So a few years ago I decided I wanted to avoid all the heart and cardiovascular disease and other health problems that run rampant in my family, and dropped 80 pounds. I wanted to get healthy. I thought I was...
Until this morning, when I did my first "real" measurements in a long time and plugged them into this body fat calculator...found it online. My measurements of 27 inches at the narrowest point of my waist, 31.5 inches at the belly button, 24 inches at the widest part of my hips and 12 inches for my neck, along with 6 inches for my wrist and 7.5 inches for my forearm (plugged into TWO different calculators)...came out with about 30% body fat.
Just 1% from OBESE, with high risk for all the problems I'd wanted to avoid. And don't even get me started on the fact that my WAIST is wider than my HIPS.
I don't know if it's because of the loose skin I carry or what...just kinda upset about it. Sorry for whining...just had to rant because the husband doesn't understand at ALL.
Mindi, sending you lots of s because I completely and totally understand your frustrations. I also understand the "DH doesn't understand", b/c my boyfriend, though supportive, also just doesn't get my fitness struggles and stresses at all! I'm also in the "overweight" BMI category, hard to believe it when I used to be 50 lbs more. These are the things I try to tell myself when I get upset about it:
First of all, it's important to remember that those fitness calculators are guides. They are not necessarily right. Especially for people who work out and carry more muscle tone. They can't really accurately measure your body composition, only a caliper test or one of those pool-dip-tests can really measure YOUR body composition.
For every study that says having an "overweight" BMI puts you at a higher risk for x, y, and z horrible diseases, there is a study that says "losing just 5 (or 10, etc.)% of your body weight reduces the risk of x, y, and z diseases"... remember how much you have reduced your risk already, and congratulate yourself for that!
Think about how much your healthier eating habits are improving your health. You know you eat more broccoli (or carrots or... I'm just guessing here what you eat!) than french fries and that's good for your health. Think about how much better you feel! You are being good to your body, and your mind, with all of your healthy lifestyle changes. Do not discount all of that because of some silly online calculator!
Mindi, are you sure you measured correctly? I'm looking at the photo of you in your sig, and it certainly doesn't look like your waist is bigger than your hips. 24" hips is extremely tiny! When you measure your hips, you should also be going around the fattest part of your butt. I am guessing the calculators gave you that number based on waist to hip ratio, and with that tiny hip measurement it's off.
That said, almost every single way of calculating body fat % other than putting you in a dunk tank is inaccurate. A calculator online is probably the least accurate of all! If you really want to know your BF%, get it checked by a pro.
Hopefully I measured wrong...I'll try it again later just for some peace of mind.
I know the online calculators are probably less reliable than anything...but they're kinda my only option for gauging that type of thing....I'll try not to take them so seriously because, like y'all said, there's a LOT the don't take into account...
Mindi, an online body fat calculator is worthless. A surface measurement can't in any way reveal what's beneath your skin. How can a tape measure tell if it's lying on top of inches of fat or inches of muscle? It can't.
If you want to find out what your body comp really is, go to a gym and ask a trainers there to take it with a nine site caliper test. If that's not an option, consider a scale (like Tanita) or hand held body fat calculator (like Omron).
I once played around with one of those online sites and even when I pretended I had a 17 inch waist, it insisted that my body fat couldn't be below 20% (which it was). Forget it, ignore it, don't give it another thought. It isn't measuring YOU!
PS -- definitely re-measure your hips. No one but an 8-year old has 24-inch hips at the widest part. I bet it was 34, which is a very nice number.
Mindi - there is no way your hips at their widest point were 24.
Looking at your pic I would say your measurements are similar to mine - I get 26.5-27 at the waist, 30-30.5 at the poochy abdomen, 35 at the hips. I was going to suggest the same scale or hand held devices Meg recommended. I also have my own caliper, but it only tells me to test one place, so I don't know if it is different from that is used for the 9-point test Meg mentions or not.
