Went to my gym yesterday as I finally decided to go ahead and go with a personal trainer versus figuring out my own weight goals, and they took body measurements.

Much to my absolute shock, my body fat has INCREASED 2% while I've "LOST" 7 pounds with the Atkins plan!!!

Unless someone can provide a justified, scientific reason, I'm done with Atkins!

And I'm not the only one -- a friend of mine that I met here in this forum has recently discovered she has gained 4% body fat since starting Atkins.

I sincerely hope the rest of you don't have these same results. I did the plan as it was supposed to be done even with exercise and these results are not acceptable.

Best of luck to everyone ~

Hi Charlie's1angel

When you say your body fat has increseased by 2% was it measured in the same way both times. I do know that there are a number of ways that it can be measured and these do give different results.

If you have has a real increase, I am very surprised. How was your body fat measured? Could there have been an increase because your body is better hydrated than previously? As you have lost weight then that is great. Scientific evidence has shown that Atkins with exercise mainly loses body fat, so hang on in there and see what your BF measurements are in a couple of weeks time.

Keep the faith.

How anyone (no offense LittleAnne, I'm not saying you specifically - I appreciate your efforts) can tell me I've lost 7 pounds of fat while my overall body fat has increased 2% -- well, I just don't know what to think.

Yes, the body fat test was identical to the one used for the first reading. It wasn't the water test, which is supposed to be most accurate -- but who can afford that? It's the one my gym carries where it sends an electric current (I guess) through the handles where you grasp it.

And for the other questions (most likely to arise) I do Jazzercise 3x a week and light weights 3x a week (except for probably consistently the last 3 months where it's been hit n miss because I'm on a new jobsite).

I'm just so disappointed.

Oh no! That's scary news. There has to be a logical explanantion for this. Were you doing exercise throughout the time that you lost the weight on Atkins? If not, then you are bound to lose some muscle. I also agree with the above that body fat measures vary considerably from even the time of day that you take them. It needs to be consistent and you need to take it by the same method. I'd suggest keep up Atkins and the exercise and re-measure your body fat in a couple of we4eks to a month with the same equipment at the gym. Don't give up, this WOE is too good!

No, you have not lost 7 pounds of fat. Your scales have gone down by 7 pounds. That is very different. A lot of the weight you lose when you first start low carbing is water weight associated with the carbs in your body. So you may have lost a pound or two of fat, but not much more at this stage. How do your clothes feel? How do you feel in yourself? These are the key indicators. Low carbing is a way of life, not a quick fix diet. Low carbing is not for everyone and you may need to look at your own motivation for this again.

Keep faith with this way of life, there are very few who are overweight that it does not work for.

Just thought, to add a postscript.

You do not have many pounds left to get to your target weight - 7.5. All the posts you will read indicate that the last 10 pounds are the hardest to lose as your body is reluctant to give them up. So it will take time and effort to get to your goal. If you manage to lose a pound a week then you will be doing particularly well. Exercise is key to toning up the muscles and converting the fat to muscle. You can do it. Don't let the body fat issue get in the way.

I say you have lost water and fat and that little anne is right...if you have ever taken your own measurments with e measuring tape...it varies...and you know where to measure on your own body. Now imagine the person doing the fat percentage test...I think it was probably done differently...in slightly different spots. hang in there!

FYI - the method of measuring body fat w/the grippy electrical impulse machine can be comprimised by many things. It can fluctuate with water intake, caffeine consumption, measuring post-workout, time of the day, etc.


You'll determine what works best for you, but you may want to check your BF% a few more times at scheduled intervals to get a good comparison. I know I tend to fluctuate because of the factors above (except for caffeine as I do not consume it anymore), so I started testing at the same time and under the same conditions.

HTH & Best of luck to you.
Nikki

How did they measure your body fat?
The most accurate is the water displacement methods.

I have a feeling they just did tape meaures, weight, and height, and used a chart to guestimate a %.

I have been on Atkins before, and fell off the wagon. It Works. I went from 230 to 180. It WILL work for you too.

I have to remind myself daily. i didnt get this way overnight, expecting miracles in 3 weeks isnt going to happen.

However, your numbers ARE changing, You ARE seeing results! Where would you be on any other diet besides miserable, cranky, hungry and the same weight?

Atkins is a life long process, not a binge diet to get in a bikini in 3 months..hang in there, we have all gone through the same thing.

I used to use the electro method but as mentioned before it will change depending how how much water you have drank. I was so inaccurate that I just stopped using it. It is probably good for larger per centages, but the error rate throws it off for the smaller ones.
T

The only way to accurately measure body fat %, is by doing a water immersing test, which is expensive and done in hospitals (compare the amount of water displaced, .with your weight)All other ways of measuring are very inaccurate. The "seven sites" caliper methods can yield +/- 5% on heavy people. The thinner you are the more accurate it is (the thinner I am the less I care about it )..the electronic (scale) method is bogus. sweaty feet vs. dry feet will give you different results. it measures electrical resistant (like a lie detector) of your body, and the more fat you have the more water you carry the less resistance it shows. Water is the key word..So, while I am overweight I do not care about % body fat, because I know by looking at the mirror that it is too high...

I'm going to jump in here because I think you will be making a terrible mistake by giving up a low carb lifestyle. First of all you most likely didnt gain any body fat %. It would depend on the time of day you took both measurements, your activity until that time, as well as how much water you had drank up to that time. Also if you had body fat % done with calipers, then no wonder they were different. Those are very unreliable. The scales are much more accurate. I started at over 34% and now I am down to around 17%, so I know this plan works if you dont cheat yourself.

TennisBum