The FastDay Forum

[carieoates]

Having just invested in a newer set of scales, I've started I get fat percentage results. Am wondering how much this can change on average from day to day. Does it yo yo like daily weight and can it reflect what you've eaten recently?

It goes up and down like your weight, but used consistently, under the same circumstances it clearly shows a trend, which is what really matters.

I wish mine would show a trend, preferably downward! I seem to bounce up and down within the same 2 percentage points and it bears no relation that I can see to my weight loss or anything else.

I read somewhere on this forum that the figures are notoriously unreliable and that made me feel a bit better but it's still rather dispiriting not to see any real movement in my fat percentage and not really understand why.

I have a Withings scale, and from what I see it shows a strong correlation with how I can visibly see and feel my body fat changing and what the scale says. I wouldn't trust the actual number, but it's definetely correct about the trend. And yes, it does reflect what I ate the day before.

Losing weight without losing much body fat seems quite common. Higher intensity training and less carbs would be the standard advice. If you give your body no choice but to burn fat, it adapts and relies less on a steady supply of carbs. Apparently tough for some people to begin with, but you get used to it.

You might not have to be this extreme, but this article was pretty clear about it, http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-metabolic-paradigm-shift-fat-carbs-human-body-metabolism/#axzz2dvG9l3Uy

[carorees]

Excellent article. Since I have started focussing on keeping daily carbs below 150g I've found an increase in speed of weightloss, plus less bloating and feeling bleh!

Re the fat percentage on the scales, I agree the numbers are not too reliable but over time you should see a decrease. Since I got my fancy new scales in March I've seen a drop in fat % from 50% to just under 40% . At the same time my weight has dropped from 90kg to 77.4kg so, if one assumes the fat % on the scales is right I started with 45kg of fat and have decreased to 31kg, that's 14kg of fat lost and only 12.6kg of actual weight, so clearly the maths doesn't add up. However, I think one can say that the weight I have lost must be pretty much all fat

[carieoates]

Thanks everyone you've answered m question brilliantly. I will be interested to see what the scales say tomorrow. And [tag ]carorees[/tag] I have to ask are you a scientist/ biochemist or something biomedical. I ask as many of your replies are super and contain language I am accustomed to myself being a haematologist working in a veterinary pathology lab up until a few years ago when I started working on a school science dept to be home in the Hols for my kids. Anyhow I love your knowledgable advise, that's all.

[carorees]

I'm a freelance medical writer and editor with a PhD in immunology! Thanks for the complement :blush: Glad you find my posts useful!

[carieoates]

I Knew it.
Blush away dear. And thanks for adding so much fact to the forum.

I sponge the soles of my feet before weighing, and this helps conductivity for the scales to calculate properly.