Am I seriously obese? 41% Body Fat

^As Sidesteal said, all the tests vary. Those scales in particular can be extremely way off.
Looking at your pictures, there's no way you're 41%.
Also, mot trying to be crude or anything, but keep it in mind that your breasts are made of fat; and yours aren't exactly small.

Agreed. You bewbs may add a little, but that sounds far too high.

Holy mother! I just looked at your pictures. I'm a bit jealous.

Yes, you're definitely well endowed haha. Seriously though, those scales can be way off in either direction. I own one that's supposedly better and I gotta say it gives me pretty consistent results but even the user manual says that if you're carrying extra water or bone mass or whatever it changes the results. In fact, we use to have a body pod at our gym that you use to hold to figure out bf%. It had to be removed from the gym because there were ripped skinny heavy lifting girls that were crying because of the figures it was spitting out. I saw one of them...she was all abs...and definitely not the number that was getting spit at her. If you're exercising you're likely to produce glycogen to repair your muscles later (a form of liquid energy) which affects those scales as well. Drinking lots of water does the same thing. They also said that some peoples numbers were reading far lower then they would have guessed. Mine keeps spitting 17% and I really don't think I'm as low as that considering how many inches I can pinch in various places :P Maybe it's cause I have like -1 boobs I'm all hips and bum.

At a gym what they should be doing is calliper readings, I'm surprised they're using the BIA tests.

Do you need to pay someone else to get your body fat?

Body fat percentage is a basic marker of health and one's fitness progress. It is as, if not more, important than the gross weight number on the scale.

How could it be so important id it can't be accurately calculated?

Do you need to pay someone else to get your body fat?

Body fat percentage is a basic marker of health and one's fitness progress. It is as, if not more, important than the gross weight number on the scale.

How could it be so important id it can't be accurately calculated?

....because everything that's important we can calculate accurately................There's a reason we still try to calculate the weather despite all failures in finding a way to do so accurately. Figuring out if a volcano or tornato or flood is coming is kinda important. If you live somewhere like here, it's very rare the weather is what it says it is.

There is something called the Hydrostatic weigh, which accurately calculates body fat accurately. All you need to do is go to a scientific lab and pay them to get dunked under water a few times. Some people on this site have gotten it done. It's pretty neat. There's all kinds of ways to get an accurate idea of if you're losing fat.

size 2/4 here and was told im bordering on overweight, just because i weigh 145. im muscular, cant help it, nor do i want to. bmi's are crap. its just an estimation. nobody can convince me im overweight. what did she want me to do, be a size 0 with no curves or fat.

Do you need to pay someone else to get your body fat?

Body fat percentage is a basic marker of health and one's fitness progress. It is as, if not more, important than the gross weight number on the scale.

How could it be so important id it can't be accurately calculated?

You need to get the best, consistent, measurement conveniently available -- not a PERFECT one -- and use it as a baseline.

It looks like a device that uses bioimpedance (look it up) to estimate fat and it combines the features of a scale and a hand-held body fat calculator. Although bioimpedance is not the gold standard, your reading may actually be pretty accurate.

The thing with bioimpedance is that they will usually measure water as fat, so they can especially be inaccurate for women, who tend to retain water more than men.

Also, boobs may contain a good amount of fat but they are not all fat. They are also mammary glands. They amount of actual fat can vary greatly.

You can still use a bioimpedance scale's reading as a baseline. If you reduce fat in your diet, exercise, and lose weight, the bodyfat % reading should go down, too, whatever it is. As I said, previously, you should weigh yourself at the same time under the same conditions.

Apparently it's possible even for thin people to have high body fat. I've read that some people seem to accumulate visceral fat, which won't make you look fat, but is said to be bad for your health.

True. And as people age, they often develop more visceral body fat, as opposed to subcutaneous fat.

There is no way you are 41%. When I started MFP I weighed 229.8 and was 40.5%. and I'm 5'3". MFP has a great tool under the TOOLS tab, called the BMI, it will calculate your body fat for you anytime. according to your weight and height you are 27.8%/

Um, you do know that your BMI is not your bodyfat percentage?

Sadly, more than one person in this thread does not understand the difference. Still others are criticizing the BMI, which, while not important to people who are knowledgeable about fitness, usually IS predictive of obesity unless you have an unusually large frame or the muscles of an athlete.

i wasnt thinking chest either. mine are on the larger size as well. maybe i should weigh them and ask the trainer if im overweight now:laugh:

Haha!!

If I didn't count my boobs, I'd be around 150 (36DDD... five pounds each?). So, weight does that mean I only have 10 pounds to lose? LMAO.

You are NOT obese. and those sure would add some weight. mine are only 36dd. i feel so small:laugh:

TrTry putting your measurements into the military body fat % calculator on fat2fitradio.com and try again in a month or two

I just tested this site and it is rubbish.
I got tested for my BMI a month ago on a military base and my BMI was 34.5% and I am smaller now and just did the BMI calculator on that site and it said I am 39% body fat.

Wrong.

We're all too hung up on numbers.

Numbers are information, nothing more. People who continually ignore indicators that suggest they are gaining weight often end up obese.

That does not seem right at all. Also, I heard that couple of other factors does skew (increase) the body fat % displayed--
- if you exercised in the past two hrs
- if you are dehydrated
- right after your period (you tend to expel more water than normal ...that you had accumulated due to bloating etc..)

My 2 cents.
Cheers!

Correct - hydration levels can make for even more inaccuracies in the test.

Scales are unreliable for body fat percentage measures. The only semi-reliable at-home body fat percentage test is with calipers. You can get them on Amazon for about $10-20. You pinch fat with the calipers at several parts of your body and then use a formula (there are several) to calculate your approximate body fat percentage.

But really these measurements are just meant to be tools for you to achieve your goals. You don't need calipers (or even a scale) to know you're feeling and looking better. The best measurement tool in my opinion is just a photograph once a week!

Keep at it, and you'll achieve your fitness goals!

size 2/4 here and was told im bordering on overweight, just because i weigh 145. im muscular, cant help it, nor do i want to. bmi's are crap. its just an estimation. nobody can convince me im overweight. what did she want me to do, be a size 0 with no curves or fat.

I don't know why you assume that because someone said you were close to being overweight it follows that she thinks you should be a size 0 and flat as a board. What is your body fat percentage? It's been said a million times on this site, but MOST people who are overweight per the BMI are not exceptionally muscular. They're overweight. Maybe you're not, but you don't seem to know your body composition.

Everything is rubbish & everyone has a differing opinion...haven't you noticed that? Lol...i am currently 238 pounds and guess what? I'm 43% body fat! And there is quite a big difference between our physiques! So don't worry about anything luv...you're ok as long as you feel you are! If you want to make improvements than by all means do it. But don't worry so much about #s or opinions.

You're new to the forums, so I'll try to be nice about this -- don't necromance threads. This thread died 2 years ago. For the general forums, the limit is generally just a couple of weeks (no more than a month, but even longer than about 2 weeks is questionable and you should really consider the response you're making). The groups are more forgiving, since they're not usually as active. A good rule of thumb could be that the more active a forum is, the shorter the expiration time for threads.