Why your scale is lying to you

Most people, when they decide they want to “manage” their health, move straight to their weight. Maybe you want to weigh what you did back in college, when you got married, or before you had kids. You’ve heard that “what gets measured gets managed,” so you grab a scale and start tracking your weight.

Although well-intentioned, that scale is missing the mark on more important factors that contribute to your actual health and wellness.

Body composition

What we’re made of matters more for our health than how much we weigh. You know this instinctually. Imagine two six-foot people weighing 200 pounds. What would you think they each look like if I told you one of them was 15% body fat and the other was 35% body fat? What would you think they live like? 

When we look at body composition, we’re looking at two main things: fat mass and lean mass.

Fat Mass

Fat mass, also known as Adipose tissue, refers to the amount of fat tissue in the body. Fat mass is an energy reserve and insulator, your body needs a certain amount of it to protect and fuel itself.

But not all fat mass is created equal. Fat exists in two main forms based on its location in the body: subcutaneous adipose tissue and non-subcutaneous adipose tissue. Subcutaneous fat consists of the fat underneath the skin, most commonly around the hips, thighs, belly, and butt, and it represents the “normal” form of fat storage. 

Non-subcutaneous fat is found around your internal organs (known as the viscera) and is known as Visceral Adipose Tissue or Visceral Fat. This is the fat that causes the most health problems. Because it is a major source of inflammation, visceral fat causes inflammation in the heart, pancreas, and metabolism. Excess amounts contribute to the development of atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and even Alzheimer's. 

Lean Mass

Lean mass refers to muscle mass, organs, and skin, but is primarily composed of skeletal muscle. An abundance of data suggests that muscle mass is strongly and inversely associated with mortality, meaning that high amounts of muscle mass are tied with longer and higher quality life. 

Determining body composition

There are a number of methods for estimating body composition, ranging from imprecise to extremely accurate.

Body measurements - this includes BMI (a horrible indicator of health), body weight, waist circumference, and bioelectrical impedance analysis (e.g. InBody scans). These measures tend to be used as quick indicators towards a trend or general amount and can vary widely.

MRI / CT Scan: While magnetic resonance imaging is the absolute and most accurate way to measure body composition, it’s cost prohibitive ($2,000/scan), time intensive, and invasive (high radiation exposure).

DEXA Scans: The gold-standard and most accessible body composition measurement device. DEXAs use a small X-ray dose (1/10th the radiation exposure of a flight from LA to NY, or equivalent to a few hours at the beach) to project beams through the body that indicate the local tissue composition. In addition to fat mass and lean mass, DEXA is also able to calculate bone density metrics, another important data point for considering health and longevity. 

With an accurate body composition test, you’ll be able to calculate fat mass, lean mass, visceral fat, and bone density, giving you an unparalleled perspective of what actually matters, your body composition. 

Regular DEXA scans are useful for tracking fat loss, muscle mass, and bone density over time, all of which are important indicators for health- and life-span.

Measure what matters

So before you convince yourself that all you need to do is “get back to your college fighting weight,” consider what that might mean for your composition. Do you really need to lose fat, or would gaining muscle be more beneficial? Are you setting yourself up now to live the functional life you want 10, 20, and 30 years down the road?

Get a DEXA scan at Benchmark Body Metrics and we’ll make sure you measure what matters, optimize your training and nutrition, and achieve your goals.