body fat percentage

belrowley
belrowley Posts: 24
in Health and Weight Loss
I am a little freaked out and confused. I had my body fat measured with a hand held device. It read 32%!! I was appalled. I have a few lbs to lose, but obese?

I just used an online calculator and got 32 again. 32% of my weight is 40 lbs. Way more than I thought. I know clothes are vanity sized, but I wear a four. I go to the gym a few times a week and eat moderately healthy. You can see some muscle in my legs and my belly is kind of flat. .. where are these 40 lbs of fat hiding? I don't at all get how I can be "obese".

My current measurements.
32 yr old
125 lb
5'3
Waist 28
Hip 37
Wrist 6

Replies

  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
    Use a different calculator... at 125, you don't have 40 lbs. of fat to lose unless you were a child/adolescent. The online calculators are the least accurate (based on where you measure and what they are looking for). Try getting fat calipers, they are relatively cheap and have diagrams to show you where to measure on your arms, legs, and waist. They should be more accurate although these have a degree of error too.

    Otherwise, throw this measurement out the window and use something else as your success gauge. Your clothing size is fine so use your fitness level as a gauge instead (i.e. I can run a mile in 12 minutes and want to get to an 8 min mile, etc.).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    32% is not impossible, even at 125, but seems quite unlikely, especially based on what you describe. It's where I am at 5'3, just under 145. (DEXA) [Edit: it wouldn't mean 40 lbs of fat to lose, but more like 10-15, depending on where she wanted to be, as her total lean mass would be 85. But again my guess is it's not accurate anyway.]

    One thing to keep in mind is that there is very commonly user error with the handheld device (I had one a while ago that totally underestimated mine, although luckily I knew it) and even the Navy method (measurements) can be distorted based on user error or simply different body shapes--for me it always overestimates because I don't have much space between my rib cage and hip bone, which for me tends to mean relatively slimmer hips and wider waist, even when at my thinnest. So I'd be somewhat skeptical about the absolute number and use just straight up measurements and perhaps the caliper to track progress, if you are generally working on getting fitter or leaner or simply increasing lean mass.
  • AbbyCar
    AbbyCar Posts: 198 Member
    Remember your body has to have some fat to survive. You don't want to get down to 0% body fat.
  • leodru
    leodru Posts: 321 Member
    http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmi/

    This calculator says your 22.1. I wouldn't obsess over these online numbers as most of them are crap.
  • meltedkeys
    meltedkeys Posts: 63 Member
    with your height your weight is reasonable if you have a decent amount of muscle. if you do not, i would encourage weight training and cardio.
  • Kori_jay
    Kori_jay Posts: 12 Member
    Check out this article Huffington Post did on skinny fat people. Not calling you fat or skinny for that matter. Just making an observation from the stats you posted. I have quite a few friends who fall into this category. Good luck! BTW, I'm 5'2, 166lbs and have a BFP of 32% so I'm just fat fat lol!

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/skinny-fat_b_1799797.html
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Don't freak out! Those handheld devices can be off by 3-5% and that's with perfect circumstances (at least 4 hours fasted). So your BF could be more like 27-29% which isn't that bad for a woman. As with scale weight, you can't go by one measurement alone but a trend over time. As long as the number decreases, you're doing something right. If you're that concerned, look into getting a more accurate measurement done using Dexa scan or Bod Pod or the like.
  • belrowley
    belrowley Posts: 24
    Skinny fat. Lol. I guess it is possible.

    I just had a check up with blood work and my sugar and cholesterol are very healthy. Lower than average resting heart rate and bp.

    Maybe I will try one of the other tests. I like knowing these things. I am a numbers person.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    When I use online calculators for your measurements, I get 27%. They aren't that reliable, and you would be better off using the ones that use more measurements like thigh, forearm, neck etc. to get a more reliable prediction.

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