Skinny Girl's Quest for Muscle

Skinny Girl's Quest for Muscle
The New Fat: Normal Weight Obese

Think that just because you can fit into those size 6 jeans you aren't fat? Sorry ladies, think again. There's a new kind of fat in town, it's called Normal Weight Obese. Yes, you can be obese even if your weight falls within the recommended level on a government weight chart and your body mass index (BMI) falls within healthy ranges.

Normal Weight Obese (NWO) women are women who have a high percentage of body fat despite being within normal ranges for both weight and BMI. NWO has been defined as women with a body fat percentage of 30% or greater and a BMI of less than 25 (1). One could weigh only 110 lbs with a body fat percentage of 30% and still be considered obese. And, if you do the math, it makes sense. With 30% body fat at 110 lbs, that's 33 lbs of fat leaving only 77 lbs left for muscles and skeleton. Compare that to a healthy 125 lb woman with 20% body fat, the 125 lb woman has 30% more muscle and 8 fewer pounds of fat.

To get an idea of what this may look like, a single pound of fat is about the same size as a 12 ounce coffee mug (not the contents of the mug, but the actual mug itself). Now certainly the healthy 125 lb woman isn't going to have 8 less coffee mugs worth of body, but rather she'll have almost 8 extra coffee mugs of firm, non-jiggly, non-saggy, muscle in place of fat--it's important to note that muscle takes up slightly less space than fat. Plus, all of that muscle is going to be distributed in places that make a more attractive appearance than that of a person with 8 lbs of fat that tend to cling to thighs, belly, hips, and as bat wings, etc.

A recent study(2) found the following averages for its female NWO participants:

Age: 35 years
Weight: 131 lbs
Height: 5 ft 3 1/2 inches
BMI: 23
Fat: 47.2 lbs
Lean Mass: 77.8 lbs
Lean Left Leg: 13.4 lbs
Lean Both Legs: 27 lbs
Body Fat: 39%
Waist Circumference: 28 inches
Hip Circumference: 38 inches
Waist/Hip Ratio: 0.75

A lot of women would consider 131 lbs as thin, possibly even skinny without realizing that 131 lbs can also be unhealthy. So, what does all of this mean? First, I guess it's time to toss out the bathroom scale. Under this scenario, scales are a poor tool when it comes to measuring health. Better units of measure are: body fat percentages (and lean mass weight which can be calculated from body fat percentage and weight), inches (waist, hips, thighs, arms, etc), cardiovascular fitness (how far can you walk? run? bike? how many stairs can you climb?), and finally, strength (how much weight can you curl? bench? squat?).

Great, another label to make women feel bad about themselves you say? Well, yes, but don't worry, it applies to men as well, and now that you know, you can start working toward a goal of more muscle--oh hey, that's what this blog is for right?

Until next time, go do something athletic!




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references:
(1) http://www.healthandage.org/professional/health-center/9/article-home/3193/The-Normal-Weight-Obese-Syndrome.html
(2) http://www.europeanreview.org/pdf/390.pdf