Lost 12 lbs - wouldn't body fat drop?

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c613477
c613477 Posts: 296 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have started this very gradual journey in late February. I lost about 12 lbs, have been stuck since July at 150lbs. I am 5'6", female, 38. I lift heavy 2-3 times a week and cardio once or twice. Also walk daily about 4 to 5 miles. Is it possible that I only lost 1% on body fat while losing 12 lbs and starting weight lifting and HIIT cardio? I am down almost two sizes.
It is discouraging...I am only comparing body fat from my at home Tanita scale. Could I really be 34% body fat?
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Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Those scales are inaccurate. Way to go on losing sizes!
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
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    Try taking measurements and progress pictures.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,238 Member
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    The scales that measure body fat % are really inaccurate. I would not put much trust in that number.
  • c613477
    c613477 Posts: 296 Member
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    I did take some measurements but no pictures. I wish I had.
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Those scales are inaccurate. Way to go on losing sizes!

    Thank you! I have been in recomp basically for a few months...not on purpose. I just must tighten my login more if I want to lose those last few lbs. Or.maybe breastfeeding might make this process harder when you hit a healthy BMI. I would love to lose another size and get stronger.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    It's possible, if your protein intake is inadequate, you could lose mostly muscle.
  • c613477
    c613477 Posts: 296 Member
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    spacequiztime wrote: »
    Try taking measurements and progress pictures.

    I took some measurements and lost quite a few inches. I am down to 27.25 inch waist from 31. But my tighs are still huge! Wish I had taken pictures. I will do some this weekend, great idea!
  • c613477
    c613477 Posts: 296 Member
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    catscats222 wrote: »
    have you ever tried measuring your body to figure out our body fat?
    probably more accurate than a scale
    - just for fun try?
    http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bodyfat
    you measure your waist, hip, forearm,
    write your numbers on paper and try another calculator online
    http://www.calculator.net/body-fat-calculator.html
    answer below if the numbers are different - curious

    Just did now. They both gave me about 26%. That makes it sound so much better! I would like to have a body fat percentage goal now like 22%. I guess I should pay for a more accurate test? Where can you get one?
  • c613477
    c613477 Posts: 296 Member
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    rileysowner wrote: »
    The scales that measure body fat % are really inaccurate. I would not put much trust in that number.

    Thank you. Piece if junk. I knew the absolute number might be off but I was hoping I could at least measure progress ( loss of 4% for example). It sounds like you can't.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,238 Member
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    c613477 wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    The scales that measure body fat % are really inaccurate. I would not put much trust in that number.

    Thank you. Piece if junk. I knew the absolute number might be off but I was hoping I could at least measure progress ( loss of 4% for example). It sounds like you can't.

    I used to think that as well, but even that is beyond those scales. There are too many things that will mess up the number.
  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
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    rileysowner wrote: »
    The scales that measure body fat % are really inaccurate. I would not put much trust in that number.
    like

  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
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    My digital scale was always all over the place as far as fat percentage, so I just gave up on it. I'm 5'4 and 137lbs. I just tried the links listed above out of curiosity, and they both put me at 26% too. I guess I'll use that from now on....

    As far as your waist/thigh measurements, so far I've lost 2" off my waist and only 3/4" off my thighs, so you're not alone there. It's infuriating! :neutral:

    You sound like you're doing really well though!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Ignore your scale

    Mine tells me my bf is 31% :huh:
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,487 Member
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    I know my digital scale is inaccurate, but I find it good for following the downward trend. I always weigh in the morning after a visit to the toilet and a shower, so all external factors as as close as possible.
    There is no way I have a 20.4 BF, but it is nice to see that at the same weight it has dropped from 21.2. ( I am probably closer to the mid 20's).
    It is unfortunate that there is no accurate way of measuring body fat, but observation, measuring, and watching a trend can be quite satisfying.

