Ladies: Were you shocked by your body fat %?
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I do scale bioimpedance measurement for body fat first thing in the morning before eating or drinking and after a bathroom break. I know it's not accurate, but it's good enough for my purposes (watch average body fat go down). I have not considered any other method but maybe I will change my mind once I'm closer to goal weight. I'm not sure it will happen though because I'm never going to be competing at anything that needs a reasonably accurate body fat measurement and if I'm satisfied with the way I look and feel it feels unnecessary to me.2
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Never tested my body fat in any way... tried that military fat test thing and it puts me at 28%, My BMI is 23 right now. When comparing my looks to pictures that represent different BF % I would say 25% looks about right... so I guess 25-28 would be probably correct. I'm fine with that... however I'm still 3-8 lbs away from my original goal weight so it will likely get a bit lower.
Also everyone that is freaking out about being 30-31 and 'obese' it really is not that bad, relax, BF % categories lack Overweight category!1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Over 30% is obese for a woman (under is normal, that scale has no "overweight" as a middle category); over 24.9 is also overweight, so that's actually quite consistent. It just would mean you need to lose a little body fat.
Mine were unsurprising -- at an obese weight my body fat was awful, when still overweight but exercising a lot I was in the high 20s, and when normal weight but with some more to lose for aesthetic purposes I was 25. Latter two by DEXA.
I'm not sure how accurate the type of test you did is, however, and in your clothes you look good and not nearly over 30% to me -- more like 25% at most.
I calculated with the military body fat test. I am hoping that it is not accurate. It showed 30% and I was shocked because my BMI is 24.9 which is supposedly on the cusp of normal.
http://m.free-online-calculator-use.com/military-body-fat-calculator.html
But I am muscular so I expected the body fat measurement would show lower than it did! Is there usually a discrepancy between bmi and body fat methods? Interesting that there is only normal and obese for body fat.
Used the link and it gave me 35.2% BF. I may have to log all this laughing.4 -
I've used that link before. I feel like it's pretty forgiving. Who knows though.
It says I'm 20.7% bf. That'd be lovely if it were true. However, I will say this. Even if it spit out 30% body fat, I will still have the same body today. I am happy with my body so it wouldn't matter in reality.
It just really does show how much stock I (and likely plenty others) put into arbitrary numbers.7 -
That link tells me I'm 18 to 20% BF when I put exact measurements and when I round up. My Fitbit scale always gives readouts of 14 to 16% which is obviously way off and I'd never trust it anyway. My calipers say I'm between 18 and 19% BF. I'd guess I'm more like 21 to 22%. I'm 5'3", 110 pounds, and have visible ab definition, as well as glute definition so I highly doubt I'm 25%+.1
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That link tells me I'm 18 to 20% BF when I put exact measurements and when I round up. My Fitbit scale always gives readouts of 14 to 16% which is obviously way off and I'd never trust it anyway. My calipers say I'm between 18 and 19% BF. I'd guess I'm more like 21 to 22%. I'm 5'3", 110 pounds, and have visible ab definition, as well as glute definition so I highly doubt I'm 25%+.
You are not 21-22. 18 at highest probably.1 -
I was a little shocked but it was a motivating factor because at 152 lbs, my BMI was about 25.7 (overweight) and my body fat (per the military calculator) was ~32% which is obese! That upset me but I'm now down to 117 lbs, BMI ~19.8 and body fat ~16% (waist 24in and hips 33.5).
