[LeighAnnBites]

At 5 feet 3.5 inches, I currently weigh 143 lbs, and my initial goal is to work my way down to 105.

So yesterday, my first day at the gym, I had a basic body fat analysis done. It turns out that my body fat percentage is at about 38% and translated into weight, comes out to roughly about 50 lbs (most of it chilling in a nice cushy gut region). I am also not retaining any extra water, so the rest of the weight is just muscles and, y'know, organs and stuff.

Anyway, my question is--given the fact that I DO need to have some fat on my body, how much of that 50 lbs is safe to lose? Obviously, I was probably kidding myself in thinking that I could go down to 105, but I am not really attached to it as a number, I'm more interested in being and staying healthy. My real goal is to have a flat (borderline six-packish) stomach. Not because of vanity, or anything--but mostly just to prove to myself that I can do it, dang it!

[readyfreddy]

maybe try 115 then get another analysis done? some times those are off by 3-5% and its really hard to determin exactly how many lbs makes up that extra fat so i wouldnt focus too much on a final number till youre closer to your goal if that makes sense? also just to fgive you an idea... ive heard 100 lbs for 5 feet plus 4 lbs per additional inch for a medium size frame. so that would be like 114? obviously not an exact science but an idea! good luck!

[Meg]

Hi LeighAnn!

Actually, about 60% of your body weight is water, even if you're not retaining extra water. Surprising, I know! If you're genuinely at 38% fat, then you have 54 pounds of fat and 89 pounds of lean body mass. Lean body mass (LBM) is everything in your body that isn't fat, so it's all that water, plus blood, skin, muscle, bone, hair, organs etc.

In answer to your question, 10 - 12% body fat is considered "essential" for a woman. If your LBM remained unchanged at 89 pounds, 12% body fat would put you at an even 100 (89 pounds of LBM and 11 pounds of fat). So you wouldn't want to weigh less than 100 pounds at your current LBM, which is 43 pounds less than you are now. That's the LOWEST you could ever weigh and still remain healthy.

But in reality, 12% body fat is very difficult to reach and sustain for a woman -- it's the rock bottom floor you don't want to go below, not a target! Check out these body fat guidelines from ACE (the American Council on Exercise) and see what might be a more realistic target for you:

Essential Fat: 10-12 percent

Athletes: 14-20 percent

Fitness: 21-24 percent

Acceptable: 25-31 percent

Obese (or high risk): over 32 percent

As for visible abs, a woman generally needs to be in the lower teens of body fat.

At your height and weight, right now you're more undermuscled than overweight. Your 89 pounds of LBM is pretty low for someone of your height (I'm only 1/2 inch taller than you but have about 28 more pounds of LBM). Rather than worrying about on losing "weight", I think you'd be a lot better off by focusing on building muscle while losing fat. You could weigh 143 pounds with a body fat percent of 20% and look completely different than you do now! And you'd probably be two sizes smaller. Without losing a pound on the scales!

Since you've just joined a gym (good decision! ) and probably met with a trainer to have your BF % done, hopefully you've been set up with a program of cardio and weights designed to do exactly that: build muscle and lose fat. Don't worry about what the scale says because you don't need to lose a pound of "weight" - just focus on adding muscle and losing fat and you'll reach your dream body.

[LeighAnnBites]

Meg,

Thank you for all the helpful information!
Like you're saying, I'm more concerned about the way my body looks than how much it weighs.
The gym that I joined is a little local workout center for women, with a curves-like circuit training area, cardio machines and free weights. Being short on cash, I just wanted to be able to at least start working out somehow without forking over huge membership fees at a "real" gym.
Unfortunately, it doesn't come with much guidance, except for posters on the wall, videos, etc.
It's not a problem for me because I have had formal training before and can keep good form, but will I be able to follow your suggestions (building muscles and losing fat) without access to super-awesome gym equipment? (those shiny sexy weight training machines)

[Meg]

If it's a Curves-type gym, I'm guessing they did your body fat percent with one of the hand-held devices, like the Omron? If so, those tend to read a little high, so your actual body fat percent may be lower than 38%. Even if it's not quite accurate, they're useful for tracking changes over time, so have someone check again in a month and see how much it's changed.

Regardless, YES you should be able to build muscle and lose fat so long as you can do cardio and lift weights with either the machines or free weights. Super awesome gym equipment is overrated. Seriously, if you've got a rack of dumbbells, you could work every muscle in your body with them and bodyweight exercises (like pushups and pullups). If you've got resistance bands, a BOSU ball, and/or an exercise ball, that's even better!

It's great that you've the background so you can work out with good form! Do you still have old workouts? Or maybe do some reading in books and the Internet and put together a new workout routine? I don't know how many days that you're planning on using the gym, but if you can start with 5 - 6 days of cardio (even if you just walk at home and don't go to the gym on some of the days) and 3 days of weights, you should be off to a great start.

[LeighAnnBites]

I'm planning on doing cardio 5x a week, circuit training and strength training 3x a week. I have a bunch of old workout handouts from high school (played volleyball) and I'm planning on brushing up on them. So that should be a fairly decent start, and I'm glad I can do it with what I've got!
Thanks again for all the helpful info, and congratulations on being such a fox!

[Meg]

LeighAnn, that sounds perfect! Don't forget to take your measurements and check them regularly because you're going to be seeing bigger changes there than on the scales, like we talked about. And be sure to come back and keep us updated on your progress!!