Help with Body Fat Issue

[michiganfan2011]

Experts,

I'm 37 (Male) and I'm 6' 1" and right now sitting at 210 lbs. I know this is a dumb question, but I'm not getting it. In December I weighed in at 187 lbs. I was on a very low cal diet w/ probably less than 10% of my diet coming from fat - very high in protein and carbs. When I was down that low - I wasn't doing shit - no lifting, and very little cardio. Since them I have put on 23 lbs - and I now sit at 210. Here's the problem.

The weight I put on was strictly from eating - I still had not touched a weight or been in the gym. About 3 weeks ago I got in the gym and dropped from 216 to 210 - and I decided to get myself on a strict diet to keep me at 210. I am lifting 4 days a week (90 minutes - at least) and doing cardio quite a bit - sometimes 5 days a week - typicaly low-impact cardio for an hour or 90 minutes (exercise bike or fast walk on treadmill). When I was 187 my hand-held bodyfat calculator ([ame="http://www.amazon.com/Omron-1032338-Body-Fat-Analyzer/dp/B00006WNPU"]Amazon.com: Omron Body Fat Analyzer: Sports & Outdoors@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41V35b2nt1L.@@AMEPARAM@@41V35b2nt1L[/ame]) - this one - told me I was at about 16% body fat. Now that I'm 210 - it's telling me that I'm 17.1%. How in the hell can this be accurate? If I'm (right now) at 210 - with 17.1% body fat - dropping 23 lbs should have dropped my body fat quite a bit more than 1.1 % - don't you agree? I can agree that I probably lost muscle when I was at 187 lbs, but I sure the hell didn't gain muscle as my weight shot back up to 210. Also, if I adjust the settings - the only one that makes a difference is my age - if I set it to think I'm 22 - the damn thing tells me I'm 14% body fat, but when I set it to say I'm 37 - it automatically bumps it up to 17.1% body fat.

I know this is kindof' a gay question, but I'm trying to put together a steller diet plan and I'd like to understand how much fat I need to drop (weight) while I'm lifting in order to be between 8% and 10% body fat. Can anyone here help me understand this? Also, see the picture below - It's me when I was at about 190 - which had me at about 16.3% body fat. Does 16% body fat look accurate in this picture? Thanks a lot - you guys are awesome!

 

[ski1969]

First, I will look past the fact that you are a Wolverine fan (go Bucks).

Either the skin fold measurement with calipers or deriving the body fat % from the person's BMI is the only way I know how to calculate BF%.

From Wikipedia...

Body fat can be estimated from your body mass index (BMI). The BMI is calculated from an individual's weight divided by the square of the height if expressed in kg/m2, multiplied by 703 if expressed in lbs/in2.[11] There are a number of alternative formulae that relate body fat to BMI. Although these calculations are based on equations published in peer reviewed journals they are only an estimate and there will be variations around the results, as slightly over for obesity.

Body fat estimated from the body mass index from Deurenberg et al. The relationship between densitometrically determined body fat percentage (BF%) and BMI, taking age and sex into account Internal and external cross-validation of the prediction formulas showed that they gave valid estimates of body fat in males and females at all ages. In obese subjects, however, the prediction formulas slightly overestimated the BF%. The prediction error is comparable to the prediction error obtained with other methods of estimating BF%, such as skinfold thickness measurements or bioelectrical impedance. The formula for children was different aged younger, the relationship differed from that in adults, due to the height-related increase in BMI in children.[12]

Child body fat % = (1.51 × BMI) ? (0.70 × Age) ? (3.6 × gender) + 1.4

Adult body fat % = (1.20 × BMI) + (0.23 × Age) ? (10.8 × gender) ? 5.4

where gender is 1 for males and 0 for females.

 

[sassy69]

I'm a little confused, but take a look at how your BF measure calculates bodyfat - it sounds like it puts in some age variable as well. Also if it measures based on bioimpedance, those types of BF measures are very dependent on the amount of water in your system so it is hard to get consistent measures.

I wouldn't get too hung up on absolute bodyfat measures - I personally would only bother using a skin fold caliper w/ a 9 pt skin fold measure - the way the bioimpedence machines measure bodyfat is a bit different from what calipers measure so the numbers aren't going to really be comparable. Rather if you're going to use that thing to measure progress, do it a the same time of day when your water consumption is consistent day to day (e.g. first thing in the morning) and then just look at the relative changes in measures taken on a regular basis (maybe 1/ week - dont' get obsessive about it).

Also I think as far as making progress, you should focus on body composition change more than weight change. You can make your bodyfat ratio drop by increasing your muscle mass - not just by dropping weight. Don't set your goals by a number on the scale but rather how you look / drop in bodyfat.

I didn't really understand how you said you lose 23 lb - you starved yourself but w/ high protein / high carb / low fat and did piles of cardio? I'd probably change that to reasonably high protein, medium carb or a carb rotation and fat doesn't need to be very high. And then train balls to the wall, and I'd probably keep cardio to more like 30 min / day. Too much cardio can be catabolic - sure you'll "lose weight" but some of that might be muscle. And any amount of bodyfat looks better w/ more muscle than less muscle.

