67kg, can someone explain how that is 'obese'?

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I just bought some new scales, the kind that measure your fat percentage, muscle percentage, bone mass and hydration.

Im 22, I am 163cm tall. Thats what I programmed into the scales. I always considered myself to be a pretty normal size. Maybe a little chubby and I could stand to lose a few but I didn't even think I was over weight. Im 67kg and it says 40% of me is fat and that I am considered obese. With your regular BMI calculators it says I am overweight by like .2%, so barely.

Please explain?
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Replies

  • arhzon
    arhzon Posts: 150
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    My diagnosis: your scale is wacko! To be honest, I think BMI calculators typically calculate you being fatter than you are, so something that is so dramatically over that... My guess would be it's food for your trash can.
  • Shweedog
    Shweedog Posts: 883 Member
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    BMI is not a great indicator. For example- take two people who are both 5'7" who both weigh 140 lbs. What if one is pure muscle and the other sits on the cough all day every day? As far as BMI goes they are the same. But the couch potato will definitely have a higher fat percentage than the fit person. Hope that helps!
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    BMI calculators are not accurate at all. When I first had my body fat checked, I was 36% and yes, it is considered obese. I'm now down to the overweight category with body fat.
  • jesshall281
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    i really wouldn't listen to a pair of scales, i don't know how stepping onto scales can tell you your level of hydration, i mean come on.

    If you really want to know body fat % go to a doctor and they will do it for you. there is a machine at my virgin active gym, that's meant to be pretty accurate, but i still wont believe it.

    Just use the scales for your weight :flowerforyou:
  • hypotrochoid
    hypotrochoid Posts: 842 Member
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    According to the BMI, Arnold Schwarzenegger at his prime was obese. The system is flawed.
  • leomom72
    leomom72 Posts: 1,797 Member
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    bump
  • Valechka
    Valechka Posts: 192
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    I would use body fat calculator something like this. http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/body-fat-percentage-calculator
    I think Marine or YMCA formula are the best. Scale could be off my 10%. I would average what scale tells you + website. Also make sure you are naked or not dressed too much too. Do it the morning after restroom trip:) Does your scale also shows water %?
  • Jemmuno
    Jemmuno Posts: 413 Member
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    I agree with shweedog, also your scale since it measures body fat % is sending an electrical pulse through your body and this pulse travels at a different pace through fat, muscle, and bone. The BMI only takes numbers into consideration not you as an individual with your own body.
  • squitzwife
    squitzwife Posts: 51 Member
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    you are two inches shorter than me and weigh 3lbs less than my ideal weight. hmmmmm FLAWED! the only way to actually check your BMI accurately is to dunk yourself in a tank of water and measure the water displacement. The computer tells me my ideal weight is somewhere around 140 but my dr tells me NEVER to drop under 145. I have extremely heavy bones and have a lot of muscle on my body. I look fantastic in the mirror right now and I weigh 173. I still need to loose weight right now, but i'm not OBESE!
  • fitzie63
    fitzie63 Posts: 508 Member
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    Your BMI is 25.2
    GO TO: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bmi-calculator/NU00597

    You can calculate the estimated BMI either in metric or the American version (they call it, mistakenly, the "english" version).
  • cassnessxox
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    cpearcy, So Im obese? Take a look at me and tell me that I am obese...

    I get that bmi calculators are flawed but obese? I mean I can grab about a handful of fat off of myself. Like one handful, I dont even have rolls of fat or anything...
  • redheadmommy
    redheadmommy Posts: 908 Member
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    I do not think your scale is bases its judgement on BMI . Check out any BMI calculator on the net 163cm and 67 kg has a BMI of 25.2. The normal range is 20-25, so you are just right on the fence of normal weight .

    If your scale says that you have a 40% of body fat, that is a different story. Your probably dehydrated and that is why your scale off measuring body fat. You should go to a doctor or a fitness club equipped to measure body fat.

    However there are the skinny fat people out there, who are normal size, but all that size is fat not muscle. I am not saying you are in that category, but 40% is a very high body fat for that size. Even if the scale off as much as 10% , that is still very high given your size.
  • Jemmuno
    Jemmuno Posts: 413 Member
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    I do not think your scale is bases its judgement on BMI . Check out any BMI calculator on the net 163cm and 67 kg has a BMI of 25.2. The normal range is 20-25, so you are just right on the fence of normal weight .

