Look good, feel even better

It is important to keep the percentage of your body fat within the requisite levels. These are 8-20 per cent for men and 13-25 per cent for women, writes Anup Deb Nath

THE human body is a very complex machine and though we are blessed with one that is in perfect condition, to begin with, misuse, wear and tear, incorrect diet and a lack of exercise as well as age and health tend to wear it down. We run to the nearest person who promises us a miracle cure. Unfortunately, there really is no miracle cure. Most people try to undo what years of misuse and neglect have heaped onto their bodies. The younger generation, thankfully, is more aware of looking good. One should try to improve upon what nature has given them rather than just preserve it. What many of us learn as we tread this narcissist path is that not only will we look good but also end up feeling better.

When I am exercising what are the factors that will determine how good the results are likely to be?

There are three basic factors that will determine the result: frequency, duration and intensity. Frequency is how often you work out. The recommended frequency is between three to five times a week at an average. The second factor is the duration of your exercise or how long your workout lasts each time. Duration varies between 30 to 45 minutes per session and can even extend upto an hour. The last factor is intensity or the level of your work out. This is the percentage of your maximum heart rate that you work out at. A fourth factor which is often added is how long you have been exercising on a regular basis.

I have a problem with my abdomen after the birth of my baby. Despite doing many abdomen crunches daily I have not been able to reduce this problem area. My friend, who has big hips and thighs, also complains of not being able to reduce from these spots despite doing specific exercises. What can we do to reduce these problem areas?

Many of us have one or two areas that we feel we need to improve on. Our entire focus is on removing these flaws. When these areas show no sign of improvement, despite our best efforts, then we wonder what we are doing wrong. There really is no way of reducing or working on a specific or targeted area.

When we are working out we really have no control over which part of our body we burn fat from. Doing abdomen crunches every day in the hope that you will lose from that area, unfortunately, doesn’t always work that way. The only way to lose fat is by a combination of correct diet (here we mean a low fat, high on complex carbohydrate and protein diet) and exercise. Fat burns in the reverse order that it came on in. In other words, it’s last in and first out.

The reason many people get fooled into thinking that they have managed to reduce fat from one specific area is that the muscle growth underneath a fat deposit can give the feeling of having reduced in the area. The overlying fat is stretched over a greater area and, therefore, appears thinner, though the total amount of fat is the same. The best bet is to try to eat right and exercise for 25-40 minutes a day, three to five times a week.

This will help in keeping you overall toned and fit. Along with this, continue to give your problem areas exercise twice a week but don’t neglect the other parts of your body in the hope of losing weight from this area.

I am 5 feet 5 inches tall. How much should my ideal body weight be?

You should not worry about how much you weight but how you look and feel, and what is the percentage of body fat in your body. Weight, in most cases, is a relative way of guaging how fit or overweight we are. If you take the weight of another friend as tall as you but fatter than you, you might be surprised to find that she weighs less than you. The reason is that muscle weighs more than fat. Therefore, if you are fit and have a good muscle tone, you would probably weigh more than your overweight friend who looks fat. She would have weighed less than you since fat is lighter than muscle.

It is important to keep the percentage of your body fat within the requisite levels. These are 8-20 per cent for men and 13-25 per cent for women. Try to measure your body for a better idea on how much you might need to lose or gain. Also, use the mirror and your own idea of how good you feel for a more accurate idea.

This feature was published on February 28, 1999