Body Fat Percentage and Withings smart scale

korpi
korpi Posts: 25 Member
edited November 8 in Health and Weight Loss
I recently bought a Withings smart scale so that I could compare body fat percentage to my weight. I've gained about 4 pounds over the last year and really have been trying to lose it, but the scale doesn't budge. I'm active (run 6 to 12km five times a week and yoga once a week), but sometimes I eat over my limit (try to stay around 1300 cal/day, but sometime that's between 1600 and 1800 if I go out and had a big run) and the scale just hasn't budged. I'm 5'2" and at 114, I want to be back at 110.

Anyway, I got the Withings scale last week and it says that my BMI is 20.1, but my body fat percentage is between 8 and 9! I'm not sure how this is accurate, but it is consistent. I weigh in in the morning about a half hour after getting up and before eating or drinking anything. I weighed in once after my morning run and the percentage was 7 percent. I read a lot of reviews before purchasing the scale that the Fat % was pretty accurate, so I'm not sure if this is the reason I'm having trouble losing the weight or if the scale is just off.

Does anyone else have experience with Withings or knowledge of Body Fat %? Would be very interested in hearing from you!

Thanks!

Replies

  • JazmineYoli
    JazmineYoli Posts: 547 Member
    edited November 2014
    You are a female with 7% BF?? I'm not saying that's impossible, but I'm just thinking it may not be likely. I use this picture as a scale sometimes. It may be off or slightly wrong, but I think it's close.

    I'm just not sure, so hopefully someone with more experience will answer your question.

    **Edit to add if you are at 7%, I wouldn't worry about 4 lbs.

    body-fat-percentage-women-calculator-tcd5czav.jpg
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    There is a strong possibility your scale was set up incorrectly. Also, there is no reason to eat 1300 calories if you are running that much. But if you aren't losing, i would ask if you are using a food scale and do you log your calories very day. Also, from a fitness perspective, you really should only be running every other day. Hitting the same muscles daily can lead to increase injury. Also, you should look to add resistance training as it can improve your running and help with body composition.
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    Scales are based on resistance readings and then try to compute to a model based on age, sex, and height and some allow have an athletic model alternative. If you are not close to the models then your BF% reading will be off. If you are getting that low of a BF% reading you may have made an error in the setup because it sounds like you may be using a male setup rather than a female setup.
  • korpi
    korpi Posts: 25 Member
    Thanks for the feedback! I always use a food scale whenever I eat at home. I try to over calculate when I eat out, but I'm never sure how accurate I am. I also should be doing more resistance training, but I have been a running addict for years. With ski season coming up though, I'll reduce my runs to 3xs a week and 2 days skiing...

    I am going to look at my settings again and see if I can reset the scale and try again. There's no way I'm 8% bf.
  • korpi
    korpi Posts: 25 Member
    ok, I did check my settings, and I was on Athlete mode. So that definitely made a difference. I weighed in again this morning and the bf was at 16.6% - I'm not really like the above picture:), but I guess this is more accurate and maybe in a normal bf zone?
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    korpi wrote: »
    ok, I did check my settings, and I was on Athlete mode. So that definitely made a difference. I weighed in again this morning and the bf was at 16.6% - I'm not really like the above picture:), but I guess this is more accurate and maybe in a normal bf zone?

    16.6 is still low for a female but more likely; however, the error on scales can be pretty large. You might want to try and confirm with calipers and/or tape measure just to see how accurate your scale might be.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Hydration level and other things can still affect it. It's probable that if you aren't seeing good ab definition that you are more likely in the lower 20's. But it's hard to say without seeing a full body picture.
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