And the online body fat calculator is definitely high.
ETA - I just found a site showing the nine points to test, and they were using calipers that looked just like mine. Mine are Accumeasure I think, got them on Amazon.com.
ETA2: I just did three different online calculators with measurements - one came in at 19.72%, one said either 20.2% or 26.9% depending on what formula I used, the other said 32.05% and sent me to a diet website. All with the same measurements. My Tanita scale said 20.2% this morning, goes between 19.5-20.8% depending on my hydration level. So yeah, inconsistent results.
I would recommend a scale, Omron or set of calipers.
Last edited by Shannon in ATL; 03-08-2010 at 02:58 PM.
Calipers are inexpensive and a lot more accurate than an online calculator! The number of sites for the test is just how many pinches you take in different locations. There are one, three, four and nine site ways to measure. Generally, the more sites you check, the more accurate it is. But I've read that a one site at the triceps is usually right on target. Is that where you test, Shannon?
At least with a caliper you're actually testing your what lies under the skin, instead of just laying a tape measure on the top!
Meg - my calipers have you test the suprailic fold, about an inch above the hip bone, and it always comes back a little higher than my scale says. I've been googling around since I first read this thread looking for other sites to check, as i don't feel the abdomen is the best one for me. That is where I have my most annoying pocket of fat that I don't think is ever going anywhere. Thanks for the tricep info! I'll try it tonight.
And Mindi - I think I paid $12 for my calipers. I also have the Fit & Healthy one hand measuring tape, $7 or so. Both from Amazon.
Last edited by Shannon in ATL; 03-08-2010 at 03:04 PM.
I think we all have that one stubborn area where the fat just won't leave! For me, it's my calves. So if I did a one-site test on my calf, I'd probably measure about 50% body fat.
Way back in the fall of 2002, our gym held a contest to see who could drop the most BF in three months. The head trainer measured everyone with a nine-site caliper test, which includes the calf as a measurement site. I remember that I had less than 3mm of fat on eight sites and 16 mm on my calves. Big difference! I still came out at 12.5% body fat, which was fun for the three days that I could sustain it (it's a totally unsustainable number, at least for me).
Shannon, check out three and four site tests. They might give you a much better picture of your true body comp.
I think I know how you got the 24" measurement. Most tape measures are 60", so I bet you read from the 60" side rather than the 0" side. 60-24 = 36, which, with a waist measurement of 27, gives you a FABULOUS figure!
Those online fat calculators are meaningless. Don't even bother.
I agree with the others- there is no way your hips are 24 and your waist 27- the hips must be 34 or something. Even my sister who is 120 freaking pounds has larger hips than a 24! And clearly in your photos you have a well-defined waist If what you measured was right you'd look round lol.
And pat yourself on the back- you have done so much for your health already
Oh Mindi, I am so certain that what you set out to do - greatly reduce your risk of some very debilitating diseases has MORE than been accomplished.
I'm in complete agreement with everyone else. The tape measure is a poor indicator of body fat measurement AND there's no way that those hips of yours could be 24". Hellloooo... have you not seen yourself in those pics of yours - you have a WONDERFUL shape.
And yes, we've all got our "tough" spots. And like Meg, mine are my calves. Luckily dress/pant size is not determined by calf size or I'd be wearing a size G-d knows what - 14? 16? more? And wouldn't you know it - one calf is NOTICEABLY larger than the other. I am certain that's why I look so slim at my relatively high weight for a 5 footer - all my fat is hanging out there in my calves (and umm yeah, one calf more so than the next).
Measurement depression
s because I completely and totally understand your frustrations. I also understand the "DH doesn't understand", b/c my boyfriend, though supportive, also just doesn't get my fitness struggles and stresses at all! I'm also in the "overweight" BMI category, hard to believe it when I used to be 50 lbs more. These are the things I try to tell myself when I get upset about it:
(it's a totally unsustainable number, at least for me).
If what you measured was right you'd look round lol. 
