*Body Fat photo eval* Styku says 30.7%!!!! Beyond bummed!!!!
nay0m3
Posts: 178 Member
30.7% body fat!! I am 5'3" weigh 135 and am fairly toned, other than some extra weight
I carry in my legs and hips. I really did not at all think I was at 30 %!!! Is that accurate? Thoughts?? An inbody scan a year ago pegged me at 15% which I think was also inaccurate. Does it even matter?!!?
I carry in my legs and hips. I really did not at all think I was at 30 %!!! Is that accurate? Thoughts?? An inbody scan a year ago pegged me at 15% which I think was also inaccurate. Does it even matter?!!?
1
Replies
-
Well, you look great. I would stop paying money for that scan, for one thing.
Is there some reason you need to have a number attached to your body fat percentage?4 -
@cmriverside I need to figure out the reason I am attached to it and let it go! It really shook me for a week or so and I am just coming out of it. The trainer at my gym told me to stop eating so many salads and eat more cooked vegetables, stop drinking almond milk and switch to whole fat milk and eat some red meat. I was discouraged by the entire meeting to be honest. I think I need to find that belief in myself again. Thank you for your support!7
-
This was my result from April 2020 before the weight gain. I checked it on the scan machine at the yoga studio before it shut down.
My height is close to yours. Weight is a little different. But my body fat percentage there is 26% so I guess it makes sense -ish. Not that it means much to me. I felt pretty good about myself at that weight.
0 -
It doesn't matter at all. You appear to be fit with a healthy body weight and excellent muscle mass.
What benefit are you trying to even get from measuring yourself? Especially with notoriously inaccurate tools?2 -
@88AViva Thank you for sharing! What are your goals now? Happy to help if I can.
@Xellercin I think I am trying to gauge the progress I made but instead it feels like I have failed. But I know this isn't true. Just gotta work on my mind which seems to be so much more difficult at times than working on my body! Was hoping to hear from others who had similar experiences with scans and from others who can help me trust I am on the right journey and to just keep keeping on. Sometimes I feel like I "SHOULD" push more, do more, eat better, but in reality, I know I am doing great.1 -
...and especially with a "trainer" with that kind of nonsense food "advice." WTF even was that?? Cooked vegetables instead of raw? Huh!!?!?It doesn't matter at all. You appear to be fit with a healthy body weight and excellent muscle mass.
What benefit are you trying to even get from measuring yourself? Especially with notoriously inaccurate tools?
I think those body-picture devices are dumb, and are designed to make $$$, but then I could not care any less about that number of body fat percentage.
The mirror, my clothes and my good sense mean more to me. I do step on the body-weight scale on most days, but even that can vary by several pounds in a couple days.
6 -
Meh. Those scans vary wildly in accuracy. If you want an accurate measurement get a dexa. Or just measure progress visually .2
-
Even if you are 30% that puts you in what is generally considered a “healthy” range for women. If you like how you look, then I don’t see an issue1
-
@cmriverside WTF is RIGHT!!!!!!!!! Why I even entertained that thought....I have no idea!!
@cupcakesandproteinshakes I love the "meh" response. This is like a dexa but it's called Styku. IDK Just wanted to try it but I shouldn't have been so excited to see a 20ish number and then get blasted with 30+!
@gpanda103 I am constantly striving to be better. I would love to see some changes in my lower body still and I am...very, very slowly.
I have thought about throwing a fat burner in but think those also are a waste of $$. Just gotta stay happy with the slow progress! 1 -
a number can make someone feel "good", but ultimately your body and health matters most.1 -
@cmriverside WTF is RIGHT!!!!!!!!! Why I even entertained that thought....I have no idea!!
@cupcakesandproteinshakes I love the "meh" response. This is like a dexa but it's called Styku. IDK Just wanted to try it but I shouldn't have been so excited to see a 20ish number and then get blasted with 30+!
@gpanda103 I am constantly striving to be better. I would love to see some changes in my lower body still and I am...very, very slowly. I have thought about throwing a fat burner in but think those also are a waste of $$. Just gotta stay happy with the slow progress!
