Apple shapes and body fat percentage?

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ashtenr
ashtenr Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 38, 5 3 ish and 126 lbs which is in the healthy weight range for a female. Although I think I must have a small frame or something as I do not feel slim at this weight, i.e. I have a 28 inch waist. My scales say that my body fat percentage is 30% which seems high.

I would like to lose some fat, what sort of % should I be aiming for? Also does anyone know if apple shapes have a higher BF% than pears? If I were to aim for say 25% BF, what weight loss would that roughly equate to 4lbs, 8lbs?

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  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
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    I'm not sure why you'd call yourself an apple with those stats. Surely your hips and chest are larger than 28"?

    Scales are notoriously inaccurate for estimating body fat, although they can be useful in tracking trends over time.

    A DEXA scan (which most people will never get) is the most accurate measure of body fat, but there are a lot of calculators you can use to estimate it. Here's a link to one of them: http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/ If you follow the links, you can also get estimates of ideal healthy body fat ranges by age and gender. These might not give you the appearance you want, but they're healthy ranges.

    Weight loss and fat loss are not necessarily equal.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    I am 38, 5 3 ish and 126 lbs which is in the healthy weight range for a female. Although I think I must have a small frame or something as I do not feel slim at this weight, i.e. I have a 28 inch waist. My scales say that my body fat percentage is 30% which seems high.

    I would like to lose some fat, what sort of % should I be aiming for? Also does anyone know if apple shapes have a higher BF% than pears? If I were to aim for say 25% BF, what weight loss would that roughly equate to 4lbs, 8lbs?

    Theoretically, you'd have to lose about 6 pounds of fat to go from 30% to a 25% BF percentage. However, if you just diet, you'll lose muscle along with the fat. So do resistance training in addition to dieting and make sure you eat plenty of high quality protein (eg meat, dairy, the kind of stuff you boys probably like).
  • ashtenr
    ashtenr Posts: 19 Member
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    I understand Apple shaped to be big boobs, tummy, small or flat bum, slim thighs as opposed to pear shaped which is small boobs, small waist, flat tummy, big bum, bigger thighs. Obviously not everyone fits into one of these.

    I do resistance already, about twice a week, I'm happy with my level of muscle so don't really want to add any more but wouldn't want to lose any either.

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