Anyhow, the best thing you can do right now is to keep talking about it and don't let it eat you up inside. I have no idea how hard it has been for you, i'm just speaking from what i've gone through.

One time I heard the saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", and I truly believe this. I try to look at difficult times as opportunities for growth; I know this can be difficult at the time. We're all human! You have come a long way, don't forget that. The pictures that you have posted before are definately inspiring, and you have worked your ass off to get to where you are. Perhaps this is the time to revamp your workout routine, try something new!

How often do you have your bf tested?

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LAte

Email me the skinfold measures. I've done well over 1000 of these measures. There is no way that your thigh can be 40 mm and your calf 8 mm.

I seriously doubt that you are 35%. I know what 35% looks like. Attach a good photo minus the face.

What were the results of the digital BF monitor?

If you are planning to come to the Arnold, let me know and I'll body comp you.

Based upon my observations over the years, if you have visible abs, you are probably under 14%, ripped abs, less than 8%.

If you have access to a body composition lab at a university, find the lab director and have them do an underwater weighing along with skinfolds. Better yet, find someone that has a DEXA, most medical teaching universities have them in the radiology dept. Have them scan you, it will give you bone density as well.

I only use body composition analysis to monitor diet, supplement use, etc. If you are happy with the way you look, then numbers mean nothing.

quote:

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Originally posted by F1hybrid:

If you have access to a body composition lab at a university, find the lab director and have them do an underwater weighing along with skinfolds. Better yet, find someone that has a DEXA, most medical teaching universities have them in the radiology dept. Have them scan you, it will give you bone density as well.

F1

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The method that F1 describes is the only true way, then also get your skin folds done that base line you gage whether otr not you have gained BF..Caliper by themselves SUCK.

ALOT OF YOU are delusioned about your BF %I've seen your pics and your body fat are not as low as you think they are...But TN you are NO WAY 35% at most I would say 18% or 19% based on your pics..

GET THE SUBMERSION TEST DONE AND YOU WILL TRULY KNOW YOUR BF..I do this every 3 to 6 months. Only costs 40 bucks or so.And most BIG schools have them.

IG

I am a trainer as well, and I have just worked with an individual who was 35% BF. Trust me when I say that you look nothing like her. She was saggy fat, with the muscletone of a newborn infant. Judging from the pics you have posted, there is no way in hell you are anywhere near that %.

And if it makes you feel any better I can not get a bodycomp done on myself w/ calipers either. Last time I had a trainer I worked with take my %'s he had me at 15. So I had someone else take it as well, she got 18%. That same week I had my submerssion test done, after my computations I came out to 8%.

Get it done again!!!!

I've fallen victim to the inaccurate caliper test a billion times - no more. A few months ago my bodyfat was measured to be about 18%. You could tell just by looking at me that I shouldn't even be close to that. My chest skinfold? A few millimeters. My quad? A few millimeters. My abs? A LOT of millimeters. Did I have a gut? No. Was I fat looking at all? No. The sole reason that my bodyfat measured that high was because of a bunch of millimeters in my perfectly-fine looking stomach which threw off the whole test.

I, personally, consider those hand-held thingees that they use at college health centers to be more accurate than those stupid calipers, but even then, you shouldn't pay enough mind to it to get yourself upset.

There's only one bodyfat test that you should pay any mind to - the mirror test. And if you don't mind my being a mirror for a few seconds, you look great.

Then I had a second check and it was 18% at 175 lbs. Now, I guess it's around 12-13% at 185 lbs. at 5' 8" (short).

But does it really matter what the numbers are, unless you're competing?

Isn't it cool to slip on a new skirt or pair of slacks that would have been previously unimaginable? And feel good about it,knowing you've made real progress?

To me, this is all what it is about: Health and Fitness. But cheers to the competitive bodybuilders! You'll never see Dex on stage.

Dexter

T, go look at the last photo I put up of my wife... look real good at the hips and face. Now I made her get a few BF tests so we could see where and how things were improving. She came in at @34% on several different tests.

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LAte

This little setback of yours is just that a setback, 1 little setback.But really it isn't. It is a mistake you are not 35%BF.You look great and you are going to look better.So wipe those tears, I have done this myself an many occasions.And get back at it!!

