Unexpected dexa scan bf%

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nihap23
nihap23 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello I just wanted to get some feedback on whether I should get a second measurement - dexa again, or another method. The US navy calculator estimates my body fat to be around 20% although I felt like it may be around 25 before I went in for dexa. I got 36% body fat, which was really unexpected. I do want to focus on weight training anyway, but I wanted to have an accurate gauge of my baseline…

I am around 102-104 lbs, 5’ 1” female

I do have PCOS so I was thinking about taking it up with my doctor to see what I should change wrt nutrition…but I’m not sure I should go off of a single result.

Here’s an Imgur picture of me: https://imgur.com/a/uibuWe0
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Replies

  • Jabba2Hans
    Jabba2Hans Posts: 4 Member
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    You can try a different measurement. FWIW, my scale says I'm at 35% and I have a similar body composition to you. I trust the 35% because of all the body fat percentage videos I've watched and seeing what it looks like on people.
  • HabitRabbit
    HabitRabbit Posts: 25 Member
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    I’m trying to work on my BF% right now (weight is fine). I suspect the optimal way to do it would be gain/cut cycles but I’m trying recomp. Just going to make sure I stick to my planned strength training workouts and meet my daily protein targets.

    In the “one weird trick” category, I just heard on Huberman Lab podcast recently that eating protein in the morning helps you build/maintain muscle. I’m going to try that. Shakes would be the easiest way, but I’m down with egg white and veggie omelettes too.

    Something else I’ve been meaning to research is increasing my carbs a little (have been eating higher fat during my weight loss period).

    I’ll be watching to see what advice you get.

    Actually though, I have to say you look good right now.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,461 Member
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    Scales, though the technology is amazing these days, are notoriously inaccurate at measuring anything outside of actual weight. Mine currently has me at 17.1% body fat. Yeah, in a pig’s eye. Don’t take your scale data as gospel.

    DEXA scans are supposedly one of the best ways to determine %, but it’s so easy to get dangerously emotionally invested in the results.

    The first time I pranced in for a DEXA, I was sure I was around 20%. When it reported me in the upper 20’s, I was absolutely devastated for about 24 hours. All my hard work for naught!!!! Cue weeping (for real), and gnashing (well, some) of teeth.

    And then I realized how ridiculous I was being. Jeez, I was down 75 pounds, dropped umpteen clothing sizes, and here I was beating myself up over a number no one would understand outside of a handful of OCD (present company presumably excluded) people like myself.

    The second scan, a year later and many more pounds gone, I went in with lower expectations but high hopes. I think I was down to 22 point something. I congratulated myself on the improvement, and carried on.

    Haven’t been able to schedule a third due to covid, and frankly, it’s something of a relief. One less thing I have to gnaw over in this journey.

    Continue with your weight training. It will help. Cardio will help, too.

    You’re already on the low end of normal BMI. I flirted with the borderline for underweight. Big mistake. Don’t go there. I lost muscle, had scary pipecleaner arms, and my face looked like a victim of a Discovery+ True crime show.

    There’s a lot of great recomp threads here. Among the best:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/977538/halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky/p1

    TL:DR don’t invest your hopes or sense of accomplishment in BF%. Continue your training and congratulate the newly hot you looking back from your mirror.




  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,960 Member
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    yeah, I think you look great and no one really cares about a body fat percentage number other than you. That's kind of majoring in the minors.

    I also lost 80 pounds. I'm sure I was 45%+BF when I weighed 220. At 140, I could not care any less about a body fat number that means nothing in my actual life anyway.

    I look good and feel great and the main thing is not a score or a number, the main thing is I DID THIS and I will continue to do this for the rest of my life. I spend my emotional currency on learning about foods, learning new ways to use more vegetables, and keeping my new life interesting and varied as far as food and exercise. The body fat? No idea.

    Don't care. :)
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
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    I don’t believe Dexa or those other scans are accurate. They dramatically overestimate body fat percentage.
  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,473 Member
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    nooshi713 wrote: »
    I don’t believe Dexa or those other scans are accurate. They dramatically overestimate body fat percentage.

    I believe DEXA's estimated variability is in the neighborhood of +/- 4% and scans done under similar conditions are considered fairly precise & quite reliable.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,461 Member
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    https://radiology.ucsf.edu/blog/dxadexa-beats-bmi-using-x-ray-exam-measure-body-composition-fat-loss
  • viajera99
    viajera99 Posts: 252 Member
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    You look like mid to high 20s to me. No way you're 36%.
    Dexas aren't the miracles of accuracy that some make them out to be.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gg4Jm5KS1Y
  • naomi8888
    naomi8888 Posts: 519 Member
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    viajera99 wrote: »
    You look like mid to high 20s to me. No way you're 36%.
    Dexas aren't the miracles of accuracy that some make them out to be.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gg4Jm5KS1Y

    Sorry I can't get past 7 minutes of this guy - he is way too annoying... and he keeps saying his "laser vision" is the gold standard against DEXA??
  • viajera99
    viajera99 Posts: 252 Member
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    LOL, yes Coach Greg can be annoying as hell sometimes, but he's not wrong. The laser vision thing is just his way of saying that with experience, it is possible to evaluate someone's BF% visually with consistency and repeatability. As someone above said, repeat measurements on a DEXA can be useful to see a trend, but really the only way to get a "true" number is at autopsy.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,960 Member
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    :lol: For the record, I don't care my BF% after I'm dead.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,461 Member
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    There’s an app by some Universitybif Alabama or Auburn professors that measures body fat. You take a photo against a plain background and it digitally measures you.

