A 3min Read Body fat monitors & body composition testing has become very popular in recent years, whether it’s a bathroom scale, a more upscaled handheld unit or a high-end gym-based unit, more and more people are using them for tracking body composition changes. But should we use them? Are they accurate & a valid metric for change or just a fun thing to do? Let’s dig into that a little! In essence, body fat testing is not accurate. Is it a valid metric, yes for some higher end athletes, but the majority of end users/the general public won’t see a benefit from their use. They won’t be able to sufficiently replicate the exact same testing conditions, leading to greater inaccuracies and leading the user to believe they gained/lost fat when in fact they haven’t. Essentially, without cutting you open, all body fat testing is an estimate and based on assumptions regarding the proportions and properties of Fat Mass, Fat Free Mass, water, protein and other minerals. All composition testing, except skinfold testing, will be subject to impact from your nutrition and hydration and the timing of such. Depleting some your carbs & being a little more dehydrated will artificially make your body fat look higher. So working out prior to testing isn’t advised. Inversely, eating & drinking prior to testing will make your body fat look lower! Added fluid in your muscles and body, also increasing your level of sodium intake will have an impact! These impacts exist on all levels of generally available machines used for testing regardless of quality; yes it impacts BIA more than BodPoD or DEXA, but it will impact results nonetheless. So you want to increase your lean body mass, eat 30 mins prior to testing & make it carb focused…. Like everything we practice at PLT Nutrition & Fitness consistency is key. You need to try and replicate the previous test conditions as much as possible What Testing Methods Exist? The most accessible systems are skinfold calipers and BIA "Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis" but some people have access to DEXA & BodPod’s. There are many other forms, but these are less accessible, so we won’t cover those below. Skinfold Calipers These are generally cheap, a few bucks, though some very expensive ones do exist. They can be bought almost anywhere online and use caliper pressure to a series of specific skinfold sites to measure subcutaneous fat and these measurements are added together. Pros – generally affordable. Quick and easily accessible home option Cons – open to error from the skinfold tester using inconsistent site selection BIA Units These can be purchased relatively cheap and come in many guises, bathroom scales & handheld units, but also more expensive units such as home scales and even gym-based units such as InBody. Pros – generally affordable. Quick and easily accessible home options available Cons – generally inaccurate. The more affordable the more likely to tracking error. The BIA process can be ‘tricked’ by the timing of your nutrition and hydration around testing and also sodium intake. Air Displacement (Bod Pod) These use low level dual x-ray frequencies to scan your body Pros – Regarded as more accurate than BIA. Cons – Can be expensive. Often accessibility is limited to colleges and medical facilities. Open to error from nutrition and hydration. Dual Energy X-ray (DEXA) These are similar to hydrostatic weighing but use air displacement, not water, to estimate your body fat percentage. Pros – Often regarded as the gold standard (subject to opinion) Cons – Expensive. Accessibility is very limited to the general public. Not feasible for regular testing. Open to error from nutrition and hydration. In Summary Body fat testing certainly has its place but for the majority of people seeking to lose weight and increase their health they have little merit. The main metrics to take note of will always be the scale, the tape measure and the mirror. Tks
Paul A 5 min read What’s your name and where do you come from? Patti Wnoroski I’m from Akron, Ohio. Do you have a family and what’s your profession? Family: 1 cat, a fiancé, 2 sisters, 2 nieces :) Profession: I am a very busy gal. Is that a job title? 😂😂 I am a certified music teacher and teach at Woodrige Local Schools. I start my day teaching 6th grade beginning band, then I’ll teach general music to all elementary grades kindergarten through 5th. In addition I direct the high school marching band, basketball pep band, and then the pit orchestra for the spring musical. How did you get introduced to PLT? My girl Courtney Ruggaber! Who is your coach? Deb, the one and only. 😎 Name 3 things that sum up your thoughts on your coach 1. My safety net 2. Knows her stuff 3. If she can live without peanut butter, I can do anything! Are you engaged in regular exercise/a sport? I love CrossFit! I’m signing up for my first ever comp which is in October. One of the events has a move that TERRIFIES me. The box jump. Ugh! But CrossFit always surprises me with what my body AND mind is capable of, even when I don’t know it. I’m excited to conquer my fear. How did you find your PLT onboarding experience & community experience? My whole experience has been wonderful. I found it easy to get started even though I had never tracked like this before. The community... wow.. where do I begin?? The community has been A-mazing. Over the years I STRUGGLED to find a group of people that led super busy lives and could have good nutrition and fitness habits. I instantly found that here. I work with kids. I NEED to be able to move easily, and being around people that are conscientious about their health helps me greatly. So often us teachers get swept up in the stress and fast paced schedules of our days. It helps me tremendously to see those great reminders from coaches, see the success of others, and to be able to offer some advice to anyone that may struggle while fighting the same fight. And to know that if I am struggling with something, not only is my coach a great resource, but there are so many others within the community that I feel I can lean on for support. What dieting programs had you tried previously and what makes PLT