Reduce body fat % ?

Lift weights and eat your calorie maintenance.

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So what is the most accurate body fat % test? I had one done last June by a fitness professional using electrodes and it showed my bf to be 24%. I recently had a test done on some fancy scale by a dietician and it showed my bf as 31.7%. I just about cried as I'm down two sizes since June and have been working my butt off. I asked the dietician how the difference could be so large and she basically said, different tests give different results! I plan to go back for the same test after the summer to see the difference but I still have no idea what my bf% really is.

Blueberry09, for the electrodes test, how did the person test your body fat percentage: did you have to hold something or stand on something? How much did you weigh with a 24% body fat percentage and how much did you weigh with a 31.7% body fat percentage? How were you eating? I know you that eating plays an important role in decreasing or increasing body fat percentage.

My weight has pretty much stayed the same since last June. I'm on a major plateau even though ive lost inches. And no, I wasn't holding anything - it was kind of similar to the heart test the doctor asks for every year. The two different tests also produced two different BMRs - one 1605 and the other 1411. More confusion!

Okay, the fitness professional has given you a test similar to an EKG. Where did they put the electrodes on you? I didn't know that electrodes can tell how much fat is in your body.

You wanted to know what's your true body fat percentage? I would go with 31.7%. If you have a gym membership, ask them how much it would cost for you to get a body fat percentage test. Most gyms uses calipers and some uses the Omron Handheld Body Fat monitor like I have and if the gym uses both, ask them to use the monitor. The monitor's result should be the same or close to the body fat scale's result. You can take both numbers and add them up then divide it by two. That will be your body fat percentage and that number will match or be close to either of the devices, most likely the scale's number.

If you can, invest in a body fat scale and if you already have a scale and don't want to buy another one, then invest in a Omron handheld body fat monitor.

As someone who has been working with clients on fat loss for several years, my recommendations would be to combine heavy weight training (weights you can lift for no more then 5-6 reps without losing form and doing 3-5 sets of each exercise with a 2-4 minute rest between sets and a variety of exercises for the total body without repeating the same muscle group two days in a row) followed by cardio to get the most fat burn for your exercise time. Circuit training, resistance for endurance (light weight and high repetition), toning classes, etc. are great for working the type one muscle fibers that are needed for those types of activities, but the heavy weights are needed to work the type 2 muscle fibers that are what have to be worked so they aren't broken down and burned in place of fat during the workouts. The cardio after working those type two fibers from heavy weight training will burn primarily body fat because the muscle glycogen will have been mostly used by the weights first. As for nutrition, the 1200 calorie rule is not accurate for everyone. In fact, it is not accurate for most people. Ideally, to burn fat while maintaining or even gaining lean tissue (yes you can gain lean tissue on a deficit but it is additional glycogen storage that is needed to fuel the heavy weights not muscle fibers for the first 4-6 months), I recommend finding an estimate of your total daily energy expenditure that is determined based on your body composition, activity level, and exercise and eating no less then 80% of that. So, if you add your BMR and activity not counting exercise and your exercise Calories burned and get a TDEE of 2000 Calories for the day, then you should eat no less then 1600 Calories that day so that the body doesn't look to muscle for Calories to burn instead of body fat. If you need help figuring your Calorie needs, PM me and I'll be glad to figure it for you.

Hi Tonya,

Just out of curiosity, your recommendation to eat 80% of TDEE, is that before or after exercise? In other words, should my total calories or net calories be at 80% of TDEE?

Forget the whole Net thing. That's a construct of MFP. Depending on which formula you use, you will either have a TDEE estimate that includes exercise or one that doesn't. MFP uses one that doesn't and sets your goal based on one or two pounds per week loss instead of 80% of TDEE. I personally set my goal calories at maintenance and then let MFP add the exercise calories then figure 80% of the total with or without exercise. That sounds confusing, I'm sure, so here's an example to help you see it.

If Maintenance is 2000 calories and the person doesn't exercise, then 2000 x 0.8 = 1600 MINIMUM Calories. So that person should consume somewhere between 1600 and 2000 Calories that day. Notice that even if they eat at the minimum, there is only a 400 Calorie deficit, so not even a pound a week loss. If they then exercise and burn 500 Calories, then the new TDEE is 2500 Calories. 2500 x 0.8 = 2000 MINIMUM Calories. So on this day, the person should consume between 2000 and 2500 Calories. If they are exactly on point eating the minimum, that is only 1 pound a week loss. If this person sets their goal at 2 pounds per week loss, then MFP would automatically give them a 1200 Calorie plan, which will promote weight loss, but not fat loss because it is too much of a deficit. So, this person should set their goal at 2000 calories so that MFP will automatically add those exercise Calories for them and then they only have to do one calculation daily. After they exercise, they should multiply their total Calorie Goal by 0.8 and make sure they consume at least that much that day.

