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Tankgirl
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 1 Jul 2011 |
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| Posts: | 538 |
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Posted: 21 Jul 2011 03:49 am |
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Last time I had my body fat tested I was 218 pounds and 35% body fat. At the time I thought I had another 100 lbs to lose at the time, thinking the lower end of the BMI would be safer considering that the research is looking scary when it comes to "skinny fat". I re-did the math and maybe I don't have as far to go as I first thought. Can somebody correct my math if I'm wrong?
35% body fat = 76.3 pounds. eww, moving right along
So 15% body fat would put me at 174 pounds?That's overwheight, nearly obese BMI wise
So in the end, what's more important, BMI or body fat? Even if my body fat is low, am I at risk of disease if I'm lean but over the reccomnded weight?
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 21 Jul 2011 06:57 am |
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Two things to consider
1) we are unlikely to be able to lose just fat without also losing some non-fat tissue (muscle or otherwise) - though hopefully we're mostly losing fat. If you were 35% at 218lb and lost nothing but fat then at 174lb you'll indeed be 15% fat, but if you lost a combination of fat and non-fat tissue then you'll still be above 15%
2) it is possible that the body-fat test was inaccurate and you were composed of more than 35% fat when you were at 218lb.
All you have to do is periodically keep track of your body fat% as you go down. Certainly do stop when you reach 15% (quite low for a woman) other hints you may get is disturbed periods.
However, your forum name 'tankgirl' notwithstanding I predict that your body fat will be above 15% and it will be safe for you to continue losing fat until you reach your healthy BMI range
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Tankgirl
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 1 Jul 2011 |
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| Posts: | 538 |
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Posted: 21 Jul 2011 07:06 am |
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| That's what I was thinking too. If anything it's encouraging to know I won't have to lose another 100 pounds to be healthy. Thanks!
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PuffsPlus
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 21 Jul 2011 08:04 am |
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Tankgirl, I'm think your body fat assessment was probably accurate. When I was 225 lbs, I tested at 38% body fat.
Body fat of course matters more than BMI. BMI is also limited as a tool at the individual level, being more of a "population level" tool.
Don't go so much by BMI, go by body fat percentage. I read somewhere a long time ago that those of us who have been very obese will always have a slightly higher BMI than people of the same height and weight who were never very overweight.
The reasoning behind this is that we have more fat cells, even if we shrink 'em through dieting, and we have denser, heavier bones from having been really heavy.
Nir is correct, too, when he says you will lose lean muscle mass from dieting. Can't really be helped. And also, as we have less fat to lug around, we just don't need as much muscle tissue to haul it around.
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JSABD
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 21 Jul 2011 06:08 pm |
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I have to go with body fat but with a caveat. There are several methods for measuring it and the will all give you slightly different results. Women need at least 10% and men 5%.
BMI has some drawbacks but overall IMO it is a pretty good yardstick. I think that people can go below 18 and still be healthy and I think in most cases anything above 24 is getting into the unhealthy range depending of body %.
As to body fat % a lot depends of where it is located. Belly fat is worse than butt fat. Belly fat is the easiest to lose.
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Tankgirl
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 1 Jul 2011 |
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| Posts: | 538 |
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Posted: 21 Jul 2011 06:48 pm |
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Puffs , it makes sense now why bodybuilders shift between gaining muscle and losing fat. I can't help wondering why liposuction isn't a more permanent way of losing fat,since the fat cells are actually removed, or for that matter when people lose huge amounts of weight and have loose sections of remaining skin/fat removed. (Not that either's in the plans)
Puffs, I know you meant "haul around every moment of the day" but look up Xtracycles. People that ride those like me have a friendly competition for what we haul around, with extra points for the absurd :DLast edited on 21 Jul 2011 07:01 pm by Tankgirl
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suenos
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 21 Jul 2011 09:16 pm |
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here's the weird thing about lipo - and I don't know if it's fact or fiction or something in between...but I've always heard from people who had it done (usually in the belly or inner thighs) that when they gained weight later, although it didn't come back in the place(s) that were lipoed (I'm guessing because the fat cells themselves were removed), it came back in random places they'd never had excess fat before.
I think the BMI has its uses, but I?óÔé¼Ôäóm not a big fan of using it to determine individual weight loss goals because it doesn?óÔé¼Ôäót factor in body composition (or recomposition)?óÔé¼?ª two women at the same height/weight can have the same BMI but totally different body fat %?óÔé¼?£s?óÔé¼?ªand in fact it?óÔé¼Ôäós possible to have a lower scale weight (and thus lower BMI) BUT have a much higher body fat%. In fact, my body fat was 35% when I weighed 170 pounds!
