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How to Improve Your Body Composition
DIR By: LightMove
Date: December 2, 2021, 2:45 am
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Many people dread stepping onto the bathroom scale.
It can be very frustrating to exercise and eat a healthy diet
only to see the number on the scale stay the same.
However, just because your body weight isn’t changing doesn’t
mean that your hard work isn’t paying off.
What is Body Composition?
While the scale will tell you how much you weigh, it doesn’t
tell you what your body is made or composed of.
Body composition refers to everything in your body, split up
into different compartments. Two compartments are commonly used:
fat mass and fat-free mass. Fat mass refers to all the fat
tissue in your body. Fat-free mass is everything else, including
muscle, organs, bone and fluids.
If both change at once, you might not see any changes in body
weight. For example, if you start exercising, you may re-gain
two pounds of lost muscle in the first month. At the same time,
you may lose two pounds of stored body fat due to burning more
calories through exercise and hopefully changes in your diet.
Since your fat-free mass increased by the same amount as your
fat mass decreased, your body weight that registers on your home
scale won’t change. In fact, if you only focus on the number on
the scale, you may become discouraged or frustrated because on
the surface it is telling you that your program “isn’t working.”
This is one example of why knowing your body composition is much
more useful than knowing just your body weight.
How Can You Assess It?
There are several methods to assess your body composition. Some
are very simple and easy to use, while others are advanced and
complicated. The most accurate methods are usually expensive and
only used in research or medical centers. This includes DEXA
Scan and hydrostatic underwater weighing.
However, there are some simpler and less expensive methods you
can get access to that can be very accurate and give you an idea
about whether your body composition is improving. This includes
a technology we use at BodyPedia called bioelectrical impedance
analysis (BIA).
BIA sends small micro-electrical currents through your body to
see how much your body resists the current. The various tissues
in your body (fat, muscle, bone, organ, etc.) allow the current
to pass at various speeds. This information is then used in a
mathematical algorithm to determine your body composition and
specifically your body fat percentage.
The BodyPedia smart scale has proven to be the first accurate
smart scale that can be used at home. More than 10,000 tests
comparing with medical devices show BodyPedia Smart Scales have
around 97% correlation to the Gold Standard method
(DXA).
HTML https://bodypedia.ytmfinnovation.com/
How to Improve Your Body Composition
Since your body composition is made up of fat mass and fat-free
mass, you can improve it by decreasing your body fat, restoring
lost muscle mass or both. Any of these changes will lead to a
decrease in your body fat percentage, which is viewed as a
single number that describes your body composition.
Most people know that diet and exercise can affect body weight
and body composition. However, their impact isn’t always simple.
Nonetheless, a good place to start is with maximizing both your
nutrition and physical exercise.
Eating To Maximize Body Composition
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First, you should consider the number and types of calories you
are eating. Although they aren’t the only thing that matters,
the number and type of calories you eat are the foundation.
In simple terms, if you consistently eat more calories than your
body uses, you will gain weight — typically as fat. Likewise, if
you consistently eat fewer calories than your body uses, you
will lose weight.
It can also be helpful to think about the types of food you tend
to overeat. Often, they are processed foods, such as ice cream,
pizza and chips, that are highly rewarding to the brain. These
foods contain many calories and don’t usually keep you
satisfied. This is partly due to their low protein and fiber
content.
After considering how many calories you eat, think about whether
you are eating enough protein and fiber. Protein is important
for everyone, but you may need more if you are active or trying
to restore lost muscle or lose fat.
Keeping your calories, protein and fiber in check is a good
place to start if you want to improve your body composition and
health.
Physical Activity versus Exercise
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People often confuse physical activity with exercise. Physical
activity is the movement of your body when you perform things
like walking, lifting the groceries out of your car, and
standing while you make dinner. The confusing part comes in when
the American College of Sports Medicine recommends 3-5 hours per
week of “physical activity”. Yet, by definition, this does NOT
mean 3-5 hours per week of exercise.
Exercise, on the other hand, differs from physical activity
because it is designed to make a change in your body that is
sustainable. That’s why our exercise program at BodyPedia is
designed in such a way to bring about a measurable improvement
in your body composition and in the process leave you with a
leaner and healthier body.
In fact, if your exercise is going to be effective in making a
change in your body overall, your muscles need to be challenged
by the exercise and yet be allowed to rest and recover between
exercise sessions in order to encourage your body to improve.
That’s why you actually need less “exercise” than most people
think to lose weight and make improvements in your body
composition.
Other Factors
Additional factors beyond nutrition and exercise may affect body
composition. There is some evidence that people who have poorer
sleep quality have worse body composition than those with good
sleep quality.
Alcohol consumption is another potential component of body
composition. Not only does alcohol contain calories, but it also
temporarily lowers your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) for up to 4
days after consumption, both leading to fat gain.
And finally, there are some factors that affect body composition
that you simply cannot change. For example, both age and
genetics impact body composition. However, since you cannot
control these factors, it is probably best to focus on what you
can control, like nutrition, exercise and sleep.
The Bottom Line
Stepping on the scale will only tell you how much you weigh. You
can get a more accurate picture by taking into account your body
composition, or your fat mass and muscle mass.
This is why we recommend our clients to check and analyze their
body composition so that they stay on track with their goals and
maintain a positive body composition for easier weight
management.
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