Bod Pod - can this be right? :(
decblessings
Posts: 113 Member
So back at the end of October, I went and had my body fat percentage assessed at a Bod Pod. I had been doing EM2WL for several months. I weighed 143 with 28% body fat. Today I went back. I knew I'd gained a couple pounds since then, so that part wasn't a surprise. Ever since I upped my calories with EM2WL and have been lifting heavier and more frequently, I've had a TERRIBLE time trying to cut. So when I weighed 146 that wasn't a shock at all. What was a very unfortunate surprise though was my fat percentage. Evidently I now have 33% body fat. How does one who has been working out very regularly increase their fat percentage by 5% in 6 months? In general I lift 3x a week for 45+ minutes (with 10-15 minutes of warm up cardio before) and try to run or do other cardio once or twice a week for 30+ minutes. I used to mainly focus on cardio.
According to the paperwork, 49 of my 146 pounds is fat and 97.4 is lean body mass... 6 months ago 40.7 lbs was fat and 102.8 was lean. So I LOST 5 pounds of muscle but gained 8 pounds of fat? I'm so discouraged I could just cry.... oh wait... I am.
According to the paperwork, 49 of my 146 pounds is fat and 97.4 is lean body mass... 6 months ago 40.7 lbs was fat and 102.8 was lean. So I LOST 5 pounds of muscle but gained 8 pounds of fat? I'm so discouraged I could just cry.... oh wait... I am.
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I am not certain of my body fat % but I believe it has increased. I weighed 143 when I began and according to calculations I made with measurements and online calculators it seemed to be 26%. I am not certain it was accurate however. I have gained 10 pounds since Christmas and am also having a terrible time cutting. I am having a real hard time being motivated after gaining. I am sorry I am not giving you any good advice but I'm sure somebody else will. Just wanted you know you are not alone. I am certain how to get myself eating the way I have to to get progress because I am so discouraged about my gain.0
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I remember reading that while testing is usually consistent if repeated accuracy can be off 8 - 9%. That's about as bad if not worse than the body fat scales.
I go by calipers but take them with a large grain of salt. These days I go by the poke test - it's either squishier or it's firmer, heh.0 -
how gutting for you - although not had a pod test I wouldn't know how accurate it is - same day / time/day in month etc - surely there are so many factors that effect it?
how did you feel before you went though - did you feel better??
Also have you worked out your BF using other methods as well? and see what that says??
Don't despair!0 -
Good point above that a lot of things can effect the results. It's best to ensure it's the same time of day, time of your cycle, that you've had the same food/fluid leading up to it, etc. Even with all of those factors aligned, bod pods can still be off by +/-5%... It's disheartening for sure, but if the above factors weren't taken into consideration, I'd rebook and make sure you focus on those things.0
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Thanks everyone. The Bod Pod is an hour away at a University and due to my/my husband's schedule, I can only make an appointment on the weekend, and they only take appointments when they can group them together (to make it worth the professor's while to come in). I emailed her on Friday afternoon and she said she had some appointments for Sunday so they squeezed my husband and me in.
I would say - cycle wise, it was about a 1.5/2 week difference. It looks like the first time it was just over a week before AF and this time it was toward the end of AF (day 5 of 6/7).
Prior to going in - I definitely feel squishier. I got a new food scale and although I've been weighing/measuring many things (weighing meat - measuring most other things), I'm cracking down now. I realized the things I was overestimating and those I was underestimating as well. So, like I said, I was not at all surprised by the 3 pound gain. When I've been thinking I've been eating near maintenance but overestimating serving sizes PLUS having days where I've just gone way over... but in my head I was justifying it because I've been lifting a lot and definitely getting stronger. I just was hoping I was gaining muscle, not miraculously turning muscle into fat...
The big discouraging part is that I feel like, for once, I've been sticking to one thing rather than jumping all around thinking "this isn't working... I'll try THIS. I've been focusing on protein, cutting back on cardio, eating more, lifting more (binging/purging less... but that's another topic)...
I'm going to stick with it but utilize the scale. I'm thinking about just getting a body weight scale that estimates BF% because at least then I'll have something consistent.
I'm not disputing the fact taht 33% is likely to be close to correct. The lady said they just had the machine calibrated last week. I'm wondering if perhaps the first time around it was incorrect.
Just discouraging.0 -
I would happily say you could dispute that 33% (I could explain why PMT and 2 weeks cycle ovulating vs PMT itself etc etc) - BUT either way what can you do about it?.. nothing - cos really they are just numbers! and actually isn't it how you feel more important?
However we do all need a scale to work against - I agree get some scales and start from today with what it gives you as BF% (I only worked mine out based on inches - wow scary!! suggest you don't try that lol) try not to compare to old - very much easier said than done!
and maybe start a excel spreadsheet of weight BF% inches etc - as generally you will see differences
I guess it depends on what works best for you - personally if clothes feel better and I can look in a mirror I am not sure I really care weight or BF% lol
Good luck however which way you carry on - but carry on - don't let this stop you!!!0 -
So, did you base BMR and TDEE off the bodyfat % originally?
Or Mifflin BMR based on age, weight, height?
Because while not a great amount of difference there, I could see that inflating your numbers 100-200 over best estimate.
And how bad your logging was, and how slow your body was responding to eating more, and how big an increase in eating level - you could have easily been packing on the fat.
Women don't get the advantage of male hormones to pack on more muscle when lifting while bulking, you get more fat.
3 lbs though, maybe 1 lb more if you had indeed reached your limit in lifting and were slowly increasing weight.
To the scale, do some research, not all are consistent, but all are easily off by 5-10%.
I'd suggest get your measurements down and use couple calc's with those - and then figure out your correction factor to reach the Bodpod figure.
The spreadsheet on my profile page will allow you to enter those measurements to get an average, and a place to log progress of them, along with the Bodpod measurement.
And using that to confirm what BMR was used, and TDEE.
Oh, and to be clear.
LBM (Lean Body Mass) is NOT muscle mass. It is everything but Fat Mass. It is also called Fat Free Mass (FFM).
Muscle mass and everything else that is not fat makes up LBM. You will lose LBM as you lose weight, but you don't have to lose muscle mass.
You need less blood volume to support less fat. Less water in fat that is gone, ect.
Bodpod only separates LBM and FM, there is no comment on muscle mass and you could not. Even the scales that claim to are making some wild assumptions.
And too many people refer to Lean muscle mass, as if ordering a cut of beef. There is no such thing as lean muscle mass as opposed to fat muscle mass, as if an ability to make one or the other.
About the only way to accomplish NOT lean muscle mass is to do endurance cardio, and the body will store some extra fat in the muscle for energy use. But it doesn't take much to do that, so not like marbled cut of beef.0
