Column Chronicles: Body Fat 101 - Frank Cotolo on 148.ca

Body Fat 101

Frank Cotolo
June 23, 2016

It's amazing what people don't know about body fat. Everyone has body fat. Some people feel only obese people have body fat. That's wrong and it is one reason I am presenting this educational blog. Please pay attention. If you fall to sleep while reading, by the way, you have a body fat problem.

The first thing you should know about body fat is that it has purposes in the overall working of the physical complexities in progress. Body fat stores energy. Without body fat, energy has nowhere to stay and supply you with, well, energy, which you need, essentially, to move. As well, body fat keeps us warm. This is why obese people don't need thermal underwear on very cold days.

The next good thing about body fat is that it protects our organs. People with less body fat than is generally accepted when compared to the height of a person can damage their liver or kidneys or lungs and, of course, their genitals, if they don't have enough body fat absorbing the many shocks exposed to those organs over the course of a normal day.

Want to know more about body fat's good features? All right, here's something: Body fat houses certain chemical reactions that decide how a person will grow.

"Holy cow," I can hear you saying right after you read that, "who would have thought there were chemical reactions making important growing decisions in body fat?"

Here's more on that fact: How much body fat you carry can be measured and usually that means finding the BMI. That stands for Body Mass Index and we all have one but we don't all know if our BMI is good or bad. Let me tell you how to calculate your BMI so that you can see if it is good or bad for you.

Write down your height, age and how much you weigh. If you don't have the exact figures, do not estimate. Instead, measure your height, use the age of your last birthday and weigh yourself (use a digital scale; if you don't have one, go to a store and buy one; digital scales are not expensive and you should be able to afford one, especially if you have a steady job).

Next, write down your pants size. Then, write down the goal you have set for your weight. If you have not set a goal yet, then take some time to think about the best weight for yourself. Then, write down your activity level by gauging your activity as "a lot", "a little" or "none".

Take all of this information and bring it to your doctor the next time you have an appointment. If you decide to have two stacks of pancakes or a box of fried chicken or a large piece of chocolate cake before you go to a doctor's appointment, forget all of the things I told you to write down and consider your BMI unhealthy and be prepared to become nauseated when your doctor examines you, even though your organs are probably protected well enough to help you survive a minor fender bender on the way to your appointment.

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.