how did i GAIN body fat?!?!

kaseyAnne425
kaseyAnne425 Posts: 230
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I have a scale that measures body fat and when I started my journey a month ago, I was 33% body fat.. well, since ive started, ive lost close to 9 pounds and this morning the scale read 39%... HOW?! I'm eating wayyyy less, and WAY healthier, and rarely go over my fat..

Replies

  • NKF92879
    NKF92879 Posts: 601 Member
    Are you doing any strength training? If not, you might be losing fat AND muscle mass.
  • 714rah714
    714rah714 Posts: 759 Member
    Those scales are notoriously bad, wouldn't worry about that number whatsoever and keep on doing what your doing.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    I have a scale that measures body fat and when I started my journey a month ago, I was 33% body fat.. well, since ive started, ive lost close to 9 pounds and this morning the scale read 39%... HOW?! I'm eating wayyyy less, and WAY healthier, and rarely go over my fat..

    Sometimes those scales that measure bodyfat can be inaccurate.

    Take a quite glance through the following article:

    http://ask.yahoo.com/20040129.html
  • Kirsty_UK
    Kirsty_UK Posts: 964 Member
    A few points here

    1) Body fat measurements can be quite inaccurate (no matter what method is used)
    2) Body fat % isn't the same as an absolute measure of your body fat weight/amount, it is an amount RELATIVE to the rest of your body make up
    3) this means that a) your % might not have actually gone up (inaccurate measurements), or b) if it has, that you haven't actually put on fat, what you have done though, is lose some muscle
    4) the amount of fat in your diet isn't directly proportional to losing/putting on fat - ultimately, this is down to the overall calorie intake, the type of exercise you do, and all sorts of other factors. Eating enough of the right sort of fats (not saturated or trans fats) is good for you.

    Say you have really lost muscle, the way to combat this, is to make sure to do strength training/weight training, so that whilst on a calorie deficit, your body keeps the muscle, and loses the fat.
  • mamitosami
    mamitosami Posts: 531 Member
    Yeah, don't be discouraged, those scales are really not that accurate from what I've read and heard. They are a decent gauge over time, but don't be thrown off by it. I have read that it matters how much water you've got in your system. Keep doing what you are doing.... and take measurements that's the best gauge of your progress... good luck and keep at it.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    Those scales measure conductivity so are affected by hydration levels and the amount of food in your system. Try and do it under the same conditions each time.

    If you haven't started already, take tape measure body measurements as the best way of measuring progress.
  • mamitosami
    mamitosami Posts: 531 Member
    Great answer Kirsty...
  • Kirsty_UK
    Kirsty_UK Posts: 964 Member
    Those scales measure conductivity so are affected by hydration levels and the amount of food in your system. Try and do it under the same conditions each time.

    Also a very good point - try measuring first thing in the morning, before drinking anything, and do this each time.
  • lady_in_weighting
    lady_in_weighting Posts: 196 Member
    chances are that if you are eating less than your daily recommended calorie intake then your body has lost muscle weight, not fat weight. if you eat under your calories then your body goes into a sort of starvation mode where it will eat your muscle supply and keep fat for energy storage.
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    I have a scale that measures body fat and when I started my journey a month ago, I was 33% body fat.. well, since ive started, ive lost close to 9 pounds and this morning the scale read 39%... HOW?! I'm eating wayyyy less, and WAY healthier, and rarely go over my fat..

    I just glanced at a couple of days of your diary but I didn't see any exercise calories. If you aren't working out you will lose muscle there for you BF will go up. And you need to eat all of your calories. Eating 1200 and less will help you to lose more muscle.
  • jacquirich
    jacquirich Posts: 105 Member
    Are you dehydrated, it measures electrical impedience, so if your water levels are low it will misread and raise the body fat reading
  • chooklady
    chooklady Posts: 47 Member
    Those scales are not that good. I had the same experience after the first 5 weeks and all I can say is chuck them and use a measuring tape plus scale.
  • salxtai
    salxtai Posts: 341 Member
    Dehydration will affect your reading.

    +1 for measuring tape + scale.
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
    I have a scale that measures body fat and when I started my journey a month ago, I was 33% body fat.. well, since ive started, ive lost close to 9 pounds and this morning the scale read 39%... HOW?! I'm eating wayyyy less, and WAY healthier, and rarely go over my fat..

    Are you the only person that uses the scale? Are you picking your setting? When confirming your setting, make sure you aren't going to fast, because a person can make a mistake and hit the button fast and choose the wrong gender or even change their age or height.

    Here's the formula to use see how much of your scale weight is from fat and how much is from lean body mass.

    Weight x Body fat percentage = Pounds of fat
    Weight - Pounds of fat = Pounds of lean body mass

    The pounds of fat is not the amount of fat or scale weight a person needs to lose. The pounds of lean body mass is the requirement for the body. A person doesn't want that number to decrease, but either to remain the same or increase.

    I have a body fat scale and Omron handheld body fat monitor. I trust both of them.

    There's more information that I can share about body fat percentage, but I will stop right here.
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