Why Women Need a Certain Amount of Fat on Their Body to Be Healthy
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Society has led us to believe that having little to no body fat is what we should be striving for. But, what you should know is that maintaining a certain level of body fat is crucially important for overall health and proper bodily function - especially for women.
In this episode of Embrace Your Real, we're diving into the misconceptions surrounding body fat and it’s importance for overall well-being, especially for women. Join us as we uncover the essential functions of body fat, explore the risks of losing too much, and provide practical insights to help you embrace your body's natural state.
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey, hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace a real let's get it. Let's go. [00:00:31]
[00:00:31] Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode on the Embrace Your Real Podcast. It is time to get real. We're going to be talking about body fat. I believe that society has promoted this idea that less body fat is ideal for health and overall attractiveness, and society has led us to believe that having little to no body fat is what we should be striving for, when in reality, as women, it is so crucial for overall health and proper bodily function that we have enough body fat on us to sustain, whether that's growing a child, whether that's breastfeeding your child, whether that's just overall the different functions that we have in society and especially as women, it is so, so important. And I just kind of want to propose this idea to you and explain why body fat is necessary and why maybe you might not actually need to lose those 5 pounds. Maybe your body actually is holding on to that because that's what it actually needs. So that's what we're going to be diving into in today's bonus episode. Before we dive in, though, I want to share this review. It comes from Ann K 620. She gave a five star review and said, soul sister, Julie, I'm so blessed to have found your podcast. I love you so much. [00:01:38][68.5]
[00:01:39] It has been wonderful listening to someone who's journey and faith and health has been similar to my own. I love your practical tips, your honesty, your vulnerability about your past eating disorder struggles, and how unafraid you are to share your faith and love of Jesus. Keep being who you are and who he's called you to be. I love this so much. Thank you so much and K for just taking time out of your day to leave this rating interview, and also for just leaving such a thoughtful review. I'm so grateful that this podcast is helping you, and that's my whole goal and whole prayer. Every time that I, you know, turn on this microphone to share something with you guys is that you feel encouraged, empowered, educated in some way, shape or form. And so thank you again for taking time out of your day to leave that rating interview. If you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and do that, you can just type and embrace your will and first make sure you subscribe so that you never miss an episode. And then also, once you're on there, you can scroll all the way down and leave a rating interview. Okay, so here are the facts. Body fat plays vital role in regulating hormones, providing energy reserves and protecting organs. Yet societal pressures frequently showcase the misconception that lower body fat equals better health. And this is super problematic. And it's a super problematic narrative, really for women, because it has led us to chase these unhealthy habits and goals to reach a body fat percentage that is way lower than what we should actually have. So really understanding the essential function of body fat and recognizing the health risks of losing your body fat is super important. [00:03:07][87.8]
[00:03:07] Body fat, which is stored in the adipose tissue, plays a key role in regulating metabolism and energy balance through sensitive hormone signaling mechanisms. So what does that mean? Well, I'm going to get technical with you, so bear with me. But essentially your adipose tissue acts like an endocrine organ. So this endocrine system is is a complex network of glands and organs that produce and release hormones. These hormones act as chemical messengers, and they travel through your bloodstream to various parts of your body, influencing nearly every cell and function. So by acting as the endocrine organ, it releases vital hormones like leptin and estrogen, amongst other hormones. But those are the two that we'll kind of dive into today. So as I've mentioned in previous episodes, leptin regulates appetite and metabolism. So if your leptin levels are out of whack due to not enough body fat, it's going to slow your metabolism and make you feel super hungry all the time. Estrogen, which we may or may not have talked about before in the podcast, is essential for regulating your menstrual cycle and supporting fertility and reproductive function. This is so, so important. You don't want to mess with your cycle. You don't want to mess with your fertility. And this is arguably the most important reason why you don't want to lose too much body fat. Because losing your menstrual cycle is a key sign that you are not healthy, and that you're too low in body fat or something is out of whack in your body. And this can and will trigger that. And you don't want to mess around with your menstrual cycle just because you don't want to fit it in. You know you don't want to. I think so many women, especially when you're younger and you don't recognize the importance of this, you're like, oh, well, you know, my menstrual cycle is not normal. [00:04:51][103.9]
[00:04:52] But I, you know, I have goals and I want to fit into a certain pant size, please. Speaking from experience, from a girl in college who lost her menstrual cycle for over two years, you do not want to prioritize fitting into a smaller pant size at the expense of your menstrual cycle, and at the expense of you kind of messing with your overall estrogen levels, your overall leptin levels, and your hormones and all of those things. And lastly, the other hormones that are effective, like affected, are the ones that have to do with your blood sugar and insulin levels. And. This is a very complicated topic, but essentially when these hormones are out of whack, you're experiencing these energy crashes, these, you know, you have these crazy cravings, this increased appetite, crazy mood swings, and overall, your endocrine hormones. Can they control a wide range of things, including your metabolism, your energy levels, your growth and development, your reproduction, your mood, your stress response, your tissue function, your sleep, your blood control? I talked about this before, but the way that God has so intricately designed our bodies is amazing, and it's like a well-oiled machine where everything plays off of each other, right? And everything plays into one another. And so if you mess with one part, it's going to subsequently mess with other parts of your body that maybe you didn't even know were directly or indirectly affected or correlated. And so kind of really messing with those low body fat levels, this is going to mess with all of those things. And that's a lot of unwanted things that you want to mess with. I can say again, from experiencing the lack of menstrual cycle for over two years and me wanting to go into very unhealthy body fat levels, I was left feeling lethargic. [00:06:35][102.8]
