Quote:
Originally Posted by LizRR
Honestly, 20% is pretty lean, it's on the cusp of Athlete and Fitness level. But I have read here about having a 5lb allowance which should get me at a final 21-22%, so perhaps I should be more clear about that.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/4363941-post19.html
Classification | Women (% fat) | Men (% fat)
Essential Fat | 10-12% | 2-4%
Athletes | 14-20% | 6-13%
Fitness | 21-24% | 14-17%
Acceptable | 25-31% | 18-25%
Obese | 32%+ | 25%+
|
Ah, so you are kind of "playing it by ear" too!
I look at the chart you quoted every week at weigh in.
According to the IP device, my body fat is at 25.74% (I started out at 44.50%). Now if you saw me in the gym, you would be laughing hysterically at how weak that lean mass is; it must be all blood vessels and organs and no muscle at all! I am really close to where it is time to stop, and it is exciting.
I researched stuff for my age and height and found ranges.
Normal body fat for women ages 40-59 is 23% to 33.9%. I don't know if normal means average or if normal means healthy. From Zartas comment on 30%, I suspect it is the healthy range.
I also found that the ideal waist to height ratio is between 43% to 48.9%, which is 26.88 inches to 31.296 inches for someone at 64 inches tall (5'4). (Waist in this case means the narrowest part.)
Ideal BMI (and we know BMI has its limitations) is 21.0 to 22.9 at 5'4 which is about 120-135 lbs.
So, I'm definitely "in the zone" by all the measures. It's about where in the zone to end up.
As for the loose skin, it changes every day. That might be the only advantage to losing so slowly in that I am 7.5 months in, and I do notice it goes thru changes from unacceptable to OK and back again, probably as hydration shifts throughout the day and as the gravitational pull of the earth increases each year
. So that 2 years sounds like the right time frame and I want to use it as the maintenance motivator.
Great discussion. Thanks.