Weight down, BF % up???

CarolineLeclair
CarolineLeclair Posts: 48 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,
I've lost almost 8 lbs now using MFP, eating healthy and exercising. That being said, according to my Aria scale, as I steadily loose weight, my body fat percentage is slowly but steadily increasing! :S
Please tell me this is wrong!

Replies

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    CarolineLeclair wrote: »
    Hi everyone,
    I've lost almost 8 lbs now using MFP, eating healthy and exercising. That being said, according to my Aria scale, as I steadily loose weight, my body fat percentage is slowly but steadily increasing! :S
    Please tell me this is wrong!

    Don't pay attention to the body fat reading on your scale, as it's hardly accurate. The reading depends on a lot of factors, one being how well hydrated you are.
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
    Caroline... I'd take the BF% on scales with a pinch of salt. They are highly inaccurate.

    Congrats on your 8lb loss!
  • BigLifter10
    BigLifter10 Posts: 1,153 Member
    The only time that I notice that is when I don't lift as much (to maintain my muscle) and cut my cals. I get 'softer' and bodyfat (via calipers) usually goes up from 2-5 percent. Maybe that's just me though.
  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
    SLLRunner wrote: »

    Don't pay attention to the body fat reading on your scale, as it's hardly accurate. The reading depends on a lot of factors, one being how well hydrated you are.
    Like

  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    There's a thread about bio-impedance scales like the Aria going on right now.
    1. Bio-impedance has potential problems even in highly accurate clinical devices that cost thousands of dollars, let alone a consumer scale
    2. BI can flucatuate wildly based on hydration levels - the most consistent results come from using same conditions - I'd recommend first thing morning, right after removing excess water, so to speak
    3. You can eat healthy, exercise, and still lose lean body mass. Even a fat cell isn't purely fat, it contains water, which technically should count as lean body mass. You can even loss muscle mass depending on a whole mess of factors that would require a sublist.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner wrote: »
    Caroline... I'd take the BF% on scales with a pinch of salt. They are highly inaccurate.

    Congrats on your 8lb loss!
    That salt is going to cause water retention and make the whole reading even worse!
  • myweightloss2016
    myweightloss2016 Posts: 147 Member
    Don't mind that stupid BF indicator. 2 weeks it said my BF was 28.8, now it says it's 23,1. Yeah I am working out but that would be a bit much right? :hushed:
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
    senecarr wrote: »
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner wrote: »
    Caroline... I'd take the BF% on scales with a pinch of salt. They are highly inaccurate.

    Congrats on your 8lb loss!
    That salt is going to cause water retention and make the whole reading even worse!

    That Sir is a proper hay bale moment... lol
  • MFD7576
    MFD7576 Posts: 271 Member
    CarolineLeclair wrote: »
    Hi everyone,
    I've lost almost 8 lbs now using MFP, eating healthy and exercising. That being said, according to my Aria scale, as I steadily loose weight, my body fat percentage is slowly but steadily increasing! :S
    Please tell me this is wrong!

    I honestly don't trust that scales ability to find BF % I went from 33 to 33 to 41% body fat. The best way to find out your body fat is to get one of these

    http://www.amazon.com/Omron-Monitor-model-HBF-306C-Black/dp/B000FYZMYK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434120057&sr=8-1&keywords=Body+fat

    It sends a electric signal from one hand to the other, and since water conducts better than fat and bone, it is able to do some math and see how fast the current goes through. Without spending a lot of money, its your best bet at getting a true idea.
  • MomTo3Lovez
    MomTo3Lovez Posts: 800 Member
    LOL I thought it was only me as I had seen that too, but I figure it's not going to be accurate anyway so I just ignore that part and focus more on my measurements and then what the scale says.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    NJDevilsFan7576 wrote: »
    CarolineLeclair wrote: »
    Hi everyone,
    I've lost almost 8 lbs now using MFP, eating healthy and exercising. That being said, according to my Aria scale, as I steadily loose weight, my body fat percentage is slowly but steadily increasing! :S
    Please tell me this is wrong!

    I honestly don't trust that scales ability to find BF % I went from 33 to 33 to 41% body fat. The best way to find out your body fat is to get one of these

    http://www.amazon.com/Omron-Monitor-model-HBF-306C-Black/dp/B000FYZMYK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434120057&sr=8-1&keywords=Body+fat

    It sends a electric signal from one hand to the other, and since water conducts better than fat and bone, it is able to do some math and see how fast the current goes through. Without spending a lot of money, its your best bet at getting a true idea.

    It is doing the exact same thing the scale does but it is doing it through your hands instead of your legs.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    Agree with all the above - don't rely on the scale readings.

    That said, depending on what kind of exercising you're doing, if the weight you're losing is more muscle mass than fat, it's entirely possible for overall weight to go down, but BF% to go up.

