BMI vs. % body fat

cor p99
on 2/25/13 12:49 pm

Okay, a few weeks ago I shared with all of you my weight gain frustration. I'm about 27 months post surgery and work out daily - cardio and weight training ( 2 days w/ personal trainer).  In the last 6- 8 weeks, I've gained 7 lbs! Can't get them off despite my "back to basics" approach + calorie counting ( about 1300 cals p/day).  I work out hard... I mean, seriously. What's up with that??!!!

Tired of my rants, my PT ran me through the whole... "Let's see if you body composition has changed" thing. He is convinced that my body is going through a transformation and that the scale doesn't always tell the whole story.  Here's what we discovered.... My body fat composition has, in fact, changed. My starting fat % went from 24% to 21.5%. I have lost 2.5% of my total body fat and have gained 7 lbs! In fairness, I also had an extra 2 litters of water too!

Nonetheless, I still feel pretty underwhelmed with my performance.  Should I feel good about this? My ELG Data reports suggests that I lost 4 lbs of body fat and increased by lean body mass by 3% ( from 78.5% to 75.5%). I need some tough love feedback.... Is this just personal trainer "spin"???

what else should I do? His perspective is that I'm at a healthy weight already- despite a 24 BMI ( which he says is not a great indicator of health only proportion and he doesn't use it at all).  I'm still 20 lbs from original self imposed "goal" weight. I can't let go of my dream of reaching it.

feedback????

        
RebeccaElise
on 2/25/13 2:28 pm - Quincy, MA

BMI charts are notoriously inaccurate. If you have access to accurate body fat % info, I'd go with that. I think this is a situation where taking your measurements and/or comparing how your body fits into some unforgiving pieces of clothing before & after would be a better gauge of how your body is changing than the scale or a BMI chart.

I read a diet/nutrition book years ago that was very trendy and popular at the time (Fit or Fat was the title...don't remember the author.) He promoted an extremely low fat diet as a road to weight loss, coupled with weight training. He did think cardio was important, but he was really big on the weight training. I'm not sure I agree with everything he wrote - particularly his view that all fats are bad, except in extremely limited quantities - BUT I always remember this phrase in his book: "Building muscle makes your body into a better butter burner."

Personally, I want a Better Butter Burner for a body (partiuclarly because I love butter!), so I'll do the weight training, and BMI charts be damned. But that's me; YMMV.

Come visit me on my blog, Through a Cooking Glass! I talk about my journey through WLS and learning to live, cook, and eat on the other side.  

        

starchase83
on 2/25/13 3:43 pm - Irvine, CA

The lower body fat percentage is definitely most important. Do you think body builders fit a BMI? Nope they got too much fat burning muscle going on. If the pants are shrinking and you feel good just go with it.

    
Oxford Comma Hag
on 2/26/13 2:38 am

Body fat is a much better predictor of health than BMI. It is possible to have a normal BMI and too much body fat. I think the BMI tables are flawed and idiotic and we should chuck them in favor of body fat percentages, but that's me.

 

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cor p99
on 2/26/13 10:23 am

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I really appreciate it :) 

My body feels tighter.... I guess I should feel good about that!  Most importantly, I actually enjoy my workouts. For the first time ever, I'm making time for me. How can that not be a good thing.

        
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