See, when I figured my body fat out...I'm pretty sure I did it right, 18% body fat was 133, but now that I'm almost there (141), I have some serious fat still on my arms, stomach, and hips...more than 8 pounds anyway. I don't want to get really skinny or anything, but I don't want love handles and cellulite What's even more wierd to me, is that three years ago, I weighed almost 10 lbs heavier than I am now, but I was this thin (I fit into the clothes from then)? I think I've lost tons of muscle mass over the years too, which is scary. I was planning on losing the weight and then toning up - hopefully starting in about three weeks. There is no use doing situps now if there's a bunch of fat covering them up.

Does anyone know I good way for me to figure out what weight to be?

Thanks,
Erin

I checked your profile and it said U are 69.5 inches? Thats 5'9" Wow I mean I know everyone is different and sizing everywhere is different aswell..but I would estimate at your height U should be no less than 135 and could be 165 and still be at a healthy weight.

I know that's what all the books say but, I am definitely still going to be big at 133. Maybe I just have a lot of fat at 133. I need a way to figure out the correct weight for me...not just the general "healthy weights." Thanks for the info.

Erin

By the way I'll be emailing you later...see you then

a certain amount of subcutaneous fat (cellulite) is necessary for good health in women of reproductive years. Without this system, homo sapiens would have been extinct long ago. The models you see in photos who have none are either 1) unhealthy and very young and have never had children or 2) lit well then airbrushed.

When I was anorectic in my 20's, my size 5's drooping on me, I only saw the cellulite and wanted desperately to change that. Now, I self-assess more on the basis of who I am inside and how I feel (in terms of energy and strength and being spiritually centered) and have an urge to change the world outside myself in its harsh ways of judging women, rather than continue to demand "perfection" of the appearance of my own much-abused body.

(I have some serious fat still on my arms, stomach, and hips...more than 8 pounds anyway. )

(there is no use doing situps now if there's a bunch of fat covering them up)

Hi Erin

Please do not fret so much on body fat percentage instead,
I seriously reccomend exercise to help these areas, and you will find a big difference as you keep doing it. Alternate by one day doing aerobics and the next day doing weight bearing exercise. Just remember that muscle weighs more than fat, so you may not see much difference in weight loss on your scale but you will see a difference in your clothes size. I hope you're taking Calcium Magnesium with Vitamin D and Glucosamine Sulfate supplements. Building muscle for strength and to protect your bones, is essential for all of us. I realize that you are a young lady but taking these supplements will give you a head start now and for your advanced age.

I've been there, and I started doing exercises as soon as I started to do weight loss. At first I just did low impact aerobics, short walks and than increased the mileage as I went along, and also small weights and than increased them as well.

Hope this helps you.

Cindy

Hi there Erin......

I'd like to make a suggestion. Throw all of the books and calculations out of the window. Start an exercise program to tone...not just one part of your body, but your whole body. Make sure that you keep your calories and protein up so that there is the nutrition to support muscle gain. I think the surprise will be that you don't actually need to worry about losing more! At your height, with some toning, I'm willing to bet that you are just about all of the way there. Give your body a chance to show you where you need to be and be careful not to get too low on % of body fat since that can cause all kinds of negative side effects.

Marlaine

Hi...hopefully Nat will read this or someone to help...

There was this past post where Nat gave a link to figure out your lean post mass, but I've been searching and searching and I can't find it. If anyone knows what link I'm talking about, let me know b/c I would really like to try it again.

Thanks,
Erin

It sounds to me like you need to build some lean muscle mass, Erin. Check this thread out - it will answer some questions.
http://forum.lowcarber.org/t31955.html

For % of body fat any formula or calculator will only give you an approximation - keep that in mind. Your best guage is a second pair of objective eyes - or a photograph. They don't lie.

You can play around with this site for a rough idea of % of body fat.

http://www.users.voicenet.com/~petr...ss/ckdcalc.html

Nat

what range should a womans body fat to be in? I guess Im looking for the percentage.

The range changes as you age. Medical professionals have determined that a healthy range of body fat is 14%-20% for men under 30 years of age, and 17%-24% for women under 30 years. For women over 30 body fat % range is 20%-27% and for men over 30 it is 17% - 23%.

Nat

I realized a bit later that I actually made that CKD thing a favorite...duh. Thanks. Well I worked it out and to be 18% body fat (and I'm pretty sure I have a 29" waist) I should weigh 128.62. I thought 18% was the lowest for women (it was my guess anyway), so for 17% I should weigh 127.53. Those are about 5 lbs lighter than any thing I've read for correct weights of women - including Atkins (and I know you said they are only an approx.) and it makes me feel better. So I guess I have a new goal - 128. About the whole toning links...I am totally that way, scared that I'm going to bulk up. Since I know that I won't (well not very easily) this gives me one more thing I can do with my bf After I lose the weight I will begin the workout (I know I don't have to wait), but I just want to see what I look like first - it can become my new "before pic."

Thanks soooooo much guys for the info,
Erin

I just change my goal...boy that was disappointing - five more lbs moved me from 80% of the way there to only 70%. Well, I know I can do it

I checked out the site but in my case am still a bit confused [ LOL ok so that never takes much] U see I am quite toned and dont appear to have much body fat EXCEPT around my waist. It the way I am built and then added on top of that is having 2 babies by c-sec. So anyway it says that because my waist is 29 inches my body fat is 24.32 ...and interestingly enough if my waist goes down to 28 inches then my body fat drops off to 21.23. I guess the only way I would know is for a doc to check me all over and then average it out.

The info I asked Nat about earlier (the CKD link) is from a link from a long time ago. Anyway, the thread became a huge debate over the correct methods to determine bod fat. It was said that the only true way to determine it is by going in water (obviously a more complicated and expensive route). So this is a good guide, but it's probably not exactly accurate due to it only measuring your waist. If you're really interested in finding a more accurate calculation, you should buy one of those fat pinchers...lol. I wouldn't even know where to get one, but a gym may have one you could borrow...lol.

Good Luck,
Erin

If you do get another way to determine the bod fat, let me know, I'd love to find out how accurate it is.
I'm a 29" waist and I am 22.71% bod fat by the CKD method.

Just FYI, Erin. If you start NOW it will take less time to reach your goal AND you could end up actually weighing more by having more lean muscle and less body fat - I am around 23% body fat right now (31" waist - and I owe most of it to lifting weights)

Nat

I like the ckd calculator because it gives me almost the exact same reading as does the PP calculation which takes measurements from all over the body but takes half an hour to work out! LOL. not to mention a 24% bodyfat reading when others using weight and height give me like 30+%!!!