Body Fat% went UP! Really discourrage right now....

What type of measuring device is this? Is it one of those hand held/step on machines that send the electrical current through your body? Those can be extremly touchy. LBM is bones, muscles, organs blood and skin (I believe) and the rest is considered to be your body fat. Have a big drink of water anytime before? Food, pee? That would make the fat % increase on those types of monitors. They had one at the gym I used to go to and reccomended fasting/no water or any drinks x hours before hand because it could cause the numbers to be very off. I would take those measurments with a large grain of salt and just focus on inches lost and being an awesome beast in the weight room :happy:

Don't be discouraged. Whether it was a scale or callipers, both methods have a large degree of error. Any number of factors can affect the reading. You are making progress.

Given that all of your FFM readings in the past have fallen in the 86-87 lbs range, I would suspect that this is an outlier.

In my experience, Tanita scale readings become more problematic as people get down to lower levels of body fat. When I compare Tanita readings to skinfold readings, I find the biggest discrepancies in those with lower body fat levels.

Here is some information from the Tanita site:

Recommendations for the most accurate readings:

Select a consistent time of day, and stick to it.
With an empty bladder
When normally hydrated
Unclean foot pads may interfere with conductivity.
Nylons interfere with conductivity. If it is absolutely necessary to measure in nylons, use a drop of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol on the foot pads to act as a conductor.
Early morning is not recommended because the body is often dehydrated after a night's sleep. Once you have established your baseline, monitor body fat about twice a month. Checking body fat more frequently is not beneficial as changes occur slowly over time.
Things that can affect hydration include:

strenuous exercise
recent food intake
diuretics such as caffeine, alcohol, certain medications

Q: What conditions might cause skewed results or an "Error" reading in the display?
A: Hydration fluctuations which may result from alcohol or food consumption, sleep, intense exercise, medication or pre-menstruation.

Q: Why is there an "Athlete Mode"?
A: The Athlete mode was developed to provide a more accurate reading for athletic body types. Athletic body types are physiologically different than standard adult body types, due to muscle mass and hydration level differences. Athletes tend to have greater muscle mass and tend to be more dehydrated. These differences would skew the body fat reading high, when taken with the standard Adult mode.

Tanita defines "athlete" as a person involved in intense physical activity of approximately 10 hours per week and who has a resting heart rate of approximately 60 beats per minute or less.
Tanita's athlete definition includes "lifetime of fitness" individuals who have been fit for years but currently exercise less than 10 hours per week. Tanita's athlete definition does not include "enthusiastic beginners" who are making a real commitment to exercising at least 10 hours per week but whose bodies have not yet changed to require the Athlete mode.

(MY NOTE) Despite the description, I still find the definition of "athlete" mode vague and difficult to use. When I have used it, I find that I get consistently unreasonably low readings--I've been doing this a long time on a lot of people and so my "eyeball test" is usually pretty good--when I use the "athlete" mode, I end up with 3 numbers--Tanita regular, Tanita "athlete" and skinfold--and usually am not happy with any of them. It's also gets confusing trying to explain them all to a client).

Q: Are the Body Fat Monitors intended for Body Builders or professional athletes? Who is considered an athlete vs. standard adult?
A: If you are an adult who has approximately 10 hours of intense physical activity and have a resting heart rate of approximately 60 beats per minute or less, you probably need to use the Athlete Mode.
Tanita uses a mathematical formula to determine body fat percentage based upon these variables: height, weight, gender, age group and resistance (impedance). The Athlete Mode uses a mathematical formula that is different than that used in the Adult Mode. The Athlete Mode was designed through population studies of individuals meeting the above criteria.

At this time, populations of professional athletes and body builders have not been studied to establish a separate mode for this unique group. Professional athletes and body builders are advised that since the models have not been designed with them specifically in mind, they may obtain a higher than normal body fat reading. Despite this fact, many of these elite athletes have used the Tanita Body Fat Monitor/Scales successfully to gauge their progress of losing body fat. The great repeatability of the product enables one to establish a baseline and use the product for "trending purposes" to assess loss or gain in body fat over time.

Q: Why does my body fat percent fluctuate?
A: The Tanita Body Fat Monitor/Scales use state of the art technology, BIA (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis). This method of body fat analysis is very accurate and easy to use; however, changes in hydration levels can affect readings. If your body is dehydrated, you will likely experience a higher than normal reading. If you are over-hydrated, you could experience a slightly lower reading. To obtain the greatest accuracy and repeatability from our product, Tanita suggests the following protocol.

Take readings at least 3 hours after rising, eating a large meal, or exercising.
Take readings once a week at the same time of day under the same conditions. (Note: Taking readings more than once per week is not beneficial since body fat does not change from day to day.)
Average your readings for the month.
Compare averages from month to month.
By following this format, hydration fluctuations throughout the month will average out, and you will be able to better assess any real change in your body fat percentage over time.


Bottom line: I don't think a Tanita scale is sensitive enough to accurately measure the small changes you are experiencing.

One thing I noticed right off was your profile picture. If that's your before and after, that's all you need to know that your body fat % hasn't gone up. Look at the change in definition!! That's not fat. Quite obviously.

Hi there. You may also want to be sure you are getting the right amount of protein. You want at least one gram of protein for every pound of lean mass. This is going to be alot, but that is the only way to build muscle and avoid the chance your body will burn muscle instead of fat. I wouldn't worry too much unless the reading keep going that way. Good to keep in mind though. Great work.