Several years ago, on the first leg of my healthy living journey, I had my body fat tested.
My body fat was 43.5%.
I cried.
I actually cried even more when I realized I was probably at 50% or more before I started exercising and eating better. I cried because I was almost half fat even after several months of healthy living. I cried because when I weighed 255+ I probably was half fat. I cried because those numbers hurt.
I know body fat isn’t completely accurate. I know it’s even less so when you are just doing the basic measures like an at home machine or a skin fold test instead of the fancy schmancy tests. But this is another number, along with the scale, that gives you an idea of how healthy you are. Several years ago I cried because I wasn’t very healthy at all.
Today I got my body fat tested again. I did it on a whim, hoping for something in the 30 percentages. You know, because I am still over 200 pounds and all.
My body fat today is 27.5%.
That blew me away because I was expecting something much worse! I asked the trainer if he was sure twice and checked out the numbers myself. I was not expecting to see a 2 in the beginning of the number, but all the measurements taken pointed right to it: 27.5%.
For a lot of people that 27.5% number would be horrific. It’s still not great but it’s something that has improved greatly and will continue to improve. Since I’m not weighing in right now I’m going to use this number as my measurement and hopefully improve it by the wedding. I plan to get it tested again either before or after the wedding.
Depending on which chart I look at online I fall into either a “Normal”, “Acceptable”, “Above Average” or “Obese” range of body fat percentages (confusing, right?). I guess there is no standard chart of body fat percentages like there is for the BMI measurement. If there is a standard one used by most people please let me know in the comments. Regardless, I’m so much closer to what I know are healthy numbers!
Man. I’m so glad I did this today. Getting that measurement totally made my day! It’s so awesome to see progress and know I’ve been losing fat and gaining muscle. Win! Win! Win!
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I don’t even want to know what my number is. It will just depress me. My fitness and health level aren’t always about numbers like that.
Lisa´s last [type] ..The Portland Century – Part 3
Totally understandable. Fitness and health level don’t have much to do with this number or the number on the scale. But sometimes they can be nice to see improvement with. :)
Wow Mary congratulations! That is a HUGE difference!! I’ve never had my body fat percentage tested… i’d be really interested in the number!
Beth @ Beth’s Journey´s last [type] ..HLS Highlights
Good for you!
Karen@WaistingTime´s last [type] ..Toto, We’re Not in Healthy-Eating-Ville Anymore
GO YOU! That is AWESOME!
That’s a HUGE HUGE HUGE difference.y ou have to feel amazing about that.
Lisa @ I’m an Okie´s last [type] ..House Hunters Oklahoma Edition
I do feel amazing! It’s really exciting! :)
Congratulations! That is a HUGE difference and great success to celebrate. YAY!
Laura´s last [type] ..Movement Challenge Check-in
That’s HUGE! I love seeing healthy changes like that in myself and others even if it’s not the “perfection” society tries to put on us. Making healthy choices over and over will help you keep reaching your goals.
I have no idea where I started, but I’m content with my 18% now. All the charts are ridiculous, BMI, body fat, etc. They all seem to be different.
TB-Milwaukee´s last [type] ..I Wanna Learn Too
This blog post has a chart for body fat percentages
http://www.redstar5.com/blog/?p=1044
~RustiAnn
p.s. scroll down a little ways to see it.
Thanks Rusti! More confirmation that I’m at the very least acceptable! Awesome! :)
Congratulations Mary! That’s really exciting. Numbers can be frustrating, but in another way I kind of like them because they DO offer a way to show us all how much progress we’ve made.
I have a body fat percentage analyzer thingy on my scale – what did they use to test your body fat? I’ve heard there’s lots of different ways so I’d be really curious. I want to do the one in the water but it also sounds a little scary, hehe.
Sagan´s last [type] ..Don’t let it go to waste: Put that produce to good use!
The machine thing that sends impulses through you, like your scale. And the skin fold caliper measurements. It’s super awkward to go in a room and let someone pinch your fat, let me tell you! Haha. I’d like to do the water one but it’s not really worth the time, effort, or money for me.
I’m not so sure bout those body fat measurements. One day they had them free at the gym so I took it. I though they would measure more things. They just asked me how much I weigh and how tall I am then had me hold some tiny machine then they told me my #. How on earth does that tell how much fat I have? It didn’t even see what was muscle vs fat in any way, not even pinching. I don’t get it. But yippee and congrats for your #!!
merri´s last [type] ..The Baptism – I Become a Godmother
Yeah that’s probably not a great measurement then. Although the machines that do it that way do have some science behind them, about measuring water in the body because muscle holds more water. Or something like that. I’m surprised they didn’t do the skin caliper pinch the fat thing. Most gyms I’ve been to have trainers trained to do that properly.
well maybe they do that if you pay for a personal trainer. i dont pay extra to get a personal trainer so this was just a free service they were doing one day on customer appreciation day. it’s 24 hr gym theyre kinda cheap sometimes! but i agree with you, if it’s done some way that really can measure your fat vs muscle, it’s a great way to see progress! i can tell by your #s of how much you use for weights that youve got a ton of muscles in you!! :)
merri´s last [type] ..The Baptism – I Become a Godmother
Yeah probably. I know all the personal trainers at my gym so he didn’t charge me or anything. I’m not sure if there is a fee or not actually. :)
That is a total health win!! A big congrats to you. It’s nice to be able to track something that is really meaningful and useful in your healthy journey.
Good on you Mary…here’s to good living…
Great Job! I kow what you mean about all the confusing information out there. Keep up the great work!
That is awesome!!!! wow congrats on all your hard work!
BIA is a pretty good measure, but it can be 3-6% off depending on the machine and there are a lot of outside variables that can influence the results too. Depending on the machine It is important to not eat/drink within 4 hours, no exercise within 12 hours, no alcohol, coffee, coke (caffeine) within 48 hours, no diuretic meds, no testing during retention of fluid during menstrual cycle, and urinating prior or within 30 min before the test. Or you could try to find a bod pod nearby or even more accurate would be underwater weighing :)
Most important is that you feel good and healthy!
Good for you! Since I’ve read your blog I know you’ve worked very hard, and been very diligent . . . you deserve having something which validates what you’ve accomplished; congratulations, now and later!!!!
way to freakin baby!
whoops, I meant to write “way to freakin’ go” but as I was typing I was yelling to my boyfriend “baby” whoops lol
Bella´s last [type] ..A New Beginning
Haha. Very funny. Thanks!
That is awesome!!!
We had bod pod tests done Thanksgiving weekend last year (and this was after losing 150 lbs) after busting my hump all year and only being down 40 lbs since then I’m afraid to see what the numbers are. But who knows, maybe it’ll make the lack of weight loss easier to take?
Congratulations on your recent reading. It has to make you feel like a million to know all your hard work is paying off.
Heaalthy Living Tips´s last [type] ..Some Very Surprising Truths About Sunscreens – Part Three
Sounds like you are on the right path, Congrats on the fat loss! Keep at it, and you can turn that 2 into a 1. Again congrats and best wishes in the future.
Whoa that is incredible! Congrats on lowing that number so drastically. That’s a huge accomplishment!
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