Weight Distribution.. confused

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CherokeeTopaz
CherokeeTopaz Posts: 299 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so I got one of those scales that tell you how your body weight is distributed.. and my weight is going down.. BMI is going down.. but my body fat percentage is going up.. while muscle mas goes down? I'm confused because I exercised quite a bit yesterday..

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  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited May 2019
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    Unfortunately those scales aren't reliable for anything other than weight. The electric pulse used to measure everything is easily thrown off by where you carry your weight,how you stand, and daily hydration level.

    Also, how much you work out one day doesn't affect your bf% immediately, it's a long term process.
  • Teabythesea_
    Teabythesea_ Posts: 559 Member
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    Those scales are notoriously inaccurate. I wouldn't rely on any of the information it gives you to gauge progress, other than your weight.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    After months (not days) you will see trends.
  • CherokeeTopaz
    CherokeeTopaz Posts: 299 Member
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    Ok.. thanks everyone.. I would just prefer to lose fat while maintaining muscle.. but I feel the same really..
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited May 2019
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    CherokeeTopaz wrote: »
    Ok so I got one of those scales that tell you how your body weight is distributed.. and my weight is going down.. BMI is going down.. but my body fat percentage is going up.. while muscle mas goes down? I'm confused because I exercised quite a bit yesterday..

    Your BIA scales could also be "confused" because you exercised a lot yesterday - any soreness/inflammation from exercise messes badly with the result as water weight changes affect your electrical resistance which is what the scales actually measure.

    If you are fortunate with which device you use (4 sensor models generally better than 2 sensor models) you might get a believable trend over time but still subject to some odd readings from time to time.

    To have a chance of getting a decent trend out of what can be very inaccurate devices you really need to use them under consistent conditions.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    CherokeeTopaz wrote: »
    Ok.. thanks everyone.. I would just prefer to lose fat while maintaining muscle.. but I feel the same really..

    The best way to ensure that is to avoid losing weight too fast, get a reasonable amount of protein, and do some strength training :smile:

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