Still over weight in body fat. . Help!

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Rockin23
Rockin23 Posts: 59
in Health and Weight Loss
according to my calculations I'm at 28% body fat, that is considered overweight. 26% is considered healthy, but I only have 5 more pounds to go and I don't think those 5 pounds are going to get me to 26% BF. Should I do cardio or weights? My goal is to get it to atleast 24%. All advice I can get would be greatly appreciated. =)

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  • papastu
    papastu Posts: 737 Member
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    you look fantastic looking at your photos, ignore the stats
  • atomdraco
    atomdraco Posts: 1,083 Member
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    Do you exercises? That's what help you gain muscle mass, and burn fat mass.
  • kimberlyanneturner
    kimberlyanneturner Posts: 44
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    Ummm yeah I don't see the problem you look good great!!! enjoy LIFE!!!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    First of all most ways of calculating body fat are not accurate and if you showed up at 28% you may be lower than 26%. That being said if you weigh 150 and are 28% body fat, then lose 5 pounds (assuming all 5 lbs are fat) your body fat % would be 25.5%. At 28% you would have 42 lbs of fat, if you lost 5 pounds of fat, your fat would be 37lbs (42-5)of your new total145lbs (150-5) leaving you at 25.5% (37/145) body fat, since some of what you lose would probably be muscle if your 28% is correct you would probably be right at 26% with a 5lb loss, if done correctly (eat high protein, small caloric deficit, lift fairly heavy weights)
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Well first of all, congrats on all your awesome progress so far!

    Those numbers could very well make sense. I don't know how much you weigh, but let's say you're 130 right now (just as a hypothetical number to talk about). At 28% fat, that means 36.4 lbs of it are fat. Now suppose you lose 5 lbs of fat only. That would result in you weighing 125 and having 31.4 lbs of fat, which would put you at 25.2%.

    You're actual weight may be higher or lower, but as a ballpark, you seem on track!

    That said, how are you measuring your body fat %? When we measure at home, there's a pretty good margin of error, so take the actual number itself with a grain of salt.
  • Rockin23
    Rockin23 Posts: 59
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    Thanks guys, and yes, I do exercise. I do mostly cardio atleast 5 times a week for 1 hour. I'm happy you guys think I look good but it's just a goal of mine to get 24%BF. =)
  • Rockin23
    Rockin23 Posts: 59
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    I have a military app on my phone that measures body fat, all I do is plug in the numbers. So here they are, I'm 5'7, 140 pounds, 13 inch neck, 29 inch waist, 39.5 hips. That gave me a total of 28%. I'm down 5% since I was 160.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I have a military app on my phone that measures body fat, all I do is plug in the numbers. So here they are, I'm 5'7, 140 pounds, 13 inch neck, 29 inch waist, 39.5 hips. That gave me a total of 28%. I'm down 5% since I was 160.

    not very accurate you may well be 24% or as high as 30% using that info. Hydrostatic weighing is the most accurate way to measure body fat, and it is still not 100% accurate.
  • Rockin23
    Rockin23 Posts: 59
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    @erickirb really?? OMG and all this time I've been lead on by false information! I will look up on Hydrostatic Weighing. Thank you!
  • rharris86dc
    rharris86dc Posts: 635 Member
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    Building muscle by doing strength training can probably help, too!
  • atomdraco
    atomdraco Posts: 1,083 Member
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    Thanks guys, and yes, I do exercise. I do mostly cardio atleast 5 times a week for 1 hour. I'm happy you guys think I look good but it's just a goal of mine to get 24%BF. =)

    Add 2 days of strength training. Toned up or build muscles, it will help burn more fat.
  • amandakay23
    amandakay23 Posts: 156
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    That doesn't sound right at all...I did measurements and we do the pinch test thing (I'm sorry, don't know what method or anything is called) and I was measuring at 21% body fat..You look way more toned than me when I look at your pictures! But I have been doing strength training for a year and a half and have over 130lb of lean mass. Strength training will definately help your body fat percentage. :flowerforyou:

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