I have a Tanita digital scale that gives BMI as well it said my BMI was 42.5 but the ticker factoy calculates it at 30 something my question is which one is right? I'm confused
I don't have an answer for this...but i'd be curious to see what everyone else has to say. I stepped on my boyfriends scale this weekend and it does the fat analysis too. It said I had a 32 percent body fat where as according to the BMI chart, i am at 24.4. I don't believe no scale can tell me how much body fat i have. Nor really the BMI chart, but i'm going with the BMI chart because it likes me better!!!
I think you might be confusing BMI with body fat percentage? They're two totally different things.
BMI is Body Mass Index and it's a formula based solely on height and weight. It's not a percent. A BMI between 18 and 24 is considered normal, 25 - 30 is considered overweight, and anything over 30 is considered obese. The shortcoming of BMI is that it doesn't take into account age, gender, or body fat %. We have a BMI calculator here at 3FC.
Tanita scales measure body fat percentage. That's a completely different number from BMI - it tells you what % of your body is fat and what % is LBM (lean body mass), which is everything in your body that isn't fat, such as blood, water, hair, skin and muscle. Body fat % is trickier to measure than BMI because it doesn't use a formula based on height and weight. Instead, people commonly use calipers, a body fat scale like a Tanita, or a hand-held device like the Omron to figure out what % of their body is fat.
It's entirely possible to have a BMI of 30 and a body fat % of 42.5. So the answer is -- both are right!
I think you might be confusing BMI with body fat percentage? They're two totally different things.
BMI is Body Mass Index and it's a formula based solely on height and weight. It's not a percent. A BMI between 18 and 24 is considered normal, 25 - 30 is considered overweight, and anything over 30 is considered obese. The shortcoming of BMI is that it doesn't take into account age, gender, or body fat %. We have a BMI calculator here at 3FC.
Tanita scales measure body fat percentage. That's a completely different number from BMI - it that tells you what % of your body is fat and what % is LBM (lean body mass), which is everything in your body that isn't fat, such as blood, water, hair, skin and muscle. Body fat % is trickier to measure than BMI because it doesn't use a formula based on height and weight. Instead, people commonly use calipers, a body fat scale like a Tanita, or a hand-held device like the Omron to figure out what % of their body is fat.
It's entirely possible to have a BMI of 30 and a body fat % of 42.5. So the answer is -- both are right!
Oh wow...thanks meg. I don't think i really liked the answer because i hate to think i am 32 percent fat...although i know i have plenty of fat still to lose so it really isn't a big shocker but still a blow to the ego!!! lol. But i think that definately helped clear up the matter.
Debbs, if you're 193 pounds now, it means that 42% of those pounds are pounds of fat. So you have 81 pounds of fat on your body and 112 pounds of lean body mass.
But don't panic! Everyone needs SOME fat on their body in order to survive! No one can ever get to zero fat pounds.
Here's a guideline to healthy body fat percentages from the American Council on Exercise (ACE):
Essential Fat: 10-12 percent
Athletes: 14-20 percent
Fitness: 21-24 percent
Acceptable: 25-31 percent
Obese (or high risk): over 32 percent
As you lose pounds of fat, your body fat percent will continue to drop and I'm sure you'll end up in the Acceptable zone, if not better. Lumi, you're right there now.
Debbs, if you're 193 pounds now, it means that 42% of those pounds are pounds of fat. So you have 81 pounds of fat on your body and 112 pounds of lean body mass.
But don't panic! Everyone needs SOME fat on their body in order to survive! No one can ever get to zero fat pounds.
Here's a guideline to healthy body fat percentages from the American Council on Exercise (ACE):
Essential Fat: 10-12 percent
Athletes: 14-20 percent
Fitness: 21-24 percent
Acceptable: 25-31 percent
Obese (or high risk): over 32 percent
As you lose pounds of fat, your body fat percent will continue to drop and I'm sure you'll end up in the Acceptable zone, if not better. Lumi, you're right there now.
oooohhhh....i'm so excited!!! I'm in the acceptable zone!!! That's great!! Especially since i plan to lose at least 20 more pounds of fat!! I can't wait to hit goal and see what my body fat percentage will be then. I'm going to copy and paste what you just said and print it out so i'll know how well i'm doing with my body fat percentage. I am so happy with my BMI these days. It's so good to be in the normal range again!!! Thanks Meg!!!
Question: How do i find out how many pounds of fat I have????
Lumi -- you take your current weight (152) and multiply it by your body fat %. So 152 x 32% = 48.5 pounds of fat. Then subtract the fat pounds from your total weight and you get your lean body mass: 152 - 48.5 = 103.5.
Your 152 pounds is made up of 103.5 pounds of lean body mass and 48.5 pounds of fat.
You are going to be in GREAT shape when you get to goal!
Keep in mind that we want to lose pounds of FAT, not pounds of MUSCLE. Muscle is good stuff -- it keeps your metabolism running high and makes you look tight, toned, and smaller. Weight training while you're losing weight will help preserve your muscle mass and make sure you're losing pounds of ugly fat.
question about BMI
