Interesting advice from a dietitian!

DancingMoosie wrote: »

Are you male or female? While that % is extremely high for a female, you are aiming to lose quite a bit of weight, and some of that will be muscle mass. Keep lifting.

And that's assuming the number was even correct. How did they determine your BF % and muscle %, @tremmax?

Yikes, run away.

The only thing I see in there that was blatantly wrong was the bit about eating below BMR won't make you lose. The rest of it is either ok, lacking context, or making huge sweeping assumptions about goals/preferences.

Basically sounds like the dietitian was reciting standardized info rather than actually caring about you as an individual.

The measurement device sounds like an InBody body comp scanner. I don't have a lot of faith in them, but they're certainly a significant improvement over most bia devices. For me, InBody is within 1% of dexa for body fat, but no idea about the other metrics it claims to be able to measure.

quiksylver296 wrote: »

tremmax wrote: »

Not sure what you would call the machine that did the analysis, but I stood on a scale thing with 4 metal plates and held two things in my hands. Sorry for the completely non technical definition. I am guessing that the muscle mass was off, as I am not muscular at all. Maybe the results were affected by the fact I had just done a workout and was quite sweaty. But she knew that and would have surely been able to see that I am not muscular like the readout had shown.

Yeah, hydration or lack thereof, throw those things off.

Which is why it's recommended not to do strenuous activities before (not sure of the time frame) and to be fasted (4hrs is usually advised).

tremmax wrote: »

Today I went to see a dietitian, not because I was after advice or a diet plan, but because I just wanted to do the body composition analysis . I am aware that these things are not always accurate, but thought it would be good to measure my progress. My weight was no surprise, I weigh everyday and record it on a trending app. Body fat percentage came out at 32% which is kind of what I thought it could be. Muscle mass came out at 35.8% which was too high. She advised that I stopped lifting to avoid gaining any more muscle and that I should try to lose some. Also that I should be aiming for 53kg as an ideal weight. The weight range was given as 42.6kg (yes really!) and 57.7kg!!! I am 1m57 and currently 64kg. The lowest end is in my mind very much underweight. Other advice included don’t eat below BMR as this won’t make you lose fat and drink 2.6 l of water. As i say, it wasn’t her advice I was after nor paid for, so didn’t pursue it, but just so surprised to hear the advice to lose muscle. Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

What other numbers did she give you? Is 35.8% supposed to be just skeletal muscle, or dry lean mass, or . . . ?

35.8% + 32% = 67.8%, which leaves only 32.2%. Did she tell you what that is?

I agree that 42.6 kg seems too thin (17.3 BMI is underweight statistically, and could only be even potentially appropriate if your build is very, very slight (more common in certain ethnic groups, but extremely uncommon overall)). 53kg (21.5 BMI) may not be crazy, but these things always depend on overall body configuration as well as muscle mass.

21.5 BMI is a little heavier than my favorite weight, even though I'm not completely devoid of muscles . . . but I'm built like a 14-year old boy rather than like a 62-year-old woman (no hips, and post-bilateral mastectomy besides). I know quite a few women, with more "womanly" pelvic width and generous bust size, who'd be crazy thin at 21.5 BMI. That's without even getting into muscularity. Even the 57.7 would be on the thin side, for a few.

As far as your having "too much" muscle: Complete nonsense. As long as you're happy with your body, the more muscle the better, IMO. Why would it be wrong to be "too strong"?!?!

Eating below your BMI might be a dumb strategy (over-restriction) but it won't make you fat while you do it (maybe when you break down and binge from the over-restriction ). 2.6l of water is curiously specific, and (for my taste) a little high, but not completely nuts. It makes more sense to go by thirst or urine color (pale).

Sounds like the advice was worth what you paid for it.

stanmann571 wrote: »

BIA 6 or 8 point analyzer. Better by far than it's predecessors and retail versions, but Still not something you should be using immediately after a training session.

Sure. Even if it was a dexa, though, that would be the case.

tremmax wrote: »

The report just said ‘muscle mass’. Thanks for all your replies so far. I’m pleased I had it done, but it does leave me wondering what is the ideal and most accurate way to monitor my weight, in particular my body fat. I have long toyed with getting a set of my own body analysis scales, but wondered whether they are worth it. Even if the numbers, were inaccurate, would they at least be consistent to show a trend. The water she advised was 40 multiplied by weight, which in my case came out at 2657. That is then ml of water I need to drink. For me, 55-57 kg will probably be an ideal weight. I was about 57kg before I had kids but that did take a considerable effort to maintain. I am not a skinny build at all and have always carried a lot more weight on my bottom half.

I use my scale weight as a tool to guage weight trends up or down.

Been doing this going on 5 years and I have yet to know my body fat percentage. I guess if I were competing it would be important, but for normal weight loss/maintaining I don't find it all that important.

I do what @quiksylver296 does, the mirror.