How To Reduce Body Fat Percentage
Last updated on August 11th, 2023 at 07:11 pm
How to reduce body fat percentage is a question that many people don't have an accurate answer to, but the truth remains that every individual must strive to ensure that his/her body fat percentage stays below average at all times.
This is because people with high body fat percentages are at risk of many health issues such as obesity or being overweight.
Chronic cardiovascular diseases, as well as some types of cancer, are likely to be common in individuals with high body fat percentages. So it's in your best interest to have a low body fat percentage, other than aesthetic reasons.
There are over one billion adults around the world who are overweight as indicated by WHO (World Health Organization). At least, three hundred million of these individuals are obese. Mayo Clinic says that body fat percentages for men should not be higher than twenty percent while that of women should be at thirty percent. Any value higher than that could be dangerous to health.
How To Reduce Body Fat Percentage
When it comes to how to reduce body fat percentage, is quite simple if you know what to do. It will not leave you feeling exhausted after spending hours in the gym or starving.
The most important thing you need to do is change your lifestyle to incorporate positive habits, especially if your goal is to ensure that your body fat percentage remains at a steady rate. Going on a ‘crash diet' will do more harm, as it will result in a result of lack of adequate nutrients for your body. Your body automatically goes into panic mode and starts accumulating more fat.
A common false impression among fitness enthusiasts or diet buffs is that eating fats will never have a positive effect on your body fat percentage. But the truth of the matter is maintaining your health is virtually impossible without consuming fat.
It is important, however, for you to be able to distinguish good fats from bad ones. Whether you like it or not, as long as you keep eating foods with high-calorie content and you don’t burn off more calories than you consume, your body fat percentage will skyrocket.
Reduce Calories Intake & Increase Activity
Burning calories is essential if you want to reduce your body fat.
- Watch what you eat – You need to watch what you eat at all times. You may need to employ a calorie counter to help you keep track of what you have consumed on a daily basis. Eat smaller meals as against three large ones. Stay away from refined sugars. Eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The high fiber content of vegetables is immensely beneficial to your overall health.
- Increase your physical activities – People who are interested in how to reduce body fat percentage have been misled into believing that crunches and sit-ups can do the trick of decreasing their overall weight. You need to do more cardiovascular exercises which help to burn off more calories than other forms of workouts.
You can start weight training since it is much better to build up your muscles than to have layers of fat under your skin. Muscle mass also uses up more calories than fat tissues.
Therefore, when you lower your intake of calories on a daily basis, you should also be careful not to over-exercise. Swimming or running exercises that will help you shed that extra weight you are carrying about.
Rick Kaselj MS, is a leading kinesiologist and injury specialist as well as co-creator of the best-selling Unlock Your Hip Flexors program. Rick creates exercise programs that help people heal injuries and eliminate pain, so they can go back to living a full, active, healthy life.