Losing weight but gaining bodyfat

PeterPortofino

Some times when I go on a diet and weigh myself my electronic scales tell me that I have lost weight but gained body fat.

I've been strict on my diet since joining which was 2 days ago so it's still early days but all I have been eating is salad and tuna and some cheese and nuts and water and coffee with some carbs here and there. It's day 2 and the scales tell me i've lost about a kilo but gained 2% in body fat. There is also a difference if I weigh myself in the morning or night. In morning weight is lower but body fat is higher, and at night weight is higher and body fat lower.

Has any one else experienced this or could explain what is going on. My calories are about 1800 - 2000 per day and I am a male 29 and weigh 114kgs. I do low-medium intensity walking and weights 2-3 times per week.

WatchJoshLift

I don't trust electronic scales for bf%, measurements will be more reliable. Also, you will typically weigh less in the morning and more at night because of food and liquid intake.

SLLRunner

From my understanding, digital scales with body fat readings give numbers based on how well hydrated you are. Perhaps other factors are involved, I don't know. However, I don't think they are all that accurate.

Are you saying you started a diet two days ago, or that you were dieting prior to joining? If so, then I suggest patience.

moto450

Yeah, what he said.

PeterPortofino

Thanks everyone for your replies , I have been dieting since about November 2014 but only been monitoring my calories in the past few days since joining on here. Since November i've gone from 120kgs to 115kgs and lost 2-3 body fat% according to the scales. Since joining about 4 days ago i've lost another 1kg.

Sued0nim

I can explain it ...scales measure body fat percentage as accurately as Labradors do advanced physics

Pick a number, pick a number ...

HTH

kuranda10

The body fat scales tell you to measure at the same time, later in the day when you are fully hydrated, naked and with clean feet.

If you are weighing in the morning v. the afternoon, or wearing different clothes each time, they are not going to give you an accurate read. Heck, even a conventional scale will give you different numbers

Camo_xxx

Bioelectric scales have an error factor of lets say +/- 3% so rather then focusing on the literal number and it's daily fluctuation they are best used to chart the trend. Be consistent with your weigh in procedure to eliminate as many variables as possible.

An interesting thing I noticed in my charting is I can see my BF% track up 48hrs before I got a whoosh during a stall.

Sued0nim

Camo_xxx wrote: »

Bioelectric scales have an error factor of lets say +/- 3% so rather then focusing on the literal number and it's daily fluctuation they are best used to chart the trend. Be consistent with your weigh in procedure to eliminate as many variables as possible.

An interesting thing I noticed in my charting is I can see my BF% track up 48hrs before I got a whoosh during a stall.

that's the error factor for callipers used well

the scales are more like 2-10%

agree with charting the trend though

bren3jet

My body fat scale says I have 26-27% fat and has barely budged. I recently had myself tested and I'm only 18%. So don't rely to heavily on it.

Liftng4Lis

You're not gaining body fat, those are inaccurate.

CA_Underdog

rabbitjb wrote: »

Camo_xxx wrote: »

Bioelectric scales have an error factor of lets say +/- 3% so rather then focusing on the literal number and it's daily fluctuation they are best used to chart the trend. Be consistent with your weigh in procedure to eliminate as many variables as possible.

that's the error factor for callipers used well

the scales are more like 2-10%

Good consumer BIA scales achieve single-use accuracy within 5% and consistency within 1%--and yes, that's very close to skinfold calipers measurements done well by the same person. (Of course, we don't know if the OP has a good scale like a Tanita or Aria, and is using it per its instructions to limit the impact of hydration differences and the like, but hopefully so if he's taking its numbers seriously.) All widely available methods have frustratingly low single-use accuracy.

http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1303&context=ijes
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/bodycomp.html

CA_Underdog

As for Dexa--

Article on Dexa wrote:

A number of studies have compared DEXA to 4-compartment models. When looking at group averages, DEXA does pretty well, with errors of 1-2%. However, like with all other body fat testing techniques, individual error rates can be much higher. The error rates vary by what study you look at and which DEXA machine was used; error rates range from 4% in one study to up to 8-10% in another study. Also, the accuracy of DEXA can be affected by sex, size, fatness, and disease state of subjects.

A sample study with 5% error--

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9107641

It's almost enough to make you throw your hands up! Until you remember, what's important in most cases isn't accuracy, but consistency. Like other methods, Dexa is usually consistent so long as you go to the same place, which almost certainly uses the same scan mode each time.

Hornsby

I stood on one of those scales (a high dollar professional model) and it told me I was 27%. I stepped off and re-did it and it said I was 7%. Needless to say, you shouldn't trust BIA scales.

CA_Underdog

Hornsby wrote: »

I stood on one of those scales (a high dollar professional model) and it told me I was 27%. I stepped off and re-did it and it said I was 7%. Needless to say, you shouldn't trust BIA scales.

I don't think a double-use on a broken or uncalibrated scale is enough to conclude such. I linked to a study above with many participants. I also weigh daily on a BIA scale and the past year shows a relatively smooth graph--it's taken a year to see a 7% change. Again, consistency requires a good (but not necessarily expensive) scale and following its directions and guidelines.

CA_Underdog

if I weigh myself in the morning or night. In morning weight is lower but body fat is higher, and at night weight is higher and body fat lower.

You're probably better fed/hydrated in the evening. Extra water in your system means you weigh more, so the percentage of you that is fat goes down even if the amount of fat stays the same. That's one reason most vendors suggest taking measurements at a fixed time each day.

It's day 2 and the scales tell me i've lost about a kilo but gained 2% in body fat.

First, how consistent is your scale at measuring body fat? Google for studies or reviews comparing yours to other known methods. Second, does its vendor offer guidelines for good measurements in the instructions or on the website? Follow those, even if the reasons for some are elusive. Finally, as with weight, look at trends rather than stressing over daily drops and spikes.

Hornsby

CA_Underdog wrote: »

Hornsby wrote: »

I stood on one of those scales (a high dollar professional model) and it told me I was 27%. I stepped off and re-did it and it said I was 7%. Needless to say, you shouldn't trust BIA scales.

I don't think a double-use on a broken or uncalibrated scale is enough to conclude such. I linked to a study above with many participants. I also weigh daily on a BIA scale and the past year shows a relatively smooth graph--it's taken a year to see a 7% change. Again, consistency requires a good (but not necessarily expensive) scale and following its directions and guidelines.

Not sure how you would know the scale was broken or uncalibrated? It was a registered dieticians and everyone else seemed to use it without issue. It's pretty common knowledge that BIA scales are pretty iffy. That's nothing new.

CA_Underdog

Hornsby wrote: »

Not sure how you would know the scale was broken or uncalibrated?

Good scales (even $65 range) score +/- 5% on single-use accuracy in 95%+ of cases--per the links I pointed to and more--so something very odd was at play.

everyone else seemed to use it without issue. It's pretty common knowledge that BIA scales are pretty iffy.

All widely-available methods have "iffy" accuracy imho unfortunately. I'm just putting it into context: +/- 5% accuracy and +/- 1% consistency (again, good $65 scale used correctly) is just about as accurate as skinfold calipers (+/- 5.13% vs +/- 4.30%) done competently by the same person each time. It's also great for measuring progress our journey to better composition!

Below is a 10-day snippet from my journey. The top is total weight. The bottom is fat weight. The top looks fairly random. The bottom shows more clearly the progress I was making.