Styku is not very much like DEXA at all.
From the Styku web site:Perform a 3D body scan in seconds using just a simple turntable and 3D camera. In only 35 seconds, we extract millions of measurements with 2mm accuracy and reconstruct your body in 3D.
From Dexascan.com:A DEXA scan, or dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, uses x ray technology to determine the distribution of lean muscle, fat, water and bone in your body.
The only way in which they're alike is that they both purport to assess body composition.8 -
Those pictures with body fat percentages like the one azuki84 posted are also nonsense. The top images are taken away from the camera, that 27-29% is right up close (so there's a bit of an optical illusion)...the body 'types' are different...for instance the 21-23 is obviously more of a pear-shaped woman and you can't really tell anything about the general body shapes of the last two.
I think the OP looks great. I don't see how she needs to lose any around her hips or thighs. It's just a genetic body type. @nay0meh - you look great.
One of the problems with weight is that it is measurable by numbers: calories, tape measures, scales, dexa, etc. (not STYKU) so it's human nature to try to get the "perfect" score. We all want to be "A" students.
Relax a bit. Enjoy your healthy beautiful body that isn't straight up and down like a 12 year old's. When I was a young woman I had a period of time where I was mortified at my (OMG) hips, thicker thighs, and rounded belly. It's not the same as a 12 YO, it isn't supposed to be.
8 -
The bodyfat estimate is almost as poor as the trainer's nonsensical dietary advice....
"The trainer at my gym told me to stop eating so many salads and eat more cooked vegetables, stop drinking almond milk and switch to whole fat milk and eat some red meat."
What weird dietary advice you got!!! Think you should shut down that person as an information source for anything to do with diet, just hope they know something about training but when someone spouts such a load of odd beliefs I would find myself doubting all advice given, even in supposedly their actual sphere of knowledge.
"Does it even matter?!!?"
Once you are in a healthy range no it doesn't actually matter at all to put an unreliable number on your BF%.
If you are aiming for a certain look then progress photos work fine and are free.
7 -
I understand exactly where you are coming from.
I’ve had three DEXA scans, one on each anniversary of beginning weight loss.
I was so absolutely certain each time I had much lower body fat % than what I did.
I based a lot of my self worth in eagerly waiting for my scan appointment, and found myself devastated and beating myself up after each one when it was a few points higher than I expected, especially the one I got when I had dropped fairly close to borderline for underweight. “Why did I have a high %? Where was it hiding? How could I get rid of it” That kind of thing. Mental self-berating.
The last time I got one, I swore off.
I’ve since added weight and certainly added muscle. I’m right smack in the middle of “normal” BMI. I look better, feel better.
For those of us who are Type A, finding that perfect number, be it scale, scan or whatever, can be a goal we keep striving for but is always a wee bit out of grasp. Or we reach it and move it up some more.
I’ve had to learn that what I see in the mirror, as long as it pleases ME, is all that matters, and take the scale as simply a basic indicator that nothing has gone drastically off the rails.6 -
I’d like to add, it’s so much easier to see these traits in others here on the forums than it is to see it in ourselves.6
-
As I should've said in my PP, you look healthy, lovely, and strong, @nay0meh - you're clearly doing many things right. I'd doubt the 30%, but 100% agree that a number doesn't matter (ever, but especially) when you feel and look great.
(I also agree that that's some crazy-weird nutritional advice: I don't see any logic to it at all. Did the trainer give you the slightest clue why you should do those things? Some micros are more bioavailable via cooked veggies, but cooking destroys some, too. Whole dairy milk may be a little more nutrient dense than almond milk (depending on brand), but . . . ? Red meat has some nutrients that are good to get, but - speaking as 47+ years a vegetarian - health and fitness progress is achievable entirely without meat. That's just weird. It isn't even standard bro-vice!)
