Body Fat Percentage Guide and Chart

Body fat measurements and the measuring tape are recognized as superior methods for measur-

ing “weight loss”. When one declares that they want to “lose weight”, what they often mean is

that they want to lose fat. So, now that you’ve had your body fat percentage measured, what does

the number really mean?

First, your body fat percentage is simply the percentage of fat your body contains. If you are 150

pounds and 10% fat, it means that your body consists of 15 pounds fat and 135 pounds lean body

mass (bone, muscle, organ tissue, blood and everything else).

A certain amount of fat is essential to bodily functions. Fat regulates body temperature, cushions

Lean body mass: 130# total - 30# fat = 100# lean body mass (bones, organs and all else)

Goal: 130# - 20# = 110 pounds

As you can see, the goal of losing 20 pounds is not realistic or healthy. At 110 pounds, this wom-

an still requires 100# of lean body mass (bones, organs, etc.), but would only be carrying 10#, or

only 9% body fat. From the chart above, you can see that this is a dangerously low percentage.

A better goal might be for the woman to reduce her body fat from 23% to 18%. In this case:

130# x 0.18 = 23 # body fat

 100#leanbodymass+23#=123#goalweight

So, for this individual to achieve a lean, but healthy

18% fat, she would need to lose only 7 pounds

weight”, remember to consider that “weight”

consists of both lean body mass and body fat.

Try to keep your weight loss goals realistic, and

remember, keep the calorie-burning muscle,

and lose only the fat.

GeneralBodyFatPercentageCategories