My bodyfat % is what?!?!?!

[Crankin]

I think it would put your mind at ease to have an accurate body fat calculation. I am pretty much like you in build and exercise schedule; 5' 1", 106. I wear a size 2 and look quite petite in clothes. But, I have a lot of fat on my hips and butt, and I definitely notice changes in my abs, which used to be rock hard. I don't feel really comfortable in bathing suits, shorts, or even most bike shorts, unless they are the brand i get that holds the flab in with a lot of lycra. I know this sounds like whining to a lot of people, but it's almost more of a health issue than a "looking good" issue. I have upped my weight training and started doing yoga. I noticed on the days I do yoga, with a light warm up on the bike, my body fat goes down (using those famously unreliable home scales).
I think our bodies adapt to what we do and as we age, we have to fool the body and mix up the exercise, or else what we do doesn't work.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I recently read that those bodyfat calculations are often inaccurate in that they show athletes to have high bodyfat % when in fact they are measuring muscle bulk as fat! I think they are moving more towards measuring your waistline now to determine whether people are overweight or not. They use this waist measurment to gauge a person's risk for heart attack etc.

[emily_in_nc]

I recently read that those bodyfat calculations are often inaccurate in that they show athletes to have high bodyfat % when in fact they are measuring muscle bulk as fat! I think they are moving more towards measuring your waistline now to determine whether people are overweight or not. They use this waist measurment to gauge a person's risk for heart attack etc.

Lisa,

I think you may be thinking of BMI (body mass index) calculations. It is true that they can be very "off" for muscular people (especially very fit men) who are heavy for their height due to muscle mass rather than body fat. This is very different than body fat %, which is the actual percent of your body that is fat vs. lean (muscles, organs, skeleton). My BMI is low (19), since I am light even for my height, so that is not the problem here. My issue is very similar to Robin's (thank you Robin for the validation!!!) in that I am short and lightweight but still have a serious case of the "jiggles"!

I do lift weights, but only twice a week (no time for more, really, since I want to be able to fit in cardio also), and nothing super heavy. I do have some muscular definition, but much less than a lot of the women I see in the gym who work out longer and harder than me. Most of my issues are with my torso, and it seems the only way to tone that up is to do more cardio and lose fat without losing muscle (tricky).

I'm going to try not to worry too much about this. For my age (46 next month), I am sure that I am doing fine; I'm just not 25 any more and can't expect to look like I did then (my face and hair don't look the same either, after all). On a positive note, I read that women with a bit of extra body fat tend to have fewer menopausal symptoms than really lean women, so I have that to look forward to!

Emily

[yellow]

I think Lisa is referring to the methods for women where they take several measurements and "calculate" body fat that way. A while back I used several different home methods and my results were everything from 17.5% (bah ha ha! ) with the Navy Circumference Method to 28% using some other one where you took measurements of your hips, forearm, wrist, waist, and (I think) neck. I am fairly muscular, which is why I think the one method placed me so high--it assumed that bulk is fat, not muscle. If you do a Google on "body fat measure" you'll get about 20 gagillion hits.

I don't know that you can get a really accurate measurement. Everything I've read says even the most accurate are +/- 2% and others can be +/- 5%.

About the rolls...I think when you are lean, they actually can be more pronounced. I have very definite patches on the tops of my hips, the backs of my legs, and (like you) on my back (I hate that too ). I have a very lean torso (in the front anyway) and lean arms, so the extra on my hips, legs, and back looks extra extra bad to me. It is what it is. It jiggles when I run, but oh well. I'm in pretty good shape and am actually lighter than I have been in years (most recently due to stress and a cold, bad way to lose it...). I figure my actual percentage is probably 21-22%, maybe higher, maybe lower, but that's really not a bad place to be.

I have to keep reminding myself that what really matters is my health and how I feel. Sure, I go through periods where I get obsessed with the numbers on the scale, but in the long run, I know that I'm not doing too badly. I could always eat better, rest more, and love more, all of which would probably improve how I feel. But then I could also eat more poorly, sleep all the time, and be a cranky middle aged woman.

Perspective, my friend. But I think you know that. (and please remind me of that next time I whine about stepping on the scale and seeing a couple more pounds... )

[g19]

I don't have the magic answer for you, but for as accurate as possible (at home) for measuring the body fat is the tanita BC-535.

This is as close as you can get and more important as accurate as you can get.

It give very good indications on
- body weight
- fat %
- bone weight
- muscle %
- water %

This is all you need.

Further in the attempt to do something about the roll's is the waterrower (waterrower.com) this is 86 % of all muscles a person has.
It's very effective, but is not the miracle for everybody.

I hope this is some usefull information for you and others.

[IntenseRide]

If you loose weight, you will be a smaller version of yourself only. I would lift, and lift much heavier then 8 to 12 pounds. You need weight-bearing exercise, it good for your bones and muscle will give you a more defined look. Bodybuilders are supplementing themselves with copious amounts of protein and of course glutamine/creatine and steroids, not to mention hours in the gym lifting. I know there is a lot of arguement that lifting weights will only make you look bigger, but I bet if you lift heavy a couple times of week and follow a good routine that separates out the body, you'll eventually loose weight. Good luck!

[Dogmama]

Ditto on the lifting. You won't get huge, we don't have the hormones. Lift so that you can do 10 reps and the last couple are difficult. Keep your form good. Concentrate on compound lifts, e.g., squats, bench press, pull ups, etc. and ditch the isolations (bicep curls, tricep kickbacks). Compound lifts use more energy - more bang for your buck in terms of time.

High intensity intervals are shown to have a good fat burning result because you burn calories the entire day. I do one minute of all out sprints and one minute recovery. The treadmill at the gym is the easiest way to do it (no traffic!) You can burn out easily on these, so watch how many times/week and how long you are doing them. Done correctly, they are tough!

Finally, what is your diet like? This is the most important aspect. Losing weight is more about diet than exercise.

You are smart to start addressing it now. Granted, it doesn't sound like you are overweight, but you might be getting the middle age creeping scale syndrome. It is easier to tackle it when you just have a few little rolls than when you're looking at 20 pounds, 50 plus years old and creaky joints!