Question about my ideal body fat percentage?!
Question:
Question about my ideal body fat percentage?
I am 5'3". I put in my height, hips, waist and neck measurements fairly accurately, and this is what it gave me:
Your Recommended Blocks
Your weight is: 103 pounds
Your sex is: Female
Your Body Fat percentage is: 29
Your Lean Body Mass is: 73 pounds
Your 'Ideal' weight is: 89 pounds
Your activity factor is: 0.83
Your recommend blocks per day are: 8 (60 grams of protein)
I'm 15 years old. Is this accurate, am I really supposed to weigh 89 pounds? If my body fat percentage is correct, then they are telling me I'm overweight. =/ Soo is this site right or what? (http://www.he.net/~zone/prothd2.html)...
1 week ago
don't worry, i wasn't planning on stopping eating or anything! i'm not stupid. just confused. i'm going to continue being active and doing what i'm doing no matter what....thanks though! :)
Answers:
This will not help you figure out your Body Fat Percentage... only your body mass index. (BMI is a statistical way to track body mass in a population & is not a reliable way for determining healthy weight or fat %)
To measure Body Fat Percentage you need to use a special scale or hand-held device that sends a signal through your body & calculates how long it takes. Or find a personal trainer to measure you at several points in your body, and use their pinchy tool to measure fat.
Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are active & have good muscular structure, then you will weigh more than someone who is not.... but you will be healthier & have less fat.
The ideal body fat percentage for most women is around 12% (I got this figure from a website, and ideal does not necessarily mean ideal for everyone)
Being less than 12% fat is actually very unhealthy for women, as adipose tissue (fat) provides essential insulation, calorie storage/transfer, and hormone regulation. It is not just some squishy stuff which takes up space between your skin & muscles... but actually serves a vital function of optimum health & homeostasis. Obviously having too much will mess up your homeostasis as well, but recent studies show the dangers associated with being slightly overweight are not very severe at all, compared to very high danger risks (cancer, heart/lung disease...etc) that are associated with being underweight.