Body Fat Up, BMI Down?

Huppmanj
Huppmanj Posts: 60 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been periodically checking my body fat and BMI with a handheld machine in the gym to help keep me motivated. Each time (up until now), both numbers have dropped. Today, my body fat % went up, only 0.3%, but I was curious if anyone else has ever had this happen? I'm personally not concerned with my body fat percentage, and only use the BMI as a guide to help stay focused.

Replies

  • _Calypso_
    _Calypso_ Posts: 1,074 Member
    You should reverse that. BMI is only a guideline and is very off balanced for most. Good guide to get in the "healthy range" but should not be your main focus. body fat is far more important. Body fat much like your weight will fluctuate often based on foods/water consumption, exercise over the past few days, and more.

    Your focus should be look/feel/fit in clothes, BF% 2nd, weight, BMI.
  • fushigi1988
    fushigi1988 Posts: 519 Member
    Those handheld meters are not accurate at all, I tried one of those, went to the toilet and tried it again for fun, and it was suddenly a few % lower.
  • jfrankic
    jfrankic Posts: 747 Member
    You should reverse that. BMI is only a guideline and is very off balanced for most. Good guide to get in the "healthy range" but should not be your main focus. body fat is far more important. Body fat much like your weight will fluctuate often based on foods/water consumption, exercise over the past few days, and more.

    Your focus should be look/feel/fit in clothes, BF% 2nd, weight, BMI.

    Agreed. Also, the handheld BIA are very inaccurate. It can, however, be a good tool if used properly to track progress. Use it under the same circumstances every time: time of day, hydration level, before exercise, etc and you can just use it to make sure the BF% is going down consistently. It can have a +/- 4%, so an overall error of 8% both ways, so always keep this in mind.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Handhelds might be within 8% if you're lucky. Trying to track changes of less than a percent with a handheld is a waste of time.

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