Body Fat Percentage ?

jbuffan218
jbuffan218 Posts: 275 Member
edited September 20 in Fitness and Exercise
Could someone direct me to a reliable source for body fat percentages?
I have looked on the internet and according to my findings I am either:
1. Obese
2. Overweight
3. Risky

Interesting is that if you go by weight only 170 lbs / 5' 10" / size 12 / 50 yrs old in Feb.
I am still not even considered overweight .
But I am 40% body fat !!!!!!!!!
Makes me want my 32 yr old body back with 21% body fat.
I would like too have a realistic goal in my mind for my age/height..

Thank you.

Replies

  • lbragg
    lbragg Posts: 32 Member
    Hi, I am not sure about body fat % but for your height and weight, your BMI is 24.4

    Here are the % categories for BMI
    * Underweight = <18.5
    * Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
    * Overweight = 25-29.9
    * Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
  • Silviajdm
    Silviajdm Posts: 3
    the average body fat% for women is 25-31%
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    The best way to get body fat tested is to go somewhere where the user is trained in the intraments and they take the measuments for you. Or not as reliable but buy a body fat scale that sends a small electric pulse through you body from the feet and analysis your composition (fat, water, muscel etc.) Some scales say the analyse body fat but they just use a calculation based on age, sex, weight and height, but these are rater inacurate.
  • jljohnson
    jljohnson Posts: 719 Member
    Even if your BMI classifies you as normal, if you really have 40% body fat, that would put you in the obese category. Here's a breakdown that I found:

    Women - Essential Fat (10-12%), Athlete (14-20%), Fitness (21-24%), Acceptable (25-31%), Obese (32% plus)
    Men - Essential Fat (2-4%), Athlete (6-13%), Fitness (14-17%), Acceptable (18-25%), Obese (25% plus)

    Hope this helps!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    The best way to get body fat tested is to go somewhere where the user is trained in the intraments and they take the measuments for you. Or not as reliable but buy a body fat scale that sends a small electric pulse through you body from the feet and analysis your composition (fat, water, muscel etc.) Some scales say the analyse body fat but they just use a calculation based on age, sex, weight and height, but these are rater inacurate.

    I disagree, even professionals with calipers have a 5% margin for error.

    While that's much better than a bio-electrical impedance scale (those can be all over the place), it's still not great.

    you can go to a place with a Bod Pod and get a very accurate test done (1% margin for error), or someplace with Hydrostatic testing (where they dunk you in a water tank, it's pretty cool actually.) or a DEXA machine, which is ultra accurate, but also a little expensive.
  • jbuffan218
    jbuffan218 Posts: 275 Member
    Thank you for your replies.
    I got the 40% figure from my Tanita home scale.
    I am sure it is not 100% accurate, but thought it might give me an idea of where I am starting.
    I know that is not the same as BMI
    Unless I am able to get a professional assesement I will just go by what my scale tells me
    I can at least see if the number ( accurate or not) is going down.

    Thanks again.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    by the way, I highly doubt you are 40% BF.
  • annette02
    annette02 Posts: 23
    Just wanted to add that I had my body fat % checked this morning at my local YMCA. It was nice to know, and I highly reccomend that a person have it tested professionaly!!!

    According to online my fat% was between 23-24% which is healthy, BUT....when I had it done this morning, it came in at 19.3% which was considered almost 'excellant' (according to their diagram - 18% is considered 'excellant') So, I am feeling great about it, and it was nice to have a more accurate reading to go off of.

    I know that sometimes body fat testing can be expensive...mine was free (because I am a member) But, I think it is only $20 for non-members. So, not too bad. The test is fairly accurate.....they took two readings and averaged them out. Of course, it can't be perfect, but she said it was about 98% accurate.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories