Body constitution is the weight of your body as a percentage of your total weight. The ideal body composition is around 15% fat, with most people falling between 17-25%. This can obviously vary from person to person. To get acceptable results, you need to change your lifestyle, hence using the term lifestyle is important to understand the importance of this concept.
There are two main approaches for losing body fat:
- Reduce energy intake (Diet)
- Increase energy expenditure (Exercise)
The most commonly used methods for reducing your calorie intake is by either eating less or eliminating certain foods. In the past, people were advised to follow a structured diet plan for losing weight. The popular ones at the time were low carbohydrate and high protein diets. A major advantages of these diets are that they are effective as long as you adhere to them 100% and we all know how hard that is, especially when following a specific diet protocol.
As we progressed with our knowledge in the field of nutrition, we realize that eating a specific set of foods on any particular day has little to no effect on your body composition. The secret to this is the degree of making the diet work for you, rather than a specific plan. To improve your body composition, you need to understand what foods are healthy and which ones are not. You also have to understand how much you should eat and how often. The most important thing is to prepare yourself mentally for this lifestyle change by focusing on both benefits and drawbacks of it.
What is ideal body composition?
Although the current guidelines recommend a 15% body fat, there is no specific ideal body composition, meaning that your number is perfect for you. What matters most is to have a healthy eating pattern, which will naturally lead you to your goal.
If you are not at an ideal body composition yet and you want to lose weight without gaining too much muscle mass, it’s best to start from the ground up and create an effective workout plan. It’s a huge challenge to make such a plan, so I suggest you start with increasing your calorie intake moderately. If you are interested in losing weight with muscle mass, then the following are important to remember:
- Build your exercise program into your daily routine.
- Keep your workouts short, intense and high-quality.
- Don’t let your mind get distracted during the workout and focus on the task at hand only!
- Hydrate yourself and don’t forget to eat a balanced diet.
- Make sure to give your body enough time to rest and avoid overuse injuries.
How the hormones affect your physique;
Hormones affect your body composition and to understand how they work, let’s first discuss the main hormones that are responsible for regulating your body.
Sleep and body Composition
A good night’s sleep is essential to your health and can significantly affect your life. But as with any other aspect of our lives, not all sleep is created equal. In this article we’ll cover some science-based ways to maximize your sleep quality and help improve body composition. Hgh for men clinic is the best clinic for achieving her goals. One of the most vital things for body composition is how you sleep.
Cortisol
Cortisol is your body’s stress hormone, and its production is based on your natural circadian rhythm. More cortisol means more muscle breakdown, lower testosterone levels and increased abdominal fat. It also makes you more prone to infections and decreases your immunity towards diseases.
To control cortisol you can do the following;
- Keep a regular sleep-wake cycle, avoid caffeine
- Ensure that your cortisol levels are low throughout the day, for this you can use supplements like Corticostero Plus and Fuzimex.
- Avoid sugar and processed carbohydrates
- Use a multivitamin and minoxidil to increase blood circulation and prevent muscle breakdown.
Cortisol is also stimulated by the artificial lighting of your bedroom. This is why it’s important that you sleep in total darkness and not expose yourself to sunlight.
Testosterone
Testosterone is the main hormone responsible for muscle growth, low testosterone can lead to lower levels of endurance and strength. Low testosterone levels make it extremely difficult to lose fat and gain muscle.
To ensure that your testosterone levels stay high you can do the following;
- Adhere to a healthy diet rich in whole foods and vegetables.
- Avoid addictive substances like tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and caffeine which might lead you to hypogonadism (low T) in the long run.
Human Growth Hormone
Human growth hormone is essential for body composition because it regulates the amount of fat and muscle in your system. Low levels of HGH can result in low muscle gain, increased fat storage, and low energy levels.
HGH is controlled by a number of factors like;
- Exercise: For this you need to do intense weight lifting and eat a diet high in protein, this will help you recover faster after your workout sessions.
- Sleep: HGH is released while you sleep, so it’s important to get enough sleep every night.
- Nutrition: You can naturally increase HGH through diet by increasing the intake of foods that contain amino acids like dairy products and meat.
Hormonal imbalance is really common as there are numerous factors that affect our hormones, the most important ones are;
- Stress
- Lack of sleep (not enough quality)
- High stress hormone cortisol
How to Improve Your Body Composition;
- Nutrition
As previously mentioned, this is the most important factor to achieving your ideal body composition. You should make sure to follow a proper diet plan designed by a medical professional and not fall victim to bogus diets that tell you what is good for you.
A good diet should be rich in good fats like extra virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts, fish and dark chocolate. Also ensure that you include plenty of minerals like magnesium and selenium in your diet.
2.High protein- low carbs
This is the best way to ensure that you build muscle and don’t accumulate fat on your body. You should focus on eating high protein foods like lean meat, fish, tofu, eggs, and dairy products.
3.Physical exercise
This tip is crucial when it comes to achieving your ideal body composition, however it’s not enough by itself to get there. If you want to be healthy and lean, you need to do strength training at least 2 times a week combined with cardiovascular exercises 3 times a week.
4.Calorie reduction for fat loss
It’s obvious that people lose weight more slowly when they are not eating as much, but this is the only way to ensure that you’re losing excess fat and keeping your muscle mass.
I also want to stress that you should be consistent with a calorie deficit; if you have a plan to eat less and workouts to maintain your muscle mass, then you will achieve goals faster.
5.Avoid junk food and alcohol
I know that it’s tempting to eat junk food and party with your friends after a long week of work, but one day of having fun is not worth the damage it will do to your body. Stay away from junk food and alcohol as they are loaded with calories, sugar and artificial ingredients.
6.Stress management
It’s obvious that stress is bad for your body and it’s also a strong contributor to gaining excess weight around the abdominal region, so if you want to look lean, then you need to control your stress levels.
The best way to manage stress is not to ignore it, but to deal with it in a positive manner. You can do this by doing something that makes you happy, like playing with your children or taking a walk in the park.
How Can You Assess It?
- Body mass index (BMI)
Body Mass Index is used by many to determine whether they are overweight or underweight. The BMI calculation uses the person’s weight (kg)/ height squared.
The following values are associated with the different BMI levels:
18.5 = Underweight (Normal Weight)
18.5 – 24.9 = Normal Weight (Overweight)
25 – 29.9 = Overweight (Obesity Stage 1)
30 – 34.9 = Obesity Stage 2
35 – 39.9 = Severe obesity (Obesity Stage 3)
40 – 50 = Morbid obesity (Super obesity)
- Body fat percentage (BF%)
Body fat percentage is very useful in determining whether you have excess fat, but it’s not as accurate as BMI and your weight can also be a factor when calculating body fat.
- Waist to hip ratio (WHR)
- Skinfold measurements
- Imaging techniques like DEXA (X-ray) to measure body fat, BIA to measure total body composition or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which can be used to measure subcutaneous and visceral fat.