Whatever you're doing, I say keep doing it: It's working!5 -
Based on your photo and measurements there is no way you are 30% body fat. Those things are wildly inaccurate. You look about 19-20%, really lean actually.2
-
The thing about any of those body scanners is they are wildly inaccurate. Their inaccuracy comes down to the fact that they compare fat mass to lean body mass. Lean body mass basically means everything that's not fat. Did you drink alit of water? Are you dehydrated? That can drastically change the composition percentages you get. Really, the percentages are meaningless (they're not even accurate), all that matters is how YOU feel about your body, and that doesn't come from a random number spit out of a machine that's most likely wrong anyway.2
-
I swear I have begun to think the body fat measuring is another fitness industry scam....another way to feel bad about yourself if you aren't an A student, like @cmriverside stated.
@springlering62 and @AnnPT77 and @sijomial your responses always are filled with logic and compassion---thank you!! Salads are my favorite and I am not gonna stop eating them for anything!! And whole milk would make me gag! And I haven't eaten red meat since I was a teenager. My gym markets the Styku as a Dexascan but it is not one at all from what I read thanks to Ann!!
@sollyn23l2 thank you for this also!!! and @nooshi713 thank you!!!!
9 -
I don't think anyone said it yet, but . . .
Dem shoulders, tho!
(I'm an old granny, I think it's still okay for me to say something like that, right? I'm not very woke. Credit to nay0meh for that hard work, that's all I'm saying. Can't believe I'm explaining myself here...)3 -
@88AViva Thank you for sharing! What are your goals now? Happy to help if I can.
@Xellercin I think I am trying to gauge the progress I made but instead it feels like I have failed. But I know this isn't true. Just gotta work on my mind which seems to be so much more difficult at times than working on my body! Was hoping to hear from others who had similar experiences with scans and from others who can help me trust I am on the right journey and to just keep keeping on. Sometimes I feel like I "SHOULD" push more, do more, eat better, but in reality, I know I am doing great.
This is very much an emotional thing that you should not at all be addressing by further subjecting yourself to measurements that make you feel even worse about yourself.
You have a spectacular looking body, and I say that not as someone envious, but as someone with a rather similar body that I'm very comfortable in.
There's nothing wrong with constantly wanting to improve, but there's a huge difference between wanting to always improve and not feeling good enough. They are similar, but fundamentally different.
I'm ALWAYS trying to improve. I'm always optimizing my eating and exercise, I'm always looking for ways to maximize my health and strength. But I don't *at all* feel like my thighs are "too big" or that my muscles don't look defined enough.
My motivation isn't that my body isn't "good enough" yet, my motivation is to be a vital, energetic, healthy 80 year old, and that takes diligent, lifelong effort.
My body looking good is just a really fun side effect of me taking excellent care of my most precious resource.
Perhaps it's time to put some of that incredible motivation and discipline you have towards your mental fitness. Instead of paying someone to measure you pointlessly whose job it is to make you feel like you always need to be better, start paying someone who has a doctorate in making you feel better about yourself.
You *can* feel driven to strive for physical excellent AND feel 100% good about how your body looks at the same time.7 -
cmriverside wrote: »Those pictures with body fat percentages like the one azuki84 posted are also nonsense. The top images are taken away from the camera, that 27-29% is right up close (so there's a bit of an optical illusion)...the body 'types' are different...for instance the 21-23 is obviously more of a pear-shaped woman and you can't really tell anything about the general body shapes of the last two.
I think the OP looks great. I don't see how she needs to lose any around her hips or thighs. It's just a genetic body type. @nay0meh - you look great.
One of the problems with weight is that it is measurable by numbers: calories, tape measures, scales, dexa, etc. (not STYKU) so it's human nature to try to get the "perfect" score. We all want to be "A" students.
Relax a bit. Enjoy your healthy beautiful body that isn't straight up and down like a 12 year old's. When I was a young woman I had a period of time where I was mortified at my (OMG) hips, thicker thighs, and rounded belly. It's not the same as a 12 YO, it isn't supposed to be.
Obviously. Read what i typed.Its general context. Dont overthink it lol0 -
cmriverside wrote: »Those pictures with body fat percentages like the one azuki84 posted are also nonsense. The top images are taken away from the camera, that 27-29% is right up close (so there's a bit of an optical illusion)...the body 'types' are different...for instance the 21-23 is obviously more of a pear-shaped woman and you can't really tell anything about the general body shapes of the last two.
