How to Lose Fat When Your Body Fat Percentage Is Over 50 Percent

Weight loss requires willpower and dedication, but if you have a lot of weight to lose, it's especially daunting. When your body fat percentage is over 50 percent, you're likely looking at months or possibly years of work to get the physique you want, depending on how much weight loss you plan to achieve. However, you'll likely see noticeable results within the first two months, which can motivate you to keep going. Talk to your doctor before you start on your weight-loss and fitness journey; she can offer guidance to address any underlying health conditions to keep you safe as you get fit and lose body fat.

Starting Your Fat Loss Journey

Exactly how much fat you need to lose depends on your current weight. If you're currently considerably overweight or obese, you should aim for significant weight loss; if you're not significantly overweight, but have a high body fat percentage, aim for a smaller weight loss to help improve your body composition. Your target body fat percentage varies depending on your age and gender; women should generally aim for 16 to 31 percent, while men should try for 10 to 22 percent.

To lose fat, you need to burn more calories than you take in from food and drinks so that your body will release and burn fat to make up the difference. Aim for a loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week, which you can achieve by cutting 500 to 1,000 calories from your daily diet. Following a healthy diet and exercise program, you should be able to lose about 1 percent of your body fat each month, according to the American Council on Exercise.

Use an online calculator to estimate your daily calorie needs, so you can subtract the 500 to 1,000 calories for weight loss. Keep in mind, though, that an online calculator just provides a calorie burn estimate based on your age, gender and size, and it doesn't take into account your body composition. Because fat burns fewer calories than muscle, and you have a higher-than-average proportion of fat, an online calculator might overestimate your calorie needs. Use the calorie target from an online calculator as a starting point, but expect to adjust your calorie intake slightly as you progress until you find an intake that allows you to lose 1 to 2 pounds weekly.

Lowering Body Fat Percentage With Diet

You'll see the fastest results -- and achieve a healthier body composition -- if you adjust your diet to promote fat loss and retain muscle tissue. Make sure you're eating plenty of protein, which provides the amino acids you need to repair and build new muscle tissue. Plus, including protein in your meals also makes them more filling, so you'll feel satisfied even on a calorie-restricted diet. A mix of lean meats, nuts and seeds, dairy and eggs, lentils and beans, and fatty fish supply beneficial protein to help you shed fat. Round out the rest of your diet with whole grains, healthy fats -- like olive oil, flaxseed and avocado -- and fruits and veggies.

Experiment with different flavors on your fat loss journey, so you can find a selection of healthy recipes you truly enjoy. Hitting your calorie target -- not micromanaging your carb, fat and protein intakes -- is the most important aspect of fat loss, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study authors looked at the effects of four different types of calorie-restricted diets -- each with different proportions of fat, protein and carbohydrates -- and found they were all equally effective for weight loss. Ultimately, you'll get better results if you find a healthy diet you can stick to, rather than feeling forced into a diet you dislike and eventually give up.

Increase Your Fat Burn With Cardio

Getting more activity is key for fat loss -- heart-pumping aerobics increase your calorie demands for the day, and each workout will help you melt away fat. Find a few aerobics you enjoy -- for example, water aerobics, rowing, elliptical, brisk walking or running -- and cycle through your favorite activities throughout the week to avoid boredom.

If you're working out on a cardio machine, like an elliptical, don't feel obligated to stay in the "fat-burning" heart rate zone, which usually requires that you work at a low intensity. You'll actually burn more calories if you push yourself to work out at a moderate or vigorous intensity, which ultimately burns more fat and calories than staying in the fat-burning zone.

Improve Body Composition With Strength Training

Incorporating strength training into your routine also helps you lose fat. Strength training builds muscle -- a highly metabolically-active type of tissue -- so you're able to burn more calories throughout the day. It also helps you retain muscle as you lose fat, which will help ensure you're at a healthy body fat percentage when you hit your goal weight.

Schedule strength-training workouts into your routine twice or three times weekly, and make each session a full-body workout. Consider hiring a professional to conduct a fitness assessment and design a program for you. At a higher-than-average body fat percentage, some exercises might be especially difficult and require modification, at least until you get stronger and lose some body fat. A personalized program will get you the fastest results with the least risk of injury.

source by : http://www.livestrong.com/article/429085-what-is-the-fastest-way-to-lose-body-fat-when-your-body-is-50-percent-fat/

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How to Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage Easily & Accurately

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT WORKS FOR CALCULATING BODY FAT PERCENTAGE AND WHAT DOESN’T, THEN YOU WANT TO READ THIS ARTICLE.

The first time I tried to calculate my body fat percentage, I was slightly confused.

how to calculate body fat percentage for men

I know that bodybuilders compete at 4 to 5% body fat, so I figured I was around 7%.

What would you guess my “score” was?

Would you believe…

11%?!

That’s the number my friend and I were getting with our “bodybuilder approved” multiple-point caliper test (that we did several times to confirm).

