The FastDay Forum

You've done brilliantly in losing 21lbs already and I can understand why you are concerned about the fat percentage being 40%. I'm curious as to why you think you would be way too skinny at 10 stone? 8and a half stone is skinny at 5 foot 8 but 10 stone isn't.

Thank you, I started off doing Slimming World back in November, I am still following it sort of but have began following 5:2 as well. 10st would be the lowest I would go to, got there before and apparently I didn't look healthy. I am quite big boned though so maybe that is why.

[quote="PhilT"][/quote]
To quote Groucho Marx: "these are my charts - if you don't like them, I have others!"


I couldn't find the source of your chart, and it doesn't display age. On the same website there is this one http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/womens.htm with data from the NHANES study, indicating, that if the original poster (24 year old female) has a fat percentage above 40% that would put her well beyond the 95th percentile. Therefore, not very likely, but possible.

Interesting - think I am just going to have to do it again at some point.

I couldn't find the source of your chart, and it doesn't display age. On the same website there is this one http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/womens.htm with data from the NHANES study, indicating, that if the original poster (24 year old female) has a fat percentage above 40% that would put her well beyond the 95th percentile. Therefore, not very likely, but possible.

Except that's a BMI chart not % fat !!!

I have lost 21 lbs in the past 6 months and feel much better. I know I am going to have to exercise a lot more to get my bodyfat percentage down but I have no motivation :s

Massively well done on losing 21lbs! That's fabulous.

What is it about exercise that demotivates you? Is it the 'hot/sweaty/breathless' bit, a lack of time, squishing yourself into lycra, boredom, fear of feeling like an idiot, cost? You can get over all of them and you might end up enjoying it.

About 7 years ago, I was more or less a couch potato. My commute was an hour each way - and by the time I got home, I just wanted dinner and collapse on the sofa. I didn't have time to exercise... and since I could walk for some distance and run for the odd bus (admittedly breathlessly), I didn't really have any motivation to do it.

Then a random picture made me realise that I was fat rather than just chubby (I'd lost weight in the past and figured I'd only put a little bit back on) and decided that this time I needed to exercise to get it off. A friend got me to try a Body Pump class - lifting weights to music - which was low-intensity and low impact. The challenge came in the weights you lifted so you could make it as easy or hard as you wanted. I had bad memories of trying aerobics in the past where after the warm-up, I wanted to die but there was 30 minutes left!

I started with that, discovered I quite liked the class environment - you book so you've committed to go, you get to know people to chat to/grab coffee with and it's varied so you don't feel as bored. 7 years on, new friends can't believe I was ever not active - I cycle to/from work, I run occasionally, I still do Body Pump and now Body Combat. If I run for a bus, I know I'll catch it - and I won't be a sweaty red mass gasping for breath. I'll try most adventurous stuff - in that time, I've taken up skiing, sailing and tried my hand at coasteering and sky diving. And I have less fear of doing it because I know I'm fit.

I used all those reasons above when I was putting off exercising. Now I can't imagine not being fit again.

Let us know what puts you off - and we can try to help you find something you might enjoy.

Except that's a BMI chart not % fat !!!

Sorry, my bad Thanks for pointing that out, PhilT! I did find that website somewhat confusing.
I looked up the latest NHANES data http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2012/01/30/ajcn.111.025171.full.pdf
(see figure 3 and table 4), which take age into account. They corroborate data from the link I posted earlier today (which also considers age).

So fig 3 in http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early ... 1.full.pdf says that at 25.7 BMI the OP as a young NHW woman would be about 38% fat ?

Table 4 says BMI of 25 is 37% fat for same type.

The DXA chart in the earlier link paints a similar picture (below) but the use of a 4-component model does reduce this in the subsequent tables eg Table 3.

I have lost 21 lbs in the past 6 months and feel much better. I know I am going to have to exercise a lot more to get my bodyfat percentage down but I have no motivation :s

Massively well done on losing 21lbs! That's fabulous.

What is it about exercise that demotivates you? Is it the 'hot/sweaty/breathless' bit, a lack of time, squishing yourself into lycra, boredom, fear of feeling like an idiot, cost? You can get over all of them and you might end up enjoying it.

About 7 years ago, I was more or less a couch potato. My commute was an hour each way - and by the time I got home, I just wanted dinner and collapse on the sofa. I didn't have time to exercise... and since I could walk for some distance and run for the odd bus (admittedly breathlessly), I didn't really have any motivation to do it.

Then a random picture made me realise that I was fat rather than just chubby (I'd lost weight in the past and figured I'd only put a little bit back on) and decided that this time I needed to exercise to get it off. A friend got me to try a Body Pump class - lifting weights to music - which was low-intensity and low impact. The challenge came in the weights you lifted so you could make it as easy or hard as you wanted. I had bad memories of trying aerobics in the past where after the warm-up, I wanted to die but there was 30 minutes left!

I started with that, discovered I quite liked the class environment - you book so you've committed to go, you get to know people to chat to/grab coffee with and it's varied so you don't feel as bored. 7 years on, new friends can't believe I was ever not active - I cycle to/from work, I run occasionally, I still do Body Pump and now Body Combat. If I run for a bus, I know I'll catch it - and I won't be a sweaty red mass gasping for breath. I'll try most adventurous stuff - in that time, I've taken up skiing, sailing and tried my hand at coasteering and sky diving. And I have less fear of doing it because I know I'm fit.

I used all those reasons above when I was putting off exercising. Now I can't imagine not being fit again.

Let us know what puts you off - and we can try to help you find something you might enjoy.

I was going gym all the time last year, I tend to get bored of things very quickly I guess. I walk everywhere but that's as far as my exercising goes! Keep making excuses for myself - 'In the summer, I will do more' etc. I go kayaking when it is warmer and I know that is very good for you. Just need to find something to do that is fun and not a chore.

Kayaking is good - just think though if you do some 'boring' hours at the gym, those first few kayaking sessions of the year will be so much better.

And seriously, if you're still a member, take a look at some of the classes on offer. I can't do anything on a treadmill/elliptical without losing the will to live within minutes. I think it's something to do with that hypnotic timer counting down the seconds. But I can do back-to-back classes without noticing 2 hours go by.

Most instructors tend to mix their classes up a bit too so you might not get as bored as doing 10 minutes on this and 3x10 reps of that.

The gym near to me is rubbish which is one of the reasons why I left. The staff don't seem that bothered. I would run but I hate running..got my kinect game which I keep saying I will start doing and then I come down with another cold which prevents me from doing so. Sorry I realise I am moaning alot

Hi, I am 5ft 8 and 12, 1lb in weight so clothes wise 12-14 on bottom and 10-12 on top. I did measured my body fat in Boots earlier and my body fat percentage came back as 40%?!! I am shocked as that is really really bad for my weight and height, I almost don't believe it? Just wondering how accurate these machines really are and what can alter the results, i.e if you have just eaten etc. The machine got my height wrong as it said I am 5ft 6 and I am not! Arghh.

The way they do it is by sending a small electric signal through our body and if you have clothes on, have drunk lots of liquid all this can impact the final result.

Hi, I am 5ft 8 and 12, 1lb in weight so clothes wise 12-14 on bottom and 10-12 on top. I did measured my bodyfat in Boots earlier and my body fat scale accuracy percentage came back as 40%?!! I am shocked as that is really really bad for my weight and height, I almost don't believe it? Just wondering how accurate these machines really are and what can alter the results, i.e if you have just eaten etc. The machine got my height wrong as it said I am 5ft 6 and I am not! Arghh.

Hi
The features of the best body fat scales are also important to look at. Some scales only measure your body fat percentage, while others will provide full body measurements that include bone density and water weight.