    Cheers, h
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
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    When do you weight yourself? I know BF on digital scales are inaccurate to a point, but the trend is helpful. I used to get variations of 1.5% day-to-day until I gave myself 10-15 minutes of normal post-sleep activity before weighing, as opposed to immediate bed->bathroom->scale. I think that is distributing the fluids in my body to a more "normal" state, which will affect the measurement. I will still see a 2% variation from that point to other times during the day, but at least the morning measurement is more useful for trend tracking.
  • c613477
    c613477 Posts: 296 Member
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    My body fat varies 5% daily!! Highest when I weight when I wake up. I always use that value. It only dropped 1% at most since February. If I lost about 7% of total body weight slowly and doing progressive weight training, I should have lost at least half of those 7% in fat, no?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    c613477 wrote: »
    My body fat varies 5% daily!! Highest when I weight when I wake up. I always use that value. It only dropped 1% at most since February. If I lost about 7% of total body weight slowly and doing progressive weight training, I should have lost at least half of those 7% in fat, no?

    Your bf % isn't changing daily...you're just measuring it with an inappropriate tool
  • N200lz
    N200lz Posts: 134 Member
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    Skinfold calipers will tell a accurate story. I use the FatTrack digital that is very consistent in it's accuracy.
    The electronic types (scales, handheld, etc.) offer little in the way of accuracy. I can measure, take a shower and measure again and get different results.
    Calipers are like jeans. If you can fit into a smaller waist size then you've lost fat. If you are lifting heavier and weigh the same then you are losing fat.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
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    c613477 wrote: »
    My body fat varies 5% daily!! Highest when I weight when I wake up. I always use that value. It only dropped 1% at most since February. If I lost about 7% of total body weight slowly and doing progressive weight training, I should have lost at least half of those 7% in fat, no?

    According to your first post, roughly half of your weight loss came from fat, with 5.7 lbs of fat loss, 6.3 lbs of lean body mass loss. (Based on going from 162 to 150 pounds and 35% BF to 34% BF.)

    Losses like that are not out of the question, even with heavy lifting, but at your age I doubt that that's what's going on. I'm 61 years old and fairly lean at about 12.6% bodyfat. (142.4 lbs, 5'9" tall.) I had been targeting 10% bodyfat before ending my cut and starting a bulk, I'm getting so thin that I think I may quit cutting when I hit 12.4% bodyfat or 140 lbs, whichever comes first. The reason I bring up my own stats is because I've found the fat loss to LBM loss ratio really frustrating as I got leaner. I seem to be losing a pound of LBM for every pound of fat.

    But I'm old and pretty lean for my age. And again, I doubt that's what's happening with your body.

    To start with, you should find a better method of measuring bodyfat. I have a "good" bioimpedance scale that takes readings from four points, through both hands and feet, to measure bodyfat. Theoretically that gives more accurate results than the units that measure through feet only (current goes up one leg and down the other) or through hands only (up one arm, across the chest, and back out the other arm). I saw daily variances of no more than 3% and felt it was a pretty good method of measuring progress, and it was, but I got to the point where I knew the readings were too low. My scale now thinks I'm around 6% to 8%. I'm not.

    I tried the tape measure method. That was better, but still too low. My tape measure results come out at around 10%.

    Then I went to bodyfat calipers, which I've found to be the most accurate and consistent from day to day, with fluctuations of no more than one half of one percent, and normally are the same or vary by 0.2%. Calipers are cheap at less than $6. Here's a link:

    amazon.com/Accu-Measure-Fitness-Personal-Caliper-Measurement/dp/B000G7YW74/ref=sr_1_4?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1446304985&sr=1-4&keywords=body+fat+caliper

    There are different methods for taking readings and some good online calculators. I found the simplest method to be the most accurate which uses a single reading an inch above your hip bone, called the Suprailiac method. I also tried the 3-point Jackson-Pollack method, but the results were too low. I never tried the seven-point method because I'd need someone else to help take the readings.

  • c613477
    c613477 Posts: 296 Member
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    Thanks for all your help. Very helpful information. It is obvious I need to cut further, but wouldn't it be nice to measure progress using an accurate body fat tool at home? Maybe my own Christmas gift to myself will be a dexa scan. But the calipers, once I learn how to use them sounds like am interesting method. I really have no clue of what to expect in terms of body fat loss per month for someone around my stats. Any clue?
    If I lose another 10 lbs, could I drop another 2-3% body fat or is this an unreasonable goal?

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