So last week I went to the doctor and she measured my body fat using one of those scales. I weighed 159 and was 36% body fat (also, not sure if it's relevant or tmi, I had a full bladder). She said the scale could be off by as much as 5%.

When I looked this up online, it said I was in the obese category. I'm 5'6" and wear a size 8 or 10 and am pretty muscular. I'm definitely not obese.

i also looked up two other body fat calculators that use height, age, sex and waist circumference (30.5) to determine the %. They both said I was around 25% body fat.

Does anyone know why there is such a large discrepancy? I'm trying to make a healthy weight loss goal based on how much body fat I need to loose, and I'm fairly confused right now!

I totally understand. My scale says I am 31% body fat and I am only 149 lbs. It just doesn't seem right!

Body fat scales are the worse way to measure bodyfat because they rarely take consideration of your total muscle mass.

If this scale is the kind that sends electric waves through your body then it will be more accurate than others. I actually own one of the ones that you put your hands on and it sends electric waves through you and it can differ from 7% even when I use it twice in a row within 1 minute!!

I have actually found the Navy method of measuring bodyfat to be the most accurate and consistent for me personally however.