There?óÔé¼Ôäós a pretty broad range of a healthy body fat% for women, anything below about 12% is not only a bit unrealistic to attain and maintain, but can actually be unhealthy because it can fall below the minimum of ?óÔé¼?ôessential fat?óÔé¼?Ø?óÔé¼?ª the range for professional athletes or women engaged in very athletic activities runs between can be as high as 20% and to be in the ?óÔé¼?ôfit?óÔé¼?Ø range it goes between 20-24%.
Opinions vary, but I think the best way for a female to end up with a lean and fit body (which does not necessarily equal an extremely low scale weight, or the lowest number on the BMI chart) to start lifting fairly early into the weight loss process (obviously mixed in with cardio and of course the all important diet).
For reasons that no-one really knows, the only time that we can actually gain muscle mass while simultaneously losing fat is during the honeymoon phase of weight loss - that period we first start dieting and weight lifting for the first time. Normally, you can only build new muscle mass by eating at a caloric surplus, and can only lose fat while eating at a defcit. But during this newbie phase, we can actually do both?óÔé¼?ªso if you have the time, access to a gym and are willing to pay a bit more attention to detail than just cutting cals and increasing general exercise, you can really benefit from ?óÔé¼?ômagic phase?óÔé¼?Ø. Basically you can engineer your diet/exercise in such a way to ensure the absolute maxium loss of body fat.
The other option is to just diet down to what you consider an acceptable weight and then go the route of eating at a surplus while building muscle, then dieting down to cut the fat that was gained during the surplus phase, rinse and repeat until you are at the desired body fat %. This is harder for women then men because, other than that ?óÔé¼?ôhoneymoon?óÔé¼?Ø phase, it?óÔé¼Ôäós very, very difficult for the average woman to gain lean muscle tissue. Our bodies just prefer to turn surplus calories to fat rather than muscle so this is a slower and somewhat more frustrating process.
I actually did both - I took a year off once I reached my initial body fat goal to just practice maintaining at that weight, and then did the gain/lose/gain/lose cycle to get my bodyfat down a little lower. Just gonna say - that the cycling period was so mentally/physically brutal I'd never do it again.
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SmittenKitten
New Member
| Joined: | 23 Jul 2011 |
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| Posts: | 22 |
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Posted: 24 Jul 2011 11:12 pm |
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suenos wrote:
I took a year off once I reached my initial body fat goal to just practice maintaining at that weight, and then did the gain/lose/gain/lose cycle to get my bodyfat down a little lower. Just gonna say - that the cycling period was so mentally/physically brutal I'd never do it again.
I applaud your bravery in doing the cutting/bulking thing. I would be too scared, having heard that if previously overweight people go on a "bulking" diet, they just gain fat, not muscle. 
That, plus it can be metabolically and emotionally brutal - and definitely not a good idea for anyone who has ever had any kind of eating disorder, or body dysmorphic tendencies!
So yeah, I'm not about to try it any time soon. But kudos to you! 
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suenos
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 25 Jul 2011 01:09 am |
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| @smittenkitten, I def. would'nt do it immediately following a large weight loss...
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PuffsPlus
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 25 Jul 2011 11:02 am |
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Tankgirl wrote: I can't help wondering why liposuction isn't a more permanent way of losing fat,since the fat cells are actually removed, or for that matter when people lose huge amounts of weight and have loose sections of remaining skin/fat removed. (Not that either's in the plans)
It is a permanent way of losing fat. One study in Italy found that liposuction on obese people actually improved people's blood sugar and cholesterol profiles.
But there are two main reasons why lipo usually doesn't make people permanently thinner:
1) Surgeons can't really remove too much fat at one time without endangering the patient. There was some Mexican drug lord who got like 50 lbs lipo'd off as part of a plan to change his appearance to elude his enemies. And he promptly died the next day. And his cronies killed the poor surgeon who did the lipo.
2) People who lose weight, whether through lipo or diet, still tend to regain it.
You're right not to get the cosmetic surgery to remove extra skin and fat until after you've had kids.
Me, when I lose weight and have kept it off a year, I'm heading to Costa Rica to have my surgeries done.
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bpourriahi
New Member
| Joined: | 25 Jul 2011 |
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| Posts: | 2 |
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Posted: 25 Jul 2011 09:10 pm |
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| The BMI is misleading and not informative. It cannot take into consideration your lean body mass. It is misleading. Stick with body fat percentage.
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