Measurements of your body composition, or body fat levels, give you a more complete picture of your healthy body weight than using a scale. Too much body fat, even at a normal weight for a 50-year-old woman, can put you at risk for diseases common to overweight or obese people, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
However, the optimum in terms of body fat is somewhat subjective. A 50-year-old woman who wants good health will seek a different level of body fat than a 50-year-old woman who competes in sporting events, such as running races or triathlons. Aging plays a role in body fat percentage; in general, you will have more fat than a woman 30 years your junior.
What is body fat?
Body fat measures your ratio of fat tissue to lean mass, which consists of bones, muscles, organs, and connective tissue. Women always have a greater amount of fat than men to support the maternity. This is true even when you get close to the menopause.
Women's fat storage actually increases with age, more so than men's. You will also notice that where you store fat changes. In the younger years, we find more in the hips and thighs. Upon reaching menopause, fat tends to shift to upper body and abdomen. Your total weight on the scale may not change, but your belly may grow a bit more. Body fat measurements don't always tell you where you're storing fat, they just give you a rough idea of how much you're storing.
A healthy body is one that has a lower proportion of body fat, and you can measure this value with the total body mass. Although as a general rule, a lower fat percentage is usually better, having fat levels that are too low can be harmful. Therefore, although fats are not good for our system, the ideal amount is not 0%. Even athletes have 6-13%, and anything below 2-5% could negatively affect performance.
How does aging affect fat levels?
For every 10 years that pass after the age of 20, it is common naturally gain between 1 and 3 percent fat.
For a woman, a percentage of healthy body fat is 14 to 30 percent. If you exceed the levels, you are exposing yourself to serious health risks. A 50-year-old female athlete may be between 14 and 20 percent fat; a fit 50-year-old woman hovers in the 21 to 24 percent range; and ordinary women are in the 25 to 31 percent range.
Women age 50 and older who have less than 28 percent body fat fall into the low body fat category. Having too little body fat could affect muscle function and other body systems. Those at 27 to 31 percent are within the healthy range for body fat, and even 31 to 34 percent can be considered an acceptable percentage.
Instead, women who exceed 34 and 38 percent body fat are considered overweight. As women go through menopause, it affects weight gain and loss, making it more difficult to stay below the 37 percent ranking line.
The ideal percentage of body fat for women over the age of 50 is 23-33%. However, there are many reasons why this ideal percentage changes over time. We may think we're done growing after we turn 20, but our bodies never really calm down. With each passing decade after your 20s, you gain 1-3% fat, but we also lose about 2% of bone mass during this period.
This means that by the time we're 50, we'll probably have a much higher body fat percentage than we did in our 20s. This value tends to inflate or deflate based on how much care we've taken with our bodies, but generally we can expect the percentage of fat is higher than when we were teenagers.
Body fat measurement
The easiest way to measure body fat is with a body fat scale. When you get on it, it sends an electrical current through your body to estimate your percentage of fat and lean mass. Many gyms also have portable versions of this technology. However, the results can be iffy as they are highly dependent on your hydration levels.
A fitness professional can also measure body fat with calipers in various places on your body, such as the triceps, upper thigh, and waist. This method is more accurate but is also subject to errors.
The gold standard of body fat analysis includes underwater weighing and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, which uses X-ray technology. Both are available only in a clinical setting and come at a fairly high price.
High Percentage Dangers
Having an unhealthy body fat percentage is always dangerous, but it has become much more so in recent years and is much more harmful for men. In addition, to this we must add that over the years it costs more to lose weight, since our level of activity is much lower and we eat more.
The body is susceptible to a wide range of problems at that age due to the high percentage of body fat, including various chronic diseases, heart disease, and diabetes. Specifically, heart disease is very deadly, claiming more lives than any other disease. This disease usually develops from maintaining a poor diet for several years and consuming unhealthy fats.
How to change the percentage of adipose tissue?
You can safely aim for a loss of about 1 percent body fat per month. You lose body fat as you lose weight creating a calorie deficit between what you consume and what you burn. A deficit of 250 to 500 calories a day it will produce about a pound of loss a week. Keep your rate of loss relatively moderate when you focus only on body fat. Losing weight too quickly will encourage your body to lose lean muscle mass and fat.
El strength training at least twice a week promotes fat loss in people of any age, but is especially valuable as you get older. A 2010 study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise determined that regular strength training helped postmenopausal women avoid weight gain and negative changes in their body compositions. Strength training too helps offset the natural loss of muscle mass that occurs with age. Plan to work all of your major muscle groups (hips, legs, chest, back, arms, shoulders, and abs) with at least one set of eight to 12 repetitions of a specific exercise. Start using just your bodyweight, and when a set of 12 reps becomes feasible, add additional weight and sets.
When planning your meals, be sure to include adequate protein from lean sourcessuch as fish, skinless chicken, eggs, lean meats, and whey protein powder, if needed. Go for about 20 grams in each of the four sessions. You'll need this protein to increase your strength training efforts and preserve lean muscle mass as you decrease your body fat percentage.