Is it dxa or dexa?

Merkavar
Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So what's the feeling on dexa scans here?

Accurate, reliable, useful?

Had one done today and was a little surprised by the results.

I hear they are meant to be the gold standard in body fat analysis, but does that mean it's accurate or just the most accurate?

Replies

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Dunno, never got round to having one but from what I've read yes they are the better method ...I assume they can be run differently though

    What were your results, why were you surprised?
  • Protranser
    Protranser Posts: 517 Member
    webmd says both, but dxa is the newer way. congrats on your dexa! I was very surprised by my results too, I wonder if you and I have been basing our expectations of our bodyfat percentages using the same popular internet images.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Useful for internal / visceral fat that you can't see or grab hold of, or if you want quantification or visualisation of where the fat is.

    Bodpod or underwater weighing are density based and give you an overall figure with no idea of fat distribution.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »

    What were your results, why were you surprised?

    They told me my body fat % is 13.5% which is much lower than I thought it would be. I was expecting 17-20%

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    That's pretty awesome @Merkavar

    Do you think it's a case of your mind not catching up with your body?
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    That's pretty awesome @Merkavar

    Do you think it's a case of your mind not catching up with your body?

    well i have two sets of scales which measure body fat, one gives 20% and one gives 17% so i figured it would be somewhere in the middle. plus i have giant calves which I thought must be fat.

    but yeah it probably was a mind issue.

    But it seems to put a bit of a span in the works of reaching my original goal weight.

    If i am 13.5% body fat and I haven't reached my goal weight and am trying to gain muscle it seems I wont reach my goal or be in the healthy BMI range.

    I just got to look at the information and decide on what I am doing. most likely I will transition to maintenance since I dont have any plans to get to a lower body fat at this point.
  • cindytw
    cindytw Posts: 1,027 Member
    Scales never read the same as quality medical equipment. My BF according to my Tanita scale is 46.5%. The medical evaluation people at work say its 35%, I had a DEXA scan and it was 32%...ALL bad numbers but the point it, you decide what is really comfortable and enough for you as if you rely on this you will drive yourself crazy!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Merkavar wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    That's pretty awesome @Merkavar

    Do you think it's a case of your mind not catching up with your body?

    well i have two sets of scales which measure body fat, one gives 20% and one gives 17% so i figured it would be somewhere in the middle. plus i have giant calves which I thought must be fat.

    but yeah it probably was a mind issue.

    But it seems to put a bit of a span in the works of reaching my original goal weight.

    If i am 13.5% body fat and I haven't reached my goal weight and am trying to gain muscle it seems I wont reach my goal or be in the healthy BMI range.

    I just got to look at the information and decide on what I am doing. most likely I will transition to maintenance since I dont have any plans to get to a lower body fat at this point.

    My scales tell me my body fat is 30-31% :huh: I think you can ignore both sets and wrap your mind around the fact that a scale weight is irrelevant

    Good luck in maintenance ...it's harder than losing in some ways
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Merkavar wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    That's pretty awesome @Merkavar

    Do you think it's a case of your mind not catching up with your body?

    well i have two sets of scales which measure body fat, one gives 20% and one gives 17% so i figured it would be somewhere in the middle. plus i have giant calves which I thought must be fat.

    but yeah it probably was a mind issue.

    But it seems to put a bit of a span in the works of reaching my original goal weight.

    If i am 13.5% body fat and I haven't reached my goal weight and am trying to gain muscle it seems I wont reach my goal or be in the healthy BMI range.

    I just got to look at the information and decide on what I am doing. most likely I will transition to maintenance since I dont have any plans to get to a lower body fat at this point.


    Good luck in maintenance ...it's harder than losing in some ways

    Thanks.

Categories