    EX: You start at 180 lbs and 20% BF: ergo you have ~ 36lbs of fat and ~ 144lbs of muscle mass

    You lose ten pounds, but of that 9 lbs is muscle and only 1 lb of fat (not likely, but exaggerated to make the point)

    Now you weigh 170, and have 35 lbs of fat...and a BF% of 20.6%
  • krokador
    krokador Posts: 1,794 Member
    edited June 2015
    First thing in the AM I can get a reading of 37% BF. Go for a run, come back and get 38% (dehydrated, ugh!). Take an epsom salts bath, get back on, and WHAM! -2lbs and 34% BF.

    We're talking here like 2 hours between the first and last reading...

    Heck, while my weight is up at the end of the day, my BF% is usually 2% lower if I weight in at night after dinner...

    It seems to range within +-3%, so as long as I'm not out of that range on the plus side I don't stress about it. Plus, my scale also gives me the water % which usually climbs as to the bf% drops, and if I measure LBM and then remove the water%, the number stays very similar - so muscle isn't gone. Nothing to worry about ;)
  • MFD7576
    MFD7576 Posts: 271 Member
    senecarr wrote: »
    NJDevilsFan7576 wrote: »
    CarolineLeclair wrote: »
    Hi everyone,
    I've lost almost 8 lbs now using MFP, eating healthy and exercising. That being said, according to my Aria scale, as I steadily loose weight, my body fat percentage is slowly but steadily increasing! :S
    Please tell me this is wrong!

    I honestly don't trust that scales ability to find BF % I went from 33 to 33 to 41% body fat. The best way to find out your body fat is to get one of these

    http://www.amazon.com/Omron-Monitor-model-HBF-306C-Black/dp/B000FYZMYK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434120057&sr=8-1&keywords=Body+fat

    It sends a electric signal from one hand to the other, and since water conducts better than fat and bone, it is able to do some math and see how fast the current goes through. Without spending a lot of money, its your best bet at getting a true idea.

    It is doing the exact same thing the scale does but it is doing it through your hands instead of your legs.

    Youre exactly correct, but I put my trust in a machine built do only that function rather than an added feature to a scale. Side note too and this is simply unproven dumb science but I feel as if the skin on your feet is thicker so the current has a harder time starting. Not to mention it starts weighing you when you have one foot on the scale, so the current cant complete properly if you don't jump on the scale quickly.

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    senecarr wrote: »
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner wrote: »
    Caroline... I'd take the BF% on scales with a pinch of salt. They are highly inaccurate.

    Congrats on your 8lb loss!
    That salt is going to cause water retention and make the whole reading even worse!

    Love it. :D
  • bathmatt12345
    bathmatt12345 Posts: 145 Member
    Take your measurements with a tape measure, well one of those cloth ones (metal ones are too cold) and track that. Do, waist, arms and hips to get a good idea of how your body fat is changing. Much better than a 22$ scale. Mine says 42% BF. I had a caliper test done, it said 12%. I don't trust the scale.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    NJDevilsFan7576 wrote: »
    senecarr wrote: »
    NJDevilsFan7576 wrote: »
    CarolineLeclair wrote: »
    Hi everyone,
    I've lost almost 8 lbs now using MFP, eating healthy and exercising. That being said, according to my Aria scale, as I steadily loose weight, my body fat percentage is slowly but steadily increasing! :S
    Please tell me this is wrong!

    I honestly don't trust that scales ability to find BF % I went from 33 to 33 to 41% body fat. The best way to find out your body fat is to get one of these

    http://www.amazon.com/Omron-Monitor-model-HBF-306C-Black/dp/B000FYZMYK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434120057&sr=8-1&keywords=Body+fat

    It sends a electric signal from one hand to the other, and since water conducts better than fat and bone, it is able to do some math and see how fast the current goes through. Without spending a lot of money, its your best bet at getting a true idea.

    It is doing the exact same thing the scale does but it is doing it through your hands instead of your legs.

    Youre exactly correct, but I put my trust in a machine built do only that function rather than an added feature to a scale. Side note too and this is simply unproven dumb science but I feel as if the skin on your feet is thicker so the current has a harder time starting. Not to mention it starts weighing you when you have one foot on the scale, so the current cant complete properly if you don't jump on the scale quickly.
    Any BIA scale I've ever used waits until the weight on the scale stops fluctuating before it sends the electrical current. They usually have a little _ _ _ across the screen to show they're doing it, before the number pops up. If I remember using a device like the Omron (might have been one in fact, it was at a free health screening in a store), the device has a similar countdown feature.
    Having a higher starting current might be an issue in terms of battery drain, but otherwise, it only changes the calculation that has to be done to account for it. A real issue would be are people's feet more variable in thickness than hand skin, and is either capable of overwhelming the travel time through several feet of leg or arm.
    Both hand BIA's and scale feet BIA's have always given me excessively positive results. I've had both give me measures that would say my lean body mass was over 160 lbs, which would correspond to an impossible over 25 Fat Free Mass Index.
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