HELP - lost weight but % of body fat the same - WTF???

vdub88

I have been busting my butt at the gym. running - lifting weights - more running. I have lost 15 pounds since 8-1 but they took my percent of body fat at the gym and said even from 8-1 its still the same. Can some one please explain this to me and help me understand what I need to do more of - avoid etc. HELP:explode: :mad:

HealthyChanges2010

uh...isn't that just a wee bit over a month ago?

It's going to depend on what foods you're eating whether or not your body fat is dropping, excercise is great but the foods we eat make the world of difference as well!:drinker:

Not having access to your food diary, it's hard to say what changes you should make in your daily eating habits.

millerll

Take a breath! First, what was your original BF percentage? And what method did they use to measure it at the gym? Some methods are much more accurate than others, and it can even vary depending on who is administering the test. How far apart (days) were the tests?

Most common methods used at gyms (calipers, etc.) have accuracies within 3-6 %. So, if they were a little low on your calculations the first time, and a little high the next, it's possible you lost BF but the numbers are a little off. It's possible that you have lost lean body mass instead of fat, but that's not likely unless you're already very lean (very low BF).

Post your info and let's see what's going on here. It's probably just statistical error, not that that makes you feel any better! :grumble:

vdub88

i thought i fixed that - feel free to look. I eat protein shakes for breakfast, granola bars. lunch turkey meatloaf, wraps etc - there are a few things in todays diary that i could easily take out. but those were spur of the moemnt things and not something I eat often at all. feel free to take a look

NavySailor

Well simply put, you might not have lost a darned bit of fat! Yes you lost weight and that is good, but weight loss and fat loss are two different animals. Some of that weight loss could be attributed to muscle loss, even though you are lifting some weights, you might not be doing your workouts long enough to get into the fat stores...here is a little trick that may help you...get to the gym EARLY.....eat a small apple or other piece of fruit and then hit the cardio....don't worry about strength training just yet...cardio and lots of it is a FAT BURNER...now why early...well simply put, your body has digested all your food from the previous day over night...eating a small apple in the morning and then getting out there and running, your body needs to find an energy source and find one quickly....it will almost always turn to fat because fat in and of itself is the most amazing energy source we humans have. When I started losing weight 2.5 years ago, I would get on the treadmill and run for 45 minutes straight...and I ran slowwwwww....it takes the body time to figure out that it needs to tap into your fat reserves to get its energy...now if you run in the afternoon or the evening, your body will more than likely never tap into that fat reserve because it has all the energy it needs from the foods you ate throughout the day...does that make any sense to you? Hope this helps!

MsLisaB

How are they measuring your %BF and did they use the same method on both occasions?

KeepOnMoving

The equipment or tools they use to measure body fat is not always accurate. So don't worry too much. If the pounds are dropping, the measurements are getting smaller and clothes are getting bagging on you - sounds like your doing good. Keep up the good work!

vdub88

sadly my BF % is 41% - THEY TOOK IT THE FIRST WEEK IN august and then again today. I have lost 14 pounds since then and I still showed today 41%. They use some sort of battery powred thing that I have to hold out in front of me thumbs up etc.

I have been running alot and it is my main source of excercise. I have 3 days a week in which i work out with a trainer for strength.

hkystar

you could have still lost body fat by simple math...

EXAMPLE: If you started at 200 with 41% bf thats 82 pounds of fat. Now you lost 14 pounds so you weight 186 with 41% body fat thats 76. So you would have lost 6 pounds of fat. Thats just an example.

LotusF1ower

I have been busting my butt at the gym. running - lifting weights - more running. I have lost 15 pounds since 8-1 but they took my percent of body fat at the gym and said even from 8-1 its still the same. Can some one please explain this to me and help me understand what I need to do more of - avoid etc. HELP:explode: :mad:

Don't fret about it, just continue doing what you are doing. The weight's shifting and you are getting fitter. It is difficult to believe that you have lost no fat in their opinion, that's confusing to say the least.

Out of interest, how exactly did they measure your body fat, was it with callipers?

The reason I am asking is because many years ago, I weighed 138lbs (5 ft 7in tall), I had the fat test done at the gym with the callipers and they said to reach a "good fat level" I would need to lose another 14lbs!

To put it bluntly, that would have been a ridiculously low weight for somebody of my height in my opinion.

