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Body Fat Calculator

There are three main ways to calculate your body fat. Using a home body fat scale, skinfold calipers or hydrostatic weighing. Each method has it's pros and cons.

Body Fat Scales
How they works:
Body fat scales use bioelectrical impedance to measure your body fat percentage. A low-level electrical current is passed through your body and the "impedance", or opposition to the flow of the electrical current, is measured.

Pros:
- They measure body fat quickly and conveniently
- They are easy to use and have at home

Cons:
- Impedance levels can be altered by many factors besides body fat. Factors such as the amount of water in your body, your skin temperature and any recent physical activity can adversely affect the results
- Studies have shown variances as high as 8 percent when using the bioelectrical impedance

Callipers
How they works:
You take pinches of your skin at three points on your body and calculate the fat percentage from those readings.

Pros:
- Most studies have shown that they are very accurate
- They are affordable, simple to use and have at home

Cons:
- Difficult to do it on your own body. You may need professional assistance

Hydrostatic Weighing
How it works:
The examiner first calculates your body density by measuring the amount of water you displace when you immerse yourself in water. Then a formula is used to calculate body fat based on your body density.

Pros:
- The most accurate way to calculate body fat

Cons:
- Expensive
- Inconvenient
- Time consuming, cumbersome, complicated and difficult to find

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As I told Mel the other day, I use this bad boy, Omron HBF-306 Body Fat Analyzer:

The best part is that you get both BMI and body fat readings. It also stores your stats.

Last check, my body fat was 38.2, which puts me in the Obese category. Using the formula from yesterday, weighing in at 194 with 38% body fat, let's see what a reasonable weight loss goal for this fat fighter "should" be shall we?

I'm a 194lb woman with 38% body fat. My blanket goal is to lose 60lbs.

My initial body fat is: 73lbs (194lbs x 0.38) [holy shyte!]

My lean body mass is: 121lbs (194lbs total weight - 73lbs of fat)

My goal to lose 60lbs puts me at 134lbs, which may not be realistic.

At 134lbs, I'd have 121lbs of lean body mass and would only be carrying 9lbs or aprox 10-13% body fat. From yesterdays chart, unless I'm an Olympic athlete in training, this is a very low percentage.

A better goal might be to initially reduce my body fat from 38% to 30%:

194lbs x 0.30 = 58lbs of body fat

121lbs of lean body mass + 58lbs = 179lbs goal weight

To achieve this "acceptable" range of 30%, I'd need to lose only 15lbs of fat (73lbs body fat - 58lbs body fat = 15lbs), reducing my scale weight from a current 194lbs to 179lbs. Then, based on how I look and feel at that point, I can shoot for a lower body fat percentage, say going from 30% to 25% or losing 14lbs to weigh in at 165lbs.

3 months from this week, we shall check revisit our goals.

That shall be my first goal weight: 179lbs, 30% body fat. What's yours?