Want to lose weight? Get off of the scale! Part I

Photo by fatty tuna

It is estimated that 1 in 6 Americans are "on a diet" at any given time. Losing weight is a national obsession...to the tune of about 35 billion dollars annually (that's billion...with a "b"!) Whether it's losing five pounds or a hundred pounds or more, everyone has some magic number that they hope to one day see when they step on the scale.

I'll let you in on a secret...that's the wrong approach entirely. You see, your weight doesn't tell you anything about what you are made of. Bones, muscle, organs, and fat all look the same through the eyes of the scale. People diet strictly for a short period of time to get their weight down, but what exactly goes away for the weight to go down? Was most of the weight loss a result of fat loss, or was it mostly a loss of muscle? The scale can't give you that answer, but it is a key piece of information that can predict the likelihood of long term weight loss success. Losing muscle will reduce your metabolism and make it much more difficult to maintain any weight loss. Obviously, you need some sort of feedback to know if you are progressing. What is a better indicator of long-term, successful, weight loss?

Body fat percentage...its what matters!

Body fat percentage is a much better indicator of weight loss progress. While most people say that they want to lose weight, what they really want to lose is body fat. Losing weight at the expense of muscle mass is a recipe for disaster. If you use body fat percentage as your yardstick for improvement and you will be much more likely to keep the weight off for good.

How do you measure your body fat? There are several ways, some more practical than others. Whichever method you choose, stick with the same method. There is a degree of error involved with each method, and to be most useful you are interested, not is absolute accuracy of the measurement, but precision in order to show trends.

Autopsy

Yikes! The most accurate way to measure body fat with one obvious downside...you won't survive the procedure. Umm, definitely not recommended.

Underwater Hydrostatic Weighing

This is considered the "gold standard" in calculating body fat percentage. It consists of being dunked in a tank of water while exhaling all of the air in your lungs. The level of the water in the tank is measured before and after you get in the tank. The volume displacement of the water is run through an algorithm and your body fat percentage is calculated. It is considered the most accurate method of determining body fat but it is expensive and inconvenient.

DEXA

This technique uses X-Rays to scan your body and determine what is fat and what is not. Supposed to be very accurate, but very few labs have access to the equipment, so it's definitely inconvenient, and my guess is, quite expensive.

Bod Pod

A new technique that uses the volume displacement of air, as opposed to water in underwater hydrostatic weighing, to determine your body fat levels. Again, this requires specialized equipment, and honestly, I've never seen one of these devices but they are supposed to be quite accurate.

BIA (Bioelectric Impedance Analysis)

Sounds sci-fi, but this is the technique used by electronic body fat scales, or I've even seen hand-held devices that you grab hold of with both hands. I own a Tanita Body Fat Scale and have used an Omron Body Fat Testing Device. Both gave me approximately the same reading...but it was about 7.5% too high. I can hear the snickering, "Yeah, right, that's my excuse, too." Seriously, these devices are useful tools provided that you aren't picky about accuracy. An important point to remember is that your level of hydration is extremely important in getting a consistent reading. While these device may not be super accurate, they are precise, so if it says you've lost 2% body fat, chances are good that you have actually lost it, even though the actual reading may be incorrect. One of the disadvantages is that they tend to be expensive. If you are in the market for a new scale, then consider getting one with this feature. If you've got a scale and don't need another one, then I would get an inexpensive pair of calipers just for body fat testing.

Calipers

A reasonably accurate technique to measure your body fat is with the use of calipers. They range in price from about $10.00/pair to hundreds of dollars for a laboratory-accurate pair. Regardless of the cost of the calipers, the accuracy of this technique is very dependent upon, well, technique. To get consistent readings requires a bit of skill in determining the proper locations to pinch the skin/fat layer. If you have the test done by someone else, try to get the same person to take the measurement each time for the most consistency. Most gyms and health clubs have a good set of calipers and someone who is reasonably skilled in doing body fat readings.

You can use either the 3-site protocol or the 7-site protocol. The 7-site protocol is slightly more accurate, but I wouldn't bother...remember, none of the tests are really accurate. The 3-site protocol is a good option if you are having someone else do the readings, but the pinch locations are not conducive to a person taking their own readings.

So what is a person to do if they want to track body fat percentage, but they don't have access to another person to take the readings? The answer: Accu Measure Body Fat Calipers. These calipers have a "slider" mechanism that records and saves the pinch thickness without requiring you to be a gymnast to see the readings. You can use the 3 site protocol, if you want, or the Accu Measure calipers come with a chart that lets you take a single reading and look up your body fat from that one reading. I've found it to be +/- 1% from my 3 site reading, so I use the 1-site test exclusively for taking my own body fat measurements. It may not be accurate, but it tracks changes just fine.

Now what?

You've decided to get on the body fat percentage bandwagon, where you belong, and you've acquired a testing device of some sort. Is that all you need to know? From the standpoint of feedback, you've now got a great tool to evaluate true progress. Part II in this series will discuss how to maximize fat loss and minimize loss of muscle while achieving your goal of long-term weight loss.

Do you regularly test body fat percentage? How do you know if you are moving in the right direction? Scale weight? How you look in the mirror? How your clothes are fitting?

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Fat, a necessary nutrient, Part II

As mentioned in last weeks post, fat is the most maligned of all macro nutrients, carbohydrates being a recent and very close second. The common misconception is that dietary fat leads to more body fat. That is not directly the case. Excess calories, whether from carbohydrates, protein, or fat lead to excess body fat. Since, we need fat in our diets, we should make an effort to consume mostly "good" fats.

