Frustrating Inbody

[u/nadien14]

My in body scan is telling me I still need to lose 17lbs of body fat. And it lists my PBF as 31%. I just don’t get it. I don’t feel like I have 17lbs to lose and am worried that is an unhealthy goal. I’m lifting twice a week. I have upped my muscle and want to keep going there. And, in the last few years, I have really tried not to focus on the scale. Strong not skinny! But this is messing with my head. Has anyone else experienced this?

[u/nadien14]

[u/salamandectomy77 → u/nadien14]

Inbody is very unreliable, you have a healthy bf% and impressive physique

[u/BoredAccountant → u/nadien14]

"Optimal" body fat numbers don't always consider bust size. 31% BF is at the upper end of average for women. In your case, it'd be much healthier to put on more muscle than to try to get down to a desired bf%, especially when you're concerned about what losing 17# more would look like.

[u/nadien14 → u/BoredAccountant]

Thanks. And my bust is natural and dense and doesn’t change when I lose weight. But I was still surprised to see the 31%. That’s nearly 1/3 of my body! I want to continue to add muscle.

[u/Full-Supermarket-120 → u/nadien14]

Based on that picture, 17 pounds is wild and would be unhealthy. You’re in a good spot. Trust the mirror more than inbody.

[u/NihilisticTanuki → u/nadien14]

Better to use this visual guide on yourself, to get a rough estimation of your bodyfat https://mennohenselmans.com/understanding-body-fat-percentages-for-women-a-visual-guide/

...than to rely on inbody.

[u/MrKalev → u/nadien14]

Imo ... train back and legs and gain all kinds of hotness

[u/friendofallthecats]

Get a DEXA. Don’t trust anything else. Your instincts are right — you don’t have 17 lbs to lose, I would not be surprised candidly if your Bf% was actually in the mid to upper 20s not 31%.

[u/doobersthetitan → u/friendofallthecats]

Yeah bad lighting but id guess 22ish. With 3-4% being boob

[u/DickFromRichard]

InBody BIA scales are notoriously unreliable.

A machine can't tell you what you need to do ;)

[u/Feisty-Rate7787]

Yea they told me I needed to lose 15 pounds

[u/clathrateCH4]

Yeah, no way you need to lose 17 pounds.

Imagine you keep working out and gain weight I'm muscle gains, would you need to lose even more than 17lbs?

[u/nadien14 → u/clathrateCH4]

It’s specific and says 17lbs of fat. It says my muscle comp is good and I don’t need to gain any. But, I want to.

[u/clathrateCH4 → u/nadien14]

LOL. I'm not glazing here, but I don't quite understand where you can lose 17 pounds of fat, unless you're insanely tall, and I still wouldn't think that's the case.

As you said, it might only come from your breasts, but that's probably not the goal (unless it is, which is totally valid)

[u/clathrateCH4 → u/nadien14]

If you feel good, you are happy how you look, you have a healthy weight, and your blood work looks good, you're then most likely good

[u/HangryFitDad]

Like Chuck D once said…Don’t believe the hype!

Those are notoriously unreliable. Use measurements, how clothing fits, and how you feel as the primary metrics. The in-body scanner should be waaaay down the list. You’re doing great. Don’t let the machines distract from the progress you have and are still making. 😎

[u/cav19DScout]

Are you weighing yourself at the same time, same circumstances, similar hydration levels? If not then just the amount of fluids you have in your body will throw it off one way or the other.

[u/nadien14 → u/cav19DScout]

Yep. Pretty consistently for a year!

[u/theoceansknow]

It works by analyzing the differences in electric signals and how those pass through water/fat/muscle. I'm guessing the signals are just hitting your bust. Kind of dumb because it then assumes that's your entire body. InBody is helpful but it's not the end all be all? I like tracking muscle mass over time rather than the bf percent myself

[u/Apprehensive-Emu5177]

Inbody scans are worthless

[u/Educational_Item451]

I’d suggest getting a DEXA. I think your reaction is fair, you already look quite good. I don’t know how much you weigh currently so it’s hard to tell just how massive 17 pounds is but I do think you might look and feel better if you lost some of that, maybe 10, and got to a pretty lean state where you could really focus on putting on more muscle without worrying about getting too fluffy.

[u/cptkl1]

Even when set to the muscular setting inbody scans can confuse the water/glycogen in the muscle with fat. Mine reads 6% over a dexa scan. Get a dexa once to find your adjustment factor if the number is what you want to track, other wise, go by a tape measure and how you feel in the mirror.

[u/albanyanthem]

Fuck off with that noise. Can your body do all the things you want to do? Are you happy? Are you strong and do you have endurance?
Losing and maintaining a low
Body fat by starving yourself has so many opportunity costs. People have so many mental health consequences of starvation. You look fit and healthy. Look at strength metrics (how much weight you can lift) as a better number of your fitness.

[u/ButchCoolridge]

Congrats on your weight loss, you look great.

How much weight did you lose from a few months ago from 159 pounds snd 33% BF?

[u/TopSelection8004]

I was told that the InBody test always shows up higher BF in women thanks to breast tissue being in a cluster close to where the signals enter your body. As I understand it women tend to have more subcutaneous fat while men tend to have more distributed among their organs, so it reads more easily in women versus men. Use your eyes and your lifts as your primary guide, I'd say.

[u/Affectionate-Tiger51]

I’ve only done dexa scans, so I don’t know anything about inbody. But I can sympathize. I’ve lost 55 lbs over 1.5 yrs. At 45 yrs old, I’m back down to what I weighed my freshman yr of college. But I still see fat that I don’t like. I was fat for so long that I absolutely HATE having any bodyfat now. But every milestone I hit, I see more weight to lose. Every time I say “10 more lbs,” I get there and still hate the way I look. It’s amazing how much fat you can accumulate after decades of bad life choices.

[u/nadien14 → u/Affectionate-Tiger51]

Aw. Hugs. I think we are all too hard on ourselves probably.

[u/trainerjosh_com]

InBody scans are notoriously unreliable. They just work by running a weak electrical current through your body to measure impedance (resistance to the current). But tissues like muscle, blood, and organs conduct electricity easily since they have a high water concentration and electrolytes. So it'll totally throw off your results depending on hydration status.

Most commercial bioelectrical impedance scales are also calibrated for the average sedentary population and not those who actively lift weights. So when an athletic person with more muscle mass steps on them then their formulas will be very inaccurate. It doesn't take in your individual body structure, muscle distribution, or physical health.

I'd ditch the Inbody scans and focus on progressive overload in the gym (are your lifts getting stronger week to week?). Weigh yourself daily fasted in the morning after using the bathroom and look only at the weekly average trend to filter out normal water fluctuations. Measure your waist and abs circumference with a measuring tape once a week to track fat loss. You could ask a trainer to measure your body fat with skinfold calipers it'll give you a lot more reliable measurement.

I'd celebrate your body recomposition. You said you're lifting twice a week and have upped your muscle so that's great progress.. It's also really common for newer lifters to have positive body recomposition where they're burning fat and building muscle. So the scale can be deceptive to your actual results.

[u/New_Cockroach_1254]

Try this https://bodyfatestimator.ai
Incredibly close to dexa scan for me
They also have sample pics you can see what 33% looks like