Body fat questions...

[pkq]

Keep up the good work.

[Bustertb]

Eating less calories slows down the metabolism. The thinking is, slower metabolism = longer life. I have always been suspicious of diet supplements that 'speed up' the metabolism cause it is speeding up the heart rate. Exercise is one thing, but to speed up the heart rate with drugs...I dunno. Never sounded like a good idea to me.

Of course tomorrow is never promised. We can work out and look great and then one day our 'number' could be up, or be dx'd with an incurable disease. So I try to keep my health along with other things in my life, i.e. relationship, etc. in perspective.

[Dogmama]

Eating less calories slows down the metabolism. The thinking is, slower metabolism = longer life. I have always been suspicious of diet supplements that 'speed up' the metabolism cause it is speeding up the heart rate. Exercise is one thing, but to speed up the heart rate with drugs...I dunno. Never sounded like a good idea to me.

I think that diet & exercise account for 95% of good health, good bodyweight, etc. I need to concentrate on that 95% first before I decide I need to ingest some potentially dangerous supplements.

[Helen]

Did you notice that if you don't have regular exercise, you become more tired than usual ? Or is it just me ?

[DirtDiva]

Totally, but if I don't get regular exercise I don't sleep well, so I always figured that was the link.

[Helen]

Totally, but if I don't get regular exercise I don't sleep well, so I always figured that was the link.

You are so right. Sleeping can be a very good indicator of our health and also for our stress levels.

[mtbdarby]

musclicious505, I can't find your picture. Can you post a link? Thanks.

I second the question about the scales that gauge body fat. Any comments on how accurate these are?

[natheless]

re: body fat scales - most are not that accurate. Their value lies in their being consistently inaccurate. So, they are good as a tracking tool, but you shouldn't necessarily take them too seriously.

The problem with the bathroom scale version is that is measures via impedence, so a current travels up one leg, across the pelvis and down the other leg. Leaving out half your body.

If you get your body fat measured by a trained professional with calipers, and find out that it is 5% or 7% different than your scale reading (yes, they are usually that far off!), you can use that figure to adjust all your readings. It's also my understanding that the ones to buy are the kind that also measure your hydration, because how hydrated you are makes a big difference in your reading.

I have a bf scale, but I really only use it to give myself a boost (I enjoy watching the % drop)... for someone who really cares about bf and needs to know exactly - you should have it done by a professional, as well, and then you can use a home scale to keep track.

[CatBerge]

Runnergirl...I've been off the radar for a while... But I think that there are exceptions to the rule about being light and a climber. I am pretty heavy for being 5ft5 inc. I weigh between 126-132 depending on the year. I am one of the fastest women climbers in ultradistance events. I have the Course record for the Everest Challenge, 29,000 ft of climbing in 220 miles and usually ride with the fastest men in ultra-events with a lot of climbing.
I would guess my body fat is around 14%. I don't really keep track of any of that.... but those are the estimates a personal trainer gave to me, and was measured by my sports doctor at one time.
According to charts in some bicycling magazines... they say that I should be a sprinter.... well those charts obviously are just generalizations and do not apply to us all.
Cheers,
Cat.

[KSH]

re: body fat scales - most are not that accurate. Their value lies in their being consistently inaccurate. So, they are good as a tracking tool, but you shouldn't necessarily take them too seriously.

That's the truth. I spent extra money buying one that measured body fat... and it said I was at 23%, which might be correct? Not sure. At my leanest, I was at 18%... and I have gained some fat... so I am sure it has gone up.

Then, I stepped on the scale another day... I had gained 1 pound... and it said I was at 25% body fat. Yea. Right.

I returned that scale and spent less money on one that just tells me how much I weigh.

[madisongrrl]

Are these body fat scales usually higher or lower than your actual body fat reading? I've heard mixed information...

[natheless]

KSH - You get the best result with the BF scales by averaging readings taken over several days - you can fluctuate quite a bit based on time of day, hydration level, etc. I like my BF scale, despite its flaws, because I have been trying to get away from putting too much stock in just the number on the scale, which tells you so little about your body composition.

It depends on your needs - sometimes, it seems far easier to just go by the way your pants fit!


Madisongrrl - From what I saw when I was researching them, they usually overestimate BF, at least for women (this is because they really only test the lower half of the body, and that's where most women tend to store the most fat.) So, your BF would generally be 5-7% lower than your scale reading.

[btchance]

I have a question in the opposite direction, how do you know you are too low on body fat, and what is an approximate number?

I ask this because 6mo ago I was measured by the nutrition doctors at the university at 17%, while their recommended bottom number was 21, although they didn't think 17 would be a problem. I have since started exercising a lot more, and have dropped down a couple of sizes without losing any weight or eating differently. Now I have started to have irregular periods, which the doctors attribute to stress, but I don't know about that as I have been similar stress levels for years, and this actually started during a break from most of the stress. This is worrisome to me because I already have pretty small bones. When I broke my arm in multiple places when I was 20, they actually did a bone density scan because the density looked pretty light on x-ray, and when they operated, the surgeon said my bones were the size of an 11yo, so this is definately something I'm worried about.

[Grog]

I heard about 12% being a serious health treshold, but I haven't researched this. I'm kind of worried too. Let me know what information you find... and what we should do about it.

[traveller_62]

man i wish i could get to 18% body fat. i've been working at my diet for over a year and i've lost weight and toned up considerably-- but my body just hangs on to fat. i can't seem to get even to 25%.

there is a lot of research out there about people having different "set points" for weight and body fat composition. i would assume that some of this is genetic but hard to say how much.


traveller