The university where I teach is offering a one month free membership to the employee fitness center this month, and I decided to check it out. (Yes, I could go to the main Student Health Center for free, but I really don't need to work out around a bunch 18 year olds. Teaching them is plenty.)

I've never belonged to a gym before. All my exercise so far has been via walking and DVDs, using hand weights. I'm a little nervous, but it seems like a very relaxed atmosphere, and I'm looking forward to starting work with free weights and lifting.

The funny part was when they did my short "assessment" - weight, BP, and body fat. The front desk worker did all this, and when she did my body fat (calipers on my tricep, belly, and thigh) the measurement came out to 16.9%. She did it again, same result. I could barely stop myself from laughing.

I know I've lost a lot of weight and am much more fit than I used to be, but I'm also aware that I don't have the body fat level of an elite athlete. Thanks, 3FC-ers, for making sure I could take this obviously erroneous measurement with humor!

Unfortunately, the accuracy of calipers depends on the skill of the technician. Many testers are too nice, and don't squeeze the skin hard enough. (Hint: it is supposed to hurt, even leave marks that last a little while.) This throws off readings, usually toward underestimating bf.

A good "reality check" is that around 17%, women will start to see abs come in, especially the vertical lines that frame the abs. The 4-pack comes in around 15%, 6-pack a bit less than that. Leg cuts typically come in last, glutes often not at all without great genetics, drugs, and/or photoshop work.

FWIW. Regardless, congrats on losing 75 pounds (wowza!) and even more on having a great attitude!

K

Kaw, YOU were actually my reality check when I had a moment when I couldn't remember what "normal" BF was. I thought to myself, "Wait, Kaw on 3FC has that awesome photo avatar of her amazing back muscles, and she's around 14% or something. Me and my remaining back fat are SO not close to that!"

That was my internal monologue, pretty much verbatim.

kaw..thats such a good "check" for fat percentages!
I'm around 19% right now and starting to see some actual definition