Focusing on Body Fat %

crandos

Heya!

yeah, BF% is ALL I'm worried about. Mine was very high but since I am so concerned with maintaining muscle mass while cutting, my weight on the scales means nothing. My goal is not based around a certain weight, it's based around a certain look with a BF% of sub 10%

Long-term I think 12% is more realistic but I want to get to sub 10 just to see myself really shredded.

pretty much this not focused on the scale, altho i sorta know roughly what weight i need to be.

charleyreedto175

I look at both. My first goal is to remove the fat from my body. To burn what I have and to drop the pounds and the body fat %. I think at the start both go together. Then as the BMI drops to a low level the problems start. I will never be 12 Body fat again. I just hope to get back down to 20 at this point. AT my age that is a solid goal.

megsi474

Since I started lifting, I haven't focused so much on my actual weight. I've seen plenty of ladies post progress pics within a few pounds of each other with a completely different body shape. I've only lost a handful of pounds but look very different.

NoxDineen

I don't even own a scale. I own callipers and a couple pairs of jeans that are pretty unforgiving in how they fit.

Oh and I sometimes challenge guys at work to push-up contests. (They usually win, but they're always grumpy at how difficult it is to beat me.)

I used to have an eating disorder, so I know first hand that a low number on the scale doesn't necessarily mean you're health (or look good, I looked like I was about to die).

aetzkorn14

Before you start.... that low a bodyfat% in a woman can lead to amenorrhoea - a loss of menstrual cycle. Unless you are an elite athlete and being supported by a doctor, it shouldn't really be a goal. Especially as it is now associated with lack of energy rather than the low bf% itself as has concommitant problems such as loss of bone density, osteopenia or osteoporosis.

It really isn't healthy!

Hardly anybody ever actually permanently maintains at that low of a percentage and from my readings thats not super low. Thats definitely low enough, but not low enough to cause problems unless she maintained it or pushed it even farther lower! 15-20% Sounds fine to me BUT you need to do it the smart way. If you are seriously underfeeding yourself and your caloric intake is drastic than reaching that point is unhealthy. Thats the only reason to worry, if at a 10-20% calorie deficit you reached that percentage than great job and no worries!!

Exactly...I definitely don't under feed and I absolutely refuse to do so. I am a yoyoer and I know I will binge out. I eat for my workouts and I am not afraid of carbs, calories, or weights. I don't think being on birth control is something I will ever do and I don't see how that s a healthy reaction if my body ever does go out of wack. I will simply gain the fat I need back to prevent that. thank you for the input!

gracielynn1011

I tried using the fat2fit calculator, as well as the one on active.com, and I got somewhere between 24 and 31%. Yet, when looking at pictures to estimate body fat % online, and comparing them to mine, I estimate around 17%. Why are the calculators so high? Even on a scale that measured bf%, it said somewhere around 30% and the nurse just looked me up and down and said "No, just no. It may need to be re-calibrated." I really don't think my bf is as high as 24%.

It varies because people carry their weight differently. If you measure your wrist and you have thin wrists, it skews the results to show lower. Same with hips, if you carry your weight in your lower half, it reads higher. I use all three calculators on fat2fit, then average those together. I do this once a month. You can see a downward trend that way. One thing is for sure, my scale has never given me an accurate reading.

I hope this makes sense, I am typing one handed while wrestling a sleepy toddler!