I'm curious if any other WW members have had their Body fat percentage taken, I recently had my bf tested at a fitness center with the fat calipers, simple procedure with some VERY interesting results!

Although I'm 139 pounds, I'm quite large and muscular and always struggle with the weight issue but, after having my bf tested the results showed that I'm only 11.8% fat which is quite lean and healthy for a women! I'm pleased and I think that I'm hooked on the bf method for telling me where I'm at vs. the scale!

What about others???? I'm curious! Please share if you will!!!

Thanks!

Nancy

I had my body fat tested in April (when I first joined my gym), and had it done again about two weeks ago, and I'm down 9% in body fat- woohoo! (Currently at 28%, which is still high, but...)The results of the bodyfat test are *so* much more meaningful to me than the scale at this point, as I am lifting weight, etc.

Try to make sure you get the same person to do the caliper test each time. It can vary if a person doesn't do it the same all the time.

All of them can be off +2% either way but they are pretty reliable.

Kel~

I totally agree about being consistant in your testing, the gentleman who took mine said that a lot of people get theirs done once a month! I think maybe once every two months would be better for me, I don't want this to become an Ibession!! It sure is interesting information though, makes stepping on the scale take on a whole new meaning because now I know what percentage of that number is actually FAT!


Have a great and very healthy day!

nancy

i got my body fat measured in my local community college. it was the water testing, which is supposed to be pretty accurate. i think it was 23%, but it was a few years back.

amk

I'm glad the others brought up the accuracy issue because I think you need to get your body fat tested again by a more knowledgeable person. 11.8% body fat is dangerously low and unhealthy for a woman. The recommended range for normal healthy women is 16-25%. Any lower than that and you will have health problems.

Whoever told you that 11.8% is healthy for a woman was wrong. With a body fat that low you are risking cessation of menstruation and early onset of osteoporosis. (A 20 year olds bones can become as brittle as an 80 yr old woman if her body fat is too low for a long period of time. If you want further information do some research on the Female Athlete Triad Syndrome.)

Even if you are a competitive body builder who drops down to this low a body fat percentage temporarily for a competition, you should not stay this lean for extended periods of time. As a muscular woman, you should try to stay at the low end of the healthy range (15-16%).

Like the others brought up, the skill of the person doing the body fat testing is crucial. For your sake, I hope that you simply got a tester who did know what they were doing. If in fact you are 11.8%, I would suggest you work with a dietician on how to increase your body fat to a healthy level.

My Physical Therepist said the caliper test can be up to 15% off. Consider that different people carry fat in different places and not always in the same way. The method where they dip you in water has an error margin of +/- 2%.

Thanks gsc4 for your kind thoughts and suggestions. I've been thinking alot about this and I'm now hoping that the test was wrong(which I tend to think it it!) I have done my own BF test with plastic calipers and I consistantly get 18.2 %. I do however have a doctor's appt. in a couple of weeks and I plan on discussing this issue with her too. It's hard to say if I actually have amenorrera because my 1yr. old is still breastfeeding and I have not had a period because of that (I think)

Thanks for all of your thoughts

Nancy D.

Nancy -

It sounds like you simply had a very inaccurate test and an tester who did not know that they were doing. Now with more information from you to go on, it seems like you do have things under control and 18% sounds much more reasonable given your weight.

To tell you the truth after I wrote my earlier response I was worried I sounded too harsh. A short post usually does not tell the whole story but I was worried you might follow that bad advice you were given and set yourself up for some serious health problems. At minimum I wanted you to get a second opinion about that 11.8% number.

I'm glad I was worried for no reason.

I almost forgot ---

I agree that body fat testing is the best way monitor your body composition without getting hung-up on the numbers on the scale, especially for women who carry more muscle than average.

I too carry more muscle than the average woman and usually weigh more than most women my height. For example, my mother and I have the same waist/hip measurements and are the same height (we can wear the same pair of jeans) but I weigh about 15 lbs more than her and have a lower body fat percentage.

Focusing on my body fat percentage helps relieve the anxiety when I see the higher numbers on the scale.

gsc4~

You didn't come across as harsh at all, only caring1 Thanks again and I also wanted to let you know that I weighed in on Sat at the WW center ( I'm lifetime Goal=150 lb) and I was 142 1/4lb. That makes my BMI something like 21.42. I can't believe now that my fat % was ll.8! I still plan on discussing this with my doctor though because the very reason that I began watching my diet and exercising was to get heart healthy and prevent disease, not encourage it!

Thanks again and BTW, are you in the health profession? I'm a former dental worker, before children!

Nancy

Nah, I'm not a health professional. I program the computers at a bank to keep track of other people's money. But I have been an athlete all my life and I have always tried to learn as much as possible about the science behind sports and exercising. Must be the analytical side of me because I am constantly trying to learn more.

Since you are under your lifetime goal weight you probably are just fine. Just be careful and not drop too much more weight.

Concentrate on maintaining your weight, eating healthy and exercising and you will be fine. And as an added bonus you will be setting a great example for your kids and they should grow up with the same healthy habits !

I agree with everyone that body fat % is much more important than scale weight. Also, BMI is totally useless for female (and male) bodybuilders. So... I went and bought a Tanita Fat Monitor Scale. You program it with your stats (it has standard and athlete modes too) and if you're male or female. I LOVE the thing and plan on using it once I reach goal weight to KEEP at goal weight.

My weight loss clinic has the fancy expensive professional model which can also measure your body water, your BMR calories, lean mass vs fat mass and plain old weight. My model is just as accurate with the fat % and was about 80$ (it can store data for 2 people).

You can get the scale cheapest from www.tanita.com

I don't like calipers because the measuring HURTS and it can be off by quite a bit.

well, i'm glad that i'm not the only one who felt that the caliper method of body fat testing hurt.

I've owned a Tanita BF scale for about three years. Before you all go out and plunk down $100+ for one, I've gotta tell you - DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. The scale weight is usually right on but the BF% can vary widely. The last time I had my body fat tested in July, I was a shade over 20%. Right after having the test done I experimented by stepping on the Tanita, which gave me a reading of 35%!

Here's another experiment - get on the Tanita, note the body fat reading, get off the Tanita, let it clear, then get back on. Most of the time, the reading will be totally different. You can drink a small glass of water and the percentage will skew even more.

Best thing is to save your $$ for new smaller clothes. Invest in some calipers and find out the proper way to use them, or go to a gym and have your BF% done by someone who knows what they're doing. Forget about the Tanita though. Just my two cents.

I just joined a gym and had my body fat "tested" by the caliper method. The test was so fast, with only three measurements taken, that I don't consider my reading to be at all accurate and am not putting much stock in it. From what I've read, the truest way to get a real estimate on body fat percentage is an immersion test. The caliper test seems flawed due to factors ranging from operator error to body fat distribution and skin elasticity. The girl who took the test said that she'd recheck it as often as I liked, but I'm not going to bother. I think if a person's looking for another guage to measure weight loss, it can be helpful if performed at various stages of the weight loss by a person who really knows what they're doing. For me, being that I'm finally at a "healthy" weight, am wearing normal size clothes, and am exercising regularly, I'm not sure it's that useful to me.