So what is the most accurate body fat % test? I had one done last June by a fitness professional using electrodes and it showed my bf to be 24%. I recently had a test done on some fancy scale by a dietician and it showed my bf as 31.7%. I just about cried as I'm down two sizes since June and have been working my butt off. I asked the dietician how the difference could be so large and she basically said, different tests give different results! I plan to go back for the same test after the summer to see the difference but I still have no idea what my bf% really is.

Okay, first of all, both of the tests you did were Bio-Electrical Impedance tests. The one with the electrodes on the hand and foot are the most accurate BEI. (Some people use the abbreviation of BIA for Bio-Electrical Impedance Analysis, but I use the abbreviation that my professors used in my Bachelors, but it's the same thing if you see it as BIA elsewhere.) The reason for this is because BEI uses an electrical current going through the body to determine body fat. The faster the current moves the lower the body fat. Because the electrodes are placed on the hand and the foot, the current goes though one side of the body instead of through either the top or bottom half. With the handheld monitors, the current goes through the upper portion of the body from hand to hand. This can throw off the reading and make it appear smaller if most of your body fat is in the hips and thighs. It can also throw it off and make it appear like you have more body fat if you have large breasts and very little body fat elsewhere in the body. The scales are similar in that the electrical current goes from foot to foot and runs through the hips, thighs, and abdomen. If you are pear shaped and carry all your body fat there, then they will estimate a higher body fat then is accurate. If you are apple shaped, then they will estimate a lower body fat then is accurate. It sounds to me like you are pear shaped and the dietitians scale is over estimating your body fat because of it.

As for what is most accurate, the gold standard is hydrostatic weighing. Basically, it works on the principle that fat will float since it is less dense then water so when you are weighed underwater, you are weighing lean only. Lean tissue will displace more water then fat tissue because of the density of each. DEXA is being considered by many as the new gold standard in that it is literally pictures of the body and estimates of body fat based on measurements of the pictures. The drawback to DEXA is that it is very expensive and usually only available in hospitals or large universities. (My school just got a DEXA and I volunteered to come in and be their practice dummy for the class behind me so that I have the opportunity to learn to use it since they didn't have it when I was in class there.) Bod Pod is similar to hydrostatic weighing in that it is a measurement of air displacement instead of water displacement. It has been shown to be accurate to within +/- 2-4% when compared to both hydrostatic weighing and DEXA.

BEI is the next most accurate if it is done with the electrodes at the hand and foot (+/- 2.7% compared to hydrostatic weighing). If it is the handheld or scale (+/- 3.5%), the accuracy is about the same as skinfolds done by a trained professional. Skinfolds are great in that they can be an inexpensive option and are pretty accurate (+/- 3.5% when compared to hydrostatic weighing) if done by a trained professional. The drawback to skinfolds is that if you have someone who hasn't been trained and practiced in how to use them, then they can be as much as 12% off. Circumference measurements that are then calculated into a body fat percentage are considered the least accurate, but are often the cheapest to do.

Regardless of which method you choose to use, the best practice is to pick one method and stick with it. Track the changes over time as opposed to being super focused on the total number if you are using a method that isn't considered very accurate (IE: circumferences).

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Excuse my ignorance, but what is TDEE?

Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It's the total of your basal metabolic rate (BMR), normal daily activity not counting exercise, energy cost of digestion of food (Yes, you burn calories digesting your food. Protein burns more then carbs which burn more then fat.), and planned exercise. The energy cost of digestion is already accounted for in the estimation of Calories from foods. We figure protein at 4 Calories per gram when it is actually around 5.5 Calories per gram (Sorry, I don't have my books in front of me to give you the exact number on that but it is close to 5.5 or 5.6.) so the decrease in Calories calculated when we look at the grams of protein ingested accounts for the amount of energy required to break it down. Same with carbs and fat. MFP uses a formula to estimate the RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate, when the term is used as resting from your exercise plan, not complete bed rest as that is BMR) which is the BMR and the normal daily activity not counting exercise. If you don't exercise, then your TDEE is the maintenance Calorie estimate that MFP gives you. If you exercise, then MFP adds the exercise Calories to your calorie goal for the day giving you a new TDEE.

This, within itself, makes sense to me. However... MFP calculates my BMR (using the tool) at a little below 1800 calories. Then when I allow MFP to auto-set my calories based on my goals, weight, height, etc. it sets it at 1210 calories. This is where the confusion comes in. I have ppl on forums saying that I sould never eat below my BMR, which is slightly below 1800 according to the tool on that same forum. But the site itself telling me to eat far below that number. What am I to think or do? I'm no expert at this. I just want to lose weight an be healthy and not take a million years to do it. There's just too much conflicting info out there.