Is a pound a pound?

A pound of muscle is three to four times denser than a pound of fat, said Peg Hamlett. This is why someone can be much heavier in terms of weight than another person but still have a lower proportion of fat mass in their body composition.

“There are lots of what we call ‘skinny fat.’ We will have girls come in, one bigger than the other, and the bigger girl will have the lower body fat measurement,” said Hamlett, fitness director at the Student Recreation Center.

Body shape and muscle mass can vary greatly from person to person, and can give misleading results when calculating the body mass composition.

 The difference in volume is the reason that people can be in an acceptable weight range technically, but still have too much excess body fat. The opposite is also true — people can be heavier than normally considered acceptable, but have a normal amount of body fat or not enough body fat. This is because, roughly speaking, 20 pounds of muscle take up the same amount of space on the body that around 7 pounds of fat do. The vast differences possible in body mass composition are what necessitate looking at the makeup of one’s mass instead of just a number on a scale or chart.

B.M.I just a chart

The body mass index, originally devised in the mid-19th century, uses a number derived from a person’s height and weight to determine if they are in an appropriate range, but it fails to take into account body mass composition (water weight, muscle, and fat), as well as body build and other important factors. “The body mass index is just a chart,” said Hamlett. “I don’t think it’s changed much.”

When the measurements are solely based on height and weight, it leaves out important information. To collect this information, most fitness professionals measure body fat composition as the most important diagnostic tool in determining whether someone has excess body fat. At the SRC, they use an ultrasound to determine how much muscle and fat a person has in various parts of their body. They then take an average of the percentages found on the stomach, outer arm and hip to determine one’s standing.

“A certain amount of fat is necessary,” Hamlett said.

It’s around 18 to 24 percent for women and 6 to 12 percent for men. Too little fat is detrimental — it interferes with reproduction in women and general organ functioning in both genders — without vital fat, things start to shut down. Too little muscle is also bad. People with low percentages of muscle mass are at higher risks for bone breaks and other injuries, and if their fat percentage is too high (such as in people who are “skinny fat”) they are also at higher risks for things normally associated with obesity–heart disease and diabetes, among others. The healthiest bodies are those with appropriate proportions of fat mass, muscle mass, and water mass–regardless of what the scale says.

Losing it

There are several “fad” diets and weight loss techniques floating around, but Hamlett said those are not appropriate long-term solutions. Juice fasts, colon cleanses and body wraps (that make you sweat out water weight) are not sustainable ways to lose weight. In fact, because they do not incorporate a balanced diet, juice fasts slow down the metabolism and can increase weight in the long run. The right ways to lose weight, Hamlett said, are drinking two glasses of water before meals, eating smaller, more frequent meals and keeping the metabolism high. Additionally, it is important to look at what you are eating, not just the calorie count.

“People can have the same BMI number and eat the same number of calories per day, but have completely different compositions because the types of foods they are eating are different,” Hamlett said.

Diets rich in protein, fruits and vegetables, and complex carbohydrates are best — with good fats, such as almonds and avocados, mixed in. This, along with exercise, is the best way to reduce excess body fat in the long term, Hamlett said.

Nicole Lichtenberg can be reached at [email protected]