Reddit mentions of Accu-Measure Body Fat Caliper

This helps when the scale hasn't changed.

https://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/diet-weight-loss/article/body-fat-scales-step-right

The bf% on scale can be notoriously inaccurate, but there isn't really a way to get an accurate reading on this without going to a research facility and using their dexascan or water weighing machines.

Personally, I have a little caliper and do that as well as measurements. They are usually close enough to the same measurement for me.
I use this calculator: https://www.calculator.net/body-fat-calculator.html
I use these calipers: https://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-AM99-Accu-Measure-Body-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK

No problem. Buying a $7 caliper is really the best option to get a relatively accurate measurement.

Calipers are not so expensive.

That's a big question but if you take it step by step you'll be able to make progress.

Firstly, do you know you're body fat percentage? By looking at your picture I'd guess maybe 12-17%. If you don't know the cheapest and easiest way to check is to use an accu measure caliper. Dirt cheap on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-AM99-Accu-Measure-Body-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK

Then, use the Katch-McArdle formula on this site:

https://www.muscleforlife.com/tdee-calculator/

Calculate your total daily energy expenditure, add 15-20% to account for bulking and gradually build up you intake by 100-200 kcal per week until you reach your new calorific intake.

Id imagine if you do the calcs you'll end up bulking somewhere between 2500-3000 kcal per day (careful though, if you're an endo/meso like me this may be too high hence the gradual increase).

Bulk up to 15% BF then cut down to 10%. Rinse and repeat!

Heavy, compound lifts, low reps (4-6 for three sets), 3-5 exercises per muscle group. Deadlift, squat, military press, bench press should form the basis of your training. Don't go crazy on the cardio while bulking.

Monitor weekly or daily and tweek accordingly. Ignore people (even me!), and find a system that works, but that's the general starting outline for bulking.

Muscle for life is the website companion to the book I mentioned. Gold mine of info. If this was too much of an info dump, sorry. Or if you knew it already, ignore me.

what i do for motivation is make me a weight chart in excel. in one column i have the date i weight myself on and in the other column is what I should be weighing for the week. This way I can know exactly how much I'll weigh and by what date I will be getting there. I try to shoot for 2lbs a week weight loss as that's pretty good progress and keeps me more motivated. A weekly cheat is OK as long as you plan to make up for it by eating less later on. I visit my parents on the weekend so my weekends are basically cheat days, but I try not to go too overboard still. I also had a cheat week where I made no progress (vacation) but I still kept on trucking. You'll have your ups and downs, try to focus more on the positive effects of your efforts and don't dwell on it if you gain a pound one week.

Also I would recommend tape measure and calipers. This way you'll know when you lose fat vs just water weight fluctuations on the scale (the scale can fluctuate at least 5lbs).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G7YW7Y/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QURRUK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Set your goals, try to achieve them every week, and keep track of your measurements! Stick to healthy foods, while you can lose weight eating fried foods you have to eat less of them for this to happen, than say, a salad. You can eat a lot of salad and not have it impact your calories for the day.

Protein is also important. Protein will keep you full longer! Meat, eggs.

Avoid excessive carbs but a piece of bread here and there doesn't hurt too much as long as it's under your goal. Don't expect to be able to fill up on bread though.

If you don't reach your goal for the week then you need to adjust the amount of calories you are eating! Eating less food vs eating more isn't going to kill you (as long as you only lose 2lbs per week and not any more!)

In the beginning you should see a lot of progress, then you'll level out and it will become harder to lose weight as you reach your goal. Adjust your calories then and don't get discouraged!

Good luck on your weight loss journey.

buy a pair of calipers from amazon and find out - they're under 10

> Also, what is a good body fat calculator?


It's difficult to accurately estimate body fat %, especially with an online calculator. DXA scans are the most accurate method, and can usually be found in universities or training centers. Body fat calipers are a much cheaper and more convenient method but aren't as accurate. The scales devices that measure electrical conductivity aren't accurate at all.

Get yourself one of these lovely tools as well: http://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-Accu-Measure-Body-Fat-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK

Get a body fat caliper and a cloth measuring tape. Take measurements weekly. Body fat caliper comes with instructions but pick a few "problem areas" and "growth areas" for the measuring tape (upper thigh, waist, stomach, chest, biceps, calf). Weight is a terrible measure of health. What matters most is what percentage of your weight is unnecessary fat vs healthy bones, muscle, organs and necessary fat. Since it requires two to do the measurements, and you're married, do it after frisky times :)

Use calipers like these and the procedure and calculator here. If you have someone to help you with the measurements, these calipers are probably more accurate, but the first set I linked will allow you to take the measurements yourself.

Caliper. It's cheap and consistent. Read the directions carefully and then measure yourself a ton for practice. Keep practicing until your measurement comes up the same.

This is the caliper we got . It works well but you need a second person to help you... Kind of

Buy this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QURRUK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Read this: https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/how-to-measure-your-body-fat.html

I use that site and compare with other sites for calculations. It's still not 100% accurate but when you get it figured out to get consistent results it's a decent benchmark to go by.

You're probably close to 30% now.

Get these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000QURRUK/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474505140&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=fat+caliper&dpPl=1&dpID=31KSLGelZOL&ref=plSrch

You can use a caliper to ballpark it, or you can find a scale that will tell you your approximate body fat percentage. I personally use the Fitbit Aria Scale.

I also carry a Fitbit One with me wherever I go. The Fitbit gives a pretty good estimate of the number of calories I burn each day just walking around doing stuff, and I can add in the calorie burn from my workouts on the Fitbit website as well. I keep track of everything I eat on the site too, so I can see exactly how much I'm eating vs how much I'm burning.

