Many people have a goal weight in mind but is that weight a realistic number? By realistic I don't mean can they achieve it I mean when they picked that targeted weight amount did they consider they may possibly lose valuable lean muscle in their quest to simply get to a certain weight? Total Body Weight and Total Body Fat are two different things and when looking to set a weight goal a specific fat loss needs to be the focus first to set a proper overall weight goal so you do lot lose that valuable lean muscle tissue.

Depending on your current body fat percent estimation there are two simple and valid methods of measuring approximate body fat percent. The measuring tape in most cases is recognized as a superior method for measuring for "weight loss" the other is a DEXA Scan* which is the most accurate way to measure true body fat percent. Many people use fat calipers but this tool was designed to only be used on very fit athletic people with low body fat to start with. If you have been tested with calipers and your body fat is not in the true "fitness" range or lower and not done by a qualified person your results could have a 10% or higher variation in the true amount of body fat you are carrying. Most personal trainers do not have the qualifications to do a valid and accurate body fat caliper test and will generally over estimate your body fat when you start working with them and then under estimate after you have worked with them for while to give the illusion you have made better progress than you really have. I personally do not us body fat calipers. I use the most reliable methods where the least about of human error can occur. When someone says 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 & insulates organs and tissues and is the main form of the body's energy storage. The following describes body fat ranges and their associated categories:

Classification Women (% fat)
Essential Fat 10-12% 
Athletes 14-20% 
Fitness 21-24% 
Acceptable 25-31% 
Obese 32% plus 


Classification Men (% fat)
Essential Fat 2-4%
Athletes 6-13%
Fitness 14-17%
Acceptable 18-25%
Obese 25% plus
~American Council on Exercise


Knowing your body fat percentage can also help you determine if your weight loss goals are realistic. Remember, weight loss doesn't always mean fat loss. For example:

Let's say you are a 130 pound woman with 23% body fat, and you goal is to "lose 20 pounds":

Initial body fat: 130 pounds x 0.23 fat = 30 pounds body fat

Lean body mass: 130 Pounds total - 30 pounds fat = 100 pounds or lean body mass (bones, organs etc..)

Goal: 130 pounds - 20 pounds = 110 pounds

As you can see, the goal of losing 20 pounds is not realistic or healthy. At 110 pounds, this woman still requires 100 pounds of lean body mass (bones, organs, etc.), but would only be carrying 10 pounds, 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 pounds x 0.18 = 23 pounds body fat

100 pounds lean body mass + 23 pounds = 123 pounds goal weight

So, for this individual to achieve a lean, but healthy 18% fat, she would need to lose only 7 pounds of fat, reducing her weight from her current 130 pounds to 123 pounds. Losing more than 7 pounds means losing lean body mass (usually metabolically-active muscle tissue), which is clearly not desirable.

So before you decide that you need to "lose 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.

* DEXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry)

This test is used to measure bone density, but it also measures body fat percentage as well as where most of your fat is (as if you didn't know). The facts about DEXA:

• DEXA uses a whole body scanner and two different low-dose x-rays to read bone mass and soft tissue mass.

• It takes about 10-20 minutes to do a body scan

• It provides a high degree of precision with a 2-3 % margin of error.

• This is considered a gold standard for measuring body fat and bone density

• It's painless

If you want true body fat measurements contact me and I can recommend the clinic I use for this The cost is usually about $125-150..