Fat Percentage (scare)- if you know anything please!

heyitskaydee
heyitskaydee Posts: 27 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all!

I'm a college junior now, actually my major is nutrition and dietetics. I follow a really good diet quality wise I just am overcoming eating disorders so my portions for the last two years have been way off. I have spent at least a year with Binge Eating Disorder but I have gotten it relatively in control. And I've been if not very active definitely moderately active for the past 4 years.

I'm just very concerned because my one friend is exercise science and she used a professional fat percentage scale which read my BMI and Fat percentage and I look up online and it says my fat percentage is way over obese, it is 36.7%

I am 5'4 and 152 pounds with a BMI of 26.2. I know that BMI is "overweight" but I am very shocked my fat percentage says I'm over obese (obese cut off is 30% and I measured 36.7%)

I am pretty in good shape too. I can snowboard all day, do 40 minute HIIT workouts, run 5 miles without stopping, complete hot yoga flow keeping up with everyone else, and do any hour fitness class. I mean I'm always sweaty after but I'm not struggling more than anyone else.

Can anyone help me make sense of this? Thanks!

Replies

  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    Scales are very inaccurate. I wouldn't put much stock in it. Please don't let that trigger your ED.

    I'm the same height as you but slightly heavier. My BF tested via bod pod was 30% which is about right based on how I look.
  • heyitskaydee
    heyitskaydee Posts: 27 Member
    Hi thanks for answering but to clear something up it wasn't a "scale". I mean it looked like a scale to me but it was very professional to determine fat percentage with electricity somehow… i don't know how it works but it was through research with our university...
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    Hi thanks for answering but to clear something up it wasn't a "scale". I mean it looked like a scale to me but it was very professional to determine fat percentage with electricity somehow… i don't know how it works but it was through research with our university...

    My PT has one of these, they're still not as accurate as other methods of measuring bf% and I'm pretty sure they tend to over estimate rather than under. I was a bit shocked to get mine back a year ago at around 30% at 143lbs, 5'6" and reasonably fit and active. Don't stress about it. Remember at the end of the day, it's just another number
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I'm 5'4" and 157-ish lbs and my cheap bathroom scale puts me at 32ish% which seems entirely reasonable (if not a bit generous-I would guess myself closer to 36-38). I don't know if I would say I'm in pretty good shape, but I can run, bike, etc (I'd never attempt a class nor snowboarding-but I can ski).

    Bio-impedence (or whatever it's called that measures it on a scale with an electrical current) isn't the most accurate-it's impacted significantly by hydration levels and all kinds of other stuff. So please don't freak out. It's entirely possible that you were under/over hydrated, had a belly full of food, the planets weren't in alignment (kidding-sort of), etc.

    I use my bathroom scale to measure trends over time. For the most part, it gives me a number in the same relative neighborhood. Some days it spits out something ridiculous (high or low). It's the nature of the measurement-it can be way off (kind of like when you "gain" 5 lbs of water weight after you eat tons of salty food). Please don't freak about this.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    Bioimpedence is just not very accurate. Really. I've used several similar devices and they all greatly overestimate for me.
  • heyitskaydee
    heyitskaydee Posts: 27 Member
    Okay thank you everybody!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,294 Member
    Over weight and fit is not the same thing as overweight and sedentary.........and never trust that type of body fat measuring......just keep going and stay fit, your hard work will show reward, trust me on that one.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
    It could be that it's not accurate. However, I would say that a lot of it has to do with how much muscle you have and it sounds like you do mostly cardio and yoga. I do mostly weights with some cardio and yoga. I am 5'5", weigh 175, have a BMI of over 29 (nearly morbidly obese) and yet, my bodyfat is 29% and in the healthy range...because I have a ton of muscle.

    You can definitely be fit in terms of performance and vitals but still not have a lot of lean mass.
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
    I did a little research, while those scales can be good at tracking changes in BF% if you take your measurements at similar hidration/food intake levels etc. they are not very accurate at actually calculating your BF% because there are too many variables that can impact on the results.
  • joan23_us
    joan23_us Posts: 263 Member
    nothing beats your better and honest judgement of yourself... LOOK IN THE MIRROR and be honest with yourself... do you see your ribcage, do you see love handles, etc. these are just simple ways for you to judge your 'LEANNESS'. Dont get caught up with the 'number' game, at the end of the day different people will have different level of contentment on how they look, if you are not happy with what you see now maybe drop 10lbs. and see how you feel, goodluck.

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