Fat percentage?
marilynrene
Posts: 24 Member
My BMI is normal at 24.3 however my fat percentage is 36.9%.
Can anyone tell me what this means? Why is my fat percentage so high? It makes no sense.
Can anyone tell me what this means? Why is my fat percentage so high? It makes no sense.
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Replies
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Firstly, how was that measured?0
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marilynrene wrote: »My BMI is normal at 24.3 however my fat percentage is 36.9%.
Can anyone tell me what this means? Why is my fat percentage so high? It makes no sense.
It's math. It always makes sense
Your BMI is calculated based on height and weight. Your body fat is based on your body composition (fat vs lean.) A person who weighs 150 pounds could have 18 pounds of fat and be 12% body fat. Or he could have 25 pounds of fat and be 16% body fat. Or he could have 45 pounds of fat and be 30% body fat.0 -
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It was measured on my Aria scale0
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[quotso y bm says I Am normal and my percentage of body fat is obese!?e="jemhh;33832176"]marilynrene wrote: »My BMI is normal at 24.3 however my fat percentage is 36.9%.
Can anyone tell me what this means? Why is my fat percentage so high? It makes no sense.
It's math. It always makes sense
Your BMI is calculated based on height and weight. Your body fat is based on your body composition (fat vs lean.) A person who weighs 150 pounds could have 18 pounds of fat and be 12% body fat. Or he could have 25 pounds of fat and be 16% body fat. Or he could have 45 pounds of fat and be 30% body fat.[/quote]
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So my BMI says that I am normal but my percentage of body fat says that I am obese!??!0
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Those Aria scales are known to be super inaccurate. I wouldn't trust it at all. Sadly, you can get a better "guesstimate" by just comparing yourself to the photo below.
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marilynrene wrote: »So my BMI says that I am normal but my percentage of body fat says that I am obese!??!
If the number you have is correct, per this page, you are very close to obese, yes.
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/normal-ranges-of-body-weight-and-body-fat
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In general, when people have a normal BMI and a high BF% it indicates that they're possibly "skinny fat", or have more fat than normal for their weight.
You can also have the opposite...a low/normal BF% and a high BMI...which indicates a higher than normal muscle mass.
This is why most people that I've met that know anything, don't use BMI. It only tells you how your weight compares to the average populace for a given height. It says nothing about whether that weight is fat, muscle, or heavy clothing.0 -
IMO, BMI gives you a good range to aim at if you either have never been at a healthy weight or haven't been for a long time. I went from too thin to fat within a fairly short period of time in my early-mid 20s. I didn't really spend much time (less than a year) at what I would say was a healthy weight. When I started to try to lose weight in my mid/late 30s, I didn't really have a good idea, of the top of my head, of what I should aim for. So I chose the top number in the healthy BMI range for my weight. Since hitting that, I've just worked on lowering my body fat. I don't keep track of my actual BMI number on a regular basis.0
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BMI is an outdated and not-very-useful tool, particularly for those of us who lift weights. Bodyfat scales are not very inaccurate. You'll be better off not getting too freaked out by either ot these numbers, and instead gauging your progress with a) progress photos and b) how your clothes fit.0
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There's a decent chance the scale is wrong on your BF% because basic scales are pretty inaccurate in measuring body fat. I had a scale a few years ago that claimed to measure body fat and it was like 12% points off from what my body fat was when I had it tested using skinfold calipers which is more accurate.
It's possible that you are also overweight by one measure and normal weight by the other, but I would try to get a better measure of your body fat.0 -
I've lost 36 lbs and have gone from a size 16 to a size 8. I don't look obese.
I guess I'll keep working out and see if the body fat drops. Or I could just ignore the scale! Hah.0 -
Try one of these sites that do body fat % from your measurements.
healthstatus.com
Calculator.net
Linear-software.com
They are probably more acurate than your scale.
Compare them anyway and average it out.
I know my scale is wrong, but at least it tells me if my BF is moving up or down.
Cheers, h.
