Body fat %

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twinmummy383
twinmummy383 Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Evening , I have a question ... I Lost a stone in weight but my body fat isn't going down or it does then goes back up ...is this a problem ? Do I need to lose weight and fat ? Or just the fat or only losing weight is cool ? Help pls , thank u

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  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
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    Losing weight means you're losing one of three things; water, fat or muscle. Ideally, you wan't to lose fat.

    How are you measuring your body fat percentage? If it's one of those electrical impulse ones then they're not accurate as hydration levels can throw them off.

    Get some body fat calipers, they're a cheap way of getting a pretty accurate measure of your body fat percentage. If you're looking to get even more accuracy, then a DEXA scan would be the best option.
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
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    Calipers aren't super accurate either. Body fat is really tricky to measure. If it were easy, I'm sure most of us wouldn't use a scale!

    It's important to make sure you are getting enough nutrients, enough of each protein/fat/carbs, and that you are staying active. The larger your calorie deficit, the more closely you have to watch your nutrition. This (especially protein) will help you prevent loss of lean muscle mass. Good luck!
  • skyfire12
    skyfire12 Posts: 3 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Since muscle weighs more than fat you could have gained some muscle offsetting your body fat loss and this is good if that's what happened because each pound of muscle raises the amount of calories your body burns at rest all day every day. The better guage for fat loss will be using a tape to measure your body and see if clothes fit more loosely even though your weight remains the same.
    Also you should know that depending on the amount of change in your body fat (a few percent let's say) it may be the inaccuracies in the readings themselves causing the lower bodyfat counts. For intance todays electronic scales that use resistance to electricity as a measurement method for body fat can be altered by several percent simply by sweating a lot and being dehydrated before measure or conversely by being well hydrated one day you measure vs. the not so well hydrated the next. This is why it is recommended to weigh yourself same time of day every time usually first thing in the morning before showering to minimize variation as much as possible though no matter whether you do this or not it won't be perfect until the day they come up with an accurate hydration meter that you can guarantee same water levels in your body before you step on body fat scale. Bottom line if you eat healthy and work out you will be getting healthier from the inside out over time regardless of what your scale reads so don't get discouraged. You likely took years to get where you are now so going the other direction is going to take time too. :smile:
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
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    skyfire12 wrote: »
    Since muscle weighs more than fat you could have gained some muscle offsetting your body fat loss and this is good if that's what happened because each pound of muscle raises the amount of calories your body burns at rest all day every day. The better guage for fat loss will be using a tape to measure your body and see if clothes fit more loosely even though your weight remains the same.
    Also you should know that depending on the amount of change in your body fat (a few percent let's say) it may be the inaccuracies in the readings themselves causing the lower bodyfat counts. For intance todays electronic scales that use resistance to electricity as a measurement method for body fat can be altered by several percent simply by sweating a lot and being dehydrated before measure or conversely by being well hydrated one day you measure vs. the not so well hydrated the next. This is why it is recommended to weigh yourself same time of day every time usually first thing in the morning before showering to minimize variation as much as possible though no matter whether you do this or not it won't be perfect until the day they come up with an accurate hydration meter that you can guarantee same water levels in your body before you step on body fat scale. Bottom line if you eat healthy and work out you will be getting healthier from the inside out over time regardless of what your scale reads so don't get discouraged. You likely took years to get where you are now so going the other direction is going to take time too. :smile:

    Muscle does not weigh more than fat. Get your facts straight.
  • kasparkid
    kasparkid Posts: 40 Member
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    codsterlaing95 wrote: »
    skyfire12 wrote: »
    Since muscle weighs more than fat you could have gained some muscle offsetting your body fat loss and this is good if that's what happened because each pound of muscle raises the amount of calories your body burns at rest all day every day. The better guage for fat loss will be using a tape to measure your body and see if clothes fit more loosely even though your weight remains the same.
    Also you should know that depending on the amount of change in your body fat (a few percent let's say) it may be the inaccuracies in the readings themselves causing the lower bodyfat counts. For intance todays electronic scales that use resistance to electricity as a measurement method for body fat can be altered by several percent simply by sweating a lot and being dehydrated before measure or conversely by being well hydrated one day you measure vs. the not so well hydrated the next. This is why it is recommended to weigh yourself same time of day every time usually first thing in the morning before showering to minimize variation as much as possible though no matter whether you do this or not it won't be perfect until the day they come up with an accurate hydration meter that you can guarantee same water levels in your body before you step on body fat scale. Bottom line if you eat healthy and work out you will be getting healthier from the inside out over time regardless of what your scale reads so don't get discouraged. You likely took years to get where you are now so going the other direction is going to take time too. :smile:

    Muscle does not weigh more than fat. Get your facts straight.

    Muscle is more dense than fat; a cubic foot of muscle will weigh more than a cubic foot of fat. You're getting stuck on the "pound of feathers vs. a pound of lead" argument. A pound is a pound, yes, but equal volumes of muscle and fat will yield different weights (muscle obviously weighing more).
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    skyfire12 wrote: »
    Since muscle weighs more than fat


    ignoring the muscle weighs more than fat because like everyone else I know you mean by volume

    you could have gained some muscle offsetting your body fat loss

    OP did not mention following a structured progressive resistance programme nor protein so this seems doubtful. Also weight has gone down 14lbs but body fat reading remained constant - I assume bio impedence scale which is worthless over short time scales

    and this is good if that's what happened because each pound of muscle raises the amount of calories your body burns at rest all day every day.

    a lb of muscle burns around 10 calories a day, a lb of fat around 6....the incremental burn would be 4 calories

    The better guage for fat loss will be using a tape to measure your body and see if clothes fit more loosely even though your weight remains the same.


    true but easy to mistake tape measures ...I prefer the jumping up and down in front of a mirror route...or DEXA scan

    Also you should know that depending on the amount of change in your body fat (a few percent let's say) it may be the inaccuracies in the readings themselves causing the lower bodyfat counts. For intance todays electronic scales that use resistance to electricity as a measurement method for body fat can be altered by several percent simply by sweating a lot and being dehydrated before measure or conversely by being well hydrated one day you measure vs. the not so well hydrated the next.

    not just hydration, dirt on soles of feet ...they have a margin of error of up to 13%

    This is why it is recommended to weigh yourself same time of day every time usually first thing in the morning before showering to minimize variation as much as possible though no matter whether you do this or not it won't be perfect until the day they come up with an accurate hydration meter that you can guarantee same water levels in your body before you step on body fat scale. Bottom line if you eat healthy and work out you will be getting healthier from the inside out over time regardless of what your scale reads so don't get discouraged. You likely took years to get where you are now so going the other direction is going to take time too. :smile:


    I agree with this bit :)

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