Pinch My Fat

Today we broke out the body fat calipers at Boot Camp. There were a brave few that stepped up to the pinch test. I can understand the hesitation and emotions a few simple pinches of fat (tricep, thigh and illiac crest) and stir within a person. You want all your hard work to be validated with a lower number than before. You know you have worked your butt off and ate properly planned meals to drop fat... or have you?

I have been 19%, 8% and god only knows what % I am now. What I can say is that dropping below 12% for a woman is tough, mentally and physically. I can recall thinking I felt like I had a newborn again, so draining. Personally, my body fat likes to reside in a range between 14-19%. I know this will change as I age and I will have to work harder to stay leaner. Everyone is different. It is important that the same person take your body fat with the same tool.

Males have a lower body fat than females.


Age is a factor as well.


Now what can you do to drop fat? Eat less, move more, build muscle and rest. Really if you think about those four things, the hardest part actually is building muscle. This is where most women blow it. They fear that they will only get larger. Increasing your muscle mass will burn more fat and in return you will shrink, I promise you. You won't get bulky, that is where the eat less part has to spot on. Us women don't build muscle as easily as men do. It takes years and a lot of hard work to significantly put on size! A well designed strength training program will cover the move more and build muscle part.

So what's left is the eat less and rest part. I can't really help you with the rest portion because I know as women we are doers and we have multiple roles everyday. There are only so many hours in the day and only you can decide when you need to rest and how much you actually need. Some of the people that I admire the most tend to sleep less, work more, play hard and often are very rewarded for their sacrifices. So you figure out what works best for you.

I will cover the eat less part of the body fat equation in my next post. I have eaten reasonably and dropped fat slowly and I have eaten an extremely rigid diet and dropped it quite fast. I will give you and insight what both those meal plans look like.

Everybody I pinched today should be proud! I have some very fit women who are constantly striving to be their best. Love it!