From my personal experience, I thought counting calories or macros was unnecessary, a pain in the ass, whatever, and that I could just 'eyeball' it and I'd be fine. Truth is I actually had no clue how much I was eating and how many calories I was burning each day. I was way overestimating my burn and underestimating my consumption. I was lifting and getting bigger, but I was putting on fat too.

You might want to look into doing a Leangains cut, a lot of people seem to get great results from it. Start reading here: http://rippedbody.jp/english/introduction-english/

EDIT: Also, have a look at this image:

http://files.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/body-fat-percentage-men.jpg

See where you fit along that spectrum and it may give you some idea of where you are and where you want to be.

EDIT 2: I think you're also doing way too many reps on the bench. Shoot for 4 sets in the 8-10 rep range. If you want some size to your muscles, stay away from high reps. If your goal is pure strength, up the weight and drop down to about 5 reps per set.

My guess would be Body Fat Calipers.

This can be pretty subjective and without peeling the fat off your body and measuring it there's no way to know 100%. That being said there's a few things you can do to get a general idea.

First, you can compare yourself to some of the pictures out there and try to guess where you fit in. Example

Another option is to get some calipers and measure yourself. I've had these recommended to me and they seem to work pretty well.

At the very least, you can get calipers or a tape measure and keep track of trends, even if you don't have your exact bf%.

hit the weight room! and don't let the scale rule you. if you want a measurement to track that is a more accurate reflection of your body composition start tracking your body fat %. an inexpensive caliper is all you need.

You could use something like this:

http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bodyfat

Or just get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-AM99-Accu-Measure-Body-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK

Automatic one.

[The one I bought.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QURRUK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QURRUK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00)

http://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-Accu-Measure-Body-Fat-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1373463591&sr=8-2&keywords=body+fat+caliper
http://www.amazon.com/Singer-96-Inch-Extra-Long-Measure/dp/B000PSA6GU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373463641&sr=8-1&keywords=cloth+tape+measure Even with these there will still be a margin of error but it will be more accurate than a monitor.

A cheap solution to estimate body fat percentage would be to buy a [fat caliper] (https://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-AM99-Accu-Measure-Body-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK) and figure out how to use it. From what I've heard, the accuracy is directly proportional to correct usage, so make sure you have a way to get that in. Much cheaper than the complicated tests (like water immersion) though.

https://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-AM99-Accu-Measure-Body-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK?keywords=body+fat+caliper&qid=1540671840&sr=8-8&ref=sr_1_8

http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

Here's a pretty good caliper with the online calculator. It's pretty much as good as it gets for home tests.

>have never measured body fat, but would like to do that

You don't need those fancy digital meters. These do the job and are dirty cheap.

Like that: https://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-AM99-Accu-Measure-Body-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK ?

I'm not an expert on the bulk/cut cycle, but I don't think it's impossible, just easier to do separately. I've lost weight VERY slowly, but I know I've built muscle/strength in my shoulders and arms over the past 6 months. Whether this is the same thing or not, I don't know.

These are calipers. They measure bodyfat percentages.

Here were the directions I was given to use them: (instructions courtesy of /u/theycallhimhellcat )

Measure on the right side of the body:
measure the skin between the nipple and the arm pit (diagonal)
measure the skin by pinching belly button and to one side (horizontal)
measure the skin in the middle of my thigh (vertically)

To measure, you just grab skin with your right hand and pinch, place the caliper about 1/2 inch away from your pinch, and close it till it pops into place. Add up the 3 measurements and plug it in to a calculator and you get your BF%.


I just read your posts below about wanting to gain muscle without actually bulking heavily. With your scoliosis, I think the yoga would help a lot because it focuses on spinal strength and stability. If you get into lifting, the advice I was given for that is lighter weights, more repetitions. You build strength and definition, but not bulk.

I'd guess 12-13%; its hard tu guess without typical indicator like abs because you don't have a ton of muscle. You should definitely bulk though because you don't have enough muscle to cut into. If you want a better body fat estimate, get one of these "Accu-Measure Body Fat Caliper https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QURRUK". They are consistent one you get the hang of them.

If you really want to get a more accurate reading on your BF%, try using calipers.
http://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-Acc-9474-Accu-Measure-Body-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK

You can use photos and try to compare to online photo estimates (google images has charts), you can buy a caliper to pinch a fold of skin, some scales you step on can estimate it, all of these options are never 100% accurate. If you have dough to spare you can get a DEXA scan, which shows all of your mass and breaks it down for you into fat, muscle, bone, etc. Some gyms or trainers might have better scales than the home scales, but again that may come with a cost. If money is an issue, get a set of bodyfat calipers on amazon and combine multiple pinch measurements with online photo charts, and try to estimate that way.

Here's the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-AM99-Accu-Measure-Body-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1511899912&sr=8-1&keywords=body+fat+caliper

Real talk though, I would rather just get a scan every once in a while. I'm not a competing athlete so frequent metrics I don't care about much.

Use cheap Calipers like these from Amazon

They are pretty accurate and you can find websites and directions online on how to measure points on your body that will give you a very accurate bf%

I don't think there's a ton of variability in quality for calipers honestly - anything should work fine. This one is well reviewed.

You can use calipers, induction measuring, or displacement. Once you have a number for your body fat percentage, you'll multiply your weight by your body fat percentage to get a fat weight (example: 160lb * .2 = 32lb fat) subtract that from total weight to get lean body weight (160 - 32 = 128).

They measure skin folds, like these accumeasure

http://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-Accu-Measure-Body-Fat-Caliper/dp/B000QURRUK