I weighed about 184 pounds, so according to these calipers, I was still carrying about 20 pounds of fat.

To put that in perspective, here’s what just one pound of fat looks like in terms of volume:

1 pound fat example

You couldn’t pinch more than skin anywhere on my body, so where as all this phantom fat hiding, exactly?

And considering what it took to get this lean, if this really was 11% body fat, I guess 7% is just impossible?

Well, quandary in hand, I set out to find an answer.

And in this article, I want to share what I’ve learned, including…

What body fat percentage is.

The pros and cons of popular ways of calculating body fat percentage.

How to determine your body fat percentage with a fair amount of accuracy.

What is more helpful to track than body fat percentage.

And more.

What Is Body Fat Percentage?

Your body fat percentage is the percentage of your weight that is fat.

For example, if you weigh 150 pounds and have 15 pounds of fat, your body fat percentage is 10% (15 / 150).

Your body fat changes when you gain or lose fat, of course, but it also changes when you gain or lose muscle.

If you used proper diet and weightlifting to increase your weight from 150 to 170 pounds, for example, and gained just 5 more pounds of fat, your new body fat percentage would be about 12% (20 / 170).

If you then stopped lifting for a year and lost, let’s say, 10 pounds of muscle but no fat, your body fat percentage would still be about 12% (20 / 160).

So, your body fat percentage ebbs and flows as you change your body composition.

Why Body Fat Percentage Is More Important Than BMI

Many people mix up body fat percentage and BMI, but they’re completely different.

BMI stands for “body mass index” and it’s a numeric expression of the relationship between your height and weight.

You calculate your BMI by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared.


For example, here’s my BMI in the picture I shared earlier:

184 (pounds) x 0.45 = 82.8 (kilograms)

74 (inches) x 0.025 = 1.85 (meters)

1.85 x 1.85 = 3.4225

82.8 / 3.4225 = 24.2 (BMI)

And here’s how BMI values are correlated with body weight status:

Underweight = <18.5

Normal weight = 18.5–24.9

Overweight = 25–29.9

Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

As you can see, according to the BMI measurement, I was borderline overweight.

Silly, right?

Well, that’s the problem with BMI: it’s useful for analyzing broad populations but not so useful for assessing individual fitness.

BMI is useful for analyzing broad populations but not for assessing individual fitness.
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Body fat percentage is much better for this purpose.

What’s a Healthy Body Fat Percentage for Men and Women?

As much as it’s despised, body fat is much more than a layer of ugly, oily flesh.

It plays many vital roles in the body, including protecting organs from damage, maintaining body temperature, producing hormones and other chemicals, and much more.

That’s why there is a limit to how lean you can get before your health declines.

What is that limit, though?

Well, here’s how various body fat ranges are classified for both men and women:

CLASSIFICATION	MEN	WOMEN
Essential Body Fat	2 – 4%	9 – 11%
Athlete	6 – 13%	14 – 20%
Fit	14 – 17%	21 – 24%
Normal	18 – 25%	25 – 31%
Overweight/Obese	26%+	32%+

Unless you’re a competitive bodybuilder and know exactly what you’re doing, don’t try to reach the Essential Body Fat range.

Your hormones can implode, your organs can fail, and the road to recovery can be quite long.

The lower end of the athletic range is the “shredded” look so many people are after these days.

Anyone can get here with proper dieting and exercise, but it’s very tough to maintain for long periods of time.

Maintenance of this look requires strict control of caloric intake, which can be particularly hard if you’re fighting against your body’s natural set point.

The “fit” range looks healthy and athletic but lacks the definition and razzle-dazzle of lower body fat levels.

I generally recommend that people don’t exceed the fit range. It slows down muscle growth and makes subsequent efforts to get lean long and grueling.

The middle range of normal is where you begin to look decidedly “overweight,” and health problems can begin as you move into the obese range.

If you want to feel good and reduce your risk of chronic disease, you don’t want to get this fat.

How to Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage

There are quite a few ways of calculating your body fat percentage and you can get quite a few different results.

In my case, the multiple-point caliper test said 11%, but the handheld device (which we’ll talk about soon) said 8%, and a different single-point caliper said 6%.

What gives?

Body Composition Scales & Handheld Devices

The simplest way to measure your body fat percentage is with a scale or handheld device.

These instruments use a method called bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), which involves measuring your body’s resistance to a light electrical current.

Muscle conducts electricity well because it’s over 70% water and fat doesn’t because it holds much less water. Thus, the more resistant the body is to an electrical current, the fatter it must be.

That sounds reasonable enough but there are serious problems with BIA…

Electricity will take the path of least resistance.

As the current passes through your body, it will avoid fat stores for tissues that are easier to traverse. (Internal tissues will be chosen over subcutaneous fat, for example.)

Making matters worse is the fact that two-electrode devices (like most scales and handhelds) skip entire portions of your body.

Foot-to-foot scales miss your entire torso and hand-to-hand devices miss the lower half of your body.

As you can imagine, this corrupts the results.

Another problem with BIA is it uses mathematical equations to turn raw readings into body fat percentages and these equations can be fundamentally flawed.

You see, when a company develops a BIA device, they calibrate it using another imperfect method of measuring body fatness like hydrostatic weighing.

There are several steps involved:

• Measuring the body fat of a large group of people with the “control” method.
• Measuring them again with the BIA device.
• Comparing the readings.
• Developing an equation to predict BIA results based on height, weight, gender, and other variables.

This could work if the control method’s readings were accurate, but they’re often not.

That is, many companies are calibrating their BIA devices to conform to incorrect calculations of body fat percentage.

Hyrdrostatic weighing is most frequently used for BIA benchmarking, and studies show it can be off by as much as 6% for various reasons relating to ethnicity, body weight, hydration status, and more.

If 6% off doesn’t sound too bad to you, realize that when I’m talking error rates in this article, I’m talking in absolute terms, not relative.

In other words, someone at 10% body fat may register at 16% with hydrostatic weighing.

Body conditions can dramatically influence readings.

Test your body fat with BIA when you’re dehydrated and you’ll read abnormally high due to lower conductivity.

Test after you eat and you’ll see the opposite effect–you’ll read abnormally low. (In one study, being fed reduced readings by 4.2%.)

Research shows the body is more conductive after exercise, so if you test after a workout, you’ll get another artificially low reading.

These are some of the reasons why scientists have said that consumer-level BIA devices aren’t suitable for accurately estimating body fat percentage.

What about using one for tracking changes to your body fat over time, though?

If BIA were at least consistently inaccurate, that would work, right?

Sure…but it’s just too all over the place even for that.

Readings are inconsistently inaccurate because they’re influenced by too many things that you can’t easily control, making these machines more or less useless.

Body Fat Calipers & Skinfold Testing

Skinfold testing uses calipers to measure the thickness of your skin at various points on your body.

The measurements are added together and fed through a couple of equations that ultimately give you a body fat percentage.

You probably already see where this can go wrong.

Namely, if you pinch too little skin, you’ll read lower than you are. Too much and you’ll read higher.
Unfortunately pinching perfectly isn’t a guarantee of accuracy, though, due to bad equations.
Case in point:

In one study, skinfold testing was off by an average of 6%, with some measurements up to 10% higher or 15% lower than reality.

In another study, skinfold testing produced measurements that ranged from 5% too low to 3% too high. This study conducted with bodybuilders demonstrated similar error rates.

The upside to skinfold testing is some methods are more accurate than others and lend themselves well to tracking changes to body fat levels over time.

We’ll talk more about this soon.

Pictures and the Mirror

This is the simplest and most obvious way to guesstimate your body fat percentage.

Most people around certain body fat percentages look similar…if they have similar amounts of muscle.

If they don’t, though, then the same body fat percentage can look quite different on two different physiques.

For example, a 160-pound guy at 10% body fat has 16 pounds of fat, and a 190-pound guy at 10% has only 3 pounds more fat but quite a bit more muscle, giving him a dramatically different look.

Here’s a good visual of this:

lean body mass calculator

Both guys are around 10% body fat, but the one on the left has a good 20 to 25 pounds of muscle on his skinny fat neighbor.

Now, if you’re still reading this, there’s a good chance you’re into working out and have more muscle than the average guy or gal.

If that’s the case, then the following images will help you estimate your approximate body fat percentage.

Body Fat Chart for Men

As you can see, the coveted “six pack” emerges around 10% body fat, ab/core vascularity becomes visible around 8%, and the “carved out of stone” look requires about 6% or less.

Body Fat Chart for Women

The additional fat that women carry in their breasts, hips, thighs, and butt accounts for the higher body fat ranges.

As you can see, 10% in men is relatively lean but in women, it’s competition lean.
Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA)

DEXA is a uses a full-body X-ray to help calculate your body fat percentage.

The scientific basis of the method is fat and fat-free mass absorb X-ray energy differently, which allows each element to be isolated and measured.

You might expect it to be highly accurate, and in fact many people believe DEXA readings are unerring, but research shows otherwise.

They can be just as inaccurate as any other method we’ve discussed so far.

For example, in these two studies individual error rates using DEXA were as high as 4%. In another study, DEXA was off by 8 to 10%.

This helps explain why many bodybuilders in contest shape have been perplexed by DEXA readings of anywhere from 6 to 10%.

Think DEXA is the ‘gold standard’ of body fat calculation? Think again…
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There are several reasons for DEXA’s fallibility.

• Results can differ between machines, both from the same and different manufacturers.
• Accuracy is affected by gender, body size, body fatness, and even disease state.
• Different machines use different algorithms to interpret the raw data from body scans, and some are better than others.
• The type of X-ray used (fan or pencil beam) influences the accuracy of the test.
• How hydrated you are during the scan can greatly affect the results.