BUT, that military method while excellent for tracking purposes, is not accurate compared to a DEXA scan which would probably add another 5%. I wouldn't be shocked if a dexa scan showed 21%. So yeah, people really underestimate how much body fat they really have.2 -
I did a hydrostatic body fat test over the weekend and I was shocked by the results. Okay so my BMI is like 25.3 but I'm very active and figured I probably have more muscle boosting me up to "overweight" category. My body fat test did show I have 8lbs more lean body mass than the average, however I am 31.7% body fat aka *obese* wtf!!!! How is that possible? I guess I'm looking for support from other women who've been through this. I was okay being .4 BMI points overweight but this body fat test is supposed to be more telling of how fat you actually are
Heres a pic just because. I invite more pics to compare next to test results
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0op0dnsbz60x21q/Photo%20May%2030%2C%206%2034%2009%20PM.jpg?dl=0
Yeah... I am in the "overweight" BMI category... but not by much. My body fat is 29% . It was sort of a shock. I have actually gained weight since lifting too, since I am making muscles gains faster than I am shedding fat. I just keep plugging along. lol1 -
Years ago I did a gamut of body fat testing because I work at a gym and I have a lot of resources available to me. First we had a mobile hydrostatic tank come visit and it put me at 27.8%. I am a fitness instructor who teaches things like Hiit, Pilates, Spin plus I lift heavy 3+ times per week so that was a bit upsetting! Felt a lot better when several trainers and other instructors had similar results. Who knows, mobile tanks might have a lot of instability around the method? Calipers put me around 20-21% and that was done by someone who worked at a major university measuring athletes for year and years so he had experience. Bod Pod put me at 21.7%. My home BIA scale had me around 31-32%. Visually I had a lot of definition in my abs and upper body (still do) but I carry my weight in my butt and legs. I'd guess by looking at other pictures of people around the 20-24% BF that's where I fall. At the end of the day, I'm not remotely unhealthy, I look pretty ripped from the hips up and at 46 years old I am just thankful to still be moving and to be healthy. I have found the best method for me is the good old measuring tape every month. I have been keeping measurements since 1998 and am pretty darn consistent. At end of day they are just numbers and I have to go on how I feel, how clothes fit, etc.3
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Yes, exactly this! I'd gone a couple of stones overweight, and my body fat was just over 30%. I'd never checked this before, and had no idea what to expect, but that did shock me. It's down to 27% now and still moving in the right direction, but I don't check it that often - I'm happier at simply losing the pounds, slimming down, toning up and just looking better overall.2
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Does it make a difference if you exercise? In other words ... a sedentary you at 125 lbs vs a very active you at 125 lbs?
Yes, because you can be "skinny fat" - there are plenty of people who are not overweight, yet, they have more body fat due to being sedentary, not strength training etc. Tests like the Bod Pod and DEXA scans measure the fat and non-fat percents (muscles, bones, water, organs)middlehaitch wrote: »A bod pod would be interesting but from what I have read on the forum even they are inaccurate.
From what I've read and have been told by the professionals, other than the DEXA scan it's the "gold standard" as far as body fat % accuracy.
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You look great IMO. And you're fit and healthy. Don't let it get to you.
The only body fat tests I got done were at the gym, and I know that they are inaccurate, because there is NO WAY I'm 22%, like it said. Nope. It's kinda hard to say because I have thin limbs and loose skin and pretty much 90% of my fat left is in my hips/belly (with the loose skin) but I'd be shocked if I was under 26%.
Honestly... I don't want to know anyway.1 -
The takeaway I'm getting from this is that body fat measurements are not particularly useful as measures of overall health owing to the intrinsic error of measurement.2
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Body fat % is fun to know as a data point but not too useful other than that. I asked people who I believe are good judges of bf% for mine and got 24-26% so I say it's 26%. Those picture charts are useless for me because of my body shape and abdominal fat/stretched skin. I've considered doing a DEXA but have just never gone to do it.1
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I actually feel heartened by that military link! I do believe I'm a bit of an outlier and that seems to be what the calculation says, even allowing for some inaccuracy. It puts me currently at 32% with 117 LBM. I am currently 172lbs (and 5'5). That means to get into the low-mid 20s I am right in my target to lose another 25-30lbs. I'll be in the upper end of the healthy BMI. The closer I creep to goal the more I was getting the fear I was being unrealistic and actually had another 50lbs to go. I am beyond chuffed I don't, purely because I really really want to get to working out in maintenance, I know it's going to feel super energetically awesome, heh.0
