Inbody machine crushed my soul

saralangille
saralangille Posts: 5 Member
edited November 30 in Motivation and Support
I've been dieting aggressively for two months and working out the past three weeks. Last night I got on an Inbody at the gym which said I have 49%body fat and 75 pounds of fat to lose! I'm devastated and feel like giving up. I had no idea I was this... Flubbery. How accurate are these machines!

Replies

  • saralangille
    saralangille Posts: 5 Member
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  • codygish
    codygish Posts: 63 Member
    I would trust a calculator like this:

    https://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/body-fat-percentage-calculator

    OR this:

    http://www.calculator.net/army-body-fat-calculator.html

    before I would trust one of those machines. Plug your measurements into a couple of the calculators and see what kind of answer you get.

    You probably know that all of these methods are only 'in the ballpark' accuracy wise. You need a water displacement test to get an exact number.

    This site compares some of the methods:

    http://dailyburn.com/life/health/how-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/
  • NaturalNancy
    NaturalNancy Posts: 1,093 Member
    Do not get discouraged.

    Keep tracking your calories, exercise and don't let that deter you.

    Sometimes weight loss will happen "slower than you expect," and it's ok.

    Don't give up!
    <3
  • distinctlybeautiful
    distinctlybeautiful Posts: 1,041 Member
    My tips for fat loss, as opposed to muscle and fat loss, are to diet less aggressively (or if you aren't willing to change that, up your protein significantly) and lift weights. I lost six percent body fat eating at maintenance, hitting my protein goals, and lifting.
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    Any sort of bioimpedence measuring system will be "flighty". Your best hope with them is to monitor over periods of time for trends. My scale has given me, over the past month, anywhere between 23 and 27 percent body fat. Plug your numbers in and see what comes up on various online calculators too. I also have a fat caliper I use to measure as well.
  • admirza
    admirza Posts: 6 Member
    Inbody could be very inaccurate a lot of times. It all depends on your water content and the time you last worked out. There are tips online to get a better estimation like below. look them up

    Do not consume any alcohol 24 hours · Before the test
    No exercise, caffeine or food for 4-12 hours prior to the test
    No diuretic medications within 12 hours prior to the test
    Consume 6 to 8 glasses of water during the day prior to the test
    Drink water normally in the morning before the test
  • smit7633
    smit7633 Posts: 182 Member
    I wonder if those machines can actually tell how many lbs of fat you have or if it just takes your weight height and age and says what weight you "should" be at and the rest must be fat... I'm going to research how these machines work, I'm curious to know.
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    @smit7633 a low level current is passed through the body. Depending upon the resistance of the body to the current, along with age, weight, and sex, it estimates the body fat percentage. It's not accurate, and is subject to fluctuation from a lot of factors. It can be useful for trends and estimates, but cannot be absolutely relied upon.
  • cw106
    cw106 Posts: 952 Member
    admirza wrote: »
    Inbody could be very inaccurate a lot of times. It all depends on your water content and the time you last worked out. There are tips online to get a better estimation like below. look them up

    Do not consume any alcohol 24 hours · Before the test
    No exercise, caffeine or food for 4-12 hours prior to the test
    No diuretic medications within 12 hours prior to the test
    Consume 6 to 8 glasses of water during the day prior to the test
    Drink water normally in the morning before the test

    good advice,which gym staff should tell you also.its sop at my weigh ins every 3 months.
    getting measured on same machine under similar conditions over time will lead to a personal trend.
    i have reduced bmi,bf% and whr by working off results from inbody over 18 months.
    be more methodical and patient.
    they definately work for me over time.as a standalone figure,not so much.

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    saralangille wrote: »
    I've been dieting aggressively for two months and working out the past three weeks. Last night I got on an Inbody at the gym which said I have 49%body fat and 75 pounds of fat to lose! I'm devastated and feel like giving up. I had no idea I was this... Flubbery. How accurate are these machines!

    Giving up won't make you less flubbery though!
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    @saralangille If it's any consolation, I think the reading you got is way off.. The picture you posted looks nowhere near 50%. There are scales that take a similar reading that you can use to get a better, more regular picture of what your BF percentage is looking like.. With that, you can keep tabs on where your body composition is headed.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    Why does your actual body fat percentage matter at this point in the game? You know you need to lose so keep working at it. After two months of dieting and three weeks of exercise, not much is going to change, but yes you might start noticing your shape a bit more than you did before. I went through the same adjustment.
  • epeart11
    epeart11 Posts: 35 Member
    Inbody machines are hard to look at but if you work each day then they will help to show progress and hopefully motivate you to continue working hard. You are doing well!
  • saralangille
    saralangille Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks everyone, and yes you are right I shouldn't have expected a drastic change after only being two months along but I clearly underestimated where I was when I began. There is nothing I can do but reach my goals day by day and have faith that my small daily accomplishments will pay off.

