what should my body fat be?

shakybabe

I'm 5 ft 3 and half and currently down to 11st 3 (on digital scales)

On my body fat scales though it always weighs me lighter I got 10 st 8 the other day and my body fat was 32.2%.

I'm not sure if that means that's what it is now or what it will be when I actually get to 10st 8 on the digital ones? (which are the most accurate and same as the doctors scales)

According to the body fat scales my BMI is 25.4, but according to Wii Fit which also weighs me at same as digital scales my BMI is 27! so I'm 2 points off top end of healthy according to that.

It was 29 at first (my BMI on Wii) so my numbers are consistently going down on both and my water number and lean muscle mass on body fat scales are consistently going up since I first puchased those in June.so I seem to be heading in the right direction.

I know my BMI should be between 18-25 but what should my body fat percentage be to be healthy? under 30 is healthy? under 25 is healthy? I'm 42 by the way and female. (large chested.. so I guess they will account for a good amount of my body fat.. lol!)

Faybelline88

Hi :-)
as for your different scale problem I have no idea!

But I weighed myself at Boots the other day and it gave me a body fat percentage (31.8) and it gave a guide on what's healthy:

Excellent: 20.9
Good: 25.7
Average: 29
Poor: 33.6

Hope this helps!

dhakiyya

it depends on your age and gender, healthy bf% range for women are as follows:

(values taken from the accumeasure chart, note that it changes gradually as you get older, it's not like it suddenly jumps when you hit 25, but it's hard to convey that with numbers)

late teens/early 20s: 18-24%
late 20s/early 30s: 20-25%
late 30s/early 40s: 22-27%
late 40s/early 50s: 23-28%
older than this: 25-30%

It changes as you get older because fat gets stored in different places in your body as you get older. For men the values are very different because women naturally have more bodyfat than men. Also a lot of athletes have bodyfat percentages below these values without any adverse health problems.

Bear in mind that the scales that measure bodyfat percentage can be very inaccurate, although the more expensive ones tend to be more accurate. Also if you are dehydrated that can mess up your reading. A more accurate way to measure it is at the gym, where they can measure it with callipers, there's also a calliper called accumeasure which comes with a chart that you can use on yourself (although it's tricky to learn how to do it and get accurate readings because if you use them in the wrong place they read wrong)

Personally I ignore BMI and focus on bodyfat percentage because muscle is heavier than fat and BMI gives false information if you have more or less muscle than average. some people appear in the normal range on BMI despite having too much body fat because they have smaller muscles, and others appear overweight when they have the right amount of bodyfat because they have bigger muscles. body fat percentage gives you a much more reliable indication of whether you have too much fat or not.

An alternative to bodyfat percentage (which I also measure) is that your waist should be less than half your height. So if you are 5'3" then that's 63 inches; half of that is 31.5, so you'd want your waistline to be less than 31.5'. If your waistline is below this, then there's a very high likelihood that your bodyfat percentage is also in the healthy range.

shakybabe

oooh.. thanks... nearly there on the waist thing!..down to 33" .. hoping to get to 30" waist so can get some levi's with 30 " waist!! (was 38" waist in June)

I doubt I'd get under that... do those percentages of body fat allow for large frame or should be within those whether you are small, large or medium frame?

I'm 42 so I should be between 22-27%? .. so got 5 points to go down to get to 27. .. and 2" to go off waist! (2 off for BMI if doing that too).. so I'm not that far off healthy now?

I just reached 11st 3, I think 10st 7 is top end of healthy for my height range... so got about 9-10lbs to drop to get to top end of healthy weight?

My xmas goal is 11st, but final goal is 9st 7 as its right in middle of healthy range which I think was 8st 7 -10st 7.

So I'm 2lbs off my half way point.. at which point I'd have lost one and half stone stone since June (12st 7) and have one and half to go, to get to 9st 7! .. looks like I'm getting there slowly!! :laugh:

Thanks!

dhakiyya

frame size won't affect bodyfat %, although frame size does affect BMI yet BMI doesn't account for it (another reason why I don't rely on BMI so much). If you have a larger body frame you will have more fat cells but as it's a percentage it will be in proportion to the rest of you, so the overall healthy percentage will be the same, tall or short, small or large frame.

The main thing is whether your scale is accurate or not. Even the ones doctors have are not necessarily that accurate for bodyfat %age as measurements can be affected by how much water you have in your system, e.g. if you are dehydrated or retaining water it will affect the measurement. They are good for measuring change in the right direction, e.g. if the number is consistently falling e.g. every week/fortnight, but not for an overall judgement of exactly how much bodyfat you have. It's better to either get bodyfat percentage measured with callipers or to judge where you are health wise by your waistline and dress size.

Well done on getting your waist down so low that's great. Waistline is a good indicator of health because fat around your waist is less healthy than fat in other places (hips, bust etc) and metabolic syndrome risk goes up when you have more fat around your waist. So it will be good for your health to fit into those jeans

shakybabe

That's good news!.. I was size 20 in June today I'm wearing size 16 jog pants and size 14-16 knickers!!! :happy:

All my weight is around my waist/tummy.. I suspect cos those muscles haven't been used as much after 6 years in wheelchair. I do have problems with Ataxia in trunk muscles and it had weakened them.

I have been working on core strength with Pilates after found some floor exercises I can do so can now sit in that chair (in pic) for longer than I used to be able to.. I had recently been given a powered chair with electric recline as it was getting so bad I was having to go lie down every hour. There was big difference in back pain level after I lost the first stone. (14lbs)

Looking forward to my first full day out in a year next month for xmas shopping and lunch out with an old friend!

dhakiyya

core strengthening will help you've done really well going down so many sizes enjoy your day out sounds horrible all that pain but good that shifting the fat is helping hope you keep on getting stronger