The lowest weight I had ever been was 126lbs and that would still have been 2lbs more than they were recommending. The ironic thing is that when I was 126lbs many, many, many years ago, I was unable to lose anymore weight, it would have taken extreme effort and besides, I was slim enough as I was so I stopped trying to lose. It was partly due to this, that I lost all faith in the calliper fat test. (Bearing in mind I was doing a lot of weights at that time as well as aerobics, so I was toned up).

lilmom1

After looking at your diary the only sugestion I have is to eat more fruits an veggies, less processed foods! Good luck to you sounds like you are working very hard!!!! :flowerforyou:

summerblunden

It looks like they used a method called "bioelectric impedence" to measure your body fat, which is the easieast and cheapest method, with no operator error.

"Simply explained, BIA measures the impedance or resistance to the signal as it travels through the water that is found in muscle and fat. The more muscle a person has, the more water their body can hold. The greater the amount of water in a person's body, the easier it is for the current to pass through it. The more fat, the more resistance to the current. BIA is safe and it does not hurt. In fact, the signal used in body fat monitors can not be felt at all either by an adult or child."

"Using BIA to estimate person's body fat assumes that the body is within normal hydration ranges. When a person is dehydrated, the amount of fat tissue can be overestimated. Factors that can affect hydration include not drinking enough fluids, drinking too much caffeine or alcohol, exercising or eating just before measuring, certain prescription drugs or diuretics, illness, or a woman's menstrual cycle. Measuring under consistent conditions (proper hydration and same time of day) will yield best results with this method."

src: http://www.new-fitness.com/body_fat_measuring.html
(and I used this source just for ease of explanation, I was aware of this information before posting)

So, in a nutshell, if you were dehydrated today, had just worked out, and on your period, and when they originally measured you were non of those things, your measurement will be significantly changed. It is best to use the scale and measuring tape. My scale measures my BF%, but I don't really look at it, since I weight first thing in the morning and I KNOW I'm dehydrated so it will read high.

Azdak

Not all bioimpedence devices are of the same quality. The one you used, IMO is on the lower end of the scale.. We use one of the top Tanita commercial models. I have found it to be pretty consistent with my skinfold caliper measurements (at which I am very experienced), but moreso with people in the 15%-30% body fat range.

I don't know all of the nuances of bioimpedence testing, but I have see some pretty large variances in testing people over time, esp when they are in the 35%-45% BF range. In fact I just tested a guy 2 days ago who had not exercised in 5 years, yet the Tanita scale showed that his lean body mass had increased by 17 lbs --basically, he went from 208 to 245 with only a 1.5% increase in body fat. On myself I have seen a couple of outlier measurements that have overestimated my LBM by 25+ lbs.

So, I can't really tell you why, but I can tell you that you can get some odd readings with these things, esp the cheapo ones (sounds like they are using an Omron) that a lot of clubs use.

As a rule, even with a 15lb loss, we discourage people from doing BF testing after only six weeks because it is often not enough time for the changes observed to "emerge", if you will from the normal standard of error for these types of tests--someone described it pretty well in an earlier comment.

My advice: do not rely solely on the BF measurement. Take some circumference measurements (chest, triceps, abdomen, hip, thigh) ASAP and use that as a benchmark as well. You cannot use those measurements to determine a "body fat percentage" number, but they can be a very reliable way to detect actual changes in body composition.

run4yourlife

now if you run in the afternoon or the evening, your body will more than likely never tap into that fat reserve because it has all the energy it needs from the foods you ate throughout the day

Perhaps I'm responding to this to make myself feel better because often times I HAVE to run/exercise in the evening because that's the only time it fits into my schedule.... although this point about working out first thing in the morning is true, it all counts and if you are exercising and eating right, in time, you WILL see results. Try not to focus so much on the numbers on the scale or the calipers, and think about how you feel (I tell myself this all the time!) All the best!

aprilgicker

I agree with "Navysailor". He is spot on. If you follow his advise you should feel a boast of energy if you keep your heart rate up for about 10min (15-20 with warm up) on the tread or any other cardio equipment.
If you have ever watch someone on the tread running for about 10mins then all of a sudden they are speeding it up and can keep it there for another 10-15 that is what they are feeling. A runners high.
Don't get off the Mill, Until you feel the Thrill! :smokin:

Azdak

now if you run in the afternoon or the evening, your body will more than likely never tap into that fat reserve because it has all the energy it needs from the foods you ate throughout the day

Perhaps I'm responding to this to make myself feel better because often times I HAVE to run/exercise in the evening because that's the only time it fits into my schedule.... although this point about working out first thing in the morning is true, it all counts and if you are exercising and eating right, in time, you WILL see results. Try not to focus so much on the numbers on the scale or the calipers, and think about how you feel (I tell myself this all the time!) All the best!

No, you are correct. The whole "timing of workouts to burn fat" has no validity.