Body Fat Percentage Calculator - Eye Opener

rayneface
rayneface Posts: 219 Member
edited October 4 in Health and Weight Loss
I saw that Jamie Eason, a respected fitness model, posted a link in hopes of helping people get a better idea of what type of weight loss goals they should strive for.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php

I found it very interesting when I put in my own information. Apparently I am setting a goal weight for myself that translates to roughly 16% bodyfat. Don't get me wrong I would love to be down at that amount, it's just interesting to see that I might have to work a lot harder than anticipated to actually reach that goal.

I just thought I would pass this little tool along for those that might be interested in seeing if their weight goals are actually something realistic. In the end though it's all in how much effort we're willing to put in and how much determination we have - so those goals might not be so crazy :)

Happy Friday Everyone!
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Replies

  • bjberry
    bjberry Posts: 665 Member
    Thanks, I'll try it. Enjoy your journey. :drinker: (water)
    I am 154 and 24.9 body fat.
    154 x 0.249 = 38.346 lbs of fat on me.
    Note, I almost fit into the 21-24% body fat goal for fit folks.
    I want to lose to 142 and maintain it.
    I will figure out that info and work on it.

    Thanks again for the site! ;)
  • Justjoshin
    Justjoshin Posts: 999 Member
    I think a lot of folks believe their body fat % is much lower than what it truly is.

    I for example never expected that I could lose so much weight and maintain my muscle mass, I had/have a lot of cutting to do.
  • Heidi1987
    Heidi1987 Posts: 191 Member
    26% of me is fat! thanks for really useful tool

    :smile:
  • kh0215
    kh0215 Posts: 56 Member
    this really helped me!! thanks!
  • daniface
    daniface Posts: 338 Member
    27% of me is fat ewwwww
  • mathen2
    mathen2 Posts: 134 Member
    Thanks! I have realized that sometimes decreasing body fat percentage doesnt show directly in your weight. I have dropped a little over 3% in body fat but barely a pound. So wierd! I have had to cut down on my sugar intake drastically especially since I have a sweet tooth although I do eat it once in 2 weeks.
  • sophjakesmom
    sophjakesmom Posts: 904 Member
    Really useful tool! thanks for sharing!
  • Erindipitous
    Erindipitous Posts: 1,234 Member
    Thanks for sharing.


    Side note: I wish everyone would focus on body fat percentages rather than overall weight. Scales are so misleading.
  • blueyeb
    blueyeb Posts: 85
    Thanks for that post, it was helpful. Now.... if I only knew my current body fat percentage.

    Anyone know if the digital scales that measure body fat are accurate?
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    OK I can put in my current weight and measurements, but I don't know how to see if my goals are realistic. I know what goal weight I am going for (sort of) but I don't know what my measurements would be at that weight...
  • Hourglass25
    Hourglass25 Posts: 340 Member
    10% body fat and 126 lean body mass for me. Thanks for sharing:)
  • MissyGorman2012
    MissyGorman2012 Posts: 52
    I was shocked to discover that after losing 50 lbs a couple of years ago, I was still 40% body fat. It showed me how important the exercise portion was because some of that 50% was also muscle. :(
  • daniface
    daniface Posts: 338 Member
    this is really interesting actually, i realized my goal weight was unrealistic based on my lean body mass...more proof to pay less attention to the scale and more attention to body fat percentages
  • iFeelBrandNew
    iFeelBrandNew Posts: 263 Member
    my question is: how is height calculated? shouldnt it be? im a very tall girl, and after losing about 70 pounds, its difficult for me to understand that the final calculation of my remaining body fat is 43 pounds... im in the 'acceptable' category...
  • firedragon064
    firedragon064 Posts: 1,082 Member
    bump
  • easfahl
    easfahl Posts: 567 Member
    Thanks for the link. I'll have to plug in all my numbers when I get home with my tape measure.
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
    I don't want to make you guy depressed but that calculation is likely off by about 4-5%, too low.
  • BetterSexy
    BetterSexy Posts: 81
    Thank you for posting this... I have been wanting to get a better idea about this body fat principle.
  • jennarandhayes
    jennarandhayes Posts: 456 Member
    Thanks for the link! This is really cool.
  • Gee45
    Gee45 Posts: 171
    Thanks for the link! I knew my scale was wrong. It had me at 35% fat but using the calculations, I am 26.58%. The goal I picked awhile ago, to get to 135 works. 18% fat sounds like a good goal.
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
    I don't track scale weight. I track my body fat percentage and pounds of fat. I try to get people to see the difference between scale weight loss and fat loss. They aren't the same thing. Fat loss takes time. Scale weight loss can happen just like that. A person can lose 5 pounds of scale weight in an hour, but they can't lose 5 pounds of fat in an hour.

    I don't care about my BMI. The BMI is only the ratio between your weight and height. It will always have me as being overweight.

    I have a 6 year old body fat scale and a 2 month old Omron Handheld body fat monitor. They both give me the same body fat reading. I don't use online calculators.
  • Leanne3552000
    Leanne3552000 Posts: 395 Member
    Yay I actually fit into the fitness category :). Thanks for sharing.

