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ILoveGingerNut
ILoveGingerNut Posts: 367 Member
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Anyone with 20% body fat or less, trying to lose body fat?

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  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,525 Member
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    Hi,

    I am not quite that low--more like between 20 and 25 for me. Also, 129 lbs, so you will know. I recently got skin fold calipers and measured. I found my bodyfat was definitely lower than I thought (I had been using electrical impedence scale), and I also found that my calculation depended on which formula I used. For instance, the chart that came with the calipers based the measurement on one skin fold only--the one about an inch above the hip bone, on your abs. The chart said my bodyfat was 25%. I was thrilled because my scales said 32%! Then I went online and found a calculator that used the ab above the hip bone, the tricep, and the front of the thigh. This one gave me (16% wow!?!). I tried several, and the one with 9 points of measurement, including two different ab measurement plus lower back, and several on the limbs and other places) seemed to be the most logical for me. It gave me an estimate of about 22%.

    When you look at where I carry my fat, it makes sense that I would get these variations based on sites used. I am an hourglass with toothpick arms and legs! And any extra weight goes to my midsection! (When I am overweight I am a tomato with toothpick arms and legs) Plus I am very, very short waisted, which means there is almost no room between the bottom of my rib cage and my hips. When I was young and had a tiny waist, I looked like I corset! Middle age has thickened my waist now, though, and now my hourglass is more gently shaped!

    So, in summary, I have a healthy bodyfat, and right now I am focusing on lowering it. I am trying to not be obsessed with the scale and instead focus on my body composition, since the scale doesn't seem to want to go down (did I mention middle age??).

    Your profile picture looks great! Are you still working at lowering bodyfat? What is working for you?

    I think I have given up on six pack abs, since nature seems to want me to put the fat there instead, but I would love to solidly be at or below 20% and also reduce my waist measurement a bit.
  • ILoveGingerNut
    ILoveGingerNut Posts: 367 Member
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    Lol it's not me in the picture (I wish!)! It's 20-something olympic champion Jessica Ennis!
  • ashleycarole
    ashleycarole Posts: 5 Member
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    Hi! I'm at 21% bodyfat and would like to get it to 18-19%. I'm currently working to lose around 15lbs.

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