    I tried it once and meant to try it again, but that means cornering the husband to take pics. He’d rather amuse the cats.

    Wish I could remember the name of it. I’ve deleted it now.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,461 Member
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    Google is my friend. When it’s not parsing me out to advertisers.

    https://news.ua.edu/2020/10/health-and-fitness-app-developed-at-ua-launches/
  • being_fit_101
    being_fit_101 Posts: 16 Member
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    I have similar experience with dexa. I am relatively thin and dexa was showing about 40% bf in Android region. I did scan at two different machines n they both show similar results. Bio impedance scale were showing around 18% bf. From dexa results my arms n legs are around 19% which matches with what bio impedance scales were showing. Finally I settled with the belief that I have higher subcutaneous n visceral fat in Android region which is contributing to higher values in dexa. BTW I am 5.5 135lb.
  • nihap23
    nihap23 Posts: 8 Member
    edited September 2021
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    I think I’ll basically get a trainer and they will do their own caliper measure anyway for body fat. If it’s around what dexa scan gave me, I’m going to assume it’s correct. I do have limitations on how healthy I can be due to medical issues (pcos, hypothyroidism) and mind you I’ve been following a low carb diet pretty consistently. That may be part of the reason why I have so much body fat, if that is indeed the case.

    Anyways, I have to work on increasing lean mass which will help my PCOS and decrease my chances of diabetes. This is why I care so much about it. The diet part I already have down, and weight by itself is fine.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,461 Member
    edited September 2021
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    Found the one body fat scan I did with the Made app, back in February.

    My Renpho “bio-impedence” scale had me at 16.8 that day, which was laughable. More like bio-impudence.

    rhfxw1k6ggbu.jpeg


    The Made app had me at 21.31, which is probably more accurate.

    c7sce878vhe0.jpeg
    64op2aa8cch8.png

  • nihap23
    nihap23 Posts: 8 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    Found the one body fat scan I did with the Made app, back in February.

    My Renpho “bio-impedence” scale had me at 16.8 that day, which was laughable. More like bio-impudence.

    rhfxw1k6ggbu.jpeg


    The Made app had me at 21.31, which is probably more accurate.

    c7sce878vhe0.jpeg
    64op2aa8cch8.png

    This app gives me around the same as dexa overall body fat% but I’ve also never heard of it (?) not sure how reliable it is.
  • nihap23
    nihap23 Posts: 8 Member
    edited September 2021
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    Anyways I assume it also means I’m pretty weak for an average female (?) conversely
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,461 Member
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    nihap23 wrote: »
    Anyways I assume it also means I’m pretty weak for an average female (?) conversely

    I’m not an expert, but imho body fat % has very little to do with strength.

    There’s men and women, serious competitors, at my gym who are (not trying to sound judge mental here) quite large who lift HUGE weights.

    We also have a short young guy (an absolute sweetheart btw-if I was only 40 years younger and four inches shorter!) who has extremely low body fat and lifts heavier than a lot of the big guys.

    My trainer, who owns the gym, privately pisses and moans to me about the poor diet of lifters in general, and her feeling is they would do much better if they put as much effort into diet as they do lifting heavy. (For gods sake, don’t get her started on Skittles, which are apparently some kind of magic lifting bean.)

    I’m very slender and can’t do heavy weights, although I’d love to. (I’m also older and came to weights late).

    I’m guessing there’s a happy median. Frankly, at my age I’m in it for the aesthetics and the simple joy of lifting (light) heavy stuff (the buzz of I did that and I couldn’t before!) so it’s not my expertise.

    @sijomial
    @ninerbuff
    @JBanx256
    @sgt1372 (hope I got that right)
    @Chieflrg

    Can y’all provide some input? I’m probably totally wrong.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    nihap23 wrote: »
    Anyways I assume it also means I’m pretty weak for an average female (?) conversely

    It doesn't indicate anything about your strength. Strength is measured by what you can actually do not your body composition.
    There is a general but far from universal relationship between higher muscle mass and strength but that's very personal and highly variable.

    Yes of course in general someone who has big muscles will tend to be stronger but in strength terms people use those muscles better or worse. I used to train with someone who looked like a rather underfed jockey but had amazing strength for his very low muscle mass.


    As for your DEXA scan results, from your picture and your height/weight I think you got either a bad test or the data was processed strangely. I would ignore it, just like I ignored a bad BodPod scan which as it was one of a series was clearly and obviously badly flawed. Mirror, tape measure and progress photos work well.

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