GNC scale says morbidly obese?!

victoriavoodoo
victoriavoodoo Posts: 343 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I got on a GNC scale today at the mall and it told me I'm morbidly obese, and that I am 41% body fat. I was FLOORED. I knew I needed to lose weight but that's almost half fat!

I am 21 and 5'5'', and I weigh 151. I know I'm overweight but is it possible I'm actually morbidly obese? My doctor never said anything, but i was only 146 last time I went. I've never used a scale that calculated body fat before but I didn't think I was that high.

Here's 2 pictures of me from a couple weeks ago before and at a wedding. I weigh the same now. Do I look like 41% body fat is right/look morbidly obese? Should I see my doctor about this?! :(

EDIT: my mom says the GNC scale is outside their door so you go in and buy healthy things, and they skew it for that reason? That sounds like it would be illegal. My dr cant see me for a couple weeks :/


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Replies

  • Mr_Excitement
    Mr_Excitement Posts: 833 Member
    Oh my god, if that's you in the green dress there, there's no way in hell you've got 41% bodyfat or classified as anything like morbidly obese.

    Those scales that claim to measure bodyfat are crap. BMI is also crap.

    If you want to know what your bodyfat measurement is, get some calipers and use one of the many online tools to calculate the values for you. Easy as pie, and the calipers cost something like $10 on Amazon.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    You look similar to me and my scales say around 30%
  • emilypink573
    emilypink573 Posts: 133 Member
    I thought 150 was in the normal range for BMI. Im 5'5 and 175 and just moved from obese to overweight. hmmm
  • cranium853
    cranium853 Posts: 138 Member
    That's 25.1 by the calculator. Bad scale at GNC. Do your own math.
  • victoriavoodoo
    victoriavoodoo Posts: 343 Member
    Oh my god, if that's you in the green dress there, there's no way in hell you've got 41% bodyfat or classified as anything like morbidly obese.

    Those scales that claim to measure bodyfat are crap. BMI is also crap.

    I have a spanx thing under the dress that makes my waist a bit smaller and smoother lines; without shapewear i'm 30 inches at the smallest part of my waist. I was with my boyfriend when I got on that scale and was horrified. His said he was just obese(that's him in the suit; I've never thought he was overweight much less obese.)

    We're both thinking about making drs appointments to get tested with a caliper.
  • ddky
    ddky Posts: 381 Member
    Don't trust a scale in a store that is wanting to sell you something to help you lose weight. I put your numbers into some calculators and you were just barely in the overweight category.... not even close to obese. You look lovely. If you want to lose a few pounds and tone up a little, that's great.... but you look fine.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    You are definitely NOT morbidly obese! It almost makes me wonder if the machine there just tells you that in hopes that it will motivate you enough go into the store and buy some products.

    I'm the same height and at 177 I'm considered overweight in the BMI range.
  • danamariers
    danamariers Posts: 155 Member
    Based on your weight and that picture I think GNC is trying to scare people to use their products.
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
    It was a joke.
  • Mr_Excitement
    Mr_Excitement Posts: 833 Member
    You are definitely NOT morbidly obese! It almost makes me wonder if the machine there just tells you that in hopes that it will motivate you enough go into the store and buy some products.

    I'm the same height and at 177 I'm considered overweight in the BMI range.

    I think you're right. I mean, those scales are garbage anyway-- but one in a store with commission sales has got to be like... garbage squared.
  • amandapanda007
    amandapanda007 Posts: 11
    Scales that try to calculate the BMI use an electrical current, that is NOT accurate. Based on height & weight, you're at 25.1 per National Institute of Health calculator (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm).

    Apparently there is a basic calculation that is simply arithmatic. However, because we always want to know WHAT % OF FAT am I, we look to these specialized scales. I was looking .into buying one, in the past. Looked at the reviews, and learned how it worked.
    Mostly, just some extra feature to raise the price of the scale (if you bought one.) Doesn't work.

    Ignore it.
  • victoriavoodoo
    victoriavoodoo Posts: 343 Member
    Thanks yall. I feel better. I started googling 41% body fat and got scared because several sites said that's a dangerous level of body fat.
  • MyJourney1960
    MyJourney1960 Posts: 1,133 Member
    Yeah, listen to your mom.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    My bf% scales are kind and generous, while my parents add 10% body fat to what I'm used to seeing. Definitely not a reliable tool!
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    Nope, you are not morbidly obese. You would need to weigh at least 217 lbs to be considered morbidly obese by the clinical definition.

    Your story does have a moral. Just like the scale at that location, most of GNCs products are useless too.
  • shadus
    shadus Posts: 424 Member
    At 5'5", 151lbs you are "overweight" by the standard bmi calculator... you would be "normal" weight at anywhere from 111-149.5.

    The scales that measure body fat are notoriously inaccurate. I would guess your mother is right, insofar as they've picked a scale that measures extremely high... its just inaccurate, they're not rigging it... and replacing it with the same model would likely yield the same results.

    There are three: "acceptably accurate" methods of getting an accurate body fat measurement:

    Hydrostatic weighing, Dexa scans, and skin fold calipers.

    The last require a professional or at least some training and practice to get a good reading. The first two can't be done at home or with something as trivial as a scale... but they're accurate inside 1-2% somewhere.

    TL;DR - Ignore it, it's bull****. Try to get your weight in the 111-149.5 range and keep it there.
  • jessicasb74
    jessicasb74 Posts: 7 Member
    I am almost the exact same size as you and not morbidly obese (neither are you for that matter!). I was just at the dr. recently & he stated that he'd like me to lose a few pounds by exercising more but that's about all. You look absolutely stunning in that Bettie Page dress! I'd blow it off as GNC trying to sell you something...although they do have some good products, I wouldn't worry about purchasing any weight loss ones!
  • Dragn77
    Dragn77 Posts: 810 Member
    100% Ditto on what everyone else said...

    ...and just wanted to add, I love your dress!!!!
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
    You are probably not even overweight http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm Unless you are small or medium framed. The way to determine that is measure your wrist if it's around 6 inches you are not small framed. Have someone measure your shoulders from point to point and if they are more than 15 inches wide you have a large frame anywhere near 15 inches is larger across than average.

    If you want to change the way you look, I would recommend lifting. You don't need to lose much even if you do find you are smaller than a large frame. Also it's not possible for you to be 151 and 41% fat at least I don't think so that would mean you only have 82 pounds of lean weight. I don't see how you would even be able to walk with that little muscle mass.


    PS I think you are probably closer to 25% BF.
  • ghsfitnesspal
    ghsfitnesspal Posts: 260 Member
    Commenting just to say I loved that dress when I tried it on but it was a bit short on me (I'm 5 inches taller). Love the detail, it looks great on you!

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