Hello Reader

Building a habit of exercise and building muscle will transform your life: it improves the way you feel, react, focus, execute, move, love, sleep and think.

This is not an overstatement.

Every aspect of our lives get better when we move more and get stronger. It also prolongs life.

And it is also the best way to kill a negative relationship to the scale. Because total body weight doesn't say much about longevity.

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Body composition

When we step on a scale, we get a number that comes from everything from fat to lean body mass.

Muscles and bones contribute to lean body mass, while the rest is fat.
The proportion of lean and fat is called body composition. And that's the number that truly matters.

Because what is detrimental to our health is the excess fat. Where it is stored also makes a big difference.
In particular, fat that is stored in and around organs - called visceral fat - is the worst type of fat.

I will likely expand on visceral fat later in my content. But if you want to learn more right now, I highly recommend checking Dr. Sean O'Mara, MD, who is the leading expert on the topic.

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Most people get hung up on the number on the scale and we often track weight loss with total body mass.

But body composition, and having higher muscle than fat is far more relevant to our healthspan and lifespan, as we have discussed in previous emails.

When building muscle, the number on the scale will go up. And that's something to celebrate.

But how do you know if you're putting on muscle or storing more fat?

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How to measure body composition

The best method to measure body composition is a DEXA scan. It uses a small dose of radiation to quantify lean and fat mass.

It is the ideal method when it comes to aging because it is able to discriminate visceral fat and also gives you a score for bone mineral density, which is important to measure while we age (even more so for women).

However, you may not be able to simply go ahead and book a DEXA scan. At least in Canada, it has to be prescribed by a doctor.

If, like me, you don't have access to a functional health doctor or a physician who focuses on longevity (a rare breed), the next method to measure body composition is impedance.

Unfortunately, you don't get a measure of visceral fat with it, nor does it measure bone density. But it does give you a break down of lean vs fat mass.

I was personally able to book a body composition analysis in a nutritionists practice at the very affordable price of $65.

I encourage you to do a google search in your areas and to book it asap.
Not only is it easily accessible, it is also the most important metric you can use to track your longevity journey.

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Here is my body composition summary: it shows my body weight (123.7 lbs at the time of analysis on March 1st), as well as my muscle mass (51.4 lbs) and my fat mass (29.8 lbs).

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What I have learned with my body composition analysis

1. Basal metabolic rate

BMR or RMR for resting metabolic rate, is the number of calories burnt at rest: if you were to lay in bed all day, this is the amount of energy your body needs to maintain vital functions.

This number is important when tracking nutrition, which is something I am doing and recommend doing when building muscle (see bottom right of my analysis: 1289 kcal).

There are some very good approximations with calculators online or in nutrition tracking apps, so it's not a must have.
But having it measured is even better and takes the guess work out.

2. Body fat percentage

I got my analysis on March 1st after having already been in the gym twice per week for one month.

My body fat was 24% of my total weight, which puts me in the category "fair" for my age. Although I have not tested this in the past, I know that it was higher in December, because I have already lost some.

This is also not my usual/historical body fat. In my case, most of it comes from belly fat, which I have put on during my pregnancy last year.

For me, this is not good at all. There is no way I stay at this range.

The longer you wait, the harder it becomes to fix your body composition.

I believe this is especially true for women. Our 40s is a critical time for body composition.

Most women don't have this on their radar until they're past 50, when in peri-menopause or even later when in post-menopause, when it extremely difficult to release the fat.

My goal is to get (back) to the "excellent" range for women my age: between 14 and 19.8% of body weight within the year. I have to lose between 5 and 8% of body fat.

3. Muscle mass

My muscle mass came at 51.4 lbs, or 41.5% of my body weight.

And this is the number I am the most interested in, as I am working on building it up. I will measure again 3 months later.

My plan is to do strength training 2 to 3 times per week and consume 3 times the RDA for protein, or approximately 1g of protein per pounds of my current body weight.

For sustainable muscle building, and with this types of habits, aiming for 1lb per week seems to be a good target.

So my goal is to see my numbers reflect that on my next appointment in June.

I don't worry about my fat too much, because I know that my habits will take care of it.

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Body composition analysis joins the stack of markers we use in the only lifestyle-based program for longevity on the market that I am building. It will provide clients with evidence of success and a predictor of their future.

If you are ready to track your body composition, shoot me a message! I want to hear about it.

PS: If you live in Edmonton, you can go check Revive Wellness website to book yours.

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Talk to you soon

Jihane