What the Heck is a Healthy Body Composition?

Second Wind Fitness with Brock Armstrong

If you are a serious (or even recreational) exerciser, you want to get faster/stronger. That is, after all, where some of the fun of our dedicated exercise time is derived. And for many of us, getting faster or making those hard-fought-for muscles more noticeable, means losing some body fat. This can be a tricky endeavour when you are also trying to enjoy your workouts, live an active lifestyle, be good at your job, raise a family, and maybe even perform well in some races and events.

While you want to “weigh less,” you also don’t want to lose any precious muscle that you know helps you do the activities you enjoy.

So, in this episode, I have asked nutrition and behaviour change coach Monica Reinagel to join me to talk about how and why the idea of “losing weight” is a lot more meaningful and nuanced than it used to be.

• What Body Composition really is,
• How this is different from hitting a specific number on the scale,
• What happens when we lose weight too quickly,
• What happens when we yo-yo diet,
• Why it is important to maintain (or build) muscle mass especially as we age,
• How much protein we need to maintain muscle mass,
• How feeling stronger and more capable creates a virtuous cycle which leads to losing body fat (and supports our weight loss efforts),
• Three things we can do to help our bodies lose more fat than muscle.

Resources:

• Weighless.Life
• Protein Content of Common Foods
• Protein Density of Foods
• Change Academy podcast
• Nutrition Diva podcast

Monica’s favourite of Brock’s YouTube videos:

TV Time (or watching hockey) Workout

7 Fun Ways to Use a Treadmill

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