 

[Seaman]

Well,thanks for sharing useful information....I want to lose lose body fat?...Will running help me lose body fat..? Your suggestions will be appreciated...Thanks in advance..!

 

[zkt]

Well,thanks for sharing useful information....I want to lose lose body fat?...Will running help me lose body fat..? Your suggestions will be appreciated...Thanks in advance..!

To lose fat eat Paleo. See nutrition forum

 

[arekwhite]

Your article is very useful for me i agree with you exercise is the best way to keep your health better ...

 

[sassy69]

Well,thanks for sharing useful information....I want to lose lose body fat?...Will running help me lose body fat..? Your suggestions will be appreciated...Thanks in advance..!

Any physical activity will help you lose bodyfat. Diet is your first and most important tool. Training / cardio is next, and recovery is a third, often forgotten component of a 'healthy lifestyle'. Running works but it depends on what your diet looks like, what is your current muscle / bodyfat proportion and what your goal is.

To illustrate - look at long distance runners - in the extreme they are lean, but not necessarily low body fat - not because they carry a lot of fat, but they don't carry a lot of muscle. In the extreme running is catabolic. However look at sprinters - lean and ripped usually. So that gives you an idea of the value of sprint cardio (HIIT).

So "running" is great - but depends on how much, what else you're doing / eating and what you expect from it. For Joe Avg its probably great to get out, but I have known plenty of chubby runners because they are burning up muscle & fat, not doing any resistance training and probably not dieting for a muscle growth goal (or for that matter even paying attention to their diet).

 

[zkt]

Exercise is NOT the way to lose weight and keep it off. Study after study has confirmed this.
A pound of body fat equates to approximately 3500 calories.
Plug a few numbers in here and see what that Gatorade you drank after running 5 miles really does.

The Most Accurate Calories Burned Calculator,

 

[bigrobbie]

Experts,

I'm 37 (Male) and I'm 6' 1" and right now sitting at 210 lbs. I know this is a dumb question, but I'm not getting it. In December I weighed in at 187 lbs. I was on a very low cal diet w/ probably less than 10% of my diet coming from fat - very high in protein and carbs. When I was down that low - I wasn't doing shit - no lifting, and very little cardio. Since them I have put on 23 lbs - and I now sit at 210. Here's the problem.

The weight I put on was strictly from eating - I still had not touched a weight or been in the gym. About 3 weeks ago I got in the gym and dropped from 216 to 210 - and I decided to get myself on a strict diet to keep me at 210. I am lifting 4 days a week (90 minutes - at least) and doing cardio quite a bit - sometimes 5 days a week - typicaly low-impact cardio for an hour or 90 minutes (exercise bike or fast walk on treadmill). When I was 187 my hand-held bodyfat calculator (Amazon.com: Omron Body Fat Analyzer: Sports & Outdoors) - this one - told me I was at about 16% body fat. Now that I'm 210 - it's telling me that I'm 17.1%. How in the hell can this be accurate? If I'm (right now) at 210 - with 17.1% body fat - dropping 23 lbs should have dropped my body fat quite a bit more than 1.1 % - don't you agree? I can agree that I probably lost muscle when I was at 187 lbs, but I sure the hell didn't gain muscle as my weight shot back up to 210. Also, if I adjust the settings - the only one that makes a difference is my age - if I set it to think I'm 22 - the damn thing tells me I'm 14% body fat, but when I set it to say I'm 37 - it automatically bumps it up to 17.1% body fat.

I know this is kindof' a gay question, but I'm trying to put together a steller diet plan and I'd like to understand how much fat I need to drop (weight) while I'm lifting in order to be between 8% and 10% body fat. Can anyone here help me understand this? Also, see the picture below - It's me when I was at about 190 - which had me at about 16.3% body fat. Does 16% body fat look accurate in this picture? Thanks a lot - you guys are awesome!

This is a random reply on my part, but as you saw with your first 6 pound drop, keeping water weight low (watch your sodium intake) makes a huge difference.

Eat clean, exercise strict, and you really should (unless you have hypothyroidism, andropause or another hormone issue) be fine.

You really shouldn't worry about bf% until you formulate a strict training and diet plan and complete that initial plan for 6 weeks (sticking to your diet and exercise routine is going to be much harder than you may think)! Simply pick an approx. weight you'd like to be and have an idea of how you would like the mirror to reflect you...keep learing the basics of diet and exercise while doing this 6 week plan.

If you make it to your very basic goal of a weight and not breaking diet, then you can add to the equation by bringing bf% and BMI into your next "target"

Every 6-10 weeks of your life should be a goal. Start with the basics, and build your ability and knowledge from there....

Sorry if I'm way off base here, I just feel like you may need to study up on diets and routines and then live one as your first step into this "life." If I've got you all wrong here, then my apologies.

Keep learning and advancing bro.....

 

[bodybuilding0841]

The Nutrition Facts Label helps you determine the amount of calories and nutrients in one serving of food. This information helps you know whether you’re eating a healthy, balanced diet. The label, which is included on every packaged food product, lists the amount of: