is not so effective in burning off calories. In addition, swimming increases LPL, which has the effect of decreasing our core temperature, which in turn can stimulate us to eat more.
The Body Blitz Plan will help you reduce your weight and body fat and boost your confidence to put you in control long-term. It is important to understand however that due to your own individual makeup your body will have an optimum shape it naturally wants to be. The Body Blitz Plan does not promise you false results but it will help you shape, tone and improve the overall appearance of your body – and it will help you lose weight and body fat and keep it off for good!
WHY IS MEASURING BODY FAT IMPORTANT?
When we stand on weighing scales we are actually measuring our total body weight which is made up of muscle tissue (also known as muscle mass or fat-free mass) and fat tissue (also known as fat mass). Muscle is denser than body fat, so if you took a pound of muscle and you took a pound of fat, the pound of fat would take up a lot more space. It is the amount of fat that we have in our bodies that actually affects our body shape and health. The reading we receive from traditional bathroom scales tells us what the total amount of our body weight is – body fat and muscle (and other tissue such as bone) – but it does not tell us how much fat we actually have. It is this excess body fat that is associated with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain types of cancer. By measuring our body fat not only are we monitoring how much of our weight is actually fat but it also gives us an indicator of our health status. Monitoring our percentage body fat actually allows us to impact our health by ensuring we lose body fat as opposed to muscle mass.
Studies have shown that with very low calorie diets, the body will actually lose muscle mass and keep hold of body fat. This means that with some ‘diets’ you may actually increase the amount of body fat you have!
HOW CAN I MEASURE HOW MUCH BODY FAT I HAVE?
Body fat can be measured in a number of ways. One method is with skin fold calipers. The skin folds are generally taken at four sites around the body.
Possibly the most convenient and accurate method however is with body fat monitors. Constructed as a set of bathroom weighing scales, by entering your height and sex and standing on the scales, a safe technique known as bioelectrical impedance analysis will determine your percentage body fat. Replacing bathroom scales with body fat monitors will give a true idea of what is happening inside you – this way you get to see a complete picture of your total body weight, muscle mass and fat mass. Body fat monitors are now available from a wide range of outlets.
HOW MUCH BODY FAT SHOULD WE HAVE?
We all need to have body fat. Too little and we run the risk of decreased fertility and the onset of amenorrhea, a condition where the female periods stop. Too much body fat is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and some cancers. So what exactly are the healthy ranges? The figures shown opposite are broadly accepted as the ideal percentages for body fat.
| Sex | Age 18–39 years | Age 40–59 years | Age 60+ years |
| Males | 8%–20% | 11%–22% | 13%–25% |
| Females | 21%–33% | 23%–34% | 24%–36% |
Source: European Congress of Obesity, 1999
WHAT FAT-LOSS TARGET SHOULD WE AIM FOR?
Changing body fat does take time but the benefits you see will be long-term. A two-to-four percent decrease in body fat over a ten-week period is a sensible and realistic target. Although this may not sound a lot, in real terms this will represent a two-to-four percent decrease in the amount of fat your body is actually carrying with you day in and day out.
RECORDING YOUR PROGRESS
It is good to keep a record of how much body fat you are losing each week so you can see how much progress you are making. Here is what you do:
Weigh yourself and establish your percentage body fat (either with a body fat monitor or with skin fold calipers), or if this is not possible then record your weight and tape measurements only.
Using a tape measure, establish your waist measurement (measure around narrowest part of midriff), your belly button measurement (measure around midriff over belly button) and hip measurement.
Record these measurements at the same time each week.
MEASURING YOURSELF
Body Blitz Progress Chart
FACTORS DETERMINING YOUR SUCCESS
YOUR WILLPOWER
The strength of your willpower is an important factor in how successful you will be at realizing your weight and body fat goals. Generally an individual’s willpower is at its weakest towards the end of the day – perhaps we feel tired or our blood sugars are low. This means that we tend to have less control of our actions at this time and are more likely to overeat or eat all the inappropriate foods. If you are constantly tired and struggling with your weight, you may well be building up extra calories at the end of the day that do not get burnt off. Here are a few questions for you to think about:
1. When am I most physically active?
– between seven a.m. to six p.m.
– after six p.m. to bedtime
2. When do I consume the majority of my food?
– between seven a.m. to six p.m.
– after six p.m. to bedtime
3. When is my willpower at its strongest?
– first thing in the morning
– midday
– mid-afternoon
– evening
Invariably what happens is there is a mismatch between when we need to receive energy from our food and when we are expending energy through our everyday activities. The chart below shows that
