Team UK

Join

Weight is only a number

Options
CartooonChris
CartooonChris Posts: 6 Member
in Social Groups
does anyone else agree that we focus too much on the figurative number our weight is and say we want to loose weight, surely what we should be aiming for is a loss of body fat.
I do it as well I'm wanting to see the number drop but these last 4 weeks as seen my weight stay at 105kg however I've dropped over 3% body fat and increased my overall muscle mass

I feel thinner and fitter yet weight is still the same as 4 weeks previous

Replies

  • ch10e88
    ch10e88 Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    If you're getting leaner then that is great too. But it's important to start with a goal and the easiest one if people have A LOT to lose is having a weight loss goal.
  • Vixyb_
    Vixyb_ Posts: 142 Member
    Options
    I want to do both haha!
  • Osiris275
    Osiris275 Posts: 228 Member
    Options
    I'm focusing on losing the weight first, through better eating and exercise, then I'll focus on toning up properly. In not it enough yet to do anything too extreme! Just walking and cycling for the moment.

    How can you work out the percentage of
    Body fat you've lost? I've lost 54lbs, and it gives me a percentage underneath it but I don't know what that is in terms of body fat.
  • ch10e88
    ch10e88 Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    You can get scales that work out your body fat. The scales in boots can do it for you. Not sure how you'd work it out now you've lost the weight.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    Options
    ch10e88 wrote: »
    You can get scales that work out your body fat. The scales in boots can do it for you. Not sure how you'd work it out now you've lost the weight.
    @ch10e88
    Unfortunately they tend to be hopelessly inaccurate and/or subject to wild variations.
    You could easily see a supposed 3% body fat change in a few hours just down to differences in hydration and food intake.

    Remember they measure electrical resistance and are not actually measuring body fat or muscle.

    Best you will get is a trend over an extended time if you use then consistently and can see the trend amongst the erratic data points. Even then the number the trend shows could well be way out.
    I had a set with both hand and feet sensors and they were pretty reasonable (most of the time!) but also tried some that showed me as 30% when best estimate was that I was around 15-17% BF.
  • ch10e88
    ch10e88 Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    Thanks for the info. I've been to my local gym today after its been refurbished over the last week and they had a Boditrax machine which could test your body fat, muscle, water content and bone density. I was impressed. But as you said it is using pulses through the body and can vary a few % either way but I thought it was excellent and allows you to look at your body and exercise in a different way. I'll definitely be jumping on it every week to keep me on target and motivated

Categories