    I like this website:
    http://exrx.net/Calculators/WeightBodyComp.html

    It tells you what weight you need to be to reach your goal BF% based on your current weight and BF%
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,124 Member
    I have looked at the Body Fat calculator on that site and it doesn't make sense, to me. The language of the article makes sense - i.e. aiming for 18% body fat rather than 23% body fat. But, if you plug in the statistics that the writer says the girl will be at, with 18% body fat - she still comes out at 22% body fat (not 18%). So, something is wrong in the calculator.

    For example, the body fat calculator says that I'm 25% body fat. Okay, let's say that's true (I am in the "normal" range of weight, for my height, and I'm on the low end of the "normal" BMI). In the example, if I lose 20 lbs, and make my waist 23" and my hips 33" (none of which are achievable, btw) - it still says that I have 24.5% body fat!! I mean, come on, who is 5'9", weighs 135 lbs., with a 23" waist and a 33" hip and is still 24.5% body fat??? NOBODY.
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
    Interesting. Unless I did my math wrong, and this a possibility given my current blood alcohol level, my %body fat is at 30%. The interesting part is that a little over a year (and 50ish additional lbs) ago, my trainer used calipers and determined by body fat at that point was 29%. Now as I've gone from wearing a 46in waist on my jeans down to a 38in, I somehow doubt I've actually gained fat and lost 50lbs of muscle.

    Just highlights differences in various methods, I suppose.
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
    I have looked at the Body Fat calculator on that site and it doesn't make sense, to me. The language of the article makes sense - i.e. aiming for 18% body fat rather than 23% body fat. But, if you plug in the statistics that the writer says the girl will be at, with 18% body fat - she still comes out at 22% body fat (not 18%). So, something is wrong in the calculator.

    For example, the body fat calculator says that I'm 25% body fat. Okay, let's say that's true (I am in the "normal" range of weight, for my height, and I'm on the low end of the "normal" BMI). In the example, if I lose 20 lbs, and make my waist 23" and my hips 33" (none of which are achievable, btw) - it still says that I have 24.5% body fat!! I mean, come on, who is 5'9", weighs 135 lbs., with a 23" waist and a 33" hip and is still 24.5% body fat??? NOBODY.

    Use a body fat scale or Omron handheld body fat monitor to track progress.
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
    Interesting. Unless I did my math wrong, and this a possibility given my current blood alcohol level, my %body fat is at 30%. The interesting part is that a little over a year (and 50ish additional lbs) ago, my trainer used calipers and determined by body fat at that point was 29%. Now as I've gone from wearing a 46in waist on my jeans down to a 38in, I somehow doubt I've actually gained fat and lost 50lbs of muscle.

    Just highlights differences in various methods, I suppose.

    Ok, nvm, apparently I can't do math while drunk. It would seem I'm 22% by the equation in the original link. Carry on.
  • foremant86
    foremant86 Posts: 1,115 Member
    yeah i dunno about that calculator, it puts me at 25.91% which is on the low wend of normal. I'm 207.2lbs and 5'6" so i reckon i have more body fat than that..

    Got me curious so i looked up different calculators and found this

    http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/body-fat-percentage-calculator

    Results:
    Using your measurements of a 42 inches waist and weight of 207 pounds your body fat percentage is estimated to be 33.88 % using the U.S. Army body fat algorithm, or 39.77 % using the U.S. Marine body fat algorithm, or 28.86 % using the U.S. Navy body fat algorithm, or 40.93 % using the formula developed by the YMCA.

    Seems pretty ridiculous that there is such a difference in each calculation...
  • Crowhorse
    Crowhorse Posts: 394 Member
    Am I missing something?

    From what I see, the calculations assume that you already know what your current body fat % is, then uses that knowledge to calculate using a target body fat % to know what kind of actual poundage you should/can lose reasonably.

    The point is to do this based on body fat % rather than just blindly throwing a weight loss number out there that you think is desireable, but which may actually be detrimental if you are determined to lose it, regardless.

    Yet I see lots of people saying it's telling them what their current % is. Either I am misinterpreting it, or some of the other people are.
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
    Am I missing something?

    From what I see, the calculations assume that you already know what your current body fat % is, then uses that knowledge to calculate using a target body fat % to know what kind of actual poundage you should/can lose reasonably.

    The point is to do this based on body fat % rather than just blindly throwing a weight loss number out there that you think is desireable, but which may actually be detrimental if you are determined to lose it, regardless.

    Yet I see lots of people saying it's telling them what their current % is. Either I am misinterpreting it, or some of the other people are.

    There's a link at the bottom of the page that leads to the equation for figuring your % body fat.
  • Silverkittycat
    Silverkittycat Posts: 1,997 Member
    Ok, nvm, apparently I can't do math while drunk. It would seem I'm 22% by the equation in the original link. Carry on.

    I'm 25%! :D

    Then again, a few years back (10!) I was done twice within 6 weeks and the numbers were totally different. At USF Medical, so you'd think they'd be somewhat accurate, but no.

    I like mirrors. :wink:
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