I found an easy way to get my percentage of Body Fat

multiply 703 times your weight
then divide that number by your weight squared

Mine is 703 x 153 (my weight today) = 107559
then divide it by my height 63 inches, squared 63 x 63 = 3969

107559/3969 = 27 bmi
This will give you a good approximation of Body fat Mass. I compared my results with results when I had it done at the doctors office and it was correct. A bmi of < 25 is ok, over 25 is overweight and 30 and over is obese

Donna, BMI is a calculation using height and weight designed to calculate body fat, however it has drawbacks and it's not a good way to actually determine body fat %. It does not take into account lean body mass, so healthy individuals with a lot of lean mass and low body fat can get readings saying they are overweight or obese. While it's possible to have the same BMI and the same BF% it's not necessary. The relation between fatness and BMI is influenced by age and gender. For example, women are more likely to have a higher percent of body fat than men for the same BMI. At the same BMI, older people have more body fat than younger adults.

A good example would be someone who lifts weights.

If we take a body builder with the following stats: weight 220 lbs., height 6'2", BF 9% and enter them into the BMI calculator we get a BMI of 27.5 - By BMI standards this person is overweight, by body fat % standards he's in amazing shape, which is the most accurate?

HTH
-Nat

I agree, BMI based on height is completely inaccurate. I have 104 pounds lean mass. According to most BMI tables I could get down to 105 pounds and still be healthy for my height.

If you want an easy BF% calc online I would recomend the one under the resources link at www.zoneperfect.com It takes into account your measurments. While not as good as a caliper or water displacement test, it is much more accurate then a formula based on height alone.

I prefer a few other calculators, I find the zone typically overestimates body fat and underestimates protein requirements.

http://www.healthcentral.com/coolto...ss/bodyfat1.cfm is one I use.

-Nat

I must be really bad at measuring myself, or that site of yours isn't ment for me Nat. It states I have 16-18% body fat. That would put me at extreamly tone for a woman. Trust me, I am no where near there. The Zone may register some a little high, but between that at protien power, both which use hip to waist ratios, I think I get a better estimate. Maybe one set of measurments work better for men and oen for females?

Like I said, I could be measuring my calf or thigh wrong too. What I came up with is

146 lbs
37.5 hips
15 calf
22 thigh
6 wrist

I've remeasured and entered a few diferent measurment combos in to get an average, and it still says 18 *shrug*

They use different measurement places, so depending on how you're proportioned the results will be skewed. I find using that particular one better for me because of how I lose / gain weight (all over). The ones with waist measurements have me really low as well - some at 13-14%, and trust me, that is a long way off! Our numbers aren't that far off measurement wise, but I have 20 lbs on you, and for some calcualtors that 20 lbs makes a huge difference (in the wrong direction!)

It's a question of what works best for your body type, and it's also a matter of change over time.

Calipers, in the hands of someone experienced, can give pretty accurate numbers, btw.

-N

Nat, the gym calipers test put me at 22% (I was astounded) but the above calculator says 30% which is more in line with my own feelings, when I look down at my fat tum and thighs...

Val

hah that calc cant be right. they say my bf percent is 36.6, and i need to lose about 40 pounds. hehe, as big as i am i must be heavier than that. i really doubt i have almost 130 lbs of skeletal/lean tissue . my ideal weight cant possibly be 165 pounds, i am not well built, i am medium frame, and only 5'5.2

ItsTheWoo, you probably do have that much lean mass right now. You probably wont have that much as you continue to lose fat. The more overweight you are the more you weigh, correct? All of that extra weight is not just F.A.T. - carrying around 100 extra lbs takes a lot of work. Overweight individuals have more lean mass than their lean counter parts. LCers by the very nature of their diet lose less lean mass than other dieters, but they do lose some, you just don't need it all once you've lost the fat.

Val, I think 30% BF for you is much too high. Body dysmorphia isn't uncommon among dieters. If you are 30% BF then you have 110 lbs of lean mass and to get to say 20% BF you'd need to get down to 132 lbs, that's pretty low for someone you're height and age. Remember as we age BF% rises and what was 'average' at one age is not 'average' at another - it is better than average. Calipers gave you 22%, so if it makes you feel better use the margin of error on the high side, say 24%.

-Nat

BTW, an 'average' range for a 5'5" woman who is medium framed is 130-144 lbs. If you'd like to be able to maintain a higher weight and wear a smaller size start lifting weights. To give you an example, at 157 lbs I wear a size 6, at 190 a size 12.

-Nat

Thanks Nat, it still comes down to needing to gain muscle and tone up. so am working on that! Have been aerobicing 3-4 X a week for a year and am much fitter as a result, so have added 2 sessions of weights to this now and will increase to 3 after a month and decrease the aerobics to 3.

Val

I went to www.zoneperfect.com and figured my body fat at 40.94 percent, I though that was high. It uses hip, waist at navel and height measurements.

I also went to www.healthcentral.co and my body fat was 30.5 percent.

My short cut was 27 percent body fat. Its not perfect, just a guess. It may help someone that truly doesn't know their body fat percentage. If you are top heavy add or bottom heavy add to the percentage. If you are a well proportion person its probably correct.

My conclussion, zoneperfert uses measurements from the waist down so 40.94 was correct because I'm a pear shape and carry my weight below the waist. healthcentral adds heigh so it was 30.5 which balances it out. So I'm probably 34 percent which puts me in very overweigt for my height, body type and bone structure. I should weigh 122 which sounds good because I would wear size 8 which would be about right. I wore a size 4 when I weighed 114 but those days are gone.

I thought it was interesting, but not important. I just want to be healthy and look as normal as possible.
Donna

This is the one I use most often:

http://davedraper.com/bodyfat-calculator.html

If you are heavier it shows you a bit low-but it seems to be right for me. It puts me at between 25-26 and that seems correct. There is also a version there you can download that is an Excel macro that I use.

Paleo- You'rs showed me about the same as the others, just with a little more lean mass and a little less body fat. Where do you measure forarm at though? I think that may of messed it up as I just measured a little blow my elbow unsure what it wanted.

You typically measure your forearm at the widest part - as with hips, thighs and calves. Near or around your elbow should be fine, unless you have well developed forearms that are larger further down.

-N