Body Composition Method Comparison

mom23mangos
mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Warning - This is going to be long.

I got a small unexpected bonus from work the other week and my husband told me to do something for myself with it. So I decided to finally splurge on some body composition testing. It's been 6 months since I started my journey to get back in shape, so it was great timing. I was in a deficit for the first 3 months to lose ~10lbs and have been maintaining the past 3 months.

I wanted to compare a couple of methods to see how far off they were so I knew if it was worth spending the money on the more expensive options for follow up. I decided to book appointments for both DXA and Bod Pod screenings and to compare those to Impedance measurements from my Aria scale as well as tape measure calculations like the Navy calculator and eyeball estimations from visual scales.

Stats below:

Sex: Female
Age: 41
Weight: 101
Height: 5'2"
Waist: 24.25”
Hips: 32.8”
Neck: 12”
Very small frame

Photo comparisons:
Left is beginning of Feb. Right is beginning of August

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Using a visual scale like below, I estimated my BF between 15-20%, most likely 17%.
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Navy Tape Measure calculations put me at 18%
Aria scale morning of Dexa put me at 14.1%

Lean Body Mass
Navy Tape Measure - 82lbs
Aria scale - 86lbs
The Boer Formula Result: 83.2 lbs
The James Formula Result: 80.5 lbs
The Hume Formula Result: 79.6 lbs
Dexa results - 15.4% BF with 82.8lbs lean mass
Bod Pod results - 16.3% BF with 83.5lbs lean mass

Dexa results also confirmed my apple shape with 25% of my fat being stored in my legs.

All in all, they all weren't terribly off from each other. The DXA certainly gives you the most information, but I think just the visual estimation to be pretty accurate.


Replies

  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    I also had my Resting Metabolic Rate measured. My BMR from 4 different calculators averaged around 1140. The Bod Pod estimated my RMR at 1007. Actual RMR was 1378. Whew!
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    @mom23mangos love the transformation.
    I have been waiting to see what the results would be :)

    Excellent info for comparison.

    Cheers, h.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    Thanks @middlehaitch ! It was fun to see how the different methods compare.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    edited August 2016
    Your welcome @mom23mangos. I could only dream of getting such good results.

    Ooh, the RMR is interesting. As you can guess at my age (22y older than you) most calculators have it in the 950-980 range. :'(

    Cheers, h.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    Love it!

    Well done for being scienceish and doing testing!
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Nicely done!!
  • tinywonder25
    tinywonder25 Posts: 148 Member
    Nice work!! Amazing transformation. We stated right about the same time!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,254 Member
    Did you get your RMR from a separate test or are you using the lean mass figures from dexa or body pod which, afaik, just use Katch McKardle?
  • bioklutz
    bioklutz Posts: 1,365 Member
    Very cool @mom23mangos! Which test put your RMR as 1378?
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    Wow, great transformation!
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Did you get your RMR from a separate test or are you using the lean mass figures from dexa or body pod which, afaik, just use Katch McKardle?
    bioklutz wrote: »
    Very cool @mom23mangos! Which test put your RMR as 1378?

    I actually had my RMR measured by sitting still with oxygen mask for about 20min. I think it was COSMED?
  • RosieRose7673
    RosieRose7673 Posts: 438 Member
    Awesome transformation! You look fantastic! :smiley:
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
    This is awesome! Congrats on your progress and thank you for sharing this! I'm so curious about my BF%/RMR now because we have extremely similar body types/stats and even though I know the Aria is off, I figured it would be by so much more than that. I get the same BF% measurements as you, but I've been assuming I'm like 22-23% due to self-doubt.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    fantastic results @mom23mangos the girl has done good! :smiley:
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,989 Member
    I'd say you're about 18%-19% BF just from visually looking. I competed and have coached quite a few competitors and judging BF% was a consistently done on a week to week basis without having to get a DEXA or even just calipers out everytime.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • MamaFunky
    MamaFunky Posts: 735 Member
    Awesome transformation! Thank you for sharing the results with us. Very interesting. You look fantastic! Way to go my friend! :smile:
  • RoseTheWarrior
    RoseTheWarrior Posts: 2,035 Member
    @mom23mangos first, that's a great way to use a bonus! Second, what a fabulous difference in a short period of time! Inspiring to say the least :smiley:
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    GREAT job!
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Amazing transformation! Congrats!

    What program were/are you currently running? Also from the 3 months you were at maintenance, did you see a large difference in body composition or were you at goal and just maintaining it?
  • chewyxrage
    chewyxrage Posts: 56 Member
    Wow awesome job! Very informative post, thank you for taking the trouble to share :)
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    I'd say you're about 18%-19% BF just from visually looking. I competed and have coached quite a few competitors and judging BF% was a consistently done on a week to week basis without having to get a DEXA or even just calipers out everytime.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    After doing the comparison, I think visual is pretty accurate as well, especially with someone trained as yourself. I also would place myself closer to your range visually. I think it is my lack of boobage that makes the overall numbers via DXA/Bod Pod lower. If I could move the remaining fat from my legs to by boobs, I would look completely different.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Amazing transformation! Congrats!

    What program were/are you currently running? Also from the 3 months you were at maintenance, did you see a large difference in body composition or were you at goal and just maintaining it?

    Thanks @sardelsa! I did Body for Life for the first 3 months and then Bill's newer program Back to Fit for the next three. I noticed continued improvements into the 4th month, but then after that was pretty much just maintaining. I've actually put on a few pounds in the past couple of weeks, but I'm OK with that. I was probably too lean around month 4. I'm running Strong Lifts for a couple of months to see how far I can get my strength up before plateauing. Then I'll start shopping around for the next program.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    edited August 2016
    Maxematics wrote: »
    This is awesome! Congrats on your progress and thank you for sharing this! I'm so curious about my BF%/RMR now because we have extremely similar body types/stats and even though I know the Aria is off, I figured it would be by so much more than that. I get the same BF% measurements as you, but I've been assuming I'm like 22-23% due to self-doubt.

    @Maxematics, looking at the pics on your profile, I'd say you are much leaner than I am. And your thighs are a good 3in. smaller. If you can afford it and have a place to do it, I would recommend testing to make sure you don't go too low. That was a good thing for me, because it made me see I don't have much wriggle room and other than continuing lifting to try to firm my legs more, I'm probably not going to be able to safely get rid of much more fat.

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