Body fat % and lean body mass...need help

Gerkenstein

I'm 278 lbs with 42% body fat. So when I do the math (278 x 0.42) I get 116 which I understand to be the pounds of fat in my body...right? If so, does that mean that I have 162 lbs of lean body mass? And does that mean I shouldn't weigh less than 170ish lbs?

Hoping someone out there knows more about this than I do...

Thanks!

Melbel85

I would like to know this too!

sbw3387

How do you know what your body fat percentage is?!

biged335

bump

heidiberr

I don't know your answer 100% but I do know as we lose weight, we lose both lean and fatty body mass because it's almost impossible to put on muscle with a calorie deficient.

Hope this helps!

00trayn

http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

Try this calculator. Put in all your info and what you want your body fat percentage to be and it will tell you what you have to weigh to be around the number. How did you measure your body fat percentage? There are a few methods out there and a scale that measures it can be off a few percentage points.

Alioth

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bodyfatpercentage.html

This article really helped me understand and set goals. The part you want to read is towards the bottom of the page. Also, some other pages on this same site which are linked on the page. The site explains things better than I could.

Don't forget that there's more than fat mass and lean mass in play here. Think of it more in terms of skeletal, organs, and essential body fat. Then add water and then finally excess fat on top of that. But I think if you use the formulas on this page, they can provide some general guidelines that are more precise and more specific to your goals than BMI.

ladyhawk00

Not really. Because as you lose fat, you will also lose some lean mass. So your ideal weight will include a lower lean mass number than what it would appear to be right now.

There are many charts that give an idea of a healthy weight, but it depends greatly on body type, age, bone mass, muscle mass, etc. Some good info on goal weight in this thread, with a chart on the 2nd page:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/181080-mfp-s-most-common-user-pitfall-to-avoid

Gerkenstein

My trainer has a body fat reader thing that she has to put in my info (height, weight, sex, etc.) then I hold it and somehow it measures my body fat %.

When I used "lean body mass" I was including bones, organs, etc.

Thanks everyone for the info.

shaunshaikh

I'm 278 lbs with 42% body fat. So when I do the math (278 x 0.42) I get 116 which I understand to be the pounds of fat in my body...right? If so, does that mean that I have 162 lbs of lean body mass? And does that mean I shouldn't weigh less than 170ish lbs?

You're right -- you have 116 pounds of fat and 162 pounds of lean body mass. Lean mass is muscles, organs, bones, connective tissue, etc. AKA "healthy mass". Going down to 8 pounds of fat is not a realistic goal for pretty much everybody except for the most elite athletes. Here is a body fat scale of healthy body fat ranges:



I'm not saying this is gospel, this is just one website's opinion. I think your goal should be to get into the Normal to Fit range. Now, as for what goal weight that will make you -- that's hard to say. With dramatic weight loss comes almost automatically with some mixture of lean body mass and fat -- even to those who were most diligent about retaining their muscle mass. Why don't you set your goal weight to some number which you think is reasonable now, and re-evaluate when you get closer? Remember -- weight is an arbitrary number that fluctuates wildly with hydration levels and can really play games on you. Your real goal should be to lose body fat. Take pictures, measurements, and keep measuring your body fat. Those will be the real testament to your progress!

Good luck!

shaunshaikh

Oh and for what it's worth -- the handheld body fat analyzers are notoriously innaccurate unless you use them under very controlled conditions. If you had just drank a bunch of water or taken a shower they would have shown a bad reading (10% off is not unheard of).

I bought my own body fat analyzer and measure myself in the morning before I take a shower or eat anything. It seems to give me the most consistent readings and even then I can fluctuate 2-3% based on how hydrated I am.

00trayn

My gym uses those handheld things too, and I've found its not very reliable after a workout. You've just sweat, drank water, etc. I use it as a baseline but I don't take the number as 100% accurate. I've had it tell me 27.4%, and 28.2% and 29.2% all while at the same weight and within a few weeks of each other, so it tends to fluctuate.

susanswan

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bodyfatpercentage.html

This article really helped me understand and set goals. The part you want to read is towards the bottom of the page. Also, some other pages on this same site which are linked on the page. The site explains things better than I could.

Don't forget that there's more than fat mass and lean mass in play here. Think of it more in terms of skeletal, organs, and essential body fat. Then add water and then finally excess fat on top of that. But I think if you use the formulas on this page, they can provide some general guidelines that are more precise and more specific to your goals than BMI.

Thanks for the link! Great info!

psuLemon

As you progress throughout your workouts, you will replace a lot of the fat with lean body mass. This is also why it is important to do weight training to increase your lean muscle mass. And more muscle means more calories burnt and more food you can eat! I would like to say, that is a great chart. I would like to commend you in finding out a rough estimate of your body fat. Even though the machines aren't that accurate, it is still better than not knowing. I would suggest getting some body fat calipers to continue to track your body fat/get a better reading. Body compisition is better and more important than weight. Also, get a good measuring band to get measurements. I would also like to say, that is an awesome chart.