DEXA says I'm obese - 36% body fat - thoughts?

[temirlan]

@dawn16 agree, forget about estimated numbers coming from data from 20-30 years ago. focus on what you see, muscles bigger? getting stronger? feeling better? getting enough sleep? dialed in your nutrition? +protein -fat -carbs? lift weights track progress on your lifting. increase sleep. give up alcohol, sugar, minimize bread from refined flower, eat more fiber…. good luck OP and don’t stress. keep working out and forget about dexa scans, bio impedance scales, etc.

 

[slvr07]

@marwils So the issue is a lack of muscle. Your ratio of muscle to fat isn’t great. Gain more lean mass to get a better and more healthy physique. I’m 5’4, 39% body fat at 188. My lean mass is 114. I have 64lbs of skeletal muscle

 

[theodorus700]

@marwils There is always going to be a margin on any body fat measuring machine, but I don't really think the DEXA scan is being grossly inaccurate here. I think people really underestimate what it means to be skinny-fat.

For one thing you're pretty tall, and taller women can typically "get away" with having more fat without it being as noticeable compared to a short women.

But aside from that, worrying about whether you should actually be 32%, 30% or 29% shouldn't really be the concern here. No matter how you look at it, you're carrying excess fat. Regardless of what the percentages say, you can see it clearly in the X-ray.

And clearly, it's a little bit more fat then you had anticipated. Which is okay! If you'd like to change that, time to make a game plan.

 

[isoter]

@theodorus700 “Skinny fat” really highlights what we talk about with BMI in that it essentially boils down closer to “shape” than “weight”.

For example, I’m 137 now, most of which is muscle. I am a size 2. I was 137 in my early 20s and I wasn’t working out, was drinking and eating junk food, and I looked COMPLETELY different despite weighing the same. I looked fat (even though I was within “healthy BMI”). I was a size 8.

I think that’s what you were getting at?

 

[marwils]

@theodorus700 I guess the question is then, what is the definition of "grossly inaccurate" to you?

For me, 6% off isn't really acceptable. I just read about someone who visited on DEXA scan place and then didn’t believe the results so got another one elsewhere and it was 12% lower for body fat. I do understand what you’re saying, and what skinny fat is, but I do lift weights and exercise, so idk, I’m having a hard time believing that’s the full story. I suppose the only way is to go again and test out my theory?

 

[jimhurst]

@marwils It’s saying you’re more than 1/3 fat vs. muscle or bone. IE: You don’t have much muscle mass. Skinny fat means your skinny but not fit. Low muscle mass increases all cause mortality substantially as you go into older age… you continually lose what muscle mass you have as you age, and so starting out with very little… Is considered by some, less healthy. Does that make sense?

 

[sqs1]

@marwils Dexa is one of the most accurate body composition measurements but it tends to read higher than other types because it literally takes all fat into account, including fat in your brain (brains are mostly fat), that you can’t estimate with calipers.

The issue you have is that your lean body mass is low for someone 5’9’’, not that your body fat is high. How long have you been doing strength training for? Maybe it’s time to up your game?

 

[nick105]

@marwils Seems right. You have no muscle.

 

[marwils]

@nick105 Thank you for the shockingly rude comment - hopefully you read my Edit 2 note.

 

[nick105]

@marwils It’s not personal, just a fact and why your reading is higher than expected.

 

[rustylover49]

@nick105 It appears OP wanted all responses to say, "there's no way you're xx% body fat!!!"

Having had DEXA completed twice a few years apart when I was running long distance regularly, and having about the same body fat as OP, I believe the results are correct.

I started lifting, running moderately (instead of long distance), my muscle mass went up, and body fat went down. Because I've done this myself, the DEXA is believeable.

 

[marwils]

@rustylover49 No, I wanted to learn if other people (especially women) also had inaccurate results for body fat with DEXA (like this article points out): https://www.strongerbyscience.com/research-spotlight-changes-in-body-composition/

"I knew the research well enough to anticipate differences, but it’s still pretty weird to tell someone that you just “measured their body-fat” twice in the span of ten minutes, and the values differ by 8-10 percentage points."

I'm going back for another scan with the same company on a different machine, so I'll let you know who's right (if I'm delulu, or if these scans are worthless for BF calculation because they're prone to error based on how you lay down).

 

[rustylover49]

@marwils Bold body fat if you want. I shared my experience. Even though I was athletic (running long distances), my body fat was the same as yours.

After my scans, I cut down on running and lifted weights. My muscle mass went up and body fat went down.

My scans were not done at a retail store front or mobile van. My scans were conducted as part of an educational study in a research institute. The study conducted DEXA, BodPod, calipers, smart scales, and many other means for body fat measurement.

 

[marwils]

@nick105 But it is extremely personal. I'm a real person.

 

[nick105]

@marwils Start lifting and doing resistance training 3-5x a week. Composition will shift.

 

[beachgirl78]

@marwils These scales are helpful to track progress over a long period of time, but you need to get on them first thing in the morning and preferably while fasting to get remotely accurate results.

I would recommend you stop worrying about the numbers and focus your training on how you look and feel.

 

[mehr]

@beachgirl78 They aren’t even good for that. I’ve been working out 3x a week, fully body weight lifting for 90–120 minutes at a time for over 3 months now. I’ve been progressively increasing my lifts and visually I have a lot more muscle. According to the one at my gym I’ve lost lean muscle mass and increases my body fat by 5%.

 

[marwils]

@beachgirl78 Yeah. That’s what I do at home with the scale every day, and I’m tracking calories as well. My personal trainer and physical therapist thought it’d be helpful for me to get a DEXA scan in addition to circumference measurements, so this was meant to be my base, but if this is how inaccurate the results are then maybe not worth it at all.

 

[ivans]

@marwils Definitely not worth it at all. Here is my source.

Your mirror and eyes are by far the best metric for body composition.

 

[marwils]

@ivans Thank you - this is exactly what I'm saying. Quote from your article: "I knew the research well enough to anticipate differences, but it’s still pretty weird to tell someone that you just “measured their body-fat” twice in the span of ten minutes, and the values differ by 8-10 percentage points."