Get Your Body In The Magical Green Zone

What is the magical green body zone?

Wondering what the hell this magical green zone is that everyone’s talking about? Well, we’re here to let you in on all the JUICY goss and help you get there. 

The green zone is the optimal range for your health and where you’ll feel your best. It can tell you how healthy you are in soo many different aspects! The body composition scale sends an imperceptible current through your body, which is called bioelectrical impedance analysis. Muscle, fat, bone and water conduct electricity at different rates and these rates of resistance are measured by the scale.

What you weigh isn't a reflection of health

Weight is not the best factor to actually go by when it comes to wanting to lose fat and feel healthier. For example, if you have been killing it in the gym, hitting some PB’s and getting stronger, the chances are the number on the scale has increased! Now you’ll be feeling great about yourself because you’ve achieved goals and in control of your life but you’ll also feel so much healthier from eating better, getting fitter and replacing excess fat with muscle. However, when you jump on the scales, this number on the screen isn’t going to know all of this. All the scales will tell you is that your weight has gone up and you’ll be stressing because you feel like you’re doing everything right but not getting healthier or achieving healthy weight loss. 

Burning body fat can be a result of the accumulated muscles. Muscles are like engines when it comes to consuming energy. Our muscle mass plays a crucial role when it comes to fitness. When your body builds muscles, it burns energy and fat all the time. As your muscle mass increases, the faster your body is able to burn calories/energy. 

Speaking of flawed measurements, BMI (body measurement index) is useless! BMI was being used when cocaine was being used to treat pain and mental illnesses in the 1880’s. Let that sink in… 

So if the BMI calculator is saying you’re in a seriously unhealthy category (obese) but you know deep down you are pretty healthy, work out often so have muscle mass, and don’t look obese, don’t freak out. It is also important to recognise if you are at the other end of the scale (extremely underweight) this is more likely to be correct. If you feel like you are suffering from disordered eating behaviours and struggling to gain weight please do seek professional help. 

When trying to get into the green zone, you can get a number of different factors measured including:

• Body fat %- It divides your total weight in two categories: fat mass and everything else. You need fat to keep you warm and to protect your organs and joints. However, it is not healthy to have too much or too little fat. If your body fat percentage is too low, your resistance to diseases and energy levels are lower, and you are at risk of health issues. If your body fat percentage is too high, you have a higher risk of diabetes and other health problems. It is therefore important to measure your body fat percentage, and stay in the healthy range.

• Visceral fat- the unhealthy fat that surrounds your internal organs.  A high level leads to serious health conditions!

• Bone density- Until you are about 30, your bone mass will normally increase. However, after that it will start to slowly decrease. That does not have to be as bad as it sounds. If you take good care of your bones they will likely remain dense enough to avoid any issues. If they deteriorate too quickly, or if you had low bone mass to begin with, you are at risk. Bone issues aren’t noticeable until it is too late. It is therefore smart to keep track of your bone mass and check if you are doing well. 

• Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy your body burns at rest on a daily basis. In other words: It is the number of calories required to keep your body function while you are not doing any physical activities.

How you can measure these factors?

Now, you’re probably googling how you can get hold of one of these magical, technological pieces of machinery. A lot of gyms do offer this service so reach out to one of the PT’s and arrange an appointment as there are a few guidelines that you have to follow: no water or food before etc. 

Another way that you can do this at home is using Body Composition Scales. One you’ve probably heard of are the Tanita scales. 

Get me to this green zone

We want to help you live a stress-free, happier and balanced life. Ultimately, the healthier you are the longer you are likely to live! Carrying an excess of visceral fat and leading an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle with little amounts of plant-based goodness but a high intake of saturated fats and processed meats will lead to serious, long-term, life-threatening diseases. Some of these include diabetes, heart attacks, cancer, Alzheimer and type 2 diabetes.

Do you think you need a little bit of help to kickstart your health journey and press reset? Sometimes we pick up bad habits and it can be really hard to change them because they become so ingrained in our daily routine. Let us help you! We can deliver 5 days of your weekly food to you which are macro-controlled, calorie controlled, and tailored to you. You have the weekends to be a little more flexible (still stick to your recommended calories though!). There is so much variety and lots of snacks in between the protein packed, nutrient dense meals that we can  assure you hunger won't be an issue.

Whether you're looking to lose weight or start a plant-based diet, the programmes are aimed to make sure that you are getting the right amount of goodness from fresh food and drinks, in an accessible way.