Women: whats your body fat percentage?

sher · Post by **sher** » Thu 23 Feb 2006 14:32

I was wondering mostly from the women what your bodyfat % is and how long you've been on the diet.

CurlyGirl · Post by **CurlyGirl** » Thu 27 Apr 2006 23:32

Mine is 20%. Been on the diet several months; started at 22%.

Post by **Oscar** » Fri 28 Apr 2006 00:52

How can you test the percentage?

CurlyGirl · Post by **CurlyGirl** » Fri 28 Apr 2006 10:32

Oscar, you need a little device that uses bioelectrical impedance technology. It sends a low-level electrical signal through the body (you can buy a machine that looks like a normal scale, or one that you simply hold in your hands). The signal travels quickly through lean tissue, which has a high percentage of water and is therefore a good conductor of electricity, and more slowly through fat, as fat has a lower percentage of water and is therefore a poor conductor of electricity. The device then uses the information from this signal to work out body fat percentage.

To me, it is not such an important issue - I prefer just checking how my clothes fit (since, if I weigh the same as usual but my clothes are looser, I gather I have probably changed my fat/lean ratio favourably). But the little devices are so cheap, and it's kinda fun just to be able to monitor the changes in percentage every so often (but not too often - I don't know about the long-term safety of subjecting one's body to low-level electrical currents, but then again, my body is exposed to them every time I see the acupuncturist!). There are other methods to measure bodyfat, including hydrostatic weighing, skinfold caliper measurements, and infrared interactance (since fat and lean tissue interact differently with infrared light shone onto the skin). But BIA (bioelectrical impedance analysis) seems most practical, in my experience.

For women aged 20-39, 21-33% body fat is the ideal range, less than that is 'underfat', more is 'overfat' (ridiculous expressions!). Men aged 20-39, the ideal range is 13-20%.

Post by **Oscar** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 01:05

Oh okay, thanks! I don't think I'll bother with that...

Brazilnuts · Post by **Brazilnuts** » Sat 09 Aug 2008 03:52

I've just drank a lot of water and consumed a melon (amongst other things) so my measurements are not accurate, nevertheless at this point it is 34%, which is too high given how muscular I LOOK.

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Wed 13 Aug 2008 19:07

Ha ha

Thats because fat is very unevenly distributed, whereas water is very much evenly distributed, so that when you retain less water, you will see the effect immediately, despite that there may be much fat on specific locations. So that when you retain little water but have a gigantic ass, your back and arms may appear very muscular (unless there is much fat there as well).

Brazilnuts · Post by **Brazilnuts** » Thu 14 Aug 2008 23:06

RRM wrote:Ha ha
Thats because fat is very unevenly distributed, whereas water is very much evenly distributed, so that when you retain less water, you will see the effect immediately, despite that there may be much fat on specific locations. So that when you retain little water but have a gigantic ass, your back and arms may appear very muscular (unless there is much fat there as well).

Erm, no...not that

It's my LOWER abdomen I think. Its crazy! My upper abdomen looks like there's a six pack about to burst out, but my lower abdomen is...without a doubt...carrying too much fat.

It's irritating. I want to be less than 34% fat. That sucks.

Brazilnuts · Post by **Brazilnuts** » Sun 17 Aug 2008 14:44

Update: After a few sessions of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) my body fat has gone down by 2% to 32%, BUT my body weight has gone up by 1.5 pounds.

Lets just hope that's an increase in muscle mass.

keyaziz · Post by **keyaziz** » Fri 19 Sep 2008 02:03

mine is 13% ........

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Tue 23 Sep 2008 17:21

Ha, thats much for a man, but little for a woman.