“I guess I don’t so much mind being old, as I mind being fat and old.” — Benjamin Franklin
To be more precise: excess body fat is debt. If you’re carrying more body fat than you should, you owe a debt to yourself.
This idea, relating being overweight to being in debt, I had heard from different people. I’m here writing it down as a reminder to myself and perhaps as an insight to others.
A healthy body fat range for men is 10-15%; for women, about 15-25%. I’m personally aiming for 10%, but feel free to pick a number. Less or more than that range is not as healthy. Your body has evolved to have a certain optimal amount of fat on it.
Excess body fat is debt; you did it in the past and now it’s set against you. Excess body fat will not just negatively affect your physical being, but also your emotional and intellectual performance. I cannot make a case for this here, but the peer-reviewed literature surely can.
Once you pick a number, it’s important to know where you stand in terms of body composition. I highly recommend performing a DEXA scan, which takes a few minutes and is extremely accurate.
By periodically comparing your target number with your current number, you’ll be aware of where you stand and you’ll be more likely to make the decisions to get to your optimal weight.
About how to lose fat, I will only say three things that I’ve learned, which seem to work well for me and perhaps will work for you too:
- My metabolism is not an unique snowflake. My body is an efficient machine that burns a certain amount of energy per day, and that’s that.
- I’d rather not eat than eat less. Doing intermittent fasting works better than restricting my diet or having a caloric deficit every day.
- A caloric deficit of 9000 kcal burns about a kilo of fat and reduces my abdomen by about 2 centimeters.