[00:06:35] I was left feeling with overall decreased strength for my workouts and just day to day life. Like I felt like I was a skeleton, just like living in my body. And I was just going throughout my day and I had terrible brain fog. I had difficulty concentrating. I had lots of anxiety. I had feelings of depression. I had a super unhealthy relationship with food, fitness, my body, I mean people in general. I was just putting off so many things and it was all due to my hormone levels being out of whack, messing with my menstrual cycle, my estrogen levels, all of those things. And so the question remains, okay, so I don't want to do those things. I don't want to get dangerously, you know, in, in this position to where I'm putting my fertility and my hormones at risk. But how can I have, you know, goals? I still want to have goals, and that's totally fine. So how much body fat should you have? Well, for women in in the general population, aka non-athletes who workout, you know, a regular amount. They live a moderately active lifestyle, a body fat percentage that is kind of just accepted in society or something that's recommended is 21 to 33%. That's usually regarded as healthy. Yet most women, if you actually like, look at the unrealistic body image images that they have or these unrealistic expectations that they have, they dream of having a body that is less than 18, 16, 14%. And keep in mind, it's super important to note that the ideal body fat percentage. Again, this is going to be varied on several different individual factors. Age plays a role as body fat distribution shifts over time. Most women tend to have, you know, lower body fat during their teens, their 20s, with percentages increasing gradually through adulthood. [00:08:22][106.9]
[00:08:23] Genetics also influence a woman's natural shape and composition. So again, how much body fat should you have? Well, a general rule of thumb is if you are hitting your macros around 80% of the time, you're resistance training, you know, 3 or 4 times a week consistently, whatever your body is, that's what it's actually meant to be. Meaning that if you're nourishing your body with what it needs, you're providing it with enough protein. You're providing it with enough carbs, fats, adequate amount of sleep, water, fiber intake. You're prioritizing your workouts and that, you know, 20, 30 minute workouts 3 or 4 days a week. Whatever your body is after that, that is what it naturally is supposed to be, and that's going to be your ideal body weight and body fat percentage. I don't want to get too nitty gritty into this, because I don't want you to feel like you have to force yourself into a certain number, because everybody's going to look different again, just based on how you feel, your energy levels, what your goals are, and just naturally how you feel in your body. If you have to force your body to lose more weight or fat, that is something beyond what you feel like you can sustain long term, then it's likely not what your body is supposed to be at. So your natural, healthy body fat percentage is the amount that you have. When you're nourishing your body and you're moving your body with what it needs, you don't need to take the body fat test if you don't want to. You don't need to obsess over your body fat percentage. All you have to do is again, strive for that 7030, that 8020 lifestyle where you are, you know, constantly fueling your body about 80% of the time with your protein, carbs and fats. [00:09:57][94.0]
[00:09:58] Your resistance training regularly 3 to 4 times and your body again is naturally what will become naturally what it's supposed to be, and it will be the healthiest version of your body. And again, this doesn't even have to be that you're macro counting every single protein carbon fat. Maybe this is you're looking at your overall protein intake and your overall caloric intake based on where you're at and what your goals are, and that's what you're striving for, you know, 80, 80% of the time. I'm allowing that 20% of the time to be life like it's you're on vacation. You are have a night where you're just like, I don't want to focus on that. Prioritize what you can, but allow yourself to have room to live, because that is ultimately what is going to be sustainable long term. And I talk about this all the time, but it's what you do regularly and consistently. But the majority of the time that's going to yield you your results. If you want to learn how to macro, if you want to learn how to properly feel your body through utilizing the tool macro counting, or if you don't know where to start when it comes to your workouts, I do have two programs for you. My macro counting meet Simple Online Academy. This is going to help you to optimally feel your body through utilizing the 12 macro counting. If you want to dive more into nutrition, I have a program for you. Macro counting made simple.com and then the movement with Julie app. This is going to make resistance training extremely simple. So it's going to give you video demonstrations for every single movement so that you can confidently perform your workout correctly. It's also going to give you brand new workouts every single week so that you know exactly what workouts you need to be doing. [00:11:31][93.1]
[00:11:32] And I even have the 30 minute workout. So if you are, you know, in this season of life, if you can only prioritize three 30 minute workouts, that's great. I have it all planned out for you. It's go at your own pace, so you're not having to try to keep up with me in a video where you know you're rushing through the movement, you're able to do it and perform it at your own pace, and you're able to log and track all of your things within the app, so you can learn more about both of those programs by either going to macro counting Made simple.com, or sail that movement with julie.com. And you can start resistance training over there and learning all about the programs there. I'm going to be sure to link both of those programs that I mentioned. So the macro can be made simple online Academy. To start with your macro counting journey and learning how to properly feel your body. And then if you're wanting to kind of dive more into the workouts, the resistance training, you can head over to sale. That's Sally julie.com, and you can start resistance training weekly with me as I provide five brand new workouts every single week. Again, if five is not in the books for you, you can do three. You can choose however many or however less you want. This plan is for you. You can customize it how you want, and you're able to utilize it how you want. So both of those programs there will be linked in the show notes. But I hope that this was helpful for you. I hope that this gave you some encouragement. Again, just remember that the way that God designed our bodies is amazing, and I don't want you to sacrifice all of those, you know, messing with your hormone levels and messing with your fertility and messing with your gut health and all of these things just at the expense of trying to look a certain way, when in reality that's not going to yield the results long term that you're looking for. So that is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so much. I mean it, and I'll talk to in the next one. [00:13:14][102.6]
[00:13:14] All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace it real because you're worth it. [00:14:13[0.0]