Body Fat versus Body Weight

The diffrence between losing BODY FAT, and BODY weight.

IM intrested, in what people are actually aiming for.

For me its body fat in particular, I do not care how much I end up weighing, mucle will always prevail over the fat.

What are you guys into? Both?

Great post pboynoah - I think we often times get too fixated on our body weight...focusing too much on the number without considering what is actually best for us.

There are a lot of problems for example with the Body Mass Index (BMI). This one-size-fits all approach really is not an indication of health (I remember recently reading that in fact statistically people with a BMI classed as slightly overweight have the highest life expectancies), mainly because it does not deal with muscle mass and fat distribution.

If you haven't already you might want to pick up a pair of calipers and a measuring tape to start tracking your progress burning the fat :)

Oh, and welcome to Calorie-Count.com!

I absolutely want to lose body fat and not necesarily body WEIGHT... i mean i want to "look smaller" but its the FAT i want to get rid of.. i wish i had a tool/instrument like the doctors have to measure my body fat... i really would like to know what my body fat percentage is.. any ideas how i could figure it out without having to BUY something (note - dancers are poor).

Intellectually, I want to loose body fat....but I bet I won't be happy until I see a certain number on the scale. I am going to try and work on that - perhaps it's time to stop weighing and start measuring!  At this stage it is totally possible that weight from fat is being replaced by weight from muscle...that would be awesome!!  Thanks for the post pboynoah! 

I think most people (on this site anyway), realize that body fat is a better indicator of health and fitness than pure weight.  However, not everyone can or wants to get their body fat % measured regularly, whereas it is quite easy to buy a scale and weigh yourself.

Besides, if you're doing things right (proper calorie totals and ratios, weight training and cardio, etc.) you can be pretty sure that you're preferentially burning fat rather than muscle.  I'm a month away from my next body fat analysis, but I'm nothing but confident that what I'm seeing on the scale now will be a good indicator of what I will see then, because I've been doing what is necessary to minimize lean body mass loss.

That's what great about losing weight the "hard" way; you get a sense of assurance that fad diets and their ilk don't give you.

Yes, I think when most people talk about lowering their bodyweight, they are referring to reducing their body fat. Having some lean muscle is good and will only help to burn more fat, even while resting.

I think the best way to measure your body fat loss progress, is to just go by how you look in the mirror.  If you are losing fat, you'll see the difference, and your clothes will fit differently.  The scale, calipers and other means of measuring are ok, but they don't always reflect fat loss accurately. Bottom line is go by how you look. Learn your your body and check it in the mirror from week to week, or even better take pictures so that you can easily see the changes as they take place.

-Todd

Body fat! I don't care how much I weigh as long as I can comfortably fit into size 7/8 jeans!!

Edit: I use this ite to track my body fat: http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

body fat!

I want to be a size 4, and if I can be a size four at 125 pounds, then that is wicked!    its all about low body fat % for me.

I'm at 18.5% body fat right now, and my ultimate super-duper goal is 15% at one point in my life. But 17% would be a reasonable shorter-term goal. :)

I agree -- the weight that is associated with that percentage is pretty trivial.

They say that body fat is quite hard to measure without weighing in water. The calculations/electronic measures give an estimate but not an exact figure.

Lately I've been trying to following a fat burning exercise program. I've lost 4kgs so far and I'm hoping it's fat.