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Well, I can't of dropped 10% body fat like that !

Babieseverywhere
Babieseverywhere Posts: 311 Member
Right, according to my scales I have put on 3lbs AND lost 15% body fat at the same time ?

Disclaimer I know the following.

1. That body fat scales are not accurate. However I am using them to watch for an overall downward trend which I have seen.
Last Year
257 lbs and 44.1% fat

Last Week
183.2 lbs and 42.6% fat

This Week (must be wrong)
186.4 lbs and 27.6% fat

2. I have had a lot of salt earlier in the week and that will account for the additional weight 'gain' I know my food intake is very variable. I've opened my diary just temporarily but please don't post I need to change my diet...I know that...and I am working on it, my way.

3. Official exercise wise....on average I do two long runs around 1.5 or 2 hours of continuous running and two sessions of Zumba both around one hour a week. All officially logged exercise I use a HRM with chest strap.

4. Everything I eat is weighed and counted and logged. I eat everything I want in moderation including chocolate and aim to meet my weekly calorie count not my daily target.

5. What my diary does not tell you. I not only breastfeeding my newborn which I do log, I also tandem feed her two year old sister, not logged. I walk for an hour a day to and from school, not logged. I just started this week using my door bar pull up billions of times a day (well every time I go to the kitchen), not logged. Since my baby was born I have lost an average of 1.4 lbs per week.

My question is this...why a 15% drop in body fat reading, it happened last Sunday and stayed the same all week (with small fluctuations) I weight daily but record weekly ?

Is it salt related ?

How long will it take to go back to normal ?

Replies

  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    An increase of salt also leads to an increase in body water, which will show as a decrease in body fat (I know this as I have scales that show body water % and body fat% and they have an inverse relationship). After a salty day my weight and body water % goes up.

    Not sure it would be that much though, it's usually a just a few % in my case.

    Below are 3 values taken on consecutive days - one from evening after lots of fluids, and one the following morning (no fluids in the night) :
    pm 38.5% body fat, 44.1% body water, 208 lbs
    am: 42% body fat, 41.6% body water, 206.6 lbs
    later that same day, it showed:
    pm: 43.1% body fat, 40.9% water, 205.8lbs

    I don't usually check these values a lot but I was looking for end points (hydrated and dehydrated) for a chart I was making.
  • Babieseverywhere
    Babieseverywhere Posts: 311 Member
    Thanks LadyPakal, what you say makes sense.:)

    It is weird that the body fat % went down by so much but it doesn't matter in the big scale of things I will keep logging and moving. At some point in the future my body fat will pop back to expected levels.
  • Babieseverywhere
    Babieseverywhere Posts: 311 Member
    Well I am here a week later and a pound lighter yet my body fat remains at it's new lower level. Looks like my body fat is settling down at this lower level for the time being and I'm not complaining it makes me smile to see the 20's % IYSWIM
This discussion has been closed.