So, as with other methods like BIA and skinfold testing, DEXA scan can give an accurate calculation of your body fat percentage, but it can also be quite off.

Bod Pod

The Bod Pod is a machine that works similarly to hydrostatic weighing, but uses air instead of water.

You sit in a sealed chamber and sensors measure the amount of air your body displaces. Mathematical formulas are then used to translate the readings into body composition statistics.

We already know how inaccurate hydrostatic weighing can be, and unfortunately, the Bod Pod seems to be even worse.

Its accuracy is affected by more variables like facial hair, moisture, body temperature, and even the tightness of the clothing worn.

In one study, Bod Pod readings were off by as much as 15%. In other studies, error rates of 5 to 6% were seen.

This helped explain for me some of the rather shocking Bod Pod readings I’ve seen working with others.

I’ve come across dozens of people in my travels whose Bod Pod measurements were easily double their actual body fat percentages (you don’t need more than eyeballs to know that a guy is around 10%, not 20%).

The Most Accurate Way to Calculate Body Fat Percentage

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably wondered how scientists were able to determine the error rates of various testing methods.

What were they comparing BIA, DEXA, Bod Pod, hydrostatic weighing, and skinfold results against to check accuracy?

What’s the true “gold standard” of body fat calculation?

Well, it’s a method known as a “4-compartment analysis, which involves using several testing methods to, piece by piece, separate body weight into four categories:

• Bone
• Water
• Muscle tissue
• Fat mass

Hyrostatic weighing is used to measure body density, deuterium dilution is used to measure total body water, and DEXA is used to measure total bone mass.

The data collected from each of these test is then manipulated with various equations and the result is a consistently accurate measurement of body fat percentage.

This is nice to know but of not real use to us because, well, it requires a team of scientists.

Fortunately, though, there is a method of calculating and tracking body fat percentage that I feel is accurate and consistent enough to warrant our attention.

How I Measure and Track My Body Fat Percentage

I track changes in my body fat percentage with calipers, a scale, a measuring tape, and the mirror.

Here’s how I do it…

I weigh myself daily and calculate an average every 7 to 10 days.

Your weight can fluctuate from day to day due to things you can’t see like water retention, glycogen storage, and bowel movements.

This is why you don’t want to put too much stock in daily weight measurements.

Weekly weight averages are much more useful because they give you a truer picture of what’s happening.

If your 7- or 10-day average is going up, you’re gaining weight. If it’s going down, you’re losing weight.
So, weigh yourself every day first thing in the morning after the bathroom and before food or water.
Record these daily weights and take an average every 7 to 10 days (sum the daily weights and divide by the number of days).
Watch those averages and you won’t need to fret over temporary movements up or down.

The Bottom Line on Calculating Body Fat Percentage

Many people love to sweet brag about their (supposed) body fat levels, but the only way to know your body fat percentage with absolute certainty is to remove all the fat from your body and weigh it.

And I doubt even the most narcissistic of the bunch are going to volunteer for that.

So with autopsy off the table and 4-compartment analysis out of reach for most of us, here’s the bottom line:

Body fat calculations themselves aren’t as important as how they’re changing over time.


This is why I don’t bother with inconvenient and expensive testing methods like DEXA or the Bod Pod.

You may or may not get an accurate reading, so why bother?

Instead, you can just use your weight, skinfold results, waist measurement, and pictures, and know exactly what’s happening with your body.

 What’s your take on how to calculate body fat percentage? Have anything else to share? Let me know in the comments below!

Source by : https://legionathletics.com/how-to-calculate-body-fat/

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How To Lose Body Fat Now: The Most Effective Methods Explained

Just how much body fat should be lost will depend on one's goals. Let's examine the most effective ways the severely overweight through advanced trainer can lose fat.

Losing body fat is not the easiest of propositions; just ask anyone trying to lose that last ten pounds. It often seems as if the more persistent a person is, the harder this stubborn body fat is to lose. Whether your goal is to get into top shape for a bodybuilding contest or to look good for the beach, fat loss is arguably the biggest incentive to train.

But just how much body fat should be lost to achieve the kind of definition that accentuates the separation between muscle groups, and highlights that all-important abdominal area? It really depends on one's goals.

An extreme level of conditioning is needed for bodybuilding purposes, while a smaller reduction is often all it takes to reveal a nice "beach body." A certain amount of body fat is needed for survival purposes—around 3-4 percent for males and slightly higher for females—with higher percentages (around 10 percent for males and 15 percent for females) deemed within the healthy, acceptable range.

Losing the last 10 or so pounds of body fat is generally a hard thing to do, and the reasons for this are many and varied. Losing even more is, as would be expected, even harder. The best ways to lose fat are often dependant upon the level one is at, so it is best to plan accordingly.

Let us examine the most effective ways the severely overweight through to the advanced trainer can lose unsightly body fat.

