Bod Pod Body Composition

Hi, I had a body composition test done today in a Bod Pod machine to track my body fat% and fat free mass%.  My center has had a machine since Jan and is trying to track data on before and after surgery body composition to help make adjustments to diet and exercise along the way.  So my first test result today has my fat% at 52.2 and fat free mass at 47.8 I'm 284.6lbs and my fat free mass was 136.07.  My fitness person recommended my goal weight being around 160lbs because I'd most likely be healthy at 22-30% body fat.  Honestly I was bummed at that number because its higher then I was hoping but the reason I'm doing this is to loose weight and become healthy so I'm not sure why I was bummed.  How has this test or any body composition test helped you set your goal if you've done it?

Body fat and weight aren't really related, so I'm not sure how someone could say "you'd be a healthy body fat at 160 lb."  I think you'll have a better idea of where you want to be once you get closer.  I'm not sure that having a hard and fast goal is really useful at this point in the process. 

I had my surgery at the same place (different doc though) 1.5 years ago, but I haven't tried the Bod Pod yet (although I sat in the same room with it before it was all ready to go - oooooh, ahhhhhh.... lol) What I wanted to tell you though, is not to get too bogged down in the numbers and goals set by anyone other than you.  If you need a goal, set your own, or just keep losing until you feel satisfied and healthy.  There are lots of people on this forum who have blown past their doc's goal.  Body types are different and people's eating and exercise habits are different - so many factors contribute to what your ideal weight will be, but I suspect that when you get there, you'll know.  Good luck!! :)

I had body fat composition testing done along the way and still go in once a year to have it checked (I do underwater body fat testing).  It helped me to see progress in losing fat even when the scale wasn't moving very much.  (Scales are horrible at indicating actual FAT loss!).  

As I got closer and closer to my anticipated goal weight it also helped me see that going lower in weight wouldn't have been realistic or healthy for me.  You won't know exactly how much lean muscle you lose along with fat until you get closer - and you WILL absolutely lose some of that lean muscle, just can't be helped regardless of how much weight lifting you do or how much protein you eat.  

So don't be bummed out about the numbers you're posting right now -- understand that those numbers will change and will absolutely get better.  I wouldn't suggest checking body fat any more often than every 3-6 months.  And your fitness person can recommend whatever they want but YOU get to make the final decision of where you want to be at with your weight and body fat.  They are simply there to make suggestions.  

Yes, absolutely!

I feel you should set a "loose" goal at the beginning and refine using body fat as you get close.

I've done Bod-Pod and DEXA as well as an experimental MRI methodology.

Bod-Pod should be close enough, although the DEXA is much more comprehensive, accurate and can give you additional diagnostic information like bone density (e.g. detecting for osteoporosis) 

I found that all the methods are more accurate as you get more towards a 'normal' weight, as they are all calibrated more for the "average."

I also feel that the Bod pod is a bit sub optimal for big weight losers who have excess skin - I don't think the algorithms compensate for that.  As a result, my Bod pod readings have been a few percentage points higher then my DEXA readings.  DEXA is considered more reliable, and since mine readings from DEXA are "better" I'll take that as the gospel :)

As foar as a goal... you should shoot for own goal, but realize that maintaining a sub 10% body fat is a significant amount of work. 

I hover around 10-12% but I work out 6 days a week and cycle somewhat competitively.  I wish I could get down 20 more pounds to climb hills better, but that seems unrealistic... having loose skin surgery might remove a few...

Hi. I am a wanna be cyclist. Averaging 50-75 miles per week. I use cycling as my preferred exercise. I am in remission from type 2 diabetes. How do you fuel your longer rides? I'm having a hard time finding a snack to keep up my energy on longer rides. All the "energy" bars out ther have way too many carbs and calories. 

Depends on how hard I'm going. IN general I'll try to do 2-3 Gels per hour, plus a bottle of fluids, usually not a lot of calories in the fluids.  I try to maintain an intake of around 200-300 calories per hour, which seems to be the maximum most people can intake while working hard.  I may use some sort of easy to digest bar, but mostly stick to the gel type stuff these days.

While it's all sugar, I'm intaking less than half of what I'm burning, so it seems to be fine.

After a hard ride I usually do some sort of recovery drink (a mix that's made specifically for that purpose) which tend to have protein as well as sugar as well as some other nutrients.  This seems to help, especially when I'm riding multiple days in a row.

I've been using Torq (available in the UK, but not here unfortunately), but Hammer Nutrition has similar stuff (although they have a LOT of different offerings so sometimes it's hard to figure out which is right for what cir****tance...)

Hammer does have a good guide to their products: http://www.hammernutrition.com/downloads/PUM.pdf

 --edit to add--

I guess if you're worried about keeping your energy up, then you need calories, and probably carbs.  Nothing much else will help in the short term while you are exercising, in my experience, and carbs really don't hurt you IF you burn them up... use them as a tool, not a treat ... :)

For rides less than 2 or 3 hours, or if you're not really pushing yourself hard, then you probably don't need anything special.  

I ran the experiment and I was able to ride 2+ hours before I bonked.  The bonk was bad, but really didn't set in until the 3rd hour.  

When I push hard (and I mean hard!) I'm burning maybe 650c/hour.  Most calorie estimates of physical activity are way high.  I use a power meter on my bike which measures actual expenditure and it's pretty consistent... way less than some charts show.

I'm not familiar with a power meter. What brand? I have a cycle computer that measures miles. It has a calorie function but I ignore it since there's no way to make it specific to my uses. As I mentioned I'm in remission from T2 so I'm pretty nervous about the whole sugar thing. I tried the Clif Shot Bloks and even though I was maintaining 15mph for two hours, my BS still skyrocketed.

Powermeters are pretty advanced... usually around $1000 - although some new ones are coming on the market.  Great for serious training but hardly required! I mentioned it just to point out that calorie burn per the charts tends to be way overstated compared to the real world.

If shot blocks cause your BS to skyrocket then you'll have to be super careful... you may want to just eat real food - bananas are a bit food of choice for cyclists... so are sandwiches, etc... you can mix/match your protein and carbs to hit the desired effect - it will just take experimentation.  I ride with an insulin dependent diabetic and he does fine, but he has monitor all the time.

Team Novo-Nordisk is a pro-cycling team composed of all diabetics... they prove every race that it's possible to perform at an incredibly high level with diabetes: http://www.tnnprocycling.com/

Good info. Thanks bunches for the quick responses. I'll keep working on it.