On my new scale there is a function by which
body fat percentage can be determined. I've put off checking this, probably because my husband seemed eager for me to have another set of numbers to track and I get rebellious (he would call it bratty). I should have listened to him. It would have been helpful to have a baseline. I finally checked it today and, friends, the news is not good. I'm at
35%. If I'd checked it when we first tried out the scale, I'd know if my recent slow but steady weight loss was due to losing fat or if I'm also losing lean muscle. The good news is that this is the kick in the butt I've needed to push myself with exercise. My plan was to get to my happy weight
and then start amping up the muscle building. Time to actually use the fitness DVDs I've acquired and see if I can get my body fat percentage down into the "acceptable" range.
So, just as I'm on the verge of getting into the normal range for BMI (and feeling happy about it), I find have another challenge to tackle. I'm in this for health, not necessarily skinny jeans so I need to take this new number in my life as seriously, or more seriously than my weight. Guess the real question is: Can I have MizFit/Michelle Obama type arms by November?
| Description | Women | Men |
|---|
| Essential fat | 10–12% | 2–4% |
| Athletes | 14–20% | 6–13% |
| Fitness | 21–24% | 14–17% |
| Acceptable | 25–31% | 18–25% |
| Obese | 32%+ | 25%+ |
This just in...a
body fat percentage chart that takes age into account:
Women
41-60 yrs | Under fat
23% | Healthy
23-35% | Overweight
35-40% | Obese
40% |
Maybe I was getting a bit dramatic. Still, it was good to increase my motivation with regard to exercise.
~♥~
4 comments:
Just thought I'd comment - mine seemed high too and I was freaking out about it. I talked to my gym when I did my health and fitness assessment, and they told me that those scales are always wrong. The only machines that can are accurate cost thousands of dollars. If you want to know your real body fat, you need a caliper test. :)
My scale said I was 43% body fat. The caliper test revealed that I was at 33% body fat. :)~
Wow! That's some difference. Supposedly, the feature on this scale is accurate within a couple percentage points. But still, it's probably best not to get too hung up on it.
Thanks for stopping by...I received the book you sent. Thanks!
Hi Lee,
Actually if you want to know your real body fat you should do hydrostatic body fat testing.
Scales like you are using are good for tracing progress, but the absolute number is not likely to be very accurate. Good to put up the money for at least one accurate measurement.
And yes, you should definitely increase your exercise. You will lose weight much faster and improve your chances of keeping it off. Otherwise, all your diet will do is lower your metabolism. Booooo.
Make gradual adjustments though, and do not torture yourself. Your strength will build over time, just be persistent and patient.
Congrats on your successes so far!
Sound advice, Darya...thanks. My metabolism is already slow thanks to a mild case of hypothyroidism, last thing I want to do is slow it any further.
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