I think the OP looks great. I don't see how she needs to lose any around her hips or thighs. It's just a genetic body type. @nay0meh - you look great.
One of the problems with weight is that it is measurable by numbers: calories, tape measures, scales, dexa, etc. (not STYKU) so it's human nature to try to get the "perfect" score. We all want to be "A" students.
Relax a bit. Enjoy your healthy beautiful body that isn't straight up and down like a 12 year old's. When I was a young woman I had a period of time where I was mortified at my (OMG) hips, thicker thighs, and rounded belly. It's not the same as a 12 YO, it isn't supposed to be.
Obviously. Read what i typed.Its general context. Dont overthink it lol
I don't think cmriverside was trying to attack you or your post, I think they were just trying to point out to the op that even fat percentage comparison pics are inaccurate when it comes to trying to estimate body fat, so there's really no completely accurate way to estimate it, so it's not really worth obsessing over to the extent that the op is.2 -
@88AViva Thank you for sharing! What are your goals now? Happy to help if I can.
My current goals are just to get back to feeling stronger and happier. Lose the 10kgs I gained the past two years.
And back to loving exercise daily without having to force myself.
Just to build the right habits food and exercise wise. Make it a lifestyle so maintenance won't be a struggle 🙂3 -
@88AViva Thank you for sharing! What are your goals now? Happy to help if I can.
My current goals are just to get back to feeling stronger and happier. Lose the 10kgs I gained the past two years.
And back to loving exercise daily without having to force myself.
Just to build the right habits food and exercise wise. Make it a lifestyle so maintenance won't be a struggle 🙂
Those are awesome goals! The next step is figuring out what smaller steps you can take to get there.... add another serving of vegetables each day? Go for a 30 minute walk/hike? Find some people who do something like pickleball? Every little thing adds up. And of you look at it in terms of small changes like that, it's generally less overwhelming.3 -
I am not understanding your need to body shame people's body to make your point. What does looking like a 12 years old even mean?
Anyway OP,
You are beating yourself up for things whose accuracy is debatable.
Also it's possible to different percentage of body fat throughout our body.
There's this bodybuilder on youtube who's 8% body fat but his calves are actually double etc...cmriverside wrote: »Those pictures with body fat percentages like the one azuki84 posted are also nonsense. The top images are taken away from the camera, that 27-29% is right up close (so there's a bit of an optical illusion)...the body 'types' are different...for instance the 21-23 is obviously more of a pear-shaped woman and you can't really tell anything about the general body shapes of the last two.
I think the OP looks great. I don't see how she needs to lose any around her hips or thighs. It's just a genetic body type. @nay0meh - you look great.
One of the problems with weight is that it is measurable by numbers: calories, tape measures, scales, dexa, etc. (not STYKU) so it's human nature to try to get the "perfect" score. We all want to be "A" students.
Relax a bit. Enjoy your healthy beautiful body that isn't straight up and down like a 12 year old's. When I was a young woman I had a period of time where I was mortified at my (OMG) hips, thicker thighs, and rounded belly. It's not the same as a 12 YO, it isn't supposed to be.
5 -
cmriverside wrote: »I don't think anyone said it yet, but . . .
Dem shoulders, tho!
(I'm an old granny, I think it's still okay for me to say something like that, right? I'm not very woke. Credit to nay0meh for that hard work, that's all I'm saying. Can't believe I'm explaining myself here...)
Lolol. I feel like I should be in permanent apology mode to some of the other female users here, particularly @JBanx256 and @KickassAmazon76, amongst others, but yes, it’s nice to appreciate other ladies now that I have at least an inkling of the effort they’re putting in.
OP you’re killing it. Give yourself credit for what you’ve accomplished.
And did someone really take @cmriverside ’s comment as body shaming? 😶4 -
3
-
@springlering62 and @cmriverside Thank you!!! It’s the dang truth once I started on my weightlifting journey myself I had NO idea the amount of work that goes into or did I even pay attention something like shoulders!!! Thank you for admiring mine! They’re my favorite body part to crush! 4
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions