Hiw to track Body fat

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Nefetete
Nefetete Posts: 343 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all, I am pretty new to MFP and as wondering if there is a way to track body fat. I am more interested to have my body fat % which is currently 34.3 % come down to a healthy level then about my overall weight. 

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  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    I keep a separate spreadsheet to track my measurements and BF- both by circumference methods and with calipers. How did you figure out the 34.3%?
  • Nefetete
    Nefetete Posts: 343 Member
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    Scale at the gym, I am not sure how accurate it is, but i was thinking as long as I use the same one all the time and see it going down that should work. It seems, based on what I've read on the Internet I should be somewhere between 25% to 31 % .
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Those scales vary greatly depending on hydration- so just make sure to take it at the same time of day and be well hydrated when you do it. If you want to track it on MFP, you can go to "Weigh in" and at the bottom of the page theres a button for "Track additional measurements" and you can use that to track it.
  • geeniusatwurk
    geeniusatwurk Posts: 68 Member
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    The most accurate methods can't be done at home, like a DEXA scan, BodPod scan, or hydrostatic measurements. The stuff you can do it at home, like calipers and circumference, are less accurate and best used to track change over time, and not so much the raw numbers themselves.
  • gramacanada
    gramacanada Posts: 557 Member
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    You eat properly. You exercise. You get down to a decent weight, for your body type, for the average person. % age of body fat is actually irrelevant.
  • Zebideus
    Zebideus Posts: 2 Member
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    I use a measuring tape on the thinnest and widest parts of my midsection (on MFP it's waist and hips), as well as my neck. I do this standing in front of a mirror and am very careful to measure the same places each day.

    For me, losing an inch around my neck is about 10lbs of body fat lost. I measure both the thinnest and widest part of my abdomen because, like a slowly deflating balloon, losing weight means loose skin settles and can make the hip measurement lie to you.

    However, the neck never lies, as long as you balance it against the other measurements.

    I absolutely concur that measuring yourself on the same scale at the same time of day while properly hydrated helps as well. Just don't forget that gaining muscle mass can make the number on the scale misleading (and hence necessitating measurements).

    I realize calipers and so forth are more accurate, but a measuring tape is simple enough to use each day in a matter of minutes and over time, it's extremely informative as to one's progress.

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