January/February weight loss challenge

[indysteel]

WR, by what method did you have your body fat tested? Each have their pros and cons and some can be influenced one way or another by certain factors. It might be worth it to have it retested, by the same or another method, just to verify the results.

[WindingRoad]

Indy - I used one of the hand held devices they have at the gym to get my BMI.

[indysteel]

Indy - I used one of the hand held devices they have at the gym to get my BMI.

Do you mean the calipers or something else? You might do a bit of reading to see what factors could have potentially influenced your results. For your weight and activity level, your 33 percent BMI struck me as a surprise, too.

[WindingRoad]

Its not calipers, it was a little plastic thing you held on to and it told you your BMI. I'm not sure I am taking that reading to heart any longer. Now if my blood work comes back with super high triglycerides then yeah I will be a little more concerned.

Do you mean the calipers or something else? You might do a bit of reading to see what factors could have potentially influenced your results. For your weight and activity level, your 33 percent BMI struck me as a surprise, too.

[GLC1968]

WR - you mean you used the hand-held Omron device? That tests Body Fat, not BMI. BMI is just a relationship between your weight and your height and it has no relation to body composition. Body Fat would be a % like you mentioned.

Are you top-heavy, by chance? Like maybe busty or an 'apple' in shape? If so, that might explain the high BF reading and it probaby is off. When I use the hand-held, I get a realistic number (close to caliper numbers) because I'm bottom-heavy. When I used a BIA scale (same device, except uses your feet/lower body), I too get a high reading.

Readings using bioelectric impedence (hand-held and scales) are highly affected by how hydrated (or dehydrated) you are and even where you are in your monthly cycle...so don't put too much stock in the actual number. Just look for trends as an indicator of progress (like have it measured again in a month)....

[WindingRoad]

Hmmmmmmm... well I am about to start my cycle so that could be part of it. I am about 3 days out. I am also a pear shape so maybe that is part of it too. I wasn't understanding the difference between BMI and body fat%, thanks for the clarification. And yes the reading I had was a body fat %.

[klesko]

My weight is 142.6 this morning, which is discouraging, but my body fat was 23% which is a number I have never seen in the years I have had my scale. I am taking the approach that this is a temporary weight plateau

[Catrin]

133.8 today