standout from previous programs? I have tried so many things... I had a watch that gave me a constant visual representation of how many calories I had left in the day. I tried just tracking calories on MFP. While I was in college I tried the Special K challenge where for 2 weeks 2 of my meals would be special K cereal, I would have 1 snack which was a special k bar (hmm I’m sensing a marketing scheme here), and then my 3rd meal could be anything. I went down a jeans size, but as soon as the challenge was over I gained it all back and then some. I tried Paleo and gained weight. I tried various fat loss challenges at my gyms over the years. Again, gained it back. While I was regularly doing CrossFit, I found that I was gaining weight even though I thought my overall eating habits were decent. I was so very confused, felt like I had no control, and became very frustrated with myself. I heard about PLT and thought on the notion of signing up for quite some time. At that point I knew I needed more individualized help, so I compared PLT to a couple other programs out there. The thing that stuck out the most about PLT is the emphasis on the plan being individualized. The fact that I get personalized macro targets each week instead of a handful of recipes to make has enabled me to learn so much about myself and how certain food makes me feel. I could eat cake if it fit in my macros, but then I would starve the rest of the day. Or I could eat 3 larger meals of quality food and feel good. I learned to recognize what my food choices would feel like. I’ve never had that before. What successes have you found since joining PLT, scale or non-scale? I don’t stress over the scale. I don’t stress over how a certain pair of pants will fit. I dont stress over eating a big enough lunch so that I don’t feel hungry during my workout. I don’t stress out about working out while hungry. I can feel hungry and still perform well during my workouts. Hunger is just a feeling and it has stopped getting in the way of my ability to think straight and my workouts. I have so much less stress and it feels great. How have you increased your nutritional education since PLT? Tonight my fiancé told me that I have officially reached the rank of Food Jedi. 😂😂😂. The biggest leaps for me have been learning how food will make me feel, and finding SIMPLE yet enjoyable foods to have that will help me reach my weekly targets. I understand more of which foods will fuel me and which foods are best left for special occasions. What 1 piece of advice would you give to people considering joining PLT or new members? How do I pick just one?? Hmmm Input your food in your tracking app the day before you eat it! That way you have a plan and can just eat. Tracking throughout the day can be stressful. Eliminate that by logging the night before. Also, by having your plan set for the following day you are freeing up a bit of your brain so that if the unexpected hits you can deal with it a lot easier. 😀 Your turn now; what 1 thing would you like to ask me? Ok Paul, here it is. The big question. What physical abilities has a healthy lifestyle helped you uncover that you would have never thought possible before? Hi Patti, tks for the question! The main benefit I have experienced from my healthy lifestyle was with my anxiety. Having suffered with anxiety and panic disorders since 1992, losing weight and getting healthier seemed to transform my anxity overnight and I ceased with the medication i had been on for years. Tks Patti, for taking to time to share your PLT experiences with me and our community Paul The PLT Community exists more than just online, its very real & united through a common bond of health, fitness and well being. They are from all corners of the globe, from New Zealand to Zambia, Australia to China, Spain to Hong Kong; our community works together, regularly getting out of their comfort zones, trying new things, training hard, living, loving, laughing, we are better together Here are some of this amazing community’s recent activity and achievements... FB LIVE Coaches Corner topics covered: - Cortisol & Over Training - Caffeine - Food Quality Matters - Mindfulness - Meal Timing (for the individual) - Tracking Supplements The community celebrated many notable non scale victories PLT coaches Patti, Deb & Paul attended The CrossFit Games to watch clients Tracy O'Connell & Mike Rando compete. Tracy came in 4th & Mike 6th after an intense weekend of competition. They were also supported by many of the community cheering them on! Anthony Mckee competed in The Masters Worlds Olympic Weightlifting Championship in Canada placing 4th and hitting many PR's Allie Wiseman got married and coach Patti walked her down the aisle! Clients trained for Ironman races & for Strongman Nationals Coach Paul visited Ohio to watch clients participate in a CrossFit competition! Coach Patti led a community group on a hiking day on the Appalachian Trail. Matt Salyer competed in his first Powerlifting Competition Courtney Ruggaber & Jill Roth both completed a 10k race achieving considerable PR's The community continued to work hard, learning more about nutrition, creating new habits and progressing towards their goals. This community knows how to have fun, they know how to work for change and most of all they came together as a community every day to support, inspire and love one another.
A Message From HQ August was a vastly successful month for existing client success and new community members. Our numbers swelled and we are always truly grateful for your ongoing support for our program and the work our coaches do. Having listened to many clients; we launched a completely new client only coaching package! This was met with strong support and take-up and that's what PLT is all about, we will never be a cookie cutter company. This program exists for you, the community, and if there's anyway we can tailor our service offering more to your liking please don't hesitate to contact me! info@pltnutritionandfitness.com Tks Paul Continuous Effort |
AuthorI'm Paul Leonard, CEO & founder of PLT Nutrition. Categories
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