@ajoj You look fantastic, and your DEXA scan is so interesting! I have a scale that estimates my BF at 34%. I was horrified and thought I'd need to get it down to 25% to start looking athletic - but you prove otherwise!
Good luck with the BJJ tournament, that sounds like great fun!
@pennypule Those body fat scales are really, really inaccurate, so please don't stress out too much over it! A slightly better method (that's cheap) is the tape measure or the caliper, they aren't super accurate either but if you do it the exact same way every time you can get a ballpark range for your BF %. The DEXA is still the best method but they can get pricey.
@ajoj Thank you for posting this. This really shows that 30% body fat as a woman looks actually looks perfectly athletic and healthy. I think over the years focusing on men's body composition numbers has given me a messed up idea of what normal is.
Also fellow BJJ person - good luck with your tournaments!
@jacobkolady I just had a DEXA scan done as well and am at 29% BF. I'm quite a small person (size 4 pants, size s or xs in everything), look very healthy, maintain an active lifestyle, and I never guessed that would be my percentage. Yet I'm super happy with how I look and don't really care to become much smaller (though I'd like to be a lot more muscular). So yeah! I think it seems a lot worse on a scale than it actually appears visually.
@draculkain Me too. I was actually kind of upset with the results, because I was nearly at 33%, which would put me at overweight. At 5’4 and 130 lbs I was pretty surprised...However I feel great, fit in xs/s, and honestly don’t feel “overweight”. I’ve since upped my protein and lift weights casually so I’ll retake the scan again eventually and see if there’s any change
@ahutch 5'4 and 155 lbs, 33%. (would be curious to know what percentage of that is boobs and butt lol)
There's just too much difference in body composition to judge things by a single metric. I could definitely afford to shed a few pounds (and being sedentary while I finish up my degree hasn't helped!) but I feel pretty good about my body, all things considered. It's good to have baselines so that you can know when your body is changing, but in the end it comes down to how you feel!