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Thank you, I I'll try that. The Aria scale was quite expensive. It is quite annoying that it might not be accurate.0
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No in home tests are very accurate.0
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marilynrene wrote: »It was measured on my Aria scale
I've had a Fitbit Aria wifi scale for two years, and the bodyfat percentage is useless. It sends a pulse up one leg and down the other, then guesstimates your upper body. And it gets thrown off by how hydrated you are.
But I love never having to log my weight.0 -
I took my body measurements and input them into heathstatus.com. because there is not a great difference between my waist and my hips my fat % is indeed 37% which is inline with my Aria scale. So weight wise I am not overweight, but I have too much body fat around my waist.0
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Same here. I was at 19.4 BMI with 27.5% body fat. All everyone keeps telling me is to focus on weightlifting (instead of cardio). I'm a few weeks into the New Rules regime.0
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Marilynrene, we know that neither is 100% accurate, but it probably is an indication that your bodyfat is high.
As ghartleroad1 said above, weight lifting/ resistance training is the direction you need to go.
You could pick any of the progressive weight lifting programmes that are talked about on this forum. Start easy and use hand weights when needed.
You could also do bodyweight exercises.
Either would do depending on your fitness level.
Cheers, h.
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marilynrene wrote: »Thank you, I I'll try that. The Aria scale was quite expensive. It is quite annoying that it might not be accurate.
All methods (including calipers, dexa, dunk tank) suck for absolute repeatable numbers. But they are good for relative change. If your bf % is going down, great. Just try and measure under the same conditions (dry, morning, whatever). Don't worry if it's 20 or 25. Just lower than two weeks ago.
And BMI, as a screen, is perfectly accurate for saying "If you are normal or below, you are absolutely not fat. If you are over the normal line, you might or might not be - have a closer look". That's it.
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middlehaitch wrote: »Try one of these sites that do body fat % from your measurements.
healthstatus.com
Calculator.net
Linear-software.com
They are probably more acurate than your scale.
Compare them anyway and average it out.
I know my scale is wrong, but at least it tells me if my BF is moving up or down.
Cheers, h.
online calculators are useless. Get a bod pod or a hydrostatic test done. You can do once or twice a year.0 -
My trainer measured me with calipers snd came up with 29.5% body fat. I had a DEXA scan the next day and my reading was 28.5%. I was surprised at how accurate the calipers were. The woman who explained my Dexa results said that for pear shapes who are not obese this is not unusual, as the thing calipers really suck at is measuring visceral fat, but they are not too bad at meauring subcutaneous fat. If I'd known that I would have skipped the Dexa!0
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Going for a bod pod/Dexa Scan is not within everyone's means, budget or distance.
It would cost me $ 75 for 1 test, and $200 plus 8-10 hr travel including a ferry.
Booking a whole day out of my life to spend $300 just to satisfy my curiosity is not an option for me.
Most people know that the other methods are not acurate but having a couple of different methods of measuring gives one an idea of where they are in the BF% scale.
I was quite happy using the scale, tape measure, and on line calculators take me from 31%+ to a 23% average.
To many the progress matters more than an exact number.
I would love a scan when I am rich.
Cheers, h.0 -
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[quthank yote="ExRelaySprinter;33853948"]middlehaitch wrote: »Marilynrene, we know that neither is 100% accurate, but it probably is an indication that your bodyfat is high.
As ghartleroad1 said above, weight lifting/ resistance training is the direction you need to go.
You could pick any of the progressive weight lifting programmes that are talked about on this forum. Start easy and use hand weights when needed.
You could also do bodyweight exercises.
Either would do depending on your fitness level.
Thank you middlehaitch. I do Zumba fitness core now,but I will add body bar exercises to that. I don't look obese, but 37% fat is obese .
Cheers, h.0 -
Thank you. I do Zumba fitness core now, but I will add body bar exercises as well . I don't look obese as I am down to a size 8. But I have no waist, so I guess that's where the 37% of fat is! I wonder if I could hoola hoop it away? Probably not.0
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