Body Fat Percent

klkateri
klkateri Posts: 432 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
27%.

No way.... this seems off! I'm 5'5", weigh roughly 230. Here are the measurements I have Waist: 39 inches, Hip 48 inches, Wrist 8 inches, Forearm 11.5 inches. (active.com - this is the calculator I used.)

My scale says the same thing.

This seems really low for my size and the way I look. About 2-3 years ago I was measured at a gym and they told me I was like 60% body fat. Can someone help me out?! I'm just curious of where my body fat number is in terms of how much I realistically want to lose.

Replies

  • eatgoodeat
    eatgoodeat Posts: 180 Member
    body-fat-percentage-women.jpg guides like these have always helped me. Unless you can get a dexa scan, these help as a visual guage.
  • klkateri
    klkateri Posts: 432 Member
    According to those pictures, I think I look like the 35-39% or the 40-44%. This is why I'm so confused!! Because according to this picture, aint no way I'm in the 25-29% range at all!!
  • eatgoodeat
    eatgoodeat Posts: 180 Member
    I hear ya, I've used the active.com measurement guide before too and it put me at a lower bf% than I really was. I stopped tracking those measurements to use for that purpose. Go by what you visually see.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Those scales are generally wrong. I have one at home and it has had me in the 27-29% range for the past two years, even before I lifted weights. It was low then and high now.

    Realistically, at this point, your bf% doesn't matter. You are around 80 lbs over the highest point of your healthy weight range per BMI. Even if you are a super muscled outlier to BMI, you have an excess of fat to lose. I am not saying this to be mean or snotty. I just think that people need to be reasonable and not focus on the minutiae.
  • eatgoodeat
    eatgoodeat Posts: 180 Member
    5561eb4c2c720dcc79d7c9840ba4c533.jpg she's one of my favs on here :)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    115 lbs LBM and 50% fat would be my opening bid.
  • klkateri
    klkateri Posts: 432 Member
    O i know I have a fair amount to lose (almost down 50 with another planned 70 or so to lose!!) but I guess I just like having a lot of data at hand! One of my friends is obsessed with her body fat number and I suppose that it got in my head... I wonder where I'm at too!!

    As to being the 50% body fat... no way, I think the 40% range (+/- a couple percents) is definitely where I fall for sure! I am active and do lift and run and am fairly active for having a desk job!!

    I think I just wanted confirmation that it was a pretty low number too!!
  • pedidiva
    pedidiva Posts: 199 Member
    If you can find a bodpod or have a DEXA scan, that would give you an accurate reading. I am shooting for 30% body fat as that is assumed to be a healthful amount for women. Good luck.
  • pedidiva
    pedidiva Posts: 199 Member
    http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/
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  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    eatgoodeat wrote: »
    body-fat-percentage-women.jpg guides like these have always helped me. Unless you can get a dexa scan, these help as a visual guage.

    There's no way that 3rd woman is 25-29% lol. Also, since when is the stomach area the only factor for bodyfat?

    Those pictures are just confusing.

    Anyway, don't trust the gym bodyfat tests either. Not accurate at all. I gave up on mine after I was told that the 3 pounds I had lost in 3 months were only lean mass (when I was lifting regularly and eating at a small deficit). They also told me I was 22% body fat and find it hard to believe (I'm guessing I'm probably around 25-26 but considering that I have thin limbs and loose skin, it's tough to tell from pictures).
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    klkateri wrote: »
    27%.

    No way.... this seems off! I'm 5'5", weigh roughly 230. Here are the measurements I have Waist: 39 inches, Hip 48 inches, Wrist 8 inches, Forearm 11.5 inches. (active.com - this is the calculator I used.)

    My scale says the same thing.

    This seems really low for my size and the way I look. About 2-3 years ago I was measured at a gym and they told me I was like 60% body fat. Can someone help me out?! I'm just curious of where my body fat number is in terms of how much I realistically want to lose.

    Just to give you another data point, FWIW: I got curious & tried this calculator, since I'm your height 5'5". I got 25%, just 2% less than you.

    For weight 119, and measurements: Waist 27", hip 35", wrist 6", forearm 10".

    Ain't no way both of our results are correct.
  • chunky_pinup
    chunky_pinup Posts: 758 Member
    I'm 5'6", 170 pounds and am 27% bf...I know this for certain as I just had a DEXA scan done as part of a challenge I did in our dietetics department. The number you were given seems unlikely unless you are EXTREMELY muscular.
  • rontafoya
    rontafoya Posts: 365 Member
    I recommend going to Youtube and checking Alan Thrall's recent bodyfat percentage video, where he and some of his clients get measured using the water tank. It's not a simple thing. Some people have more visceral fat (fat under the muscles, around the organs), while others have a lot of subcutaneous fat, which is the fat just under the skin. Therefore, one guy could have 10% and some flab on his belly, and another guy could have 15-16% and a washboard stomach. Because the 15-16% guy has more visceral fat (which is the more dangerous one, men get it worse usually). My point is, appearances can be deceiving to some degree with body fat.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited April 2016
    That calculator actually gave me a higher percentage than others. It gave me 26%
    For comparison-
    U.S. Navy method: 22.8%
    Covert Bailey "Fit or Fat" book Method: 20.9%
    YMCA Method: 18%

    Trend from Aria Scale readings: 20.7%

    5.5" wrist
    8.75" forearm
    12.5" neck
    26.5" waist
    30" abdomen @ navel
    36.5" hips
    20.5" thighs
    13.25" calf

    5'4.5" and trend weight 121.9 lbs (fluctuate between 120 -124 lbs)

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