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Indianapolis Star Fat or fit? The winded Indianapolis man said he exercises three or four times per week. Yet earlier this year, when he joined NIFS, he got a fitness wakeup call that moved him to step up his routine. During a fitness workup, his body fat level was measured in a capsule-like air-displacement device called the Bod Pod. What did he find out? "That I was a fat boy," Collins said, smiling while panting. "I got married in May and knew I had to get into a tuxedo and look good for my wedding." His fat level was close to 30 percent -- too high, even though he'd lost some 35 pounds. Since he joined NIFS in January, he's shed another 15 pounds, bringing him down to about 195. His goal: 180 pounds and a healthy body fat level. Collins is among those who work out regularly, try to eat healthfully and watch their weight and body fat level. With the growing concern nationally and in Indiana over obesity, some fitness experts say it's important for people to know how much excess fat they drag around. "Most definitely, they should know that, especially if they're exercising on a regular basis, so they can see how their lean tissue is increasing," said Brian Holdsworth, fitness director at Westview Healthplex Sports Club. People can lose a significant amount of body fat, even if they've lost only a little weight, he added. Yet fitness experts say many people don't have any idea how much of their
weight is fat vs. muscle mass. Some of them also say that it's not important
for people to know, and that the stark number is too discouraging for
would-be exercisers and dieters. Every Monday before a workout, Mandy Moore, 38, gets on that scale and a regular scale. After a high-risk pregnancy that kept her from working out for months, she had a baby a year ago. When she started, her body fat was in the obese range. Now, it's a healthy 20 percent. "It's nice to be able to track both your body fat and your weight," said the Indianapolis mother of two. If her weight is slightly up, but the body fat is down, she doesn't worry. "If both the body fat and weight are up, I know it's for real," said Moore. What numbers matter? But some fitness specialists and college exercise physiologists say it's more critical to track blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol. "Those are the important numbers for predicting risks of chronic disease and mortality," said Steve Blair, president of the Dallas-based Cooper Institute, a nonprofit research and educational organization focused on exercise and mortality. While he's not advocating obesity, Blair, former president of the American College of Sports Medicine, says it's better to be overweight and fit -- a regular exerciser who performs well on a treadmill test -- than an unfit, normal-weight non- exerciser. In the institute's studies of overweight people, he said treadmill tests found about half were fit. Another reason for skepticism: Most fitness specialists recognize that ways of checking body fat are imprecise, especially the widely used inexpensive ones. "There are so many different ways to measure fat, and they're all inaccurate, with an error range of 2 to 10 percent," said Janet Wallace, Indiana University Bloomington professor of kinesiology. Despite that, Wallace doesn't totally dismiss the tests. "Everybody is motivated by different things," said Wallace. "If it's one of those things that will help you, go for it. But don't get hung up on the numbers." There's good reason for that. No universally accepted norms exist for acceptable body fat levels, according to the Indianapolis-based American College of Sports Medicine. Still, it's generally accepted that men with more than 25 percent fat and women with more than 32 percent fat are at greater risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. "Our goal is to get the population below that risk point," said Wallace. IU hired her in 1985 to create a clinical exercise physiology program. Given error ranges, she said, it's good for men's fat levels to be no higher than 23 percent and women's to be no higher than 30 percent. Percentages in the low 20s for women and mid-teens for men are considered in the "fitness" range. Athletes' percentages often are lower, but the minimum level considered safe is about 5 percent for males and 12 percent for females. Rather than shooting for a specific number, though, Purdue University exercise physiology professor Darlene Sedlock says it's more important to focus on balancing your daily calories with your energy level. "The best way to control your body fat is to exercise and watch
what you eat," she said. Age makes a difference As you age, that delicate balancing act becomes tougher. Between the ages of 20 and 50, health experts say, the average person loses 15 pounds of muscle and gains more than 30 pounds of fat. If you diet too rapidly, you lose more muscle than fat. As you lose muscle, metabolism slows, making fat loss more difficult. If you return to old eating habits, excess fat comes back even faster. Phil Hale knows the toll that age can take on the body. Running on a treadmill at the Ransburg YMCA, he said gravity has pulled some weight around his midsection. But he runs and lifts weights twice a week and walks his dogs twice a week. At 6 foot, 5 inches, he weighs 220 pounds. While that's considered obese by the standard body mass index (BMI), he thinks it's misleading. He doesn't know his body fat level anymore. Yet he doesn't think it's critical to find it out because of his good eating and exercise habits. "I've been able to keep my weight at a constant level. And this (exercising) helps me maintain a healthy lifestyle." Basic tips for keeping your body fat in check • Maintain a low-fat, low- cholesterol diet, eating no more than
30 percent of calories from fat, including only 10 percent from saturated
fat.
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