The Skinny on Body Fat
Keep in mind that body fat is just stored energy.
We get energy for our bodies from the food that we eat and the beverages that we drink.
When we consume more energy than our bodies can use, our bodies will store that energy for later use as body fat.
When we consume less calories than our bodies need, our bodies use the energy in our fat stores (which reduces our body fat).
Body fat is like our body’s energy insurance policy, and to be healthy we do actually need to have a healthy amount of it.
Three Types of Fat Cells
When we talk about “body fat,” we usually are referring to one of several kinds of fat cells in the body. Each type of fat cell has a different role in our bodies’ functioning.
Some kinds of fat can have negative effects on our health, meanwhile others are beneficial and important.
The main types of fat cells in the body are white cells, brown cells, and beige cells.
White fat cells are the kind that most people think about. These large, white cells are the body’s way of storing extra energy. They’re found under the skin in your belly, buttocks, arms, and thighs, as well as around your organs.
White cells are important not only for storing extra energy, but they also provide cushion for your organs and joints. They’re also important for regulating hormones in the body like estrogen, leptin, insulin, cortisol, and growth hormone.
Other kinds of fat cells actually burn energy in fat rather than storing it.
Brown fat cells are found primarily in babies, but as adults we retain a small amount of brown fat, stored mainly in the neck and shoulders. Brown fat cells regulate body temperature by burning fatty acids.
Like brown fat cells, beige (or brite) fat cells can help burn fatty acids. These kinds of fat cells are a relatively new area of study. However they seem to play a key role in fat loss—when you’re cold, stressed, or when you exercise, your body seems to convert white fat into beige fat. More study is needed, but learning more about beige cells could help us to better understand and prevent obesity.
3 Types of Stored Fat
When your body does store energy as fat, the fat is stored as either essential, subcutaneous, or visceral fat.
Essential fat is found in your brain, bone marrow, nerves, and in the membranes protecting your organs. It’s important for regulating the hormones that control your body’s temperature, fertility, and its ability to absorb vitamins.
The amount of fat that is considered essential is different for women and men.
According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), essential fat should make up at least 10-13% body composition for women, meanwhile men need just 2-3%. Check out the chart below for the different body fat norms:
Subcutaneous fat is the fat stored under the skin, and makes up the majority of the fat in our bodies. It can be made up of white, brown, or beige fat cells.
Finally, visceral fat (or “belly fat”) is the fat stored in your abdomen around your organs. High levels of visceral fat can lead to higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and some cancers.
Fat in the Right Amount
It’s important to have a healthy body composition with a healthy percentage of body fat.
Having too much body fat can increase your risk of developing serious health problems like diabetes, heart disease, hormone disturbances, stroke, and some cancers.
Although it's becoming increasingly more common to have higher levels of fat in our society, having too low a body fat percentage can also cause health problems.
Not having enough body fat percentage can lead to problems in nearly every system in the body, leading to problems like heart damage, weakened immune system, damage to the nervous system, gastrointestinal problems, loss of muscle tissue, shrinkage of internal organs, disorders of the reproductive system, abnormal growths, and even death (read more).
As you can see, maintaining the right amount of body fat is essential for staying healthy.
I encourage the men and women that I work with to aim for body fat percentages that are within the body fat percentage ranges of Acceptable (25-31% for women, 18-24% for men), Fitness (21-24% for women, 14-17% for men), or Athletic (14-20% for women, 6-13% for men).
Measuring Body Fat Percentage
A fitness professional can estimate your body fat’s percentage by measuring the subcutaneous fat in your body using calipers—although it can be difficult to measure with much accuracy using this method.
You can also get an estimate of your body fat percentage with a scale or handheld device that uses bioimpedance spectroscopy (or BIS). This process measures your body’s response to electrical currents by placing electrodes on your skin. Since electricity moves through water (mainly in your muscles) faster than fat, this method can provide a good rough estimate of how much fat versus muscle you have in your body.
There are other methods for measuring body fat, however calipers and BIS are in my experience the most commonly used in gyms and among fitness professionals.
Managing Body Fat Percentage
In order to achieve a healthy body fat percentage, it’s important to practice a healthy eating pattern, an active lifestyle, and regular resistance training to boost your metabolism.
For a health eating pattern, you’ll want to follow the MyPlate model and eat an appropriate amount of calories each day. I cover all of this and more in my Healthy Diet Makeover program (click here to lean more).
To stay active, I recommend shooting for a daily walking goal of between 7,000 and 10,000 steps each day. Alternatively, you can also set a weekly goal of at least 150 minutes total of moderate-intensity activity (anything that gets your heart rate up into its moderate-intensity zone).
It’s also important to build strong muscles to boost your metabolism—regardless of your body fat goals. Resistance training is an essential part of an effective workout routine not only for fat loss, but also for maintaining health and wellness.
About the Author
Jayd Harrison is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media.