THE MOST EFFECTIVE FAT-LOSS METHODS

The following methods can be used together or separately, depending on the goals one has, or the fat-loss stage they are at. Guidelines will be given (see "What to Do and When" section below).

1.EXERCISE MODERATELY WITH AEROBICS & WEIGHTS, GRADUALLY INCREASING THE INTENSITY AS FAT IS LOST

If you're severely overweight, it is probably best to start your fat-burning phase with low-intensity aerobics and weight training, to ensure your body is not placed under undue stress at this early stage. When significantly overweight (over 25 percent body fat in males and 30 percent in females), it is best to work moderately as a way in which to gradually ease into a higher-intensity program.

Moderate aerobics are likly to burn a greater amount of body fat.

Moderate aerobics are likely to burn a greater amount of body fat if the intensity is kept at around 70 percent of maximum heart rate, and taken beyond the 30-minute mark (with one hour being the eventual goal).

With weight training, high repetitions with moderate weights would work best for an obese client during the initial stages of training. It is important to remember that lower-intensity weight training and aerobics should both be done in the same program to maximize results.

Walking is a perfect, low impact aerobic activity for anyone who is obese. For weight training, all body parts should be targeted with basic exercises that work larger muscles.

2.GRADUALLY CUT BACK ON ALL BAD FATS, WHILE STRATEGICALLY CUTTING BACK ON CARBOHYDRATES

It has been shown that fat intake of the wrong kind will result in increased fat gains. This stands to reason, as the body will typically burn carbohydrates for fuel and use protein for repair. Therefore, it makes sense to cut back on bad fat while increasing the good type.

Good fats such as the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids will actually have a fat-burning effect, as they enhance metabolic function (the metabolic rate is an indicator of how the body uses stored energy). Their use—as opposed to the saturated bad type found in meats and hard at room temperature—should be encouraged.

Strategically cutting back on carbohydrates means eating specific carbs at certain times to achieve a fat-burning effect. Complex carbohydrates will generally maximize the fat-burning effect because they stimulate the metabolism without causing the outpouring of insulin, which causes greater fat storage.

Complex carbs include brown rice, beans, oats, and potatoes, and their use is to be encouraged. However, the short-burst simple-sugar carbohydrates are to be avoided during a fat loss phase, as they can cause a large insulin spike and resultant fat gains. They are also concentrated, and generally higher in calories.

A third type of carbohydrate, fiber, which can be found in high-wheat foods and certain fruits and vegetables, is an important one for fat loss because it increases feelings of fullness and pushes fat through the system to be eliminated.

Best times to eat complex carbohydrates for fat loss are at all meals before 6:00 p.m. Simple carbohydrates can be eaten directly after training, as the body will more readily store them as glycogen, not fat, at this stage. For general health, the recommended intake for fiber is 30 grams per day. For fat loss, an additional 10 grams is advised.

3.MIX UP AEROBIC SESSIONS

For variety—to eliminate boredom and encourage adherence—it is worthwhile to do a range of aerobic activities. These various activities will also have differing fat-burning effects. Combined, they may stimulate the metabolism to greater heights, therefore enhancing fat loss on a larger scale.

4.EXERCISE AEROBICALLY AFTER WEIGHT TRAINING OR FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

One school of thought has it that training aerobically directly after weight training, or first thing in the morning, will stimulate greater gains in fat loss. The idea is that glycogen stores will be depleted at this time and therefore fat will be used directly for fuel. In many cases, this strategy has worked. However, some feel it is not a valid method. It is worth trying though.

5.HIIT TRAINING

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is an advanced form of aerobics designed to strip body fat at a faster rate. Although not for everyone, as it can be very demanding, HIIT is one of the more effective fat-loss methods for the intermediate to advanced trainer.

As the name suggests, HIIT requires training at high intensity (near maximal) for a series of intervals, before backing off to a lower work rate. The interval can last anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds, and the entire session might last only 20 minutes, depending on the stage (both in terms of fat storage and fitness level) one is at.

An example of a HIIT session could be as follows:

Two minutes of walking followed by fast running for 30 seconds, for 20 minutes total.

6.STAGGER FOOD INTAKE

At the smooth stage(a thin layer of fat—independent of water—covers the body) or in the shape stage (around six percent body fat), it is probably acceptable to stagger food intake so that high calories (1000 or so above normal) can be eaten for two days followed by lower calories for three days.

There are many variations on this practice, but the guiding principal stays the same: After a period of low calories, the body will tend to hold onto fat; on this basis it is thought that upping the calories will up the metabolic rate to burn more adipose tissue.

Generally the extra calories will not be stored as fat as long as the high-calorie days are limited to a certain period and are promptly followed by the lower-calorie days. The higher-calorie days are not open invitations to pig out on all manner of forbidden foods, but should be comprised of clean proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

This strategy is best practiced when aiming to lose that remaining five to ten pounds of fat, and when a person is in reasonably good shape to begin with. If the client is overweight, the higher-calorie days could sabotage their weight loss due to a more sluggish metabolic rate.

