body fat %

What kind of machine are you using to measure body fat? Many of them are wholly inaccurate and mostly measure level of hydration in the body. Are you also taking measurements with a measuring tape? What kind of exercise, if any, are you doing?

Stick to your own scales only, observe trends. Who cares if your scales are a few lbs out, the number displayed matters little within the margins of error consumer products like home scales give, it really isn't the end of the world if your scales weigh you a few lbs heavier, as long as that number is either maintaining or going down.

Ignore bodyfat readings.

These BF% measures are electric impedance measurements which are done by passing a small current through your body and measures the resistance to the flow of electricity from one sensor(handle in this case) to the other. These are not very accurate due to how strongly your current water and mineral content affects the results.

The two best ways to get an accurate measure of body fat is a DEXA scan, or calipers. Tape measure can be used as well but it is simply not as accurate. Of course ultimately, all of these are estimates as the only perfect way to measure body fat would be to be dissected. As a rule, unless you are having a DEXA scan done regularly, the trend of your measurements is more important than the precise numbers due to how easy it is to have errors due to body and measurement irregularity.

In short, use calipers and a calculator such as this for the most accurate at home BF measurement. They are best done with another person to aid. Even with calipers, the trend trumps the numbers.

Ignore the scale BF%, the results are influenced by your hydration state and a bunch of other stuff.

LisaDoyle80 wrote: »

My question is - do I just assumed that the accuracy of this machine's body fat % calculations is awful and ignore completely - or is it possible that I have lost weight whilst gaining fat?

Extremely unlikely that you have actually gained fat while losing weight. Those scales aren't particularly accurate and they are useful only as a general trend -- if you weigh yourself often you should see the number generally give consistent results on average, but it will bounce around and be influenced by all kinds of things and is completely useless if you don't weigh under precisely the same conditions or regularly enough to see the pattern and recognize the outliers. I would ignore it and go by measurements and appearance if you want something besides weight (which is a good idea).

It's simply technology that is easily influenced by too many factors. I've found things similar to what @Ian_Davies above talks about that will change the results quite a bit in minutes. Including things as simple as having a coffee or two. Unless you are extremely consistent with when you weigh, how, when and what you eat, when you exercise, how well you hydrate, how moist your skin is, and more, they will vary a lot.

We have an older HealthOMeter type and it's easily fooled. They might serve some purpose to show an overall trend if you weigh yourself fairly frequently, but the swings are just out of control at time.