iv brought some new scales today that measure body fat, water weight bone mass and muscle.
im very shocked at my body fat percentage!
i know im on the borderline of the overweight/obese line so i wasnt expecting too much but 40% was more than i was expecting....nearly half of me is pure fat!
i was feeling good about a 3 stone weight loss but now im quite upset
I don't know if those are every really very accurate. Maybe at the end of the day after you've drank all of your water for the day? If you can get your body fat done with calipers (measurements taken at several sites) it would give you a better idea of where you are actually at.
Just to test it out, do yours in the morning first thing before you eat or drink anything, then try to drink a ton of water all day long and take it again at night. See how much it varies.
I'm not sure water has anything to do with how the scale measures fat. A tiny electrical current goes through your body and it travels through fat at a certain resistance. That's how they figure the percentage. If you were to lose 15% of your current body weight and it was all fat, it would get you close to the healthy range. This isn't out of proportion too much. And take it with a grain of salt. This is not the most accurate method out there. It's just a home use scale.
Ladies - you carry more body fat than men. The very thinest women are under 20% only by a little. A very fit woman will be low 20s. Thus, being 30-40% body fat is not uncommon.
My suggestion is not to worry about it. Just keep up the program and know pictures and measurements are the best way to measure progress.
They sell those fat calipers on amazon for 28$. I don't know how accurate they r but it's called fat track ll and it has a digital reading. I looked at them and considered buying one but haven't decided if it would be worth it or not.
I think I'll take John's advice and not worry about it - I don't know what mine is but not sure I want to either as I don't want to get depressed over it.
I'm not sure water has anything to do with how the scale measures fat. A tiny electrical current goes through your body and it travels through fat at a certain resistance. That's how they figure the percentage. If you were to lose 15% of your current body weight and it was all fat, it would get you close to the healthy range. This isn't out of proportion too much. And take it with a grain of salt. This is not the most accurate method out there. It's just a home use scale.
Lin
It does have to do with hydration as far as an error margin in body fat %. As well as some other factors. Just as you stated as far as how it measures, hydration level can hinder or help that impulse travel through the body.
To make sure you're not losing too much muscle--and thus you would end up at a healthy weight but a high body fat percentage--make sure to weight train during your weight loss.
I think I'll take John's advice and not worry about it - I don't know what mine is but not sure I want to either as I don't want to get depressed over it.
To make sure you're not losing too much muscle--and thus you would end up at a healthy weight but a high body fat percentage--make sure to weight train during your weight loss.
i think, after reading throught this, that iv worked out my body fat ideal weight.
155lbs which means i need loose another 29lbs
but off the bmi calculator id still be over weight so according to that i need to loose another 6lbs to be in the normal weight range
I have one of those scales and I rarely, RARELY use the bodyfat percentage thing, but when I do, I use it as it recommends (read your manual). What I have seen is that my body fat percentage has come down as I've dropped weight. It read around 50% when I started at 255. Now it reads between 27-30 percent, but I don't believe it. I think 'maybe' I look at it once every couple weeks just for shits and giggles, but that's it.
When I get to my goal weight of 155 I'll 'maybe' get my body fat percentage professional taken - kind of as a gift to myself to see where I am and to focus on a new challenge now that the scale challenge would be gone. Just because I reached 155 on the scale does not mean this journey is over. I'll still want to build up my fitness more and more.
body fat