A greater degree of excess fat would probably require consistency in terms of low-fat, low-calorie eating, as will be shown in the success stories featured later in this article.

7.DRINK AT LEAST ONE GALLON OF WATER PER DAY

In most of the weight loss success stories I have read, one common theme emerges: a higher than normal water intake is crucial for fat loss. Water intake is important for fat metabolism because it helps the liver perform the function of fat conversion for energy purposes.

Unfortunately the liver also has to work on behalf of the kidneys (if the kidneys are water-deprived), therefore lowering total liver productivity, which has deleterious consequences for the fat-conversion process. Therefore drinking enough water is an important step toward fat reduction. Drink at least a gallon of water per day, more if obese and/or living in a hot climate.

8.WEIGHT TRAINING

Weight training is a perfect activity for fat loss. Although it doesn't directly burn a greater number of fat stores than aerobics, weights will build muscle, which in turn will increase the metabolic rate 24 hours a day. The more muscle you're holding, the better your chances of losing body fat.

WHAT TO DO & WHEN

OBESE STAGE

A combination of methods is needed for those who have a significant amount of weight to lose. These are the people who typically need to lose around 40 pounds of fat before they even consider achieving muscle definition. The best strategy for these people would be to lose weight slowly with a realistic, longer-term approach.

Crash-dieting and intense training probably would not be the best option. In the case of training, the amount of weight to be lost might present excessive strain on the vital organs and joints if the training is excessively intense and/or high-impact.

Crash diets—where calories are severely restricted—will likely result in initial losses in water weight and a failure to stick to the diet due to the restriction these kinds of diets place on total nutrient balance. Use the following approach for someone who is overweight:

• Exercise moderately with aerobics (walking or cycling) and weights (12-15 repetitions, gradually increasing the intensity as weight is lost.
• Gradually cut out all bad fats while strategically cutting back on carbohydrates.
• Drink plenty of water to maintain feelings of fullness and help with fat mobilization.
• Cut out junk foods.
• Use a personal trainer for motivation.
• Cut back on alcohol, or eliminate it entirely.
• Make a plan.
• Be consistent.
• Use a fat-burning supplement.

MODERATELY OVERWEIGHT STAGE

At this stage one is visually overweight, but not obese. Typically they are holding around 20 pounds of fat and have a body fat percentage of around 17-18 percent in males and 25 percent in females.

The best strategy would be to gradually drop excess body fat through a combination of low-intensity and high-intensity training, coupled with a sensible eating approach. The following guidelines can be used:

• Exercise moderately with aerobics (a combination of walking, cycling, and rowing) and weights (8-12 repetitions), while incorporating the occasional HIIT session after the first few pounds are lost.
• Gradually cut out all bad fats while strategically cutting back on carbohydrates.
• Drink plenty of water to maintain feelings of fullness and help with fat mobilization.
• Cut out junk foods.
• Use a personal trainer for motivation.
• Cut back on alcohol, or eliminate it entirely.
• Make a plan.
• Be consistent.
• Use a fat-burning supplement.

SMOOTH STAGE

The smooth stage could be defined as a puffy appearance with a small amount of visible body fat (around 11 percent in men and 15 percent in women; about 10 total pounds to lose to become "in shape").

This look would probably be regarded as normal and healthy, but there is an absence of muscle definition due to a thin layer of fat—the off-season bodybuilder is usually at this stage. To drop these additional 10 pounds to reveal a muscular physique, use the following methods:

• Train aerobically with one moderate-intensity session and four HIIT sessions per week.
• Weight train all muscle groups using 8-12 repetitions.
• Gradually cut out all bad fats while strategically cutting back on carbohydrates.
• Stagger calories (three lower-calorie days followed by two higher-calorie days).
• Drink plenty of water to maintain feelings of fullness and help with fat mobilization.
• Cut out junk foods.
• Use a personal trainer for motivation.
• Cut back on alcohol, or eliminate it entirely.
• Make a plan.
• Be consistent.
• Use a fat-burning supplement.

IN-SHAPE STAGE

For those who only have three or four pounds of fat to lose in order to reveal a ripped, muscular physique, it is probably also best to do HIIT, as this should more effectively rev the metabolic rate while one is at an advanced fat-burning level.

For the out-of-shape beginner, HIIT might be overkill, but for the in-shape, advanced trainer, it could prove to be perfect because it's an effective way of improving an already efficient metabolism. HIIT sessions can be done five times a week, independent from any other form of training. The following are additional ways to burn remaining visible body fat:

• Train with weights using 8-12 repetitions.
• Gradually cut out all bad fats while strategically cutting back on carbohydrates.
• Stagger calories (three lower-calorie days followed by two higher-calorie days).
• Drink plenty of water to maintain feelings of fullness and help with fat mobilization.
• Cut out junk foods.
• Use a personal trainer for motivation.
• Cut back on alcohol, or eliminate it entirely.
• Make a plan.
• Be consistent.
• Use a fat-burning supplement.