BECAUSE REALLY WHAT ELSE YOU GONNA DO! You know, once you get bit with this bug we got,you can't go back to being a couch potato.....SAMM

Sorry so long ,I really hope this helps .You were a big help to TEXASAMM'S GURL

I haved the numbers from my VERY FIRST bf test taken in Mar of 2000 when I was FAT as a little piggy, before my first competition:

Pec = 3
Subscapular = 9
Bicep = 3
Tricep = 8
Kidney = 15
Supriliac = 7
Abdominals = 6
Quadricep = 17
Calf = 12

Bodyweight 122 (I am 5' 3 1/2")
17%bf

21.5# bf
100.5#lbm

I looked like the Pilssbury fucking doughboy!

Tonite I went shopping for a Christmas outfit and I was supposed to be dieting for a shoot, but called it off as I got sick once again - so I listened to my body (and IG and FC) and took some much needed time off. I haven't seen the inside of the gym since LAST SATURDAY. The closest thing I done to physical activity was bake cookies. Diet? WHAT DIET?! Hell, I actually had a beer! WOO-HOO!! Anyway, I went shopping at Limited (a store where the clothing would ALWAYS BE TOO BIG, NO MATTER HOW SMALL the clothing was cut) - I tried on size 2 (a bit tight, but still good) and size 4 (fit perfectly) and you know what?! I've got to be mid 130's (don't own a scale) and I LOOK SMOKING! OK?! Use your mirror FUCK THE REST! You are not getting ready for competition, so don't sweat it!!!!

Now snap out of it or I will bitch-slap you!

....and that is an order!

Anyway, those caliper measurements a WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!

You are not at 35% bodyfat! I'll definately have to go with the advice of F1 to get them done at a "major" university. I will put anything on the line that these are wrong. As a matter of fact, if you are 35%, then I'll post my damn pictures for the hell of it. But your not, so I don't have to worry about doing this. The only pictures I have of myself are those 2 weeks after my bout of food poisoning this last summer, and I was at around 6-7% in the photos. I was tested at 14% by a supposed to be "expert" at my gym whom claimed he had very legit experience. This 14 percent would mean that I only lost around 3% from my pre-diet pictures of around 17% and around 20 weeks of dieting. BULLSHIT!!! I was in your same shoes and every person in the gym was almost chanting BULLSHIT too. I had just measured out with an AB pinch of 5mm that week before my food poisoning. I know how you are feeling, and you need to pick yourself back up and ignore those results. I'll vouch for F1 when he says that most supposed to be experts can be totally off. I have my own calipers and by no means have down the proper technique of pinching even after using them for a couple of years. Skin pinching is an art that many will never get right. It really takes a quite awhile for someone to say that they have it down. Listen to F1 on this trust me.

Happy Holidays All.

we might be able to tell better if you took another picture with less clothing, you had kind of a lot of stuff on in that last one

I ran stepwise linear regressions to estimate what the thigh skinfold should be based on the data I collected from my body comp study on women BBs and fitness competitors and your skinfolds. Some juiced, some not. Did the same for tricep.

What this means is that I used some of the skinfolds that I believed to be realistic to estimate those that I strongly believed were not. A lot of assumptions��.

Based on the calf skinfold, your thigh should be between 15 and 20 mm. I also believe that the tricep skinfold is too large, again based on the other measures. I'm estimating around 16 mm.

One issue that I need clarified. You mentioned that you have Lupus. Have you been on corticosteroids recently (i.e., methylprednisone)? Reason I ask is that glucocorticoids can significantly alter fat distribution. Add in some androgens and one may end up with some atypical patterning.

Regardless, you still shouldn't comp out at 35%.

Here are the numbers.

EVEN IF, I entered the skinfolds as they are you're highest % bodyfat would be 27.3%. If I used estimates for thigh (20 mm), tricep (16 mm), you'd be around 23%. Thus, at a body weight of 137, your fat-mass would be 31.5 lbs and fat-free mass at 105.5 lbs. Looking at the photo, I think you are carrying more than 105.5 lean mass, so the % BF is probably lower.

