many aspects that should be taken into consideration, aspects that do not belong to this article, such as blood pressure, heart rate, blood tests etc. Those should be tested every once in a while as they can reflect issues that are non related to the external body view.
To conclude, your body weight is a result of more than one variable, the weight it self does not reflect merely enough data on your health, and therefor should be inspected closely and broken down into the variables that build it up.
Always bare in mind the example of two individuals with the same height and weight, one has less BF% while the other has more BF%, they are not in the same health state, and probably do not share the same fitness shape level. Do not look at your body as numbers for weight and height, you’d only confuse yourself with will to loose weight instead of loosing fat, or gaining more LBM. The digits on the scale do not represent your health state, you have to dig deeper than that to see the real picture.
Stop trying to fit into BMI tables, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not fitting into one. My current state (year 2020) is almost 3 marks above the top bar for a normal BMI, and I’m aiming to gain even more weight in the coming future. I can assure you, I’m healthy, even though I weigh more than some table says I should.
Always make sure to consult a professional when planning body related changes. Nutrition must be discussed with a certified nutritionist and exercise must be discussed with a certified physical fitness instructor. Do not take someone’s advise because it has worked for them, and do not consult uncertified individuals regarding matter concerning your health. if you have any question or found an error in this article, let me know. Stay Safe!