Hello, I've been reading this forum for a long time but it is my first time posting.
I was wondering which one is more important, the number that shows in the scale or the body fat percentage? Or does one reflect the other?

I would think your body fat % would be more important but I'm not sure. For me, my body fat % falls into the 'normal' range, while according to my BMI I'm 'obese' so am I normal or am I obese and then how can I be obese if I have a normal amount of body fat? It's very confusing!

I can't really say which is more important because they both are IMO.

If I had to choose one body fat would probably be more relevant because carrying too much body fat would not be good.

Someone who is very muscular could technically be considered a high weight but muscle is more dense than fat soooo that would be okay. IE a wrestler will be a heavy guy but have a lot of muscle so they'd be okay.

I think body fat % is more important, but it's soooo hard to get an accurate reading. It's easier to get an accurate poundage, so I focus on that.

What Jen said.

I found a formula online for calculating body fat percentage using a tape measurer. No idea how accurate the method actually is, but for me the percentage of body fat it reports has been decreasing linearly vs. my weight, even though the weight isn't entered into the equation. So yes, if you are losing weight the "right" way (ie focusing on losing fat and maintaining lean mass) then you should probably see a strong correlation between weight lost and body fat percentage decrease.

You can also just keep track of your measurements which is also sort of a check of how your body fat percentage is changing. I follow all 3, but the scale is the easiest to check. And the most frustrating, since it is susceptible to non-fat weight changes like water retention. :P

thank you all for responding

kaebaka: do you have the calculations of the body fat percentage using a tape measurer?

The formula I found is:

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

Where abdomen = waist measurement, and then you use your hip and neck measurements plus your height. All need to be in the same units, but it doesn't matter if you use centimeters or inches... I used inches and got a "reasonable" answer, if that helps.

I will also add that different methods of measurement might yield extremely different results. The other people on the forum that had tried out that formula both got higher values than they were getting from other methods.

Today I went in and met with a personal trainer. She did a 3-site body fat % measurement on me using calipers: 27%. She had me use a bioelectrical impedance hand-held measuring device: 36%. And based on today's measurements, the formula above says about 42% body fat... So I can certainly not say anything about the accuracy of the formula, but if you use one method consistently, your changes should also theoretically be consistent within that method. Even if the actual value you determine isn't quite right.

Thank you for providing the formula.

I will try to measure my body fat % with only one method.