Need advice girls...

[Lidcivic]

I got my body fat measured yesterday at my gym (with calipers...they used them on 5 sites : back, stomach, and various sites on upper arm)...It came out to be 28%...I was shocked because I thought I would at least be in mid-low 20's...Am I way off??

Here are my pics:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130173

What would be a good way to measure my progress?? Keep taking pics every month or continue to get my bf tested?? I can't use the scale anymore because it's not giving me the accurate weight (since I care more about my muscle to fat ratio)...

any words of advice??

[Laurie]

"Wardrobe"

[Lidcivic]

Originally posted by Laurie
"Wardrobe"

??? I just woke up in the pic...I'm in my pj's...

All you do is flame?? I get no advice?

[LadyLisa]

No way! Absolutely not. They are off big time!

My BF% is a little higher than your alleged 28% and I'm fat! lol

If your not really worried about the number necessarily, then just keep track of the differences each time you have it measured. As long as it keeps going down, you know you are going in the right direction!

I use a Tanita scale with an athletic setting to monitor my BF% and it's pretty accurate as long as you are well hydrated. Anyway, I really only monitor the difference to check my progress.

Don't fret over that number. It IS wrong and you look great!!!

[healthynhappy]

Originally posted by Laurie
"Wardrobe"

Use how your clothes to guage your progress in losing fat. Loose in the waist and tight in the shoulders is a good sign.

[healthynhappy]

Darn, my smilie came out in the wrong spot on the last message.

I just took a look at your pics. 28% seems high. Need a side view and maybe a good ab flex pic to say for sure, but My bodyfat is around 20% and from these pics you look pretty similar. I had several different people at both branches of my gym check my bodyfat to make sure I had an accurate idea of where I was at because everyone gets a little different number. Now I have picked one person that I trust to do it every time so I can guage my progress. Also make sure you get it tested pre-workout. Your numbers will be higher post excercise. I find my % is bit higher around "that time of the month"also.

Remember it's not the numbers that are important it's how you actually look. I usually know I'm in trouble when I'm look for a baggy shirt to wear to work.

[Lidcivic]

Originally posted by healthynhappy
Use how your clothes to guage your progress in losing fat. Loose in the waist and tight in the shoulders is a good sign.

ohhh, I thought you were making fun of my clothes...LOL...I already got crap for my PJ pants on another board....hahaha...by bad

[MsFit]

LOL.....I was thinking the samething. :D

You're not 28%. Get someone to measure who know's how to do it right, then start noting progress every month via callipers, mirror, clothing, photos.....

Woman cannot live by calliper alone. :D

[Laurie]

Sorry about that. I thought the one word comment was self explanatory.

This is what I have to go by. Going from 240 (in September) to 200 now....I find it better to go by my wardrobe rather than by stepping on a scale. I have not tried a BF percentage test and all the online ones say 33% when I put in my weight/height. Some of this is misleading, I think. My legs are not that fat...never had broad hips to begin with and have quite abit of definition in my calves and thighs. Most of my fat has been carried in my back, shoulders and stomach area, rather than in my hips, legs and butt. Especially with the stomach, since I had both of my kids by ceasarean (both ways).

Since starting this regimen, I can see the progress (in the mirror) but can really tell by how many pant sizes I have gone through. I build muscle easily, it seems, mostly in my arms and upper back/shoulders area. I have broad shoulders and large boned on a 5' 6" frame, so when you combine that with the fat.....hard to find something that looks good. Had to wear XL t- shirts or size 46-48 blouses most of the time. Now I wear Large....something I had not worn in years!

My waist has gotten more defined....at least I can really see one now and see my feet to boot. I can actually get into some of my daughter's 18 slacks (waist just abit snug still)...however size 40's are more comfortable right now. May not sound like much but a far cry from wearing 48's for the last 18 years.

Just how much fat has been lost and muscle has been built up....I just do not know. I see a lot of definition appearing and looking more "toned" as my strength goes up. I see loose skin now that had been filled out with fat. So, my most reliable "progress report" has been my wardrobe changes.

[Lidcivic]

Congrats on the hard work ;)

problem with me is i wear a pant size of 3...I can't really get any smaller then that...Im building muscle, so most likely i will gain some weight...I wanna know my fat/muscle ratio so I don't freak out when this begins to happen!

[Laurie]

If you are wearing size 3 pants. Weighing 123 at 5' 5 1/2"......really I would not worry about what those calipers say. I am just an inch taller and the "ideal" weight for me (large boned) is 135/145. I have NEVER been that. My own self image is being at 175-185.

This was the weight when I met my husband 30 years ago and my main exercise was riding a ten speed all over San Diego and 5 miles to and from college five days aweek. I was pudgy but fit...cardio speaking with just abit of a stomach. I was naturally strong from doing yardwork and genetics, I guess. But this was the time of "Cher" and Romanian Gymnasts. I had actually thought about lifting weights at the college but "this was not done" nor encouraged at the time. I was too preoccupied with what others "thought". That to lift weights meant you would become "musclebound".....no flexibility. Too much muscle on a woman was a "no-no".

My husband opinion was my weight at the time was just right. A woman being strong was an asset..not a curse. His family grew up in rural America on farms where everyday work/diet would make the average woman considered fat if you put the calipers on them. But I would not ever have called his 5' 2" mother that from her early photos. When I met her, she had become more wiry and was still quite strong....although slowed down abit from have congested heart problems from having rheumatic fever as a child and suffered from rheumatoid arthritis.

Far too long, our present society has forced women to focus on not being too fat or too thin. Not to be too muscular or "too" athletic..... To have "perfect" bodies and to fit a particular "Image". There are so many mixed signals given when a woman tries to follow any or all of these. Usually you end up miserable, give up or....... worse.

Unless you are wanting to enter body building, where sculpting your muscles into a particular shape, (expecially for contests or for yourself). Where body fat percentages are crucial for muscle definition....dont get too preoccupied or obsessed. As you lift, you will gain muscle, more definition, energy and best of all.....self-satisfaction and empowerment.

Just enjoy exercising and the building of muscle mass. The rest will take care of itself with a proper diet and routine.