posted by admin on Jan 22
A few of you may possibly have learned of SMART goal setting.
For anybody who haven’t, SMART is an acronym specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. The objective, within a few words, is that all desired goals should be SMART if they are going to be useful at all. There is virtually no purpose setting a goal that is deficient in even one of the five elements. In this write-up, I’m going to talk about how to calculate body fat percentage and how that relates to the “measurable” element.
First, I will state a few things about the “specific” aspect.
A fitness target must be specific in order for it to be measurable. If your main goal is to “lose weight”, that’s pretty much impossible to measure. My main physical fitness objective in 2010 was to decrease my body fat percentage lower than 8% within six months and keep it there through out the entire year. Notice that I utilized body fat ratio, not body weight, as my chosen unit of measurement. I believe body fat percentage is a superior indicator of all round body composition to weight. Someone can be quite brawny as well as at a very low body fat percentage and still be considered “overweight” strictly on BMI, even though they look amazing. In contrast, an individual may be “skinny fat” with a reasonable weight, but very high body fat percentage that shows once they take their shirt off.
I highly recommend utilizing body fat percentage for your measure of body composition.
If your body fat percentage is on point, the body weight will take care of itself. The drawback to using body fat percentage is that it isn’t the easiest thing to evaluate. To acquire a actually exact measurement of body fat percentage, you need sophisticated methods including an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or DEXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) which can be expensive. I evaluate my body fat percentage weekly and I don’t know what you think, but I’m not willing to pay out $50 – $100 weekly to measure my body fat percentage.
Exactly what do I use?
I prefer an electronic body composition scale which measures body fat percentage through bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). BIA sends a small electric current through your body to assess overall body water that it employs to estimate body fat percentage. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly harmless. The disadvantage: it’s not too precise. BIA scales often understate body fat percentage. However, I’m okay with this because I’m more interested in the pattern over time compared to the actual figure.
The key is to keep as many variables constant as you can.
I aim to weigh myself on the same day every week. This doesn’t always happen, but I do usually weigh myself at about the same time of day (in the evening) after working out, showering, and urinating but before eating or drinking . When you’re keeping track of measurements with time, it is vital to manage these variables when utilizing a BIA scale since it relies on body water to gauge body fat percentage. If I were to chug several glasses of drinking water and after that weigh myself again, my body fat reading my increase by 1% or so.
Again, I’m fine with this because I’m not a professional athlete or bodybuilder who needs to be aware of an exact figure. I really want to just make sure I’m in the right ballpark (surely within the single digits, around 8% +/- 1-2%). The good thing about using a BIA scale is the fact that it’s highly affordable. This was a one-time expense of about $60. I ordered mine a few years back and technology has upgraded since that time, and so today you can most likely get a less expensive, more accurate one.
Now for the enjoyment part: keeping track of how well you’re progressing.
As I stated, I generally weigh myself every week… in fact, let’s say once every 5-9 days. If my control variables aren’t appropriate for a weigh in (for example, if I forget to weigh myself prior to eating supper), then I’ll hold off until the day after. I’ve been repeating this for over a year now and keeping track of my figures in an Excel graph. I can’t stress how critical it is to have some kind of visible reinforcement of your development. For me personally, an Excel chart is the most convenient way to get this done. As I said, my focus is on body fat percentage. I don’t really care much about weight. It is just something interesting to track and see how it changes over time as my body fat percentage changes.
I started monitoring my body fat percentage and body weight in September 2009 (the beginning of my “fitness journey”) and I don’t plan to stop… at any time.
The continual visual presentation just might be the strongest resource you can use. The reason for this is that it increases consciousness and this is essential to achieving your goal and then staying on track. There is an unconscious connection with checking your progress that provides you something concrete that’s always in the back of your mind. Believe me, it really works. Every time I assess body fat percentage and check out my spreadsheet, I’m reminded never to let myself go because I don’t want my chart to get out of whack! So, I’m thrilled to say that I attained my body fat goal in 2010.
