how do you measure your body fat percentage?

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bartleby9
bartleby9 Posts: 30
in Health and Weight Loss
I know how to get my BMI already. How do you measure your body fat percentage?

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  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 3,019 Member
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    i went on fat2fit.com it's only a estimate!
  • dlwyatt82
    dlwyatt82 Posts: 1,077 Member
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    I chop it all off with scissors, and weigh it on the bathroom scale.

    (I don't measure BF%, other than the odd time that my doctor wants to use calipers or one of those electrical thingies.)
  • shamr0ck
    shamr0ck Posts: 296 Member
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    quarterly DEXA scans
  • mrbunsrocks
    mrbunsrocks Posts: 53 Member
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    I have a scale that purports to measure body fat. I know it's definitely not the most accurate method, but it's consistent and accessible, so I'm sticking with it for now. :)
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Fat 2 Fit works well. Just remember that the more measure spots you have the better the estimate.
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    i went on fat2fit.com it's only a estimate!

    mee too & also the BIA scales in my gym, too bad we don't have calipers there
  • ChrisRS87
    ChrisRS87 Posts: 781 Member
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    I use a picture comparison. Saw a bunch of pictures outlining what 4-20% looks like and was able to figure where I was based on those.
  • mike_littlerock
    mike_littlerock Posts: 296 Member
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    I get a DEXA scan every 6 months. another poster said quarterly, but the radiology group that runs the scan at one of the local hospitals will only do it every 6 months. The DEXA is the gold standard for body fat testing (YES, more accurate than the water tests) and the report is pretty amazing. The facility I use has a GE Proxima machine and that report is about 7 pages and has TONS of data, even giving you the breakdown of fat/muscle/bone-tissue by limb, as well as bone density results.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    I have a body composition monitor at home (fancy bathroom scale) that has hand grips as well as the foot pads to measure my BF%. It also gives out a lot of other information, such as my BMR, which is more accurate than what an on line calculator could give me.

    I read an article written by someone who tested various BCMs and found this one to be the most accurate (off by about 2%).

    It's the OMRON HBF-500. Cost me $60 CAD, on sale!
  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
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    Buy 15 dollar body fat calipers on Amazon?
  • channa007
    channa007 Posts: 419 Member
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    For men, all measurements in inches:

    %Fat = 86.010*LOG(abdomen measurement - neck measurement) - 70.041*LOG(height) + 36.76


    For women, all measurements in inches:

    %Fat = 163.205*LOG(abdomen measurement + hip measurement - neck measurement) - 97.684*LOG(height) - 78.387
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    For men, all measurements in inches:

    %Fat = 86.010*LOG(abdomen measurement - neck measurement) - 70.041*LOG(height) + 36.76


    For women, all measurements in inches:

    %Fat = 163.205*LOG(abdomen measurement + hip measurement - neck measurement) - 97.684*LOG(height) - 78.387

    but how come I got 1,802% using that formula? LOL
  • nheilweil
    nheilweil Posts: 82 Member
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    Withings scale -- expensive but it rocks! Got mine at the Apple Store.

    it's WiFi enabled, so after displaying your weight, BF %, it and sends that data to it's website which then automatically shares data with tons of other sites, such as RunKeeper and Fitbit. Unfortunately, there's not MFP support yet :-( but supposedly it's in the works. There's also an iPhone app, and both the app and site show trend lines for how you've done over time. Very convenient. My home scale was 1% different from a water dunk test I did.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    Calipers are popular but the person really needs to be experienced at using them.

    I have a scale that shows bf% and body water %.

    I have an Omron Handheld BodyFat Analyzer that shows bf% and BMI (BMI means nothing - body builders are considered obese).

    They differ by about 4% (My guess is the scale is reading more of my lower half and the handheld is reading more of my upper half). I know they're not exact but I have been able to measure progress.

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