Good Fats

Good fats fall into the category of unsaturated fats. Chemically they are more complex than saturated fats and tend to have a "bent" molecular structure. This type of structure causes unsaturated fats to be liquid at room temperature. The two types of unsaturated fats are monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fats. The difference lies in the number and location of double bonds between carbon atoms, but honestly, who really cares about all of that. Both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats may help lower your blood cholesterol level when you use them to replace saturated and trans fats in your diet.

Monounsaturated Fat

Monounsaturated fats are healthy oils, such as olive oil, that have been linked with a low incidence on cardiovascular disease in people who consume a Mediterranean diet. These types of fats have a tendency to lower LDL cholesterol, without effecting HDL cholesterol blood levels.

Polyunsaturated Fat

Polyunsaturated fats are oils that have a tendency to lower both LDL and HDL cholesterol blood levels. They are healty oils, but some research suggests that our modern diets contain too high a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 polyunsaturated fats. The focus of good fat consumption should be on monunsaturated fats and omega-3 polyunsaturated fats. As a side note, some polyunsaturated fats are more likely to create trans fats when used with high heat cooking methods. Avoid the use of corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, and soybean oil. Better choices are canola oil or olive oil.

Omega-3 Fats

Omega-3 fats are a subtype of polyunsaturated fat distinguished from Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats by the location of the double bonds in the molecule. Again who really cares. What you should care about is the research that suggests that these fats can significantly lower the risk of cardiovascular heart disease and offer many other health benefits.

Which foods contain good fats?

No food only contains a single type of fat, so these foods actually contain a high percentage of the respective type of fat with other assorted fatty acids making up the difference. Here are some good sources of each type of fat:

Monounsatured:

• Olive oil
• Canola oil
• Peanut oil
• Avocados

Polyunsaturated:

• Safflower oil
• Sesame oil
• Soybean oil
• Corn oil
• Sunflower oil
• Nuts
• Seeds

Omega-3:

• Fish (the greatest health benefits come from the omega-3 fats found in fish)
• Nuts
• Flax seeds

Do your best to include as many sources of good fat in your diet, but remember that just because they are healthier doesn't mean you can discount the number of calories contained in fat. You still need to make sure that you aren't consuming more that the recommended 25-35% of your daily calories from fat sources and, if weight loss is a goal, you must continue to consume fewer calories than you burn each day.

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Fat, a necessary nutrient, Part I

Fat usually gets a bad rap in the diet world, but without fat in our diets we would die. Yes, the typical diet contains too much fat, but some fat is needed for our survival. Dietary fat intake supplies our bodies with essential fatty acids, regulates hormone and cholesterol production, and supplies our bodies with fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Fat is also the most dense form of food energy containing over twice the amount of energy per gram as carbohydrates and protein (9 calories per gram vs. 4 calories per gram).

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that is found in cell walls in the body. Too much of the wrong type of cholesterol causes deposits on arterial walls and can lead to blocked arteries and heart disease. Contrary to popular belief, dietary cholesterol is not a major source of cholesterol in the bloodstream. Most cholesterol is produced by the body as a result of heredity and diet. Saturated fat and trans fatty acids are the major dietary culprits in the body's production of cholesterol. If your cholesterol is high, reduce your intake of saturated fats and trans fats.

Bad Dietary Fats

Bad fats are fats that are said to be saturated. Saturated fats are very orderly at the molecular level and can be tightly packed together. Being tightly packed together makes all saturated fats share a common property...they are all solid at room temperature. Trans fats are fats that were originally unsaturated which undergo an artificial chemical process called hydrogenation. In this process, a liquid oil, usually soybean oil, becomes more shelf-stable and solid at room temperature.

From a health perspective, trans fats are the worst types of fats. They increase LDL cholesterol (the bad stuff) and decrease HDL (the good stuff). On the scale of "unhealthyness" naturally saturated fats come in a close second...they only increase LDL, without decreasing HDL. Here are a few examples of both types of fats:

Trans fats

• Any Hydrogenated Oil

• Any Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil

• Shortening

Saturated Fats

• Butter

• Cream

• Lard

• Coconut Oil

• Palm Oil

• Palm Kernel Oil

Where are most bad fats lurking?

Baked goods make extensive use of trans fats because they require fats that are solid at room temperature to avoid feeling and tasting greasy and fats that are shelf stable for long periods of time. In the past, butter was used, but with the advent of the hydrogenation process, the products can be made cheaper and longer lasting using hydrogenated oils. Many companies are advertising the removal of trans fats from their products (notice how many are baked goods), but they are replacing them with saturated tropical oils, i.e. coconut and palm oil. Jumping from trans fat to a saturated fat is only a very small improvement, so don't think those trans fat free doughnuts are now health foods. Commercially fried foods are also very high in trans and saturated fats. Animal fats are mostly saturated fats, so you should use lower fat cuts of meat and lower fat dairy products, where possible.

Q: Product X claims to have no trans fat, shows 0 grams of trans fat on the Nutrition Facts panel, but contains "Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil" in the list of ingredients. Is it really trans fat free or not?

The FDA allow companies to claim that a product does not contain a substance if said substance is found in amounts smaller than 0.5 g per serving of the product. In the example given, Product X does contain trans fats but less than 0.5 g per serving. Over the course of a day, eating several servings of products that claim to be trans fat free, but contain hydrogented oils, can result in a person consuming several grams of unhealthy trans fats. If you have a history of cholesterol issues, my advice is to avoid products containing hydrogenated oils, even if they claim to be trans fat free.

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