ADDITIONAL FAT-LOSS TIPS

1.CUT ALCOHOL

One of the worst practices when wanting to lose weight, drinking alcohol will not only add empty calories but will reduce appetite and lower testosterone levels for up to 24 hours (testosterone helps to burn fat). Alcohol will also reduce the number of fat calories burned for energy.

After alcohol is consumed it is converted into a substance called acetate, which is used in place of fat for energy, thus helping the body to maintain its fat stores1. For the overweight person, alcohol is a definite problem on this basis alone.

2.MAKE A PLAN

Making a plan will ensure fat loss is achieved with greater certainty. Having predefined goals and a progress diary will help your client stick to their plan, and allow for a greater degree of accountability. The first step is to determine exactly what their goals are.

The ability to do what is required every day without fail is the hallmark of a winner. For fat loss, all the right steps need to be taken at the right times to realize this goal. As will be shown in the following success stories, the individuals unwaveringly stuck to their plan and achieved their fat loss goals—they were consistent.

3.USE A PERSONAL TRAINER

A personal trainer can add help to motivate and inspire a person to lose body fat. Having someone on hand to lend support and expertise can really make the difference for those who are struggling with their weight-loss efforts. The best personal trainer is the one who has the right amount of knowledge and who knows how to plan a program for the specific needs of their client.

4.USE A FAT-BURNING SUPPLEMENT

Fat-burning supplements can have a thermogenic effect on the body, which causes fat to be burned at a faster rate. It is important to realize that these are supplements that can help if they are used in conjunction with an adequate diet and training regimen.

source by: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson175.htm

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How to Calculate Percent Change

In mathematics, the concept of percent change is used to describe the relationship between an old value or quantity and a new value or quantity. Specifically, the percent change expresses the difference of the old and new values as a percentage of the old value. In general cases where V1 represents an old or initial value and V2 represents the new or current value, percent change can be found with the equation ((V2-V1)/V1) × 100. Note that this quantity is expressed as a percentage. See Step 1 below for a breakdown of this process.

Sample Percent Change Calculator

Percent Change Calculator

Part
1

Calculating Percent Change in General Cases

1 Find old and new values for a certain variable. As noted in the intro, the purpose of most percent change calculations is to determine the change in a variable over time. Thus, to make a percent change calculation for a certain variable, you'll need to start with two pieces of information - an old (or "starting") value and a new (or "ending") value. The percent change equation finds the percent change between these two points.

One example of this is in the world of retail. When a product receives a discount, this is often expressed as the product being "x% off" - in other words, as the percent change from the old price. Let's consider a pair of pants that were previously sold for $50 and are now sold for $30. In this example, $50 is our "old" value and $30 is our "new" value. In the next few steps, we'll find the percent change between these two prices.

2 Subtract the old value from the new value. The first step in finding the percent change between two values is to find the difference between them. The difference between two numbers is found by subtracting one from the other. The reason that we subtract the old from the new (and not vice versa) is that this conveniently gives us a negative percentage as our final product if the variables value decreases and a positive value if it increases.
For instance, in our example, we would start with $30, our new value, and subtract $50, our old value. 30 - 50 = -$20.

3  Divide your answer by your old value. Next, take the answer you obtained by subtracting your old value from your new value and divide it by your old value. This gives you the proportional relationship of the change in values to the old starting value, expressed as a decimal. In other words, this represents the total change in value over the starting value for your variable.
In our example, dividing the difference between our new and old values (-$20) by our old value ($50) gets us -20/50 = -0.40. Another way of thinking of this is that the $20 change in value is 0.40 of the $50 starting point, and that the change of value was in the negative direction.

4 Multiply your answer by 100 to get a percentage. Values for percent change are (appropriately) expressed as percentages, rather than decimals. To convert your decimal answer to a percentage, multiply it by 100. After this, all that's left to do is to add a percentage sign. Congratulations! This final number represents the percent change between your old and new values.
In our example, to get our final percentage, we would multiply our decimal answer (-0.40) by 100. -0.40 × 100 = -40%. This answer means that the new price of $30 for the pants is 40% less than the old price of $50. In other words, the pants are "40% off". Another way to think of this is that the $20 difference in price is 40% of the initial price of $50 - since this price difference results in a lower final price, we give it a negative sign.
Note that a positive answer for your final percentage implies an increase in the value of your variable. For instance, if the final answer for our example problem was not -40% but instead 40%, this would mean that the new price of the pants was $70 - 40% more than the initial price of $50.

