Body Fat %

Okay, so what is the best way to figure out body fat %? It seems like all the online calculators give me different answeres. I dispise BMI because I think it is a bunch of bologna, and far from an acurate representation of someones health. I know my waist to hight ratio and hip to waist ratio are both 'healthy', and I'm fairly certain that my body fat % would be considered at least acceptable even if it is not 'fitness' or 'athlete'.

Most ways require assistance from someone that has the background or equipment to do a Body Fat check.  The easiest way (maybe not as accurate) is to buy a Tanita scale.  They measure BF percentage by electrical impedence.

They are not really all that expensive, but you are right BMI is not always the best.  My BF is too high right now.  I am about 22 percent and would like to be around 18 percent.

For women, the BF percentage is higher.

Good Luck
Steve

There is no way to determine your body fat percentage from something online... you actually need to have your body involved to take into account your bone weight and muscle mass... otherwise, it is nothing more than a BMI chart that they are attempting to modify to take the bone and muscle variations into account. 

I have had mine done twice at one of the local hospital screenings for $25 or $30 with one of the impedance devices, and my Escali digital scale also measures it (and the scale matches the other measurements pretty closely, so it seems to be pretty reliable).

Lora

The absolute best way is to have yourself dunked into a special tank. It is, however, not easy to find and is very expensive (like a couple hundered dollars when I researched it).

The skin-fold/caliper method tends to not work well for us because we have so much excess skin when we get near the end. DD is a personal trainer, and she flat out told me to not even bother because of that factor.

For most of us, the electrical impedance method works out ok. Many gyms have a hand-held version (Omron sells them). It may overstate your body fat by about 1 point, while those that have you stand on them may understate by about 1 point.

As long as you're using it to track changes (i.e., I started out at around 50% body fat, and got it down to 21%) with a consistent method, you'll be fine.

Check this out:   
http://www.livestrong.com/tools/body-fat-calculator/

Women:

Essential Fat: 10-13%

Competitive Athletes: 14-20%

Fitness: 21-24%

Average: 25-31%

Obese: 32%+

 

Men:

Essential Fat: 2-5%

Competitive Athletes: 6-13%

Fitness: 14-17%

Average: 18-24%

Obese: 25%+