body fat?

I heard that 18% is considered a great body fat percentage for a woman who is NOT a professional athlete or a fitness competitor to strive for...

HTH!:)
 
Remember, this is only an opinnion! Don't make yourself crazy over a #! No matter what your body fat % is, if you are happy with the way you look and feel, etc then I would hardly worry but if you want to be leaner then GO FOR IT! :)

I am currently striving to lower to bf % too!:+
 
thanks! yeah and the older I get the harder it gets! I have to remind myself that I have had three kids and not far from 40yrs old and look just as good as some of these teenagers so I think thats pretty good. plus I told the doctor last yr they did calipers on me and said I was over by 1/2% he looked at me and said no way, and just laughed. so he must think none of the testing is for sure acurate, so that made me feel good(his opinion) anyway.
 
I measure mine regularly but only to make sure that it is headed down, not up!;) I use the omron and I know it's not accurate but I don't know how far off the mark (and it which direction?) it really is...I wonder if anyone has any idea??

Honestly, I would love to get my BF% professionally tested once a year just to see...
 
This is from the American Council on Exercise:

Classification Women (% Fat) Men (% Fat)
Essential Fat 10-12 percent 2-4 percent
Athletes 14-20 percent 6-13 percent
Fitness 21-24 percent 14-17 percent
Acceptable 25-31 percent 18-25 percent

For what it's worth.
-Nancy
 
Great chart, Jody! It's nice to know I'm "good", and excellent seems achievable! :) I'm gonna use your chart.
-Nancy
 
My bodyfat has gone up 1 1/2%, but I also had a birthday and gained a few pounds and I have had dealings with DD and a MIL that just passed away in January and so I want to get it back down again, but I don't want to lose muscle in doing so so it will be tricky. For me, just as long as no fat is hanging over the bikini bottoms, I will be happy. LOL!

Charlotte~~
 
Wow, according to that chart, for my age mine is WAY low! I don't like those hand-held gizmos because they tend to give higher results. If I could find a really accurate body-fat measuring scale I'd buy it.
Just Do It! :)
 
Way to go Shelley!! Mine is at 12.7%, the last I had it checked. I swear it is all in my a$$! lol!! I need to do more squats in those high heels.;-)
 
40-49 years old:
low: <16
optimal: 17-23
moderate: 24-26
high: >26


Interesting that accordiing to this, I am " moderate" (unless I should be using the "athletes" mode on my scale, which would make me optimal) whereas on the chart on that website, I'm ' excellent' !

I guess we just choose the chart or opinion we like best, and let it go at that!
 
>This is from the American Council on Exercise:
>
>Classification Women (% Fat) Men (% Fat)
>Essential Fat 10-12 percent 2-4 percent
>Athletes 14-20 percent 6-13 percent
>Fitness 21-24 percent 14-17 percent
>Acceptable 25-31 percent 18-25 percent
>
>For what it's worth.
>-Nancy

Well according to my omron I'm hovering around or just below 20% right now so YEAY for me!:+ :7 I'm workin' on getting that # lower but I am not gonna complain right now either...ESPECIALLY if the omron tends to measure you on the HIGH side!;)

I'm borderline between good and excellent according to the other chart that someone above posted a link to as well!:+
 
Can anyone answer this question? I bought a hand held fat monitor thing a ma gig. So...My body fat comes in around 27%. About 3 years ago I had it measured at 17% by a nurse with some kind of hand held machine. Now, I weigh about the same and wear the same clothes!
How can this be?
Paula
 
Hey Paula....I am not sure what is going on, and I don't know your age, but according to the nutritionist I started seeing, women in my age group(I'm 41)normal body fat range is 23-34%.

Donna
 
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