What does your body fat percentage mean?
If I had a healthy body fat percentage, my weight would still be too much for my height (over 150)! I am 5'5. I don't get it. Why? Is it because I have a large frame? Still, 165 lbs seems a bit too big for an 18 year old girl that is 5'5. According to BMI, at least, which I know isn't 100% accurate.
Public Comments
- Body fat is how much of your body is not lean muscle, so therefore fat or non muscle tissue. The BMI scale is terrible because if you take a 6'1 275 lb bodybuilder, tthey are considered obese even though they are probably around 7-3% body fat. Then if you take a 5'10 140 lb person at 20% bodyfat, they are considered normal. Never follow BMI. Best thing to do is to do a 7 point caliper test.
- If you have a healthy body-fat percentage you have nothing to worry about. Forget about your weight and about BMI. Reason being, they both measure the weight of your bones and muscles, two systems in your body that are very good to have strong and dense. I don't have to tell you why. Body-fat is the only measure that makes sense to check if you need to pay more attention to what you eat. At 18, your body fat percentage should be between 16 and 18%, but there is nothing to worry about even if it is in the 20% range. You will still look good with it, but should start paying more attention to what you eat. R.
- Sometimes, if you have a larger frame or more muscle mass, you might weigh more, but still have a perfectly healthy body fat percentage. If your body fat percentate is healthy, then don't worry what the scale says. Your body fat percentage is just that, the percentage of your body that that is made up of fat. The rest of your body is made up of lean muscle, bone, vital organs and water mass. If your current body fat percentage is no higher than 30%, you are not overfat. A body fat percentage of between 19%-27% is considered to be ideal for an average female. HTH : )
