There's no way I'm 33% body fat ?(I'm more..??)

Romans624
Romans624 Posts: 822
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a very humbling "share" -

I'm trying to figure out if my body fat percentage was calculated accurately by this site. It seems like it gives me way too much lean mass. There has to be more fat than what they said (90 lbs, I weigh 269). Does anyone know of if it is accurate or a reliable way to get body fat percentage at home with a tape measure?

The site

http://www.healthcentral.com/cholesterol/home-body-fat-test-2774-143.html/

My (sad) Measurements:

269.8 lbs
calf 18.5 in
thigh 30 in
wrist 6.5 in
hips 53 in

It calculated that I have:

33.5% Body Fat
90.1 LBS of Fat
178.9 lbs Lean Mass(water, muscle, etc)

This doesn't seem possible to me. I have never seen someone 5"8 & 1/2 look ALL MUSCLE at 180 lbs!
«1

Replies

  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
    Bump plz Anyone know? =)
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    No way to know with internet site.

    <
    give me 30% fat.


    I say have a test done by professionals or just don't worry about it for now
  • jesilee7692
    jesilee7692 Posts: 11
    I bought a Weight Watchers scale from Wal-Mart. It measure fat% water weight, bone mass.... I dont know if it 100% accurate, but I use it as a guide to help me...
  • SelkieDiver
    SelkieDiver Posts: 260 Member
    That doesn't sound right at all. I'm 5'6", and last time I weighed in on the fancy scale at our gym (Tania scale, does body fat%, water weight, lean muscle mass) is was at 34.9% BF, 104.2 lbs Fat free mass and 76.4 lbs water.
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
    No way to know with internet site.

    <
    give me 30% fat.


    I say have a test done by professionals or just don't worry about it for now

    Yeah, its really bizarre. Looking at you, I'm probably 130 lbs more than you are. (just guessing). The other thing I need to figure out is how much protein to have for my mass to not lose muscle when I lose weight. I guess I"ll just consider this a rough estimate since I probably won't end up making an appointment for the right kind of doctor, but will look into who does it.

    Thanks :)
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
    That doesn't sound right at all. I'm 5'6", and last time I weighed in on the fancy scale at our gym (Tania scale, does body fat%, water weight, lean muscle mass) is was at 34.9% BF, 104.2 lbs Fat free mass and 76.4 lbs water.

    Yeah. Because I used to weigh 150 a long time ago(and I had some fat on me!). Now I'm 269. Sure, I bet I have more muscle mass now since I have to lug 269 lbs around with me every day, but still.

    I guess the only concern is I do want to keep the muscle I have, but don't know how much protein to eat for that. I guess I'll see a trainer or something.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    When I was trying to figure mine out, I did calculations on five or six different sites. I remember that one was way lower than the others; I can't recall if it was the one you tried but I do know that was one of the ones I used. Try a few other sites to calculate it (just googling should find you several) and see how they all compare.
  • glennstoudt
    glennstoudt Posts: 403 Member
    It's not a major factor for you right now. Focus on your program for fitness and weight loss, and the body fat percent number will drop.
    If you would like to use bf percent as a marker, then get a scale or a hand held BF percent calculator. The internet sites are not accurate. Good luck. As you lose weight your Bf percent will dramatically reduce over time. It does not happen fast, so you may not wish to measure more than once every few weeks.
  • deniseearheart
    deniseearheart Posts: 919 Member
    I bought a Weight Watchers scale from Wal-Mart. It measure fat% water weight, bone mass.... I dont know if it 100% accurate, but I use it as a guide to help me...





    oooooo I need to get one of those.. I hold a lot of water weight
  • IveLanded
    IveLanded Posts: 797 Member
    Yeah it doesn't seem right to me, but my guess is that if it's a website calculation, it's being really conservative.

    I am 5'6" and at 186lbs my body fat percentage was 36%.
  • IamL
    IamL Posts: 69 Member
    This website has three different body fat calculators. I don't know how accurate they are (since I don't have a tape measure to try it myself), but they might be more reliable than the one you used. http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

    Let me know if it gives you a different answer than the other one you used! :)
  • darrcn5
    darrcn5 Posts: 495 Member
    I don't think that is accurate. I have one of those scales that track it, and mine says I am at 33% body fat. I am 5'8 and 175 pounds.
  • Cmonnowguys
    Cmonnowguys Posts: 361 Member
    ETA: I checked out that calculator and it is way off. I'm 5'6 and 27% bf, but it gave me 21%.