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When I went to a nutritionist late last year, her fancy scale put me at 44.9% body fat. Since February 2016, I have been working out (both cardio & weightlifting), eating healthier, and logging calories. I have lost about 40-45 pounds since February and according to the Military Body Fat Calculator, I am at 41.3%. I'm not sure how I feel about that though; I was really hoping that I would have lost more body fat but then again I'm not sure how accurate it is (nor am I certain about my nutritionist's scale accuracy).1
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I did a hydrostatic body fat test over the weekend and I was shocked by the results. Okay so my BMI is like 25.3 but I'm very active and figured I probably have more muscle boosting me up to "overweight" category. My body fat test did show I have 8lbs more lean body mass than the average, however I am 31.7% body fat aka *obese* wtf!!!! How is that possible? I guess I'm looking for support from other women who've been through this. I was okay being .4 BMI points overweight but this body fat test is supposed to be more telling of how fat you actually are
Heres a pic just because. I invite more pics to compare next to test results
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0op0dnsbz60x21q/Photo%20May%2030%2C%206%2034%2009%20PM.jpg?dl=0
The clothes make interpretation a little more challenging, as does a lack of height and weight numbers, but there is nothing in the picture that contradicts the body fat % you received. (It doesn't confirm it either, just saying that there is no obvious discrepancy).2 -
arditarose wrote: »musicalityrnb wrote: »arditarose wrote: »Oh man. I don't think I ever want to know my real BF% now.
.... I'm starting to feel the same way too...
Ignorance is bliss in this case. I'm just gonna keep telling myself it's not above 22% and go about my business lol
I think you can be pretty confident of that assessment.1 -
I started out morbidly obese at 248 lbs. I remember the gym measurements a few months in, putting me at 44% with calipers. I've lost 100+ lbs. My caliper measurement last summer was 33% which disappointed me. I was not focusing on strength training, but started lifting. Another caliper measurement in March or April got me to 29%, but then I did a BodPod test about a month ago and was pleasantly surprised to be at 26.8%. It validated that the lifting was doing something since the scale hasn't moved a lot lately. My dietician thinks it's reasonable for me to continue what I'm doing for another 9 lbs or so, and that should get me to 22% BF. So for me, the BodPod was great, I was happy with the numbers and know I can improve on them. I'll do another one again when I hit that pound loss.
One of the real problems with calipers is that accuracy starts to suffer in those with higher levels of body fat. Chances are, the initial number of 44% was an underestimate, which made the 33% seem like less-than-expected progress. Most likely, the 33% number was more accurate.
That's just an academic observation. The important thing is that you have done an amazing job!1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Over 30% is obese for a woman (under is normal, that scale has no "overweight" as a middle category); over 24.9 is also overweight, so that's actually quite consistent. It just would mean you need to lose a little body fat.
Mine were unsurprising -- at an obese weight my body fat was awful, when still overweight but exercising a lot I was in the high 20s, and when normal weight but with some more to lose for aesthetic purposes I was 25. Latter two by DEXA.
I'm not sure how accurate the type of test you did is, however, and in your clothes you look good and not nearly over 30% to me -- more like 25% at most.
I calculated with the military body fat test. I am hoping that it is not accurate. It showed 30% and I was shocked because my BMI is 24.9 which is supposedly on the cusp of normal.
http://m.free-online-calculator-use.com/military-body-fat-calculator.html
But I am muscular so I expected the body fat measurement would show lower than it did! Is there usually a discrepancy between bmi and body fat methods? Interesting that there is only normal and obese for body fat.
Yes, there can be significant differences between BMI and body fat % readings. For the most part, they really cannot be compared.1 -
The takeaway I'm getting from this is that body fat measurements are not particularly useful as measures of overall health owing to the intrinsic error of measurement.
Mostly correct. They are useful, but only for determining broad categories. If you can get a decent measurement, I think they are most important for tracking changes in body composition. Even if the numbers are not precisely accurate, they do tend to reflect real changes in fat, lean body mass, body water, etc (depending on the methodology).
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arditarose wrote: »That link tells me I'm 18 to 20% BF when I put exact measurements and when I round up. My Fitbit scale always gives readouts of 14 to 16% which is obviously way off and I'd never trust it anyway. My calipers say I'm between 18 and 19% BF. I'd guess I'm more like 21 to 22%. I'm 5'3", 110 pounds, and have visible ab definition, as well as glute definition so I highly doubt I'm 25%+.
