Hi all!

I started my "transformation" one month ago after being trigged by John's amazing achievements! Everything is going great and I have yet to miss a workout (won't happen). On top of my weight-training (preparing for max-ot) and HIIT-cardio, I take long walks before breakfast at least three days a week. I also aim for a 40/40/20 diet around 2000kcal.

Now, let's get to the point.. I bought a bodyfat measuring scale which gave me an initial reading of 22,6% which seemed reasonable. Then I got my hands on a handheld bodyfat (bioimpedance) meter which gave me a reading of 23,6%.. A bit higher as one would expect.. Three weeks ago I tried the Healthcentral Home Body Fat Test webpage that John uses and it gave me 17,5%. Today, three weeks later I tried it again and it said 13% (which is HIGHLY unlikely as I have some fat to lose around my mid section). On the other hand, there are tests on the net that give similar values to what my bioimpedance meters give me. Is it just that HealthCentrals tool is very polite or am I missing something?

/Patrik

I think "how much bodyfat do I really have" seems to be something a bit like the Holy Grail. We all want to find the true answer, but it seems that it always slips away at the last moment.

In my experience thus far I have found MyBodyComp.com, the Military method (metioned in a thread somewhere) and my Tanita scale to all come up with readings that are within 1-2% or so, which leads me to believe that they are pretty accurate.

I think the most important thing to remember is to always try to replicate the testing conditions as closely as possible. For my routine
1) I usuallly try not to eat after 8:00pm the night before. I'll have a few glasses of water between then and bed, but nothing excessive. I believe this just give a chance for excess foods etc to be digested and absorbed and not just sitting in the stomach. 2) I take my readings in the morning after I pee. Note: Some might say this is kinda gross, but it is imortant - look at the color of your urine and make sure that you are hydrated (in the morning it is usually good to shoot for a champagne color) and make sure that this is consistent from week to week. 3) Just try to take your time with the various body-site measures; a 1/2" here and there can add up to big differences.

See if this technique helps. If not, the only fool-proof measure is hydrostatic weighing, but this can be costly and it can be tough to find a facility.

I think "how much bodyfat do I really have" seems to be something a bit like the Holy Grail. We all want to find the true answer, but it seems that it always slips away at the last moment.

In my experience thus far I have found MyBodyComp.com, the Military method (metioned in a thread somewhere) and my Tanita scale to all come up with readings that are within 1-2% or so, which leads me to believe that they are pretty accurate.

I think the most important thing to remember is to always try to replicate the testing conditions as closely as possible. For my routine
1) I usuallly try not to eat after 8:00pm the night before. I'll have a few glasses of water between then and bed, but nothing excessive. I believe this just give a chance for excess foods etc to be digested and absorbed and not just sitting in the stomach. 2) I take my readings in the morning after I pee. Note: Some might say this is kinda gross, but it is imortant - look at the color of your urine and make sure that you are hydrated (in the morning it is usually good to shoot for a champagne color) and make sure that this is consistent from week to week. 3) Just try to take your time with the various body-site measures; a 1/2" here and there can add up to big differences.

See if this technique helps. If not, the only fool-proof measure is hydrostatic weighing, but this can be costly and it can be tough to find a facility.

You're probably right.. I'm going to try keep the testing conditions pretty constant and take two measures each morning. One using foot-foot and one hand-hand. Then once a week I'm going to average all of these samples to get one weekly body fat %.. Should be pretty accurate!

By the way, I have a friend who's always been very lo-fat and well toned. I measured his bf% and it was 23-24% (about 1% unit higher than me). I guess the accuracy of bioimpedance varies a lot from one person to the other.