Body Fat and Age

ilfaith

I know there are numerous posts on body fat and hope I am not repeating something that has been asked ad nauseam.

I know that acceptable body fat percentages increase as we get older. According to most charts I have come across, for a woman my age (early to mid 40s) 23-26% is considered "slim/healthy", and anything under that is considered "low/lean" or even "underfat."

Measuring my body fat percentage in a variety of ways (from the online tape measurement calculators to my Tanita scale), I have measured my own composition at anywhere from 16-22%. Going by visuals, I would estimate my actual percentage to be close to 20%.

I don't see myself as being particularly "lean" ..in fact I think I could stand to tone up a bit. But then I wonder if I am, in fact, "underfat" if I am doing some damage to my aging body. Will it affect my hormones, or bone density, or cause some other internal problems.

I know if my body goes below a certain weight, my face starts looking a bit gaunt. I imagine if my body fat were too low, the same would happen. My BMI is currently around 19, so at the lower end of healthy. Since I am small, a loss of just a few pounds would put me into the "underweight" category. I certainly want to remain healthy, but wonder what the best path to looking and feeling my best might be.

_Terrapin_

fat essential for a woman is 12%; and you have the body of someone half your age. Enjoy it, the weekend, and the adulation.