Catspaw's Lithe like a Leopardess Challenge

[Hermione Gainser]

Color me surprised.  But that's the problem... one, which of the many used methods doesn't say there is a margin of error AND that it doesn't read as well in fit women? Answer: none of them.

 

So, yeah, I doubt that number is correct. It might actually be higher than you think since, like everyone said, we always underestimate our body fat, but the truth of the matter is you do look great and you continue to work hard for it.

 

How much different was your body fat last year at Bay to Breakers when that girl called you a bitch for having abs? My guess, not much different.
 

Rock that body, girl.

[Morrigainz]

What? CP got called a bitch for having abs? O.o

 

Somehow I missed this.

[Hermione Gainser]

What? CP got called a bitch for having abs? O.o

 

Somehow I missed this.

 

Oh, something to the effect of, "Look at her abs. bitch."... you know how some women do. I take that as compliment. I don't think she really meant Cats is a bitch.

[Morrigainz]

Oh yeah totally a compliment!!!

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

So first, yeah, those pictures in the BF% article on NF are wrong, You're somewhere between pictures 1 and 2, closer to 1 but with more muskles. The way I typically estimate women (not a lot of experience) is I take what their abdominals look like on a guys (your abs are 17%ish on a guy I'd say) and add 5-10% based on how much fat is carried in the hips and butt. For you my estimate was a 8% and I was guessing 25%. Like the video said, female sprinters are typically 20%. You're not there, but you're not 11% higher. I'd put you at 26-28% somewhere based on what the guy said in the video and chalk it up to being within the 5% DEXA error.

[catspaw]

I spent a while this morning just looking in the mirror.  Not critically.  Mostly just making faces at it.  This is Catspaw, with her tongue out.  This is Catspaw with both eyebrows raised.  And I spent some time being honest with myself about how I felt about this whole thing, and reflecting upon the wise words that many of you have said in the last day.

 

I wanted to thank you all for the huge outpouring of love and support.

 

I'm not sure I believe the number, I think I believe in the scan's accuracy, but I am increasingly sure that it doesn't matter.

 

And it is the kind words from all of you that helps me to remember that.  Seriously, thank you so much.

 

I dunno what all the other Catspaws of the universe do, without this amazing group of rebels to stand behind them, but I feel sorry for them.  This Catspaw's got it pretty lucky.

[Waldo]

If you check out the finalists from various Precision Nutriton competitions, they have a bunch of pictures of women (and men) with a variety of body types who lost weight and fat over the course of the year and have before and after pictures at different weights and bodyfat percentages.

Its interesting how much more likely women are to have loose skin around the belly, and how different it tends to look.

There needs to be more stuff out there on how to get rid of it without surgery. Even if for nothing else reassurance for people losing that it can and does go away, and there are things you can do to help the process along.

[eliz]

If you check out the finalists from various Precision Nutriton competitions, they have a bunch of pictures of women (and men) with a variety of body types who lost weight and fat over the course of the year and have before and after pictures at different weights and bodyfat percentages. 

 

These were really interesting to look at - mostly they seemed lower than I would have guessed based on the pictures. But also, sometimes identical looking pictures would list BF%s that were 5-10 points different from each other.

 

What seems to be clear is that the only thing that matters, if anything, is your own progress. If it makes you feel any better (if only to laugh at me), I realized the other day that I have been reading my calipers wrong this entire time. Which... makes every measurement taken before yesterday useless. And renders one of my goals irrelevant. Ugh!

[Vector]

Goes back to the best thing I got from Robb Wolf (true whether you do paleo or not) do you look, feel, and perform better? Only things that matter.

[cavejen]

Precision Nutrition uses calipers for fat %.

 

Catspaw, if I was up in the city I'd hunt you down and hug you. I can't believe the number, but I'm proud of you for the way you're dealing with it, and for getting it in the first place! Plus you can go back there in a few months and get another reading so you have some idea of progress against the baseline they calculate - the number by itself is only a single data point.

 

<3

[catspaw]

I know it doesn't matter if the number is accurate or not, but I had the opportunity to run it past an expert today (someone who trains women for figure competitions) and he says it is "definitely wrong", "probably closer to 22-23%" and my lean body mass is "off by about 20 lbs in the report".

 

He says I should go back in and ask for them to recalibrate the machine and do it again.  I'm not going to, because I don't want to dwell on it.  But it's nice to know I'm not totally crazy.

[scotticus]

I'm not sure I believe the number, I think I believe in the scan's accuracy, but I am increasingly sure that it doesn't matter.

 

 

Goes back to the best thing I got from Robb Wolf (true whether you do paleo or not) do you look, feel, and perform better? Only things that matter.

 

I was going to post these very things, but it looks like you and vector beat me to it.  Eff all that noise

 

Also, for those who commented on the BF% reference photos I think it's worth noting that a good deal of preparation goes into those things (cutting a bunch of water, ideal lighting, fake tan, shiny lotion on the skin, etc.)  So an 18% (or whatever %) "reference" photo of a woman almost certainly looks quite different from the same woman 18% under normal day-to-day conditions.  That's not even taking into account photoshop - a little dodging and burning can go a long way in accentuating teh abs.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I know it doesn't matter if the number is accurate or not, but I had the opportunity to run it past an expert today (someone who trains women for figure competitions) and he says it is "definitely wrong", "probably closer to 22-23%" and my lean body mass is "off by about 20 lbs in the report".

 

He says I should go back in and ask for them to recalibrate the machine and do it again.  I'm not going to, because I don't want to dwell on it.  But it's nice to know I'm not totally crazy.

 

 

No getting teh money back?

 

I was going to post these very things, but it looks like you and vector beat me to it.  Eff all that noise

 

Also, for those who commented on the BF% reference photos I think it's worth noting that a good deal of preparation goes into those things (cutting a bunch of water, ideal lighting, fake tan, shiny lotion on the skin, etc.)  So an 18% (or whatever %) "reference" photo of a woman almost certainly looks quite different from the same woman 18% under normal day-to-day conditions.  That's not even taking into account photoshop - a little dodging and burning can go a long way in accentuating teh abs.

 

At the same time, all that prep would change any body fat readings.

[weirdquark]

These were really interesting to look at - mostly they seemed lower than I would have guessed based on the pictures. But also, sometimes identical looking pictures would list BF%s that were 5-10 points different from each other.

 

What seems to be clear is that the only thing that matters, if anything, is your own progress. If it makes you feel any better (if only to laugh at me), I realized the other day that I have been reading my calipers wrong this entire time. Which... makes every measurement taken before yesterday useless. And renders one of my goals irrelevant. Ugh!

 

Well, the problem with pictures and with bodyfat percentages is that they don't tell the whole story either. Two women who weigh 150lbs with 30% bodyfat will look very different if one of them is 5'2" and the other one is 5'10". The shorter woman is overweight by the standards of BMI and the taller woman is still on the low end of normal, so even though their body fat percentages are the same, the tall woman will look leaner. A woman who is 5'6" and has 20% bodyfat will look leaner if she weighs 130lbs than she will if she weighs 170; the heavier weight will have more pounds of fat on the same size frame so even though the ratio of fat to LBM is the same, it'll look different. And that doesn't even take body type into account and whether you have extra weight on your hips or your butt or your stomach or whatever.

[surge_supra]

My mind is completely blown from reading all of this but this just kind of solidifies our angst against conventional wisdom.

 

I remember Spezzy mentioning that she went to the doctor and he sarcastically mentioned that by his little chart she is technically obese but that is obviously not the case, and her cholesterol is perfect so keep doing what she's doing. Spezzy is pretty damn jacked and she eats eggs with the yolk like every day.

 

Common convention tells us that your BF% should be in the 18-22% range and yes, you might just be at 27% (I really doubt this DEXA scan too) but that 27% sure as hell looks amazing.

 

This solidifies that blanketed health statements are mostly worthless (aside from things like don't smoke, etc.) and that our bodies are so very different from one another. I mean heck, a female has less than what 11% she doesn't have her shark week? But that, for me, could be like 16%. And how the heck could we know? Judging by that DEXA I couldn't have a shark week, walk in and all of the sudden I have 30% BF and they are like...what? hahaha

 

I'm really glad you're at a great place and I love reading your thread because I always learn so freaking much

[Loren Wade]

Wow. WTF did I come back to? I'm totally WTF'd on this. I never, ever, ever would have guessed you were that high. Not in a million years. True or not.

 

I concur with some of the other guesses being much lower. I know you don't want to pitch a fit and go back and complain or anything, but maybe an email or a phone call wouldn't hurt? I dunno. I'd be frustrated with them.

[Shukar]

Even if you don't want any compensation you still might want to let them know that it seems to be way off other evaluations you've had recently and they may wish to recalibrate. Public service to those less awesome than you who may come after, to hopefully keep them from being led astray.

[Red1263]

Catspaw you're an amazing woman, this number could never define you, nor should it ever keep a place in your thoughts. I'm glad that you've already accepted this thinking, You just stick to what you know what works and you're just fine being you!

[aj_rock]

Even if you don't want any compensation you still might want to let them know that it seems to be way off other evaluations you've had recently and they may wish to recalibrate. Public service to those less awesome than you who may come after, to hopefully keep them from being led astray.

This. Even though I think you need compensation in some way IF their machine is poorly calibrated. Think about all the anxiety you've probably faced over the last few days. Not to draw unfortunate parallels, but sometimes a girl's gotta speak up...

[catspaw]

Random life update:

 

Something's wrong with my apartment or my allergies or my health or something.  Starting about Friday, I kept getting really bad brain fog.  By about Sunday, I couldn't really function very well it was so thick, so I started taking allergy meds.  They didn't help.

 

Went to the doctor's on Monday and they confirmed I'm not getting enough oxygen to my brain, probably from allergies, and prescribed nasal steroids.

 

On Tuesday I bought one of those stupid looking air filter masks to wear because I was having trouble functioning, and everything improved dramatically.

 

There's a bunch of theories in the air right now, including that maybe 2 weeks ago when I cleaned my carpets it left chemicals that I've been gradually poisoned by (awesome...), to just extreme seasonal allergies (awesome...), to some not-yet-diagnosed disease (awesome...) to folic acid deficiency, to who knows what.  Taking the nasal steroids, wearing the mask (looking like an idiot), and trying to improve the air flow in my apartment.

 

Still pretty foggy though, which is why I haven't been around much or had the energy to reply to all of the awesome love and support you guys have been sending my way.

 

Right now I can't do much more than sit in a comatose-type state.  Concentrating enough to read and write hurts.

 

Nothing's ever easy, is it?  More later.

[bigm141414]

Holy crap! This sounds rather serious. 

[Vector]

I know it may not love it, but the netti pot really helps me. Without it I'm a headachy wreck this time of year, with it 3-4 times a day no issues at all. Something to try (and it becomes much less unpleasant with regular use). Feel better.

[nightlight]

hugs, CP.

[Brometheus]

I hope everything works out. *hugs*

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Oh man, good luck. If the mask improved things drastically in a quick manner, sounds to me that something gradual is much less likely and it's some kind of reaction to some larger particle in the air, whether that's allergy or disorder driven. Only happening in the apartment? Hope you feel better.