Tracking Body Fat Percentage?

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butterflyfaerie
butterflyfaerie Posts: 94 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've seen a lot of people on here talking about tracking percentage body fat, and I was wondering how you go about doing that?

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  • Mollydolly10
    Mollydolly10 Posts: 431 Member
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    The "Tools" section at the top of MFP, and "BMI calculator" gives your your Body Mass Index. For body fat, calipers are cheap!
  • emersoam
    emersoam Posts: 179
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    There are body fat scales, which are only marginally accurate. The best way to find out your body fat percentage is to get measured by a health/fitness professional (at a gym)...calipers are best!
  • Gogo76
    Gogo76 Posts: 581
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    I get measured at my local gym, but amazon.com has a similar version of the one that the gym uses. Go to amazon.com and search for Omron HB-306C fat loss monitor.
  • clioandboy
    clioandboy Posts: 963 Member
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    I use my beurer scales, they measure weight , fat %, water% and muscle % - I dont know (or particularly care) how accurate they are so long as the percentages are going in the right direct that is what matters. Then I record the percentages in my check in section..............
  • Yzfdude1
    Yzfdude1 Posts: 23 Member
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    I use a tanita BC 568 scale. As to the accuracy it was only 2% off of a measurement done at a sports lab using both calipers, and hydrostatic testing. The calipers were over 5% off of the gold standard which is the hydrostatic method.

    A disadvantage of the caliper test is that you need some one to do it, hopefully they are trained. Getting the sub-scapular measurement is the hardest and why you need two people.

    I find that only the cheapest ones are inaccurate. Even if the measurement on the scale is inaccurate but it's consistent then you can gauge a trend, hopefully a downward one.

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