BODY FAT AND HEALTH
LEPTIN WEIGHT LOSS PATCH
Being significantly overweight may reduce your life expectancy, contribute to health problems, and
lead to psychological distress. Yet there is a great deal of confusion among the public as to what
constitutes significant obesity and how to correct it.
While many of us check our weight on the bathroom scales daily, we may not be aware that the reading
at our feet is not the best way to determine whether our weight increases or our health risks. The
bathroom scale reading does not tell us how much of our weight consists of muscle and bone and how
much consists of fat. And it doesn’t tell us where we are wearing excess fat – above the belt or below
the belt or when we acquired it.
Being overweight is NOT the same as being overfat. Body weight includes the weight of the lean tissues
– muscles, internal organs, and bone – and the water they contain, in addition to body fat. So a
muscular person might actually weigh more than a less muscular person of the same gender, age, and
height even though the more-muscular person will have less body fat.
Muscle is also heavy; it contains water in addition to muscle cells. When you start an exercise program,
you may find that you actually weigh a bit more than you used to. Muscles, especially the large ones in
the legs, can increase in size with regular exercise, easily adding 5 pounds or more to your weight. But,
pound for pound, muscle takes up less space than fat, so you appear thinner even though you weigh
more! Plus you’re healthier, happier and sexier. Stay off the bathroom scales.
Fat on the other hand, does not weigh as much as water or muscle. You have to accumulate larger
amounts of fat than of muscle or water to gain the same amount of weight. That’s why you appear slim
when you gain weight from added muscle but you look larger when you gain fat weight. Does it really
make a difference whether the extra weight is from fat or from muscle or water? Absolutely!
In looking at the way weight relates to health, medical researchers use a measurement called the body
mass index or BMI, because it reflects the amount of fat on the body better than weight does. The BMI
is almost as good at estimating how much fat you have as are actual measurements of body fat.
Researchers have found that more deaths occur each year among people who have a high BMI
compared with those who have an optimal BMI. The amount of body fat you have is a much better
predictor of your health status that is your body weight. It is much more important to know how “fat”
you are than how much you weigh.
To calculate your BMI you need to know your weight in pounds and your height in inches. First,
multiply you height times your height. Then, divide you weight by that number. Finally, multiply by
703.1 equals BMI. Example, if you are 64 inches tall and weigh 120 pounds, multiply 64 times 64, which
gives you 4,096. Then, divide 120 by 4,096, which gives you approximately .03, multiply .03 by 703.1,
which gives you a BMI of approximately 21. What is your BMI? Is your BMI in the healthy or unhealthy
range?