LA Weight Loss - body fat percentages????

My scale and an online body fat calculator say i have 33% body fat. Im 5'6" and 155 lbs, so this mean i have 51lbs of fat still on my body!! to me that seems like a lot. How much should i lose so that i have the 10-12% body fat, 30-40 more pounds? if i lost 40 lbs i would be 115lbs! i dont think its possible. Could someone please explain this to me? i basiclly want to know how much more body fat (in lbs) i should aim to lose. i went from 220lb to 155lb so far.
thank you so much

Okay I don't claim to be a expert on this or anything so bear with me. I am the same height as you and at 115 we are considered the lowest bmi before going into underweight. I think it all depends on the persons frame and body also. Let's face it we know when we look healthy and your right 115 does sound nuts. I think when you get to where you feel healthy and fit that is where you should be. I don't think these calulators are all that accurate to begin with anyway. Good luck you are doing fantastic so keep up your good work and just focus on continuing to get healthy.

10-12% body fat really shouldn't be your goal. That is just the bare minimum of body fat that your body needs to function properly, it's not supposed to be a weight loss goal. Going below that would result in serious health issues. Maintaining only 10-12% body fat would be very hard, if not impossible to do, and probably require very drastic changes to your diet (including eating a lot of supplements because you wouldn't be eating enough food to get the nutrition that you need) and a lot of exercise. Moreover, according to my trainer, you would lose your period before you even got down to 12% body fat, which tells you how unrealistic this goal is. I suspect that you would not be happy with how you look (way too thin) at that level.

In reality, most women, including those that are atheletes and very in shape, have more than 12% body fat. I would bet that most of the women in your life that you consider thin and attractive have well over 12% body fat and I'm confident that you would be happy with how you look and feel with over 12% body fat.

In fact, the acceptable range of body fat for women is 25-31%. At 33%, you are just two % points above acceptable. So you don't really have far to go at all, I'm sure that by the time you reach your goal, you'll be well within the acceptable range. You might even be into the fitness range (21-24%). These ranges are probably what is realistic for you to maintain without drastic changes to your diet and exercise program.

And, really, body fat % is just a number. Once you are in the acceptable range, I don't think you need to worry about going any lower unless you want to for other reasons (e.g., you aren't happy with the way you look and/or feel). If you have reached the point where the scale isn't going to go any lower (or is actually going higher because you are gaining muscle), knowing your body fat can be a useful tool to monitor your progress. But your goal should be getting to a point where you are happy with how you look and feel, not eliminating all unessential body fat.

- Barbara

P.S. You are doing fantastic! Great job on losing 65 pounds. You must look great!

thanks for clearing up my confusion!