    This one would probably be much more accurate:
    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/

    Lean mass includes muscle, bones, organs, water. If you actually were 178 lbs of LBM now at 269 lbs, when you lose weight your LBM will also go down anyway along with your fat percentage (assuming you lose mainly fat), so you wouldn't be 180 lbs of muscle.

    To lose mainly fat you would have to do some form of heavy weight lifting to maintain muscle and much of your LBM and burn fat. If you choose to do just cardio, you will lose a mix of fat and muscle and your LBM will decrease by more, which means the ratio of fat to LBM may stay the same. Ie: If you lose 50 lbs without strength training and adequate protein, your body fat may be almost the same as when you started because you have lost muscle.
  • trm981
    trm981 Posts: 42 Member
    The most accurate calculator I have found for me is: http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bf/

    All the other ones I have tried have given me around 21% which I know is wrong. The one you listed gave me 19.6% which is sure as hell wrong! But in the end they are all estimates. Getting it done professionally is probably the best bet if you want to know the exact number. Body Fat scales are notoriously inaccurate for exact numbers but can help you track if your body fat is decreasing.
  • jennkain97
    jennkain97 Posts: 290 Member
    I would have to say that unless you've been doing a lot of lifting, the site you used is wrong. Go to your local gym and see if you can get a trainer measure your BF%. Once you have that number and calculated your lean muscle mass, eat 1g protein/ lb lean muscle mass daily -- more if you will be doing any lifting.
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
    This website has three different body fat calculators. I don't know how accurate they are (since I don't have a tape measure to try it myself), but they might be more reliable than the one you used. http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

    Let me know if it gives you a different answer than the other one you used! :)

    28.3% it says (their original calculator)

    Thing is though, my waist is not at my navel like it says. I have a very, very obvious waist. My stomach is big and it goes down below my hips. So there's that. My hip measurement is not including my tummy that is kind of overlapping that area you know? But even then, I don't think it goes above 35%.

    I have a weird shaped body though. I'm sort of pear/apple/hourglass not sure.
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
    ETA: I checked out that calculator and it is way off. I'm 5'6 and 27% bf, but it gave me 21%.

    This one would probably be much more accurate:
    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/

    Lean mass includes muscle, bones, organs, water. If you actually were 178 lbs of LBM now at 269 lbs, when you lose weight your LBM will also go down anyway along with your fat percentage (assuming you lose mainly fat), so you wouldn't be 180 lbs of muscle.

    To lose mainly fat you would have to do some form of heavy weight lifting to maintain muscle and much of your LBM and burn fat. If you choose to do just cardio, you will lose a mix of fat and muscle and your LBM will decrease by more, which means the ratio of fat to LBM may stay the same. Ie: If you lose 50 lbs without strength training and adequate protein, your body fat may be almost the same as when you started because you have lost muscle.

    THIS makes a lot of sense. When people lose weight, they often lose some of everything, not just fat. Makes sense. I definitely want to lose weight as the priority, but since I do HAVE some muscle I should try to keep it.


    Thanks to everyone who helped out!! I will try to eat a lot of protein, find out exactly how much protein that should be, and do some weightl ifting with my cardio.
  • kwin91
    kwin91 Posts: 128
    Well I would start off eating like 100 mgs of protein. You're supposed to eat like 1 mg for every lean pound of muscle. And if you want to build muscle then do strength training. I would look up a body fat calculator and take all your measurements. Just make sure its a calculator or women because we have hips. And once you figure that out you can figure out your water weight and then your lean body mass. Then you can truly know how many grams of protein you need a day.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
    Honestly? don't even worry about it right now. (but for the record, it *COULD* be right - everyone loses lean body mass when they lose weight, and the heavier you are the more of it you will lose. Its impossible to prevent 100%)

    You're overweight, you know it, and you're going to lose it. Eat at least your minimum protein (assume that calculator is right eat 125 grams or protein -- 1.5 grams x your LBM in kgs) and do resistance training 3x a week and just keep it up.

    These days I take the view that people are overly obsessed with magical numbers - magical measurements, magical scale weights, magical bodyfat amounts. In the end no matter WHAT those numbers say you have to do what you know is right (eat the right amounts of hte right things, exercise, strength training) and you'll have to keep doing it to get your body looking the way you want. Its not that those numbers aren't useful, but people get hung up on particular values.