    I have looked at comparisons online of what 50% body fat looks like and I didn't think I was quite that high, but many times I look at many pics of women the same weight and height I am and they vary drastically!

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    cw106 wrote: »
    admirza wrote: »
    Inbody could be very inaccurate a lot of times. It all depends on your water content and the time you last worked out. There are tips online to get a better estimation like below. look them up

    Do not consume any alcohol 24 hours · Before the test
    No exercise, caffeine or food for 4-12 hours prior to the test
    No diuretic medications within 12 hours prior to the test
    Consume 6 to 8 glasses of water during the day prior to the test
    Drink water normally in the morning before the test

    good advice,which gym staff should tell you also.its sop at my weigh ins every 3 months.
    getting measured on same machine under similar conditions over time will lead to a personal trend.
    i have reduced bmi,bf% and whr by working off results from inbody over 18 months.
    be more methodical and patient.
    they definately work for me over time.as a standalone figure,not so much.

    Doing that ideally would establish a trend, but these type of machines are not even consistent with themselves. Better to simply avoid them completely as they produce lots of inaccurate measurements. It would be far better to use a measuring tape and take body measurements. If they are going down, fat is going down.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    saralangille wrote: »
    I've been dieting aggressively for two months and working out the past three weeks. Last night I got on an Inbody at the gym which said I have 49%body fat and 75 pounds of fat to lose! I'm devastated and feel like giving up. I had no idea I was this... Flubbery. How accurate are these machines!

    They are not accurate at all. Best accuracy is a DEXA scan. Bod Pod is ok as is the water displacement weighing. Calipers in the hands of an experienced user (someone not only properly trained but who does caliper measurements often) are fairly accurate. The bio-electrical impedance tester are pretty much useless. There are some in lab settings that a somewhat better, but still prone to lots of errors even with themselves.
  • Erik8484
    Erik8484 Posts: 458 Member
    http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/index.php/free-content/free-content/volume-1-issue-3-the-pitfalls-of-body-fat-measurement-parts-1-and-2/the-pitfalls-of-body-fat-measurement-part-1/

    If you have the time, read through the series. At the very least it will stop you from spending any more money on inbody scans or body fat % scales which are even worse.
  • Ant488
    Ant488 Posts: 372 Member
    Keep on keeping on!
  • smit7633
    smit7633 Posts: 182 Member
    saralangille wrote: »
    Thanks everyone, and yes you are right I shouldn't have expected a drastic change after only being two months along but I clearly underestimated where I was when I began. There is nothing I can do but reach my goals day by day and have faith that my small daily accomplishments will pay off.

    I have looked at comparisons online of what 50% body fat looks like and I didn't think I was quite that high, but many times I look at many pics of women the same weight and height I am and they vary drastically!
    Although I don't know the accuracy of the values, based off your photo, those are the values I'd expect you to have based on my own values from my smart scale, when I compare you to myself.
    Don't take it too hard! If anything you should be even more motivated by the numbers as you see them going down it's more rewarding than just seeing your weight go down.
    Good luck!
  • cw106
    cw106 Posts: 952 Member


    good advice,which gym staff should tell you also.its sop at my weigh ins every 3 months.
    getting measured on same machine under similar conditions over time will lead to a personal trend.
    i have reduced bmi,bf% and whr by working off results from inbody over 18 months.
    be more methodical and patient.
    they definately work for me over time.as a standalone figure,not so much.

    [/quote]

    Doing that ideally would establish a trend, but these type of machines are not even consistent with themselves. Better to simply avoid them completely as they produce lots of inaccurate measurements. It would be far better to use a measuring tape and take body measurements. If they are going down, fat is going down. [/quote]

    [quote


    no idea what " machines arent consistent with themselves " could even mean.they are machines.
    in body assesment requires physical measuring of waist and hips. and height and weight.all need to be inputted to get results.
    those of us that have used them constructively to help in weight loss and fitness goals stand by the trend.
    you probably finished crushing the OP's soul and put it out with the recycling!!

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    Not accurate to itself means that taking a bunch of measurements there will be a significant number of outliers. IOW it is not consistent in the results it gives even using the same machine on the same person. This happens even with DEXA and Bodpod, but far less which is why they are generally considered far more accurate. The easiest way to judge body composition is through the mirror.
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