A body fat % question

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shaddowstorm
shaddowstorm Posts: 155 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
How do you know what yours is ?

I've reading about people needing help apparently their body fat % must be high. I have no idea what mine is or how to work it out.

Should I just buy a scale with the body fat % function ?

Replies

  • hobbeskastiel
    hobbeskastiel Posts: 221 Member
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    Do you live near an Albertsons or a Supervalue store? They have little kiosks that test you for body fat for free. They're not perfect but thy're pretty accurate.
  • Lrdoflamancha
    Lrdoflamancha Posts: 1,280 Member
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    Scales with a body fat calculator are very inaccurate. A bodpod test is best but usually expensive. Lose weight and exercise more....
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    I just make a guess based on images like this:

    women-bodyfat-chart-visual.jpg
  • taco_inspector
    taco_inspector Posts: 7,223 Member
    edited February 2015
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    The US Navy's body fat estimation calculator can give you a partial (pretty good) guess at where you are without buying anything (if you have a tape measure) (link to BizCalcs)

    I use calipers -- less to calculate fat %; more to monitor for desired changes. (link to ExRx.net composition calc) -- 3-pinch is easy enough. I need help to get the 7-site pinch.

    As for the scale, I've got two from the same manufacturer and they vary from each other and "change" (like, if one is lower than the other on one day, measurements the next day may 'reverse' as to which one if lower.) -- Probably the ~$80usd price-point for these, but I find my body fat scales useless for fat% (they seem to correlate well for water% as a measure of hydration/retention though)
  • McCloud33
    McCloud33 Posts: 959 Member
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    Shy of doing a hydrostatic weighing or dexa scan, everything is going to be an approximation (and even those two aren't perfect). You can get a good idea of your range though by using a scale, calipers, body measurements, or comparing to pictures of other people who have been tested. You'll probably be within +/- 3% with all of those methods.
  • shaddowstorm
    shaddowstorm Posts: 155 Member
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    Thanks. I live in Australia and never heard of Albertsons or a Supervalue stores.

    Looking at those pics I guessed I would be between 20% - 25% range and just did that online navy test and it came back as 21% body fat. fat mass was 13kgs and lean mass was 47kgs.

    If we assume this is correct.
  • shaddowstorm
    shaddowstorm Posts: 155 Member
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    not sure what to do with this info. so I have 13kgs I can turn into muscle ?
  • taco_inspector
    taco_inspector Posts: 7,223 Member
    edited February 2015
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    It's tough to turn fat into muscle --- think of your fat more as a store of fuel that you've not used -- Lot's of folks have good results working their muscles to use that un-burned /stored fuel, and coupling that with proper nutrition, you can build additional muscle mass to consume fuel at a higher rate.

    A more common approach is to lower your overall fuel intake, and allow yourself to reduce total weight (using exercise and proper nutrition to reduce the amount of non-fat weight loss). This way you loose overall weight and both fat and lean body mass... Then, once your fat% is sufficiently low, you can re-create (add) lost muscle and explore building excess muscle with more targeted exercise and tuned nutrition.

    Essentially, your 13kgs are only fat; energy that you can consume any way you'd like.

    @usmcmp‌ has laid-out some good thoughts in this thread, whihc may help you choose "next steps" http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    standenvernet wrote: »
    It's tough to turn fat into muscle --- think of your fat more as a store of fuel that you've not used -- Lot's of folks have good results working their muscles to use that un-burned /stored fuel, and coupling that with proper nutrition, you can build additional muscle mass to consume fuel at a higher rate.

    A more common approach is to lower your overall fuel intake, and allow yourself to reduce total weight (using exercise and proper nutrition to reduce the amount of non-fat weight loss). This way you loose overall weight and both fat and lean body mass... Then, once your fat% is sufficiently low, you can re-create (add) lost muscle and explore building excess muscle with more targeted exercise and tuned nutrition.

    Essentially, your 13kgs are only fat; energy that you can consume any way you'd like.

    @usmcmp‌ has laid-out some good thoughts in this thread, whihc may help you choose "next steps" http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

    yea, you don't turn fat into muscle. Sorry but it does not work that way….
  • shaddowstorm
    shaddowstorm Posts: 155 Member
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    so I just need to start working out pretty much
  • AABru
    AABru Posts: 610 Member
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    Caloric deficit through cutting food or working out plus muscle building of some type...best scenario.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    shaddowstorm wrote: »
    so I just need to start working out pretty much
    calorie deficit + lift more = body fat reduction
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    BusyRaeNOTBusty wrote: »
    I just make a guess based on images like this:

    women-bodyfat-chart-visual.jpg

    This picture drives me a bit nuts. I think that a lot of women get a very skewed view of body fat from it. Look at #356 here for a view of what 31% bf (dexa tested) looks like. And #284 here for 17% and 27% (dexa scanned.) Then one more--#259 here for just under 26%, dexa scanned.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    BusyRaeNOTBusty wrote: »
    I just make a guess based on images like this:

    women-bodyfat-chart-visual.jpg

    This picture is misleading if you are older. I look like (if I took off my coat, lol) the ones showing 20% fat, but I am nowhere near that percentage due to my age.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    standenvernet wrote: »
    It's tough to turn fat into muscle --- think of your fat more as a store of fuel that you've not used -- Lot's of folks have good results working their muscles to use that un-burned /stored fuel, and coupling that with proper nutrition, you can build additional muscle mass to consume fuel at a higher rate.

    A more common approach is to lower your overall fuel intake, and allow yourself to reduce total weight (using exercise and proper nutrition to reduce the amount of non-fat weight loss). This way you loose overall weight and both fat and lean body mass... Then, once your fat% is sufficiently low, you can re-create (add) lost muscle and explore building excess muscle with more targeted exercise and tuned nutrition.

    Essentially, your 13kgs are only fat; energy that you can consume any way you'd like.

    @usmcmp‌ has laid-out some good thoughts in this thread, whihc may help you choose "next steps" http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

    It's easier to maintain your lean mass than it is to build lean mass. Also, fat doesn't turn into muscle. You can lose fat and build a little lean mass at the same time, but you aren't turning one into the other. My suggestion in that thread is basically to lift so you don't lose lean mass and eat in a deficit that still fuels your body appropriately.

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