body fat percentage confusion!

[minime100]

had my body fat measured at the gym today. Although i have lost 35 lbs since joining with them in May (oh and 78 overall since starting CD in March) my body fat percentage has only dropped from 46% to 41 %. Does that mean that I have lost a load of lean tissue instead of fat? I dont get how I can lose so much fat and still be considered "obese" in terms of my fat percentage when my BMI is around 27, and therefore slightly overweight. GRR. Any clues anyone???

 

[Kate]

Firstly, well done on your weight loss!

On any diet you lose some lean tissue as well as fat. Of that 35lb, perhaps around 20-25lb of it will have been fat (at a very rough estimate, allowing for lean tissue loss plus glycogen/water).

I have no idea what you have been doing at the gym so this is an estimate; however, you can significantly reduce lean tissue loss by doing resistance exercise.

There is another thing to take into consideration - how did they measure your body fat %? There is always the possibility of human error...

 

[minime100]

Hi, thanks for the reply! They measured body fat using tanita scales. I have been doing bicep curls, tricep dips, leg press, chest press, shoulder press as well as about 30-40 mins of cardio. More often than not I have also used the pool to do about 40 lengths 5 days per week. My trainer at the gym has recommended I up my weights so I am going to do that as from today.

 

[Sambucca]

what was your starting weight minime if you dont mind me asking? I can help you work it out if I know your weight when your body fat was 46%

 

[icemoose]

I bought some Omron professional body fat analyser device for my clients BUT have never used them!! The reason is that if I do it three times in a row then the results are wildly different and hence so innaccurate that it means nothing. Next time at the gym do the test on the scales twice and see if the result is the same both times. If it isn't then it means very little.

M.

 

[Kate]

Body fat scales aren't terribly accurate and as Icemoose says, you can get wildly different readings just using them on the same person a few times in a row. How much water you've had to drink that day has a major effect on the results.

I'm surprised at the gym just sticking you on the scales - did they offer to take skinfold measurements with calipers?

(although that's hardly an exact science either, it's a very good way of measuring changes in body composition)

 

[EllieG]

Just to echo what's been said - scales are not very accurate at measuring body fat.
I have the Tanita ones at home and they can vary wildly from one day to the next.
It works on the electrical current running through the body and that is greatly affected by how much water you have in your body.

If you're exercising and losing weight you'll lose the excess fat

 

[Sunflowers]

Well done with your weight loss!!

I find the same with the tanita scales, I got on them once and then again after drinking a glass of water and my BF% was different by 5%!!!!!!

I wouldn't worry!!

Get yourself measured with skin callipers, they're the most accurate!!

 

[FatFairNForty(ish)]

I would say that you shouldn't worry about your body fat %, if you feel healthy, and are at a healthy weight for your age, height etc and if you are happy with everything then it doesn't really matter what those scales tell you at the gym.

I hate that there are so many different 'measures' in use to label people 'obese' 'overweight' etc etc etc...

If it in any way helps, my body fat is now 27.6% and yet my BMI is 30.5 , lol, and I weigh 12 and a half stone.. so, on one measure I am obese, on another I am overweight and on another I am somewhere twixt the 2! No logic, just numbers

Also, a drop of 5% (no matter how you cut it) is significant in such a short time too! Hope your gym person told you that!

Well done on all that hard work though! Made me tired just reading your exercise routine!

 

[minime100]

Thanks everyone! When I was 46 % I weighed 14 st 9. Glad the bloody things are inaccurate, cos when I got home I researched onthe internet and discovered that I would have to lose another 42lbs to reduce my body fat down to an "acceptable" 28 %, and to be honest I would be too skinny at that weight for me. I am now a size 14, and to be honest I feel great, despite my BMI still being "overweight". I have had a few weeks of the 790 plan now and I am thinking of sole sourcing my way down to my goal just to get it done and dusted!
The guy at the gym was amazed at the weight loss (6 stone dead on overall), and really supportive. It was just me being a spoilt brat because I was worried about what the figures meant in terms of lean tissue loss. Still, another hour's swimming and a gym workout await me tomorrow.

Oh, and just to whine a bit in a caring supportive and wifely way.....................husband has been sole sourcing for 6 days. He has lost a stone already!!!!!!! Men are so lucky!