Just had my body fat measured....

[Dosey]

....and it's not that good. Although my BMI is 20.8, which I am happy with, my Body Fat% is 36.1 which is showing as high. Now I am wondering how do I bring my body fat percentage down but keep to a healthy BMI. I am 5ft9 and weigh about 10st 7lbs. So I really don't want to loose any weight.

I was measured by a lady in a cafe who was trying to sign people up for a weight loss challenge. When I told her I didn't want to sign up for weight loss she wasn't keen on giving me any advice on how to get my body fat down.

I think it has to be exercise, doesn't it - that will convert some of the fat to muscle.

(How did you have it measured, by the way - with special scales?)

Thank you mooncup. It was a digital gadget I had to hold in front of my body. I am quite active, always walk or bike, though my excercise and eating habits have been terrible over Christmas. This will kick me up my bum to do more.

I think that figure is a little on the high side...not sure I trust body fat percentages, especially when someone has something to sell. The online calculators don't move much when you have a play with them. When I reduce my weight by 20lbs it only affects my fat loss by 4% . 20lbs is 14% of my body weight! I'd be like a walking skeleton...yet my body fat would still be 24%.

I did it in Boots too - there it said 34% when I had a BMI of 20 - I was bordering on above average fat levels apparently. Load of bollocks is all I can say. I run 3 times a week, do resistance training 2 times a week. I might not be skin and bone but there is no way I'm at all convince that my body fat percentage is bordering on above average levels, isn't 50% of the adult population over weight? How could I be almost above average

I'd love to know for sure though but I haven't encountered a method of calculating body fat that didn't seem a bit suspect.

Thank you snowkey, I did feel a little dubious about it as she was a sales person and could not offer me any advice. It was a little bit like 'the computer says you are fat'. The banoffee pie ten minutes before probably did nothing to help my fat stores!!!

It does sound odd. I have a BMI of 21.1 and I measured my body fat percentage via the US Navy formula online and it came out as 26%. No idea how reliable that is, though!

Average body fat for a woman is between 25 - 34%. Anything less than 24% is the the sort of percentage you would find on athletes. I think I read the most accurate way of telling your body fat is by getting someone to measure you with those caliper things.

I think the best way to get your body fat down would be to build up your weight and resistance training and build up more muscle.

I am VERY dubious of most body fat readings.
A couple of years ago, as part of a medical study, DH and I had full body bone density and body fat scans done at a hospital.

At the time I was 46, 165cm tall and weighed 62.4kg.
My total body fat was 31.9%
My bone density was that of a 30 year old.

Unless you have data as accurate as mine (I know the fat %age for each limb, my torso and my head) I'd regard it all as very dodgy.

Thank you so not so much to worry about after all. Back to the box of chocolates it is then!

You get a different body fat reading if you hold one of those things to doing it on scales in my experience - particularly if you have large boobs.

I bit shorter than you, pretty large chested, weight between 10 st 9 and 11 stone and vary between 31% fat and 33% depending on how my weight goes up and down. This is on the basis of scales with body fat measure rather than the hand held thing.