You are not 21-22. 18 at highest probably.
Agree. Again, hard to tell just from pictures, but even a 15% fat level, means a lean body mass of 93 lbs--which is not super low for the height, but not high either.
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My 2 cents...it takes a lot to move the needle on body fat even while losing weight and dropping BMI.1
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I started out morbidly obese at 248 lbs. I remember the gym measurements a few months in, putting me at 44% with calipers. I've lost 100+ lbs. My caliper measurement last summer was 33% which disappointed me. I was not focusing on strength training, but started lifting. Another caliper measurement in March or April got me to 29%, but then I did a BodPod test about a month ago and was pleasantly surprised to be at 26.8%. It validated that the lifting was doing something since the scale hasn't moved a lot lately. My dietician thinks it's reasonable for me to continue what I'm doing for another 9 lbs or so, and that should get me to 22% BF. So for me, the BodPod was great, I was happy with the numbers and know I can improve on them. I'll do another one again when I hit that pound loss.
One of the real problems with calipers is that accuracy starts to suffer in those with higher levels of body fat. Chances are, the initial number of 44% was an underestimate, which made the 33% seem like less-than-expected progress. Most likely, the 33% number was more accurate.
That's just an academic observation. The important thing is that you have done an amazing job!
Thanks you
Yeah, I'm sure the initial 44% was on the low side. And it was 7 months after I started trying to lose weight as well. I remember back then trying all the calculations on the various sites like the military one and getting anywhere from 28-65%! The range of numbers made me shake my head. For me now, BF% is a matter of seeing what's realistic in terms of setting a final goal weight, my initial idea which would put me mid range of my BMI for my height seems like it's not happening and with the help of the dietician, I've upped it to the higher end. She's trying to get me to focus more on the percent, rather than the scale, since I tend to get a bit nuts with the numbers. It validated to me that the strength training I started doing last summer is actually working. The scale hasn't moved much but I can see a difference in pictures.1 -
When I read the title, before I even opened the thread, my thought was ... I assume my BF% is probably about 30%. And after reading a few posts here, that's probably right.
(My BMI is about 20.5, I think)lemurcat12 wrote: »Over 30% is obese for a woman (under is normal, that scale has no "overweight" as a middle category); over 24.9 is also overweight, so that's actually quite consistent. It just would mean you need to lose a little body fat.
Mine were unsurprising -- at an obese weight my body fat was awful, when still overweight but exercising a lot I was in the high 20s, and when normal weight but with some more to lose for aesthetic purposes I was 25. Latter two by DEXA.
I'm not sure how accurate the type of test you did is, however, and in your clothes you look good and not nearly over 30% to me -- more like 25% at most.
I calculated with the military body fat test. I am hoping that it is not accurate. It showed 30% and I was shocked because my BMI is 24.9 which is supposedly on the cusp of normal.
http://m.free-online-calculator-use.com/military-body-fat-calculator.html
But I am muscular so I expected the body fat measurement would show lower than it did! Is there usually a discrepancy between bmi and body fat methods? Interesting that there is only normal and obese for body fat.
OK, I was guessing 30% and that military body fat calculator put me at 25.1%. The surprise is that I may be that low.
My scale tells me I'm at 23%.0 -
OP-love your picture! You look like you are having a lot of fun!2
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Haven't read thread but who told you 31% BF for a woman is obese? Because that's clearly incorrect
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I'm 5'7" and 212 right now. Obviously I'm pretty heavy for my height; and the bulk of my weight is in my belly, arms, and chest. Anyway, my little home scale says my BF percentage is 42% right now, though it's down from 45% when I started in January. I'm horrified at that number, but at least I can be glad it's come down a little. My goal weight is somewhere between 130 and 140, and I wonder at what weight my BF percentage will get into the acceptable range. I always hate seeing that number flash at me when I weigh myself because, even if I've lost a pound or two, I'm always reminded that I'm composed of 42% flab.1
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