I asked on the SP website what Dr. S considered to be "ideal body composition" in terms of body fat percentage, since she uses that vague statement so often. This was the reply:

"I found a chart that may help you at www.healthchecksystems.com/bodyfat.htm that classifies your % body fat (men and women) into categories. Assuming that you are an average
active female:
CLASSIFICATION WOMEN(% FAT)
Fitness 21-24%
Acceptable 25-31%
We consider ideal body composition to be near the fitness range."

Sure hope this doesn't mean that following the plan will make me fatter!

Jen

What a coinkidinky you should bring this up Jen, this morning I saw Suzanne Sommers on a talk show and she was telling how women would know when to progress to stage 2 of sommersizing - when their ideal body composition was reached - her basis for it is having a discernable waistline!!! I don't agree with that at all as women are all built differently I think I could weigh much more and still have a discernable waistline. She was trying to equate the waistline with the theory that high insulin promotes middle(belly) fat I guess. I have a discernable waist line alrlight - but my extremities are holding the fat - upper arms and thighs in particular. LOL just think if skinny middles and cellulite dimpled arms and thighs were ideal - I'd be there.

Lovely Garden, and nice to meet another painter, I use my computer with some mostly oil, or water color, oil when I am feeling heavy and water for the light airy and peaceful!
Your work is beautiful!

Hi Jen:

That's a great question you asked! I kept wondering the same thing like it was some kind of magical process. If "ideal body composition" means "body fat %", then why didn't she just say that!!!! No wonder people have questions. Can you see that I'm a little bitter from being blacklisted from asking questions on the SP website?

Recommended BF percentages seem to really vary. It's hard to know which ones to believe (never mind the means by which BF is calculated). I guess it's still a step in the right direction b/c it's better than a scale.

For anyone interested, I found this cool site yesterday that calculates body fat for you and charts it out in a profile. It's at www.mybodycomp.com

Wanda

Jen, i noticed that your % is 16.6. and you want it lower. be careful. drs tested mine when i was very skinny in feb. and it was 10% no period, they told me it had to get to 16 % to menstruate. i know we're all different but do be cautious. i am in quite a state right now and crawling out slowly. take care!

Thanks for the word of caution, but there's no danger of me accidentally getting my bf that low. I wish! I got pregnant this last time when my bf was 14%, and I have been as low as 11.6% with no problems. Most things I have read say just to stay at or above 12% for women.

Jen

Hi Jen & Kay:

I don't know if this is hokey or not, but I found this link about body fat and amenorrhea that was pretty interesting to read.

http://www.bodyfatguide.com/Amenorrhea.htm

It's odd that some women are OK with LBF but others aren't. Genetics would have to play a large part in it, don't you think? Having LBF as a teenager/early adult would be OK as an adult, but having higher BF as a kid and reducing BF too low as an adult would cause problems. Makes me wonder.

I think more research and understanding into the role of leptin, the hormone that is secreted by our fat cells, will answer many of these questions.

Wanda

Hi Wanda,

that is really interesting and makes sense. my BF at normal weight (115) is very low (though ate whatever and plenty of fat) and always got period but i had very low BF in teens ( never even got my period till i was 17!! senior year!! i felt like a freak!) i am on day 3 of induction and was beyond starving today and no ketosis. i saw what you wrote in Red's journal when she was starting about the protein being too high. Mine was at about 200 g today and i ate about 2300 cals ( that is not usual for me and heard that its because i am craving carbs) and had all knids of BS highs and lows. Natrushka also said too high for protein that i will turn it to sugar. i dont know what i am dong but i do know that none of it feels right. i will try for a week but then i think i will try something else and forget about ketosis and go back to working out and watching what i eat....also, i bet you my period does not start unless i up the carbs really high. i know that's why it started last month ..we'll see. i'm still hungry...so weird....

I have also read and heard that menstruation is a form of detox. so maybe since toxins are stored in fat and there aren't alot of toxins of there isn't alot of fat so no need to menstruate? i think i'm reaching...who knows!!

Hi Kaye:

Good to see ya still around. Out of curiosity, are you hungrier in ketosis or out of ketosis? I thought it was the Cushings that was making you hungry all the time. Wow, that seems to be a lot of protein. Even at 1 gram/lb of body weight for resistance training, it's still well above your weight. I hope you are able to see your Endo soon.


I've been working on the same theory myself. I stopped ovulating while on Atkins then started when I switched over to SP. The other possibility was my high intake of soy while doing Atkins. I'm still in the process of sorting it all out.

That's an interesting theory about menstruating and ridding the body of toxins. Makes me think of estrogen dominance caused by environmental estrogens/toxins. It can cause excessive bleeding.

Wanda

Hi Wanda,

Yesterday was an anomoly. the 2 days b4 ate about 110-120- in protein. maybe 3 rd day withdrawal is hardest for me. really? does cushings make you hungry? i do have all the symptoms of cushings but there's no tumor so i think it's from insulin. i do know that even though i feel funny and tired...i do feel more even. but i htink i need more carbs. i was in ketosis today for 2 seconds ...i started to feel normal and satiated so i checked after BF and it was pink. then i took supplements and flax oil and felt so weird. so was it the supps or the flax? those oil are supposed to affect your hormones. do you take them? anyway, knew felt bad again so checked and no more ketones. and no more for the rest of the day. so i dont know how i feel better till i can stay in ketosis long enough to gauge it. i will try for 2 weeks if i can and see what happens.. anyway, thanks for posting. do you really think there is something to that detox/period thing? i don't know anyting anymore. are you feeling better and making strides to sort things out? hope so....wishing you well...