Ruh Roh.

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TaraTLC83
TaraTLC83 Posts: 93 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I've kind of fallen off the MFP wagon this week. Thanksgiving+family+airplanes+hospitals+appointments and flu shots and crap makes for a busy busy week.

On the plus side, my hubby bought me a Withings smart scale for my birthday to help me with my getting healthy goals. The scale appeals to the nerd in me so I'm pretty excited about it.

I set up my account with this piece of magic and stood on it bravely.

Whoa. I learned some scary stuff!

My lean body mass is only 57.2%!!

I am made up of 42.8% FAT!

Wow. This discourages and scares me. 43% fat?! FAT?! Where are my muscles? gah! What am I supposed to do?! I'm freaking out here. Don't get me wrong, I"m excited to have the data... but now I'm freaked out about what to do with the information.

Does anyone else have this scale? Anyone have any tips?

Thanks!

Replies

  • AdventureFreak
    AdventureFreak Posts: 236 Member
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    Take it day by day, meal by meal, and you will make the goals you have. Focus on little measurable achievements and the big picture will fall into place.
  • daydream58
    daydream58 Posts: 572 Member
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    i was reading another thread earlier today where someone was maybe about 200ish and 47% ish and after losing only 20 or 30 lbs they had their body fat way down to like 28% so you can totally do this!

    I didn't know you could get a scale that would tell you that! I am going to go google that right now, I want one!! Talk about a great motivator to do the strength training!
  • suzi67
    suzi67 Posts: 162 Member
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    Try to get some strength training into your routine. I had lost most of my muscle mass, so most of what I was consuming turned to fat because there was nothing to burn off the calories. I have since gotten back into shape, and the weight has come off. Now my BF % averages between 20-22%.
  • TaraTLC83
    TaraTLC83 Posts: 93 Member
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    i was reading another thread earlier today where someone was maybe about 200ish and 47% ish and after losing only 20 or 30 lbs they had their body fat way down to like 28% so you can totally do this!

    I didn't know you could get a scale that would tell you that! I am going to go google that right now, I want one!! Talk about a great motivator to do the strength training!

    It's neat because it's connected to your computer over wi fi and will graph all of your data over time for you.

    I'm glad to hear that loosing the 20-30lbs brought down the fat that much...

    I know I sound insane.. but the numbers scare me. Do I have the muscle to loose weight and do this properly? What if I'm dieting wrong and loosing muscle mass instead of weight? How do I know I'm doing this right?
  • daydream58
    daydream58 Posts: 572 Member
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    I'm such a total geek - this was PERFECT for me - but I have an ICD/pacemaker so I can't use it - just confirmed on their website.

    *sniff*
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    i was reading another thread earlier today where someone was maybe about 200ish and 47% ish and after losing only 20 or 30 lbs they had their body fat way down to like 28% so you can totally do this!

    I didn't know you could get a scale that would tell you that! I am going to go google that right now, I want one!! Talk about a great motivator to do the strength training!

    It's neat because it's connected to your computer over wi fi and will graph all of your data over time for you.

    I'm glad to hear that loosing the 20-30lbs brought down the fat that much...

    I know I sound insane.. but the numbers scare me. Do I have the muscle to loose weight and do this properly? What if I'm dieting wrong and loosing muscle mass instead of weight? How do I know I'm doing this right?

    I think she was talking about me.

    I started at 210 and 47% body fat. I've lost 22 lbs (188 lbs now) and am down to 28% body fat.

    I do a whole lot of weight training and have been hitting the cardio to help burn the fat off. You CAN dramatically drop body fat, but it's hard work. It's taken about 10 months to get my BF this low.

    My workouts consist of doing heavy lifting 3 days per week with at least 100mg of protein (from lean protein sources, not shakes or powders) intake per day combined with HIIT (high impact interval training) as my cardio. I'm trying to build my endurance up enough to start running consistently.

    They key is to start lifting heavy weights (you shouldn't be able to do more than 8-10 reps without feeling like you cannot possily lift another) and to maintain a caloric deficit. Cardio will help you burn fat, but it won't do much for building muscle.

    I've been working with a trainer and my doctor to customize my workouts, and it's been really great for me. If you can afford to, try to find a good trainer who can help you reach your goals.

    Good luck to you! :smile:
  • daydream58
    daydream58 Posts: 572 Member
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    Yes. I was talking about awesome you! :)
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    Yes. I was talking about awesome you! :)

    Love ya girl :)
  • DeBiKin
    DeBiKin Posts: 107 Member
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    I'm not an expert but something doesn't seem right somehow... Unless you are only about 3'9" tall or so and/or like 90 years old. (not really, I'm just trying to illustrate). If you were that short then your goal weight would be too high. I'm about 5'7" and when I weighed 205 my fat was no where near 40%. I'm in my late 40's and my scale gives different fat readings based on the age I enter. By the way, Happy Birthday!
    It is perfectly fine to take a week off here or there, in fact, it can be a good thing to help prevent "starvation mode". Now, if that week make you gain an unreasonable amount of weight and it takes longer than a couple weeks to lose it back again, you may already be in starvation mode. If that's the case, a little research will help you find out how to reverse that. Good luck and have fun!

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