percent body fat

LCastile

I am a 50 year old 5'3 woman; my goal is to be fit but not muscle bound. What is a healthy percent of body fat to shoot for? I was surprised to find that my body fat is well over 40%.

Thanks

GauchoMark

for a 50 year old female, I'd probably start with a goal of maybe 30% and re-evaluate as you get closer. Once you get to a healthy weight, the number really doesn't matter than much, though. Just how you look and feel.

TavistockToad

Classification Women (% fat) Men (% fat)
Essential Fat 10-12% 2-4%
Athletes 14-20% 6-13%
Fitness 21-24% 14-17%
Acceptable 25-31% 18-25%
Obese 32%+ 25%+

Sabine_Stroehm

How did you have your body fat tested?

MinnieInMaine

Here's my favorite link for body fat percentage charts:

http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/

The lower charts include age (and therefore IMHO are more accurate) and indicate that GauchoMark is pretty spot on with his advice. 30% would be on the low end of average for your age range. You might be able to lose a few percentage points beyond that with the proper diet and exercise routine.

nxd10

You really need it measured properly in a bodypod or with water displacement. I've never done that.

With online measurements, my body fat percent estimates run from 27-38. The more measurements they ask for the lower my body fat percentage looks.

It doesn't make sense to me that height isn't taken into account. I'm 5'10". There is no way my waist or hips can ever get as small as someone who is 5'0" with the same proportions. It's a model based on particular assumptions (all models are). They fit some of us better than others.

LCastile

How did you have your body fat tested?

I have a scale that measures body fat; as I've been losing weight it has dropped from 52.2 % to 45.9% with a 12 pound weight loss. I want to lose 15 more pounds and hope I can meet that 15 % drop in body fat as well. Thank you to everyone for your quick responses!!! I appreciate your help!

IveLanded

Just saying, body fat percentage doesn't have a ton to do with how "muscle bound" you are or are not. You can be lean and have a small body fat percentage and not look like a body builder. But at a certain point you will likely have to add some form of strength training in....muscle burns fat.

If it were me, I'd shoot to get in the "normal" range and out of the "obsese" which is usually below 25%. My current personal goal is 20%.

erickirb

How did you have your body fat tested?

I have a scale that measures body fat; as I've been losing weight it has dropped from 52.2 % to 45.9% with a 12 pound weight loss. I want to lose 15 more pounds and hope I can meet that 15 % drop in body fat as well. Thank you to everyone for your quick responses!!! I appreciate your help!

I don't think you will drop 15% with a 15lb loss, for your 12 lb loss, you lost 6.3% BF, so if you work that out to 15lb, you should drop another 6-8%.

LeidaPrimal

How to measure the ideal body fat? Dress in the revealing swim suit. If you do not have one, don't put anything on. Go to a full body length mirror. Turn on bright lights. Strike a few poses. If you look flabby, soft and plump, something is hanging in a totally wrong spot, well, your body fat % is too high. If your response to the image is: "HOLLY COW, I AM HOT!" your body fat % is on the money. Keep it there.

The same method allows you to determine your ideal weight to the 0.0001 oz.

Alternatively, a man in your life can take a few pics on digital camera, front, side, and back.

_stephanie0

here you go!! (WFS)

http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/

icreate

I use omron at the gym. The fitness instructor is pushing me to go single digit. My face is already guant :explode:

katevarner

Scales aren't particularly reliable, so if you have an opportunity to get it checked some other way, might be worth it, if only to see how close your scale is. I'm 47 and 5'3" and my body fat is about 20% per my scale and per the bodpod at my gym. I am muscular, but not muscle bound. I was at 18% at 40 and definitely don't want to get under that, but I could still go a little lower than I am now. That said, I'm small framed and weigh 111. I agree you can start with 30% as a goal, but no reason you can't go lower if you get there and it's still not enough.

Sabine_Stroehm

How did you have your body fat tested?

I have a scale that measures body fat; as I've been losing weight it has dropped from 52.2 % to 45.9% with a 12 pound weight loss. I want to lose 15 more pounds and hope I can meet that 15 % drop in body fat as well. Thank you to everyone for your quick responses!!! I appreciate your help!

imho the scales with bf measures aren't very accurate. :-(

Sabine_Stroehm

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