Part
2

Finding Percent Changes in Special Cases

1 When dealing with variables with more than one change in value, find the percent change only for the two values you wish to compare. Finding the percent change for a certain variable that changes value more than once over time can seem intimidating, but don't let the multiple value changes lead you to over-complicate things. The percent change equation only compares two values at a time. This means that if you're asked to calculate percent change in a situation involving a variable with multiple value changes, only calculate the percent change between the two values specified. Don't calculate the percent changes between every value in the sequence, then average or add up the percent changes. This is not the same as finding the percent change between two points and can easily give nonsensical answers.
For example, let's say that a pair of pants has an initial price of $50, is discounted to $30, is then marked up to $40, and is finally discounted again to $20. The percent change formula can find us the percent change between any two of these values; the two leftover values are not needed. For instance, to find the percent change between the initial price and the final price, use $50 and $20 as your "old" and "new" values, respectively. Solve as follows:
((V2-V1)/V1) × 100
((20 - 50)/50) × 100
(-30/50) × 100
-0.60 × 100 = -60%

2 Divide the new value by the old value and multiply by 100 to find the absolute relationship between the two values. A process that is similar (but not identical) to the process used to find percent change is that used to find the absolute percentage relationship between the "old" and "new" values. To do this, simply divide the old value by the new value and multiply by 100 - this gives you a percentage that directly compares the new value to the old, rather than expressing the change between the two.
Note that subtracting %100 from this answer will give the percent change.
For example, let's use this process for the discounted pants example above. If the pants started at $50 and ended at $20, dividing 20/50 and multiplying by 100 gives us 20/50 × 100 = 40%. This tells us that $20 is 40% of $50. Note that subtracting by 100% gives us 40 - 100 = -60%, the percent change we found above.
This process can give answers over 100% For instance, if $50 is our old price and $75 is our new price, 75/50 ×100 = 150%. This means that 75$ is 150% of 50$.

3 Generally, use absolute change when dealing with two percentages. The language surrounding the process of calculating percent change can get somewhat tricky when the two values being compared are themselves percentages. In these cases, it's important to distinguish between the percent change and the absolute change. The latter is the exact number of percentage points by which the new value differs from the old value - not the familiar percent change concept we've covered.
For example, let's say that a pair of pants is offered at 30% off (a percent change of -30% from their old price). If the discount is increased to 40% off (a percent change of -40% from their old price), it's not inaccurate to say that the percent change of this discount is ((-40 - -30)/-30) × 100 = 33.33%. In other words, the pants are 33.33% "more" discounted than before.
However, this is usually instead stated as the discount having a "10 percent increase". In other words, we usually refer to the absolute change between the two percentages rather than the percent change.

source by:http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Percent-Change

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How to Reduce Body Fat Percentage

The guidelines for how to reduce body fat percentage aren’t complicated.

It’s certainly not necessary to starve yourself to reduce body fat or spend hours every day sweating your body fat off at the gym.


But, in order to reduce body fat percentage numbers permanently you’ll have to make some lifestyle changes and learn some healthy new habits.

And if you put your mind to it, you’ll be the proud new owner of a brand new body in just a few short months. The twelve steps below are the best ways to reduce body fat. Just take it one step at a time to reach your destination.

How to Reduce Body Fat Percentage in 12 Steps

1.  Build more muscle: One of the best ways to reduce body fat is weight training. As you increase lean muscle mass you burn more calories.

2.  Eat for great health: When you eat for great health you’re making sure to have the necessary energy to exercise and enjoy your life.

3.  Avoid refined carbs: Sugar and other refined carbohydrates, zap your energy, ruin your health and contribute to excess body fat. Stick with whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables and other high fiber food.

4.  Enjoy your protein: To make sure you reduce fat and not muscle when losing weight, it’s essential to get enough protein. Use low calorie high protein shakes for mini meals. And have fun adding fruit or flavorings.

5.  Drink more water: As you up your water intake to at least 8 glasses a day, the less hungry and more refreshed you’ll feel.

6.  Increase activity: If you’re eating less calories, low impact physical activity, like walking, swimming and yoga for at least 30 minutes a day, burns fat, builds a strong lean body and helps boost metabolism activity.

7.  Know your calories : When we eat unconsciously, calories start adding up. Make sure you’re not storing up more than you burn for energy.

8.  Have 4-6 mini meals: Instead of 3 big meals a day, go for 4 to 6 small meals. It helps increase metabolism and burn extra calories.

9.   Eat more veggies: Most plain vegetables are so low in calories and so high in fiber content that it’s almost like you’ve eaten no calories at all.

10.  Eliminate sodas: Sodas are bad for your health and add unnecessary calories. Learn to love drinking pure, clean, calorie-free water.

11.  Enjoy other pleasures: Whenever possible, indulge in simple healthy activities that you enjoy (besides eating). Make a list and have fun.

12.  Get much stronger: Strength training improves flexibility, increases fitness, strengthens joints and bones, builds muscle and helps reduce fat.

Now that you know how to reduce body fat percentage, the rest is up to you. Just add one step at a time and increase your pace slow and easy.

source by:- http://commonsensehealth.com/how-to-reduce-body-fat-percentage/

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