Personally, I think some of the other skinfold numbers may be in error as well. So it's really hard to tell at this point, but you ARE NOT 35%, could be about 20% but still guessing.

Next time you are at the gym, ask the guy that body comp'd you to re-measure your thigh and tricep. While he has what he thinks is the skinfold, flex the muscle. If the fold pulls out of the caliper and/or his fingers, he has muscle, NOT fat. This is a simple way to verify what he is measuring. If the folds pull out, then he really doesn't know what he's doing and get your money back.

Regarding underwater weighing. For this to be reasonably accurate, you have to be comfortable underwater with NO, I MEAN NO AIR in your lungs. If you can't stay underwater for at least 10 seconds being absolutely still after exhaling ALL the air in your lungs, underwater weighing will not give you good results. If you have any lung problems, prior smoker, etc. UW weighing will NOT give good results. You must also be properly hydrated with no excess intestinal gas. A good lab will also measure (NOT ESTIMATE) residual volume (the quantity of gas in the lungs after you completely and forcefully exhale). In addition, bone density must be normal. Glucocorticoids will lower it and androgens will increase it.

I'd still go with a DEXA vs UW weighing. Then you don't have to worry about lung volumes, intestinal gas, bone density, etc. If you perform the UW weighing correctly, it should be a very uncomfortable and fatiguing experience. If it's not, your numbers won't mean shit and the percent BF will be higher than it should be. Lastly, make sure you have a veteran technician, not some rookie undergraduate that just starting learning the procedure a week ago. They will F*** it up for sure and you'll be more pissed than you are now.

F1

...just call me "Porky".

I'd also be careful how much you stress the system with sudden changes in diet and training. You will perturb the immune system and may trigger a flare-up of lupus.

Might also consider 100-200 mg of DHEA a day for the lupus. See below abstract.

Has the test seemed to reduce the number/severity or frequency of flare-ups?

Title

Treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus with dehydroepiandrosterone: 50 patients treated up to 12 months.

JOURNAL OF RHEUMATOLOGY. vol. 25, no. 2 (1998 Feb): 285-9.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether longterm therapy (up to 1 year) with the weakly androgenic adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is feasible and beneficial in patients with mild to moderate systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: In a prospective, open label, uncontrolled longitudinal study 50 female patients (37 premenopausal, 13 postmenopausal) with mild to moderate SLE were treated with oral DHEA 50-200 mg/day. RESULTS: DHEA therapy was associated with increases in the serum levels of DHEA, DHEA sulfate, and testosterone and, for those patients who continued DHEA, with decreasing disease activity measured by SLE Disease Activity Index score (p < 0.01), patient global assessment (p < 0.01), and physician global assessment (p < 0.05), compared to baseline. Concurrent prednisone doses were reduced (p < 0.05). These improvements were sustained over the entire treatment period. Thirty-four patients (68%) completed 6 months of treatment and 21 patients (42%) completed 12 months. Mild acneiform dermatitis was the most common adverse event (54%). Pre and postmenopausal women experienced similar efficacy and adverse effects from DHEA. CONCLUSION: DHEA was well tolerated and appeared clinically beneficial, with the benefits sustained for at least one year in those patients who maintained therapy.

Landry- The gym trainer is training me but he is doing it for free. 5 days per wk.

You already know what the problem is, you're just not seeing it nor are you thinking about the right solution. Re-read the last several sentences on your last post. The answer lies there. Does anyone else know what I'm referring to? Hint: the solution doesn't have anything to do with training or diet.

From my data, the average mid-thigh circ for off-season women bodybuilders is 21.8" at about 9.8% bodyfat with a thigh skinfold of just under 10 mm; calf skinfold in this group was about 6 mm. If you are about 15%, then add at least another 1" perhaps a little more. Even the fitness girls were about 20.2", but again at 9.8% body fat with the same thigh skinfold of about 10 mm. Thus, if they were around 15% bodyfat, they'd be sporting 21 - 22" thighs. For every 5% increase in bodyfat, assuming thigh musculature stays the same, add about an inch to your thigh measurement. Your thighs are not big by any stretch. The problem is your pants are too small. That is what I was referring to in my last post.

F as in Frank 1