    (and re: that calculator, it puts me at 22% which is very kind of it but based on my own visual assessment I'd say I'm somewhere around 25.)
  • jenniferlmartinez
    jenniferlmartinez Posts: 95 Member
    Back in 2006 I weighed 165 and wore a size 9/10 dress pant. I went to CURVES 6 days a week and walked at least 4 miles everyday. my bmi was 24.1. I dont know if this helps you or not.
  • chm2616
    chm2616 Posts: 434 Member
    You should check out the calculators on this page! http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

    2 of the BF tests told me 26% and the other 23%. Not sure if either are correct, but maybe they will give you a number that's a bit more acurate!

    Good luck!
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
    I will shoot for around 125 grams of protein a day, (I'm doing higher protein right now anyway) and will do a weight training component in addition to my walking,cardio, and eating well.

    Thanks !!! =)
  • CassieReannan
    CassieReannan Posts: 1,479 Member
    I have a scale that measures body fat, bone and water mass.
    I am 227lb (103.3kg) 5'5 and am currently 38.7% body fat, 43% water and 7.7% bone mass.

    According to this:

    Hips: 43 inches
    Calf: 15.5 inches
    Thigh: 28 inches
    Wrist: 6.5 inches

    You have 32.9% body fat.

    You have 33.9 Kilograms of fat and 69.1 Kilograms of lean (muscle, bone, body water).

    Obviously scale is wrong!
  • Hmrjmr1
    Hmrjmr1 Posts: 1,106 Member
    For those on here that don't know me, I'm a Former Army Master Fitness Trainer and calculating BF% was a major part of what we had to do. The least accurate method is the tape measure test, (the Armies was the worst of the worst), The most accurate is water displacement but a place to do it and trained people are hard to find, The Caliper test is next best and is accurate generally within .5% if the operator is well trained and proficient, Check with a doc or dietician, some Trainers know how as well but it takes practice to be proficient, the next best are the scales mention useing electic impluse, generally accurate within say, 5-7%. Key with them is they are consitantly inaccurate so if its off by 5% it will generally be off by that much each time so you get a good realative picture over time. Your 33% number is feasable, 5'8 1/2 and 180 or so is not outside of healthy range IF you are physically fit.
  • flslp87
    flslp87 Posts: 175 Member
    Put body fat calculator into google and there are a couple of choices that pop up. I too have a WW scale and it is not completely accurate but not totally off either. I used one that I had to measure weight, waist, hips, wrist and forearm, i think.....gave me a place to start anyway..
  • TheFunBun
    TheFunBun Posts: 793 Member
    That one you originally used is about 6% lower than my current BF%.
  • DeltaGirl9708
    DeltaGirl9708 Posts: 5 Member
    Love your tracker photo!! I'm little homesick, so I used one of my Chicago photos and a runner, because I envision myself running back home. :D
  • Skinny_Bella
    Skinny_Bella Posts: 43 Member
    I have no idea what my actual BF% is, but I used the one the OP posted, and it said I had 15.1% body fat. At 195(5'4), I'm PRETTY sure it's not 15.1%. That's in the Top Athletes range on their little chart. I can guarantee I sure as heck am not a top athlete.
    I also tried the fat2fitradio one(actually two different ones) and the next one I got was 26.1% body fat, and the other one I did I got 15.1% body fat again...so I don't know. My best bet would just be going and getting it done at the gym...
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/637094-cinderella-s-weight-loss-knowledge?show=search
    I went into pretty good detail in the body fat lean mass section. Basically it depends which standared you go by. I've been everywhere from around 17-26%

    The measure method is awful. It assumes everyone carries their weight in the same spots. I know a girl who carries a lot of weight in her elbows...the top of her arms are actually smaller. Shes probably going to get a low reading just because of things like that...plus...you are measuring everything that way, not fat. I dont think anyone can run around stating they are a certain percent bevause there is just no standard and even the most accurate methods have weird sources of error. You could be read twice in a row and get a different reading.
  • Reignofmongo
    Reignofmongo Posts: 137
    Best way to find out is to post a picture and have someone with experience with bodybuilding or fitness make an educated guess... As far as the internet goes anyway.

Categories