What 40% body fat looks like on a woman

What you see

A waist is beginning to appear — the transition from ribs to pelvis is visible, though it remains wide. The belly projects softly forward, but the overhanging fold is smaller. Hips and upper arms are full, and the shape of the legs can be guessed at. The shoulders are round. There is no muscle definition, yet the proportions of the figure read more distinctly than at 45%.

What it means

For a woman, 40% is the obesity range (the threshold is around 32%), but its middle. There is no direct link to poor blood work here: some women at this level have normal blood pressure, glucose and lipids. Judge by waist circumference and test results, not by the percentage alone.

For training, this is a level at which impact loading is best rationed: running and jumping put serious stress on knees and feet, and at the start of the journey they return no more than walking and cycling do.

Getting to 35%

Another 4–5 kg of fat, two to three months in a moderate deficit.

• Count habits, not diets. Over this stretch the deciding factor is not the details of the menu but consistency: regular meals, protein in each of them, fewer liquid calories.
• Full-body strength work, two or three times a week. The muscle you keep now will decide how the figure looks at 30%.
• The cycle as an indicator. If it goes off while you are losing weight, the deficit is too large and needs reducing.