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Body Fat Percentage

TANK2011
TANK2011 Posts: 6
edited September 2024 in Introduce Yourself
As you may know, body fat percentage is the best indicator to use when tracking fitness goals. I just joined this site today and I do not see where one can track their body fat percentage. I plan to aggresively attack my body fat and will use this to gauge my results as oppsed to looking at losing body weight.

Losing body weight can be quite deceiving since one can actually lose muscle and water and be fooled into thinking that they are making progress. Ok, obviously I have a lot to say on that subject so I will get off my soap box.

So far this site looks ok...but if their is no body fat % tracker, I will have to consider it severely lacking the tools necessary to track goals.

Can someone please assist?

Thanks,

Jay

Replies

  • Cytherea
    Cytherea Posts: 515 Member
    Well you can always add it as a measurement and track it that way...
  • jerseygirl777
    jerseygirl777 Posts: 148
    Are you looking for a tool you can input your body fat? Maybe list it under your "exercise notes."
  • jennifir
    jennifir Posts: 197 Member
    There is a BMI and BMR tool on this site.
  • turtle12
    turtle12 Posts: 17
    Under the "Tools" tab there is a BMI calculator.
  • jhardenbergh
    jhardenbergh Posts: 1,035 Member
    A site such as this can't track your body fat % because it can't measure what is inside you. It can measure the food you put in though. I bought a scale that measures it and track it on my own. The weight watchers scale I sent sends a small electric current through your body that travels through water and muscle. It is impossible for this website to do that. The BMI doesn't take into account for muscle composition. The BMR tracks calories someone at your weight burns daily to function.
  • TANK2011
    TANK2011 Posts: 6
    Thanks all for the really fast responses. @ jhardenbergh - Just to elaborate I am not looking for the site to calculate my body fat %. Obviously that can only be done with phsical testing with tools such as calipers, hydostatic testing, or Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) which is the tool that sends electric currents through your body (Which is what someone mentioned below)

    I say all this to say that I am looking for "My fitness Pal" to have a tool that tracks your body fat % loss just like it tracks weightloss, calories, exercises, etc. Also I want to make it clear that BMI is totally different than body fat analysis. (In my opinionthe BMI chart is total garbage) I have been an athelete all my life and have a lot of muscle...and BMI is always wrong.

    Back to the subject at hand, I am looking for a tool on this site that would provide a report, graph etc. of my bodyfat loss.
    Take my word for it guys...body fat % is more important than weight loss... no workout program, online tracking tool etc...is complete without tracking this number.

    Thanks,
  • TANK2011
    TANK2011 Posts: 6
    It looks like the goal for this site is weight loss...my personal goal is for body fat loss and muscle gain. I hope someone understands what I am saying. If there is another site you can recommend that will better suite my goals please let me know!

    Thanks in advance!!

    Jay
  • Cytherea
    Cytherea Posts: 515 Member
    Seriously, just add it as a measurement. You can update it just like you would when you weigh in or track other measurements, and it will keep track of it and generate progress reports of that for you. Click on "my home" and then "check in" and scroll down and click "change measurements." Then you can write in what you want to track. The site even gives "body fat" as an example of what you might put there. You can update it everyday if you want. To see the report, click on "reports" and then "progress" and find where you entered "body fat" in the drop down list. Choose the amount of time and "view report" and it will generate a report for you on a graph.

    I really don't see what the problem is. What else could you possibly want?
  • TANK2011
    TANK2011 Posts: 6
    Hi Cythera, thanks for the advice and thanks for both posts!! I will try your recommendation and let you know what I think!!
    Glad to see you are accomplishing your goals.

    Thanks again!!
  • AmeMahoney
    AmeMahoney Posts: 232
    Also, measurements are a much more accurate way to track your weight. There are so many discrepancies in testing body fat that it isn't always accurate. Even the same person doing caliper tests can get different results. It's much more difficult to mess up putting a measuring tape around you. :)
  • TANK2011
    TANK2011 Posts: 6
    Just wanted to post a quote for you guys:

    "Weight is largely meaningless as an index of fitness, health, physical attractiveness,
    or practically anything else related to human beings. Unless you are an athlete aiming
    to compete in a certain weight class, what matters is body composition, not weight.
    Body fat percentage is a measure of body composition. Unlike weight, body fat
    percentage addresses the all important question of what your body is made up of.”

    -Rob Faigin, author of “Natural Hormonal Enhancement”
  • jhardenbergh
    jhardenbergh Posts: 1,035 Member
    Just wanted to post a quote for you guys:

    "Weight is largely meaningless as an index of fitness, health, physical attractiveness,
    or practically anything else related to human beings. Unless you are an athlete aiming
    to compete in a certain weight class, what matters is body composition, not weight.
    Body fat percentage is a measure of body composition. Unlike weight, body fat
    percentage addresses the all important question of what your body is made up of.”

    -Rob Faigin, author of “Natural Hormonal Enhancement”

    I agree with this 110%, I know for me to get down to my BMI is near impossible, I think it's around 150 lbs. I have close to 200 lbs of lean muscle on me at my current weight, granted I may lose some with my weight loss, but for me I feel a good weight at 5'7" is 225 lbs.
  • BrickHouse78
    BrickHouse78 Posts: 3 Member
    I too find myself looking for a Body Fat% tracker. Please let me know what you have come up with since MyFitnessPal does not offer a solution.


    BrickHouse78
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