Most people want to lose weight when in fact they really need to lose fat. Losing weight can be less than beneficial because one may be losing muscle as well as fat and you need to lower your body fat percentage not the muscle which does a great job burning calories for you.

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Storage fat is created when we take in more calories than we burn so they are stored as fat. This is not essential and it is this fat we want to lose when we say we want to lose weight. Different peoples have different thoughts, beliefs and values about the way bodies are made up. Some cultures value overweight while others do not but there is one common denominator and that is that levels of the composition of bodies is dependent on a persons gender along with age.

Healthy, fit bodies do not need excess fat and the American Council on Exercise gives the following guidelines for various classifications and the associated body fat percentage.

You weigh 200 pounds and have 50 pounds of fat then your body fat percentage would be -

Some believe that body fat percentage is the best method of ascertainng an individuals fitness but it is by no means a unanimous idea. .The other method  is BMI or Body Mass Index measurement. This is widely used but is considered by many, myself included, to assume too much giving results based on what weight a person should be according to their height. Someone with a lot of lean muscle mass can be classified as overweight or even obese when the body fat percentage shows an excellent physical specimen.  

Lets look at an example of a person classified as “obese” in the above table. This is a male weighing 250 pounds with body fat percentage of 40%. He is 70 inches tall and to achieve the optimal BMI  figure of 19 -21 he needs to weigh 140 pounds.                      
                                
  However.....
                      His body fat is 40% of 250 pounds = 100 pounds

                      
                                      A very unreal and dangerous goal !!!

In this case you would be better to lower your body fat percentage to an at least acceptable level in the range 18 – 25%  At 20% that would be a loss of 50 pounds giving a goal weight of 200 pounds
Obviously setting realistic goal weights are dependent on knowing one's body fat percentage.

How to figure out your body fat percentage
It is difficult to measure exactly a persons body fat percentage and so a variety of methods are employed with the ultimate requiring the density of the body to be measured. This means being submerged in water to find the volume of body from the amount of water displaced. Of course these methods are not very convenient and so, as with the BMI,   estimates come in to play but in this case more measurements than mere height are involved. Using a tape to measure the circumference and calipers to measure skin folds of various parts of the body and applying formula give more accurate estimates and subsequent results than the BMI.

Online calculators are freely available where measurements are keyed in and the body fat percentage comes up. It is also possible to purchase calipers and calculators and body fat analysers  to assist with the calculation of your actual body fat and you can then set realistic goals or targets to lower your body fat percentage and ultimately your weight.