What should I be doing about this (if anything?)

[LaurieFairyCake]

My bmi is 22 but my body fat is in the obese range at 33%. My visceral fat is 6% and my subcutaneous fat is 30%.

should I be trying to turn this fat into muscle? And if so, how? I can’t run (too old and knees are crap). I already do loads of walking and yoga/pilates every week. I can’t do squats or lunges at all because of the knees, can’t cycle because of the same reason.

I think I should be lifting ?

I don’t want to lose anymore weight, I think the bmi of 22 is probably ok?

You can’t turn fat into muscle it’s different tissue

You lose fat and build muscle

how did you work out your body fat? Was it one of those gym machine scales? They aren’t very accurate at all

you can work out your body fat with measuring your whole body in different sections Google body fat measurements but if your waist - height ratio is healthy then you are probably fine

women should be lifting weights but I would get advice from a professional for safety reasons

The scales at home are a general indication rather than an accurate source, but there are exercises you can do that will build muscle. One of the things I’ve done at home is to buy a set of 5kg dumbbells and keep them need the kitchen table. Every time I make a coffee I do arm exercises, if I find myself with 5 mins to spare I do some more. It’s an easy way to increase exercise without having to find more time.

With your walking, can you choose more hilly routes so you’re doing more incline walking which will help develop thigh muscles? If you look up ‘Our parks, couch to fitness’ on YouTube they have loads of exercise plans and they show variations for the exercises for different levels of mobility.

Yes, it’s the Renpho scale and I do think it’s accurate as it’s been accurate with the gradual drops over the last 2 years. My fat round the organs is very good and it’s accurate about my bone weight etc.

my Waist is 23 inches, my height is 58 inches so relatively in proportion ? I have no visible waist fat at all, my thighs are the only place I would say there was fat

I do the same walk every day which has a massive incline, I find it hard to do. I love the idea of keeping weights to hand!

Body shape and distribution is fascinating. I’m BmI 21 now, was much much more. 5ft 8, waist is 29in so 6 inches bigger than yours.

I wouldn’t ever take those scales seriously, you literally describe yourself as having a small waist, healthy BMI so where is all this fat on you? If it’s your legs then it’s relatively harmless subcutaneous fat nothing to do with your organs and not unhealthy.

weights are a good shout but it will not turn your leg fat into leg muscles as I said it’s different tissue composition. Arm weights will not help your legs

Muscle also has weight to it so in body recomp, your weight might increase but your body measurements get smaller.

Honestly, I think you need to be thinking about why you're believing a number on the scale above the evidence you can see for yourself. If you have a BMI of 22 and a 23 inch waist then you're clearly very lean. I know that some people carry more visceral fat around their organs than you might think, but there's no way you've got 'obese' levels of body fat when you're that slim. Do you think you could have become a bit obsessive/fearful about fat?

You don’t mention your food intake. What do you eat?

I’ve got low visceral fat around the organs according to the scale but 33% body fat over all.

I don’t think I’m fat at all! The only visible fat I can see is on my thighs/calves/some on my bum.

2/3rds of me is bone/muscle/water

Recommendation online though for optimum health is 25% fat so I’m looking for tips to reduce body fat so I’m healthier and increase muscle. Not looking to lose any weight.

I am really short, so my maintenance calories are 1000 a day. I eat chicken/salad/eggs/yoghurt and fruit/nuts. I try to get 80-100 grams of protein. I’m on maintenance Mounjaro.

If you're over 40 then 33% is in the healthy range according to Google.
At any age 30% is and your scales might be out by 3% anyway.
Your measurements sound good and healthy.

How short are you to have such a low amount of maintenance calories? I’m 5’3” with a bmi of 21.7 and my maintenance is 1963 calories. 1000 is exceptionally low.

If you’re eating things like plain nuts as opposed to sugar or salt coated nuts, salad with homemade dressing as opposed to store bought, chicken that’s not coated in batter etc then I think I’d be getting a medical opinion, instead of relying on what those scales are saying.

I think you need to stop using these scales as they are giving you a skewed view of what a body should look like. You are on MJ so you were once larger and this is a common problem where you cannot objectively view yourself. Your actual stats are fine but 1000 calories a day is worrying, but if you do pretty much zero exercise this would explain why it’s so low. You need to move around much more frequently, exercise in some format and eat enough to sustain your body. I genuinely don’t even think a child would need maintenance calories of 1000 a day but from your OP, you are very sedentary so you would maybe need a good programme of exercise with a professional to help you build up some muscle. Muscle needs fuel to grow so you would need to eat more to grow it

lego 4ft 10 😬 also menopausal. Finding maintenance fine on 1000 calories (with MJ - obviously was impossible without for 30 years).

I’m very active, been painting the last 6 hours

Regardless of those numbers, it's a good idea to lift some weights anyway! Good for bone health and mobility.

There are lots and lots of weights workouts on youtube for free. Current advice is to lift as heavy as you can, ie if you get to about 8 reps and are very fatigued then that is good. Different exercises will require different weights - I can get 6kg above my head but I max out at 3kg out to the side, for example. I started most exercises with 3kg I think and when it gets easy I go up a kg.

A lot of people break it up into lower body one day, upper body a couple of days later, then full body combos a couple of days after that. Or some variation of that.

It feels brilliant when you realise you're getting strong.

And walk dogs 90 minutes a day, do 4 exercise classes a week. Always walk 10,000 steps. So definitely moderately active.

but as you’re all pointing out, I need to do weights

I’m 5ft 3, size 8/10 and the Renpho scales say my body fat % is in the obese range too. I’m quite obviously not obese so have come to the conclusion that these scales work it out based on taller people (probably an average height), and are inaccurate if you’re shorter.

A tdee calculator puts your maintenance at 1650 calories going off the stats you’ve given. At 1000 calories I don’t see how you can be getting at the nutrients your body needs. To accurately measure body fat is nigh on impossible without something like body callipers. My body fat is 25.4% according to my scales but I have visible fat on my arms, legs and abdomen. I’m menopausal too. I couldn’t be as active as I am on so few calories. I’m flagging if I forget to eat properly and only eat 1600. 1000 isn’t sustainable surely?

Yes well I ate 1400 calories a day for more than 30 years and managed to get to 16 stone. According to my bariatric surgeon he knows quite a few women like me. I was hypothyroid (not now) undiagnosed for a long time. Did slimming world and the old weight watchers for decades, just got fatter and fatter while eating fuck all.

Without maintenance MJ Id be putting on weight. I’m really small boned too. My wrists are 5 inches, my shoulders 12 inches. Im shocked how small my frame is after not seeing it for 40 years, I can easily fit into age 9-10 clothes.

I’m so happy to be healthy now.