    If your scale says that you have a 40% of body fat, that is a different story. Your probably dehydrated and that is why your scale off measuring body fat. You should go to a doctor or a fitness club equipped to measure body fat.

    However there are the skinny fat people out there, who are normal size, but all that size is fat not muscle. I am not saying you are in that category, but 40% is a very high body fat for that size. Even if the scale off as much as 10% , that is still very high given your size.

    what I was just about to write
  • cassnessxox
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    Unless I have like a reverse eating disorder where I see myself as skinnier than I am, I think taking my bones and organs into account, if 40% of me is fat I would be a lot bigger than I am...and a lot jigglier...
  • Jemmuno
    Jemmuno Posts: 413 Member
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    no you don't need to become skinnier its not about losing weight, it's about toning up. We're also not saying the scale is exactly right either. You asked the question we're all just giving you options to why the scale gave you that percentage it's then up to you decide what information you want to take from all the posts.
  • Shweedog
    Shweedog Posts: 883 Member
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    cpearcy, So Im obese? Take a look at me and tell me that I am obese...

    I get that bmi calculators are flawed but obese? I mean I can grab about a handful of fat off of myself. Like one handful, I dont even have rolls of fat or anything...

    You definitely do not LOOK obese. Or overweight for that matter. But obese means excessive body fat. That does not mean you look fat. It means the actual amount of fat on you is high. Have you ever heard the term "skinny fat person"? Prime example. I was this. You are thin but hava a high percentage of fat.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
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    BMI stands for two different things in the weight-loss world.
    #1 (common) Body Mass Index. This is the one that compares height to weight and give you a number, and this is the one that generally is used in calculated "healthy" "overweight" and "obese" (but with all the flaws pointed out earlier, esp that it would put most body builders in the overweight to obese categories, ignoring that it's muscle).
    #2 (what you generally see on scales) Bio-Metric Impedance. This is how scales (and the little hand-held devices) measure your body fat %. It sends a pulse through your body tissue and measures how easily it comes back. Muscle, fat, and water all have a different level of impeding the pulse, so it uses some sort of calculation to give you your body fat % (and some give hydration).

    Healthy body fat for a woman is generally under 30% (I don't remember the exact, but I know that I want to aim for 20-25% for myself). So 40% would be considered problematic.
    However, the biometric impedance measurements, especially those on a household bathroom scale, are quite inaccurate. If you can, you might want to get a skin-fold caliper measure by someone who is trained in measuring and interpreting. When I was with a trainer, we did this weekly. She measured my arm (tricep area), mid-back, side abs (love handle area), and thigh and used these along with my age to calculate body fat %.
    I have a scale that measures fat, and it seems to jump around a lot. I'm not sure it would even give me a good idea if my fat is going up or down!
  • cassnessxox
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    And like I said, I would like to know where all the fat is hiding because I can not find it.
    I am a relatively strong person, I have a job where I spend most of the day lifting boxes so obviously some of me is muscle. Im sorry but I don't understand.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Visceral fat actually wraps around your organs. You can't see it. Also, body fat % on scales depends heavily on hydration, if you aren't properly hydrated, the number on the scale could be off by 10-20%. I bought a scale that shows body fat and hydration because it was on sale, but I manually check my body fat % myself. The scales says 36%, and my own measurements say 25%, so I figure I'm probably somewhere in between. But, yeah, not all fat is visible, that's why plenty of people can look perfectly normal, but have high body fat.
  • cassnessxox
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    Visceral fat actually wraps around your organs. You can't see it. Also, body fat % on scales depends heavily on hydration, if you aren't properly hydrated, the number on the scale could be off by 10-20%. I bought a scale that shows body fat and hydration because it was on sale, but I manually check my body fat % myself. The scales says 36%, and my own measurements say 25%, so I figure I'm probably somewhere in between. But, yeah, not all fat is visible, that's why plenty of people can look perfectly normal, but have high body fat.

    Thank you. That post actually helped.
    I am severely dehydrated according to the scales, I find it really hard to drink water at all in the winter.
    Also I dont know how to lose visceral fat but Im sure I can work it out. Thanks =)