Body Fat

Body Fat Calculator.

The Body Fat Calculator can be used to estimate your total body fat based on your size. Use the "metric units" tab if you are more comfortable with the international standard metric units. To get the best results, measure to the nearest 1/4 inch (0.5cm). This calculation is based on the U.S. Navy method.



US Units Metric Units Other Units
Gender  male    female
Height  feet inches
Neck  feet inches
Waist  feet inches
Hip  feet inches
  Calculate
Result

body fat = 15.3%

Related
BMI Calculator | Calorie Calculator | Ideal Weight Calculator
Reference*
Description Women Men
Recommended amount 20-25% 8-14%
Adults in United States, average 22-25% 15-19%
Obese 30+% 25+%
According to Health Check Systems, The American Council on Exercise has categorized the range of body fat percentages as follows:

Description Women Men
Essential fat 12-15% 2-5%
Athletes 16-20% 6-13%
Fitness 21-24% 14-17%
Acceptable 25-31% 18-25%
Obese 32%+ 25%+
* from wikipedia.org


What Is Body Fat?

The scientific name for body fat is "adipose tissue." Adipose tissue serves a number of important functions. It's primary purpose is to store lipids from which the body creates energy. It also secretes a number of important hormones.

Having an excess of body fat leads to the condition of obesity, and that can be unhealthy. Some people are more genetically predisposed to excess body fat, and others build it up from lack of exercise and bad diets.

But body fat stored in the abdominal region can be reduced by diet and exercise. Women and men store body fat differently – after the age of 40, or after menopause in the case of women, reduced sexual hormones can lead to excess body fat around the stomach in men, and around the buttocks and thighs in women.

Body Fat and Being Overweight

Being overweight does not necessarily mean that you have an excess of body fat. Powerfully muscled people often are overweight. A certain amount of body fat is also necessary to staying alive. Human beings also have a specialized kind of body fat called "Brown fat." It is located mainly around the neck and large blood vessels of the thorax, and it serves to generate heat to help keep us warm in severe cold.

What's Wrong with Excess Body Fat?

As we've said, it's appropriate to think of fat as an important producer of essential hormones. Our bodies' functions are controlled by hormones, and so excess or lack of critical ones can seriously affect our health. Scientists have learned that excess body fat, especially abdominal fat, disrupts the normal balance and functioning of these hormones.

It is known that body fat pumps out immune system chemicals called cytokines that can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. These biochemicals are thought to make cells less sensitive to insulin, blood pressure, and blood clotting.

Another reason that abdominal body fat in excess can be so harmful is that it is located near the portal vein, which carries blood from the intestinal area to the liver. Substances released by body fat, including free fatty acids, enter the portal vein and travel to the liver, where they can impede its functioning.

Abdominal body fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and specifically with the so-called "bad" cholesterol that can clog arteries and lead to a heart attack.

Insulin resistance means that your body's muscle and liver cells don't respond adequately to normal levels of insulin. Insulin is responsible for carrying glucose into the body's cells. When there is insulin resistance, glucose levels in the blood rise, heightening the risk for diabetes.

Measuring Body Fat

Specific techniques must be used to measure body fat. The U.S. Navy has come up with a straightforward and useful method – equations developed by Drs. Hodgdon and Beckett at the Naval Health Research Center take into account differences in the way men and women accumulate fat, thus different measurements are required.

Measure the circumference of your waist at a horizontal level around the navel for men, and at the level with the least width for women. Don't pull your stomach in.
Measure the circumference of the neck. Start below the larynx with the tape sloping slightly downward to the front. Avoid flaring your neck out.
For women only: Measure the circumference of the hips, at the largest horizontal measure.


Body fat calculator formula for man:
495/(1.0324-0.19077(LOG(waist-neck))+0.15456(LOG(height)))-450

body fat calculator formula for woman:
495/(1.29579-0.35004(LOG(waist+hip-neck))+0.22100(LOG(height)))-450
Now plug the numbers into our calculator. But please understand that this is only an estimate – precise calculation of body fat requires instruments like bioelectric impedance analysis or hydrostatic density testing. You'll need to see a doctor if you want to be tested with absolute precision.

Controlling Body Fat

There are thousands of proposals on the Web to help control or reduce body fat.

But complicated gimmicks aren't needed: Good old-fashioned changes in diet and the use of the right kind of exercise will do the trick.

The first thing is to avoid "intensive programs." To lose body fat, and keep it off, you need to make long-term lifestyle changes. Find an exercise regime that you can work at regularly. Reduce calories in your diet gradually and carefully, so that you maintain the changes.

Now limit the amount of carbohydrates you consume. Again, don't make any radical changes like giving up all carbs. Just cut down on starchy foods like potatoes, rice, pasta and bread. Too much of these provide your body with more than it needs for energy and energy storage, and the remaining part will be stored as fat. Cut back on them, replacing them when possible or limiting amounts when not.

Cut back on sweets too. Excess sugar consumed will be stored as fat. Satisfy your sweet tooth occasionally, but try to replace cakes and candy with fresh fruit. Avoid soda and other high-sugar soft drinks, replacing it with fruit juice if possible.

Intensive exercise for short periods is the best way to burn fat. That means running on the treadmill, or rowing, or working out with weights. Specific exercises to reduce your girth, like sit-ups, may have no effect at all if not combined with an intense workout.

Change your diet, do some exercise, and you will feel better and successfully reduce body fat.