Everybody needs a certain amount of body fat to survive. For women it is between 10% and 13% and men need between 2% and 4%, according to the American Council on Exercise. These figures vary slightly depending on lifestyle and body type.
The maximum healthiest body fat percentage is higher for both men and women. Men top off between 18% and 25% and women can get away with 25% to 31%. Sadly, the obesity epidemic that is sweeping the developing and developed world is blowing those percentages out of the water.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly one billion people globally are considered to be overweight, while about 300 million of those are obese. In this article, you will learn some of the things that lead to being overweight as well as ways to loose some of that excess body fat.
Diet is the leading cause of obesity on the planet, and the eating habits of most of the overweight world are incredibly unhealthy. Amazingly, even products that are made to be healthy oftentimes have additives that lead to weight gain.
A common additive is high fructose corn syrup, which is found in an enormous array of products, including healthy fiber rich breakfast cereals. One unfortunate by product of high fructose corn syrup is that it metabolizes into fat faster than other sweeteners. But, because it is cheap and readily available, it is a standard ingredient.
Staying away from processed foods with additives such as HFCS, or any other wide range of ingredients out there will help to automatically balance the body's metabolism and control weight gain. Switch to a healthier balance of fruits, vegetables, lean meats and fish.
Exercise is the other way to loose weight, and lifting weights is a good way to get started. As muscle grows, it will feed on the fat until there is more muscle than fat.
Weight lifting routines like dead lifts, clean and jerks and bench presses will increase your metabolism tremendously and fat will just melt away. One benefit to weight lifting is that the energy generated will increase your metabolism for days after the session.
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