I was always under the impression that the healthy BF% range was 18-25% But I have a friend who goes to Curves gym and she says that that range is what they term 'athletic' and that 'healthy' is a higher range...what's the truth?

Right now I'm WAY out of any variation of the 'healthy range' (although I've dropped about 8% BF so far) I just want to know what range I should be setting my sights for.

Also, does your lean muscle mass change as you lose weight? I had a BF test done a year ago, and it said I have 137lbs of lean muscle mass, will that stay true or will it go down as I lose weight?

Ivory, there is a thread in the BFL forum about BF% and using them to reach goal - at the end of the first post is a chart with BF ranges for women and men at different ages. To give you an example for a woman, from the age of 20 to 29 a 'good' BF% would be 20-24%, however at the age of 40-49 that same range is 24-28%.

A LBM of 137lbs is fantastic If you eat to support this (i.e., sufficient protein) and incorporate resistance training into your daily life chances are you'll keep this number, if you don't improve on it. LCing is a great environment in which to preserve LBM, and to grow more. Low fat / low calorie dieting, on the other hand, often results in 'weight loss' that is not purely fat loss - you lose that valuable lean muscle.

HTH
Nat

Thanks, I've been so confused on this. I will add resistence into my daily routine, it seems so weird that my goal weight(according to my BF % test my gym did last summer) should be so high (between 164 and 184). But hey, as long as I'm healthy and look good I'll be happy

Thanks again for clearing this up for me!

Ivory, you're welcome Being able to maintain a heavier weight and still be lean and strong is one of the advantages of resistance training. A higher metabolism, feeling strong and confident, fitting into smaller clothing and being able to eat more than someone with much less lean mass are others.

Nat