calculating body fat, BMI, etc

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tbrown1025
tbrown1025 Posts: 165
in Health and Weight Loss
Some websites allow you to use your body measurements to determine body fat percentage. My question is in regards to the accuracy of these results when you have some excess skin -- how am I supposed to get an accurate waist measurement if I have skin on my abdomen. I've lost 75lbs and have had 4 pregnancies, so there is some stretching there that can't be fixed without tucking. (I plan to do that someday.)

Also, would a caliper be untrustworhty as well b/c of that -- although I do not have skin on my arms?

There is a place that offers hydrostatic testing very close to me -- I plan on doing that maybe by next fall. (The cost is only about $100, so I think def worth it.) Would it still be accurate eveb though I'll have the loose skin?

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  • tbrown1025
    tbrown1025 Posts: 165
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    bump...anyone?
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    No web site can tell you what your body fat % is. They have formulas but it's all guessing. You need hydrostatic testing or calipers or impedance.

    The calipers are cheap and, if the person measuring you is good, can be pretty accurate. But they have to know what they are doing. Otherwise, they are the most inaccurate.

    My surgeon says that having excess skin does make the calipers inaccurate though. It's because of the fat cells under the skin making you seem extra fat.

    He has some super-dooper scale that cost at least $1000 and is supposed to be relatively accurate even though it uses impedence. I have one that cost $50 and isn't accurate at all! :lol:

    Hydrostatic testing is the most accurate because they dunk you in a tank and measure how much water you displace and other stuff that isn't impacted by excess skin or the skill of the measurer.

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