Just curious.. who's our biggest loser?

Anyone know who the all time biggest loser of this board is?  I know Dave was 652... I was 656 high, Bo McCoy was 600+ , Kirk Thompson was 745 .  .. I know Kirk lost over 450.  Also, I know our fearless support gorup leader  not so big Al Hartman has lost more than I weighed...  from his all time high of 878.  Allen from biggest loser was around 1000.. but he's only been here once I think.  So as far as I know, for 'active' members, Alan H. is our biggest loser??? Any other entrants?  Brag people, brag !  I need the inspiration, and I'm proud of all the super-heavyweights! Dale

In all fairness my weight was 544 pounds on the day of my WLS. When I was 878 pounds in 2001 I had filled up with fluid from developing sleep apena and not knowing it. I spent 84 days in the hospital and they took off 230 pounds of fluid in the hospital, so because I didn’t have to put any effort into losing that weight I wouldn’t really count that as how much weight I lost from WLS. Alan H

Alan, My vote is that since you were once carrying the weight and now aren't - it counts as weight that you lost.  You are doing great, bro. Joe

Oops.... posted to the wrong thread.

My official max weight loss was 274 pounds as I dropped down from 479 at my initial consultation to a low of 205. Unofficially, I'm pretty sure I was over 500 since I had gone on a semi-diet prior to my initial consultation....... Either or....... I was one hefty dude prior to WLS. 

Boner

Started at the magical 464 pounds.   Lost 258ish.   Put on 10 or so training for the marathon and now I've leveled out at 215 - 220.  I don't care what my weight is anymore.  Body fat % is what's important to me now which is 12.4% last time I tested. 

only 12.4% ????  are you sure?   what was the method used to test?   do you have a lot of loose skin , too?  they tell me that will skew the readout somewhat ..  I'm still @ 30% (according to my Omitron hand-held 'zapper" unit) and I'm down to 256 lbs. .. and we're the same height ..  I do have lymphedema though in my feet and ankles, which probably confounds the reading somewhat ..

I do the tape test and use a Tanita resitance scale.   The Tanita scale will give me a different reading every time between 11 - 14%.    I average whatever I get with that with the tape test to get a semi-accurate measurement.  I don't have the jack to splurge for the hydrostatic test so I'll stick to my +/- 3% error margin.  It's probably -3% but who knows.

I do have some loose skin on my belly so the tape test is a challenge for the abdomen but I just lift up the skin roll as if I had PS and do the test around the largest part of the abdomen.   It's not exact science but it gives me a pretty good indication.

 tape test?   Tanita resistance scale?   wow - you got me confoozled there ..    I am only famliar with three ways to check body fat %:  (1) submergence in a tub of water (the most elaborate and expensive, but the most accurate)  (2) using an electrical body impedance "zapper" like the one I mentioned that I use (or some bathroom scales now) and (3) the traditional fat calipers ..   (I've heard that #2 and #3 - if you average the fold measurements during the latter  - are about the same in accuracy)   so what are these other two methods, and how accurate are they?

I posted this awhile back on body fat % tests.  Calipers probably would be the least accurate for us because of the loose skin so I don't event bother with that one.

There are a few ways to get your body fat percentage:

1) The easiest and least accurate is an electrical resistance test that some scales perform.   It sends and low electrical pulse from head to toe and calculates body fat based on the resistance of the fat to return an electrical signal or something.   Tanita is one of the companies that makes the scales.  Most weight loss surgeons have one of them.  

2) There's also the tape measure test that the military uses.   I was ALWAYS taped when I was in the Army even though I wasn't obese.  The formula they use for males is:

% body fat = 86.010 x log10(abdomen - neck) - 70.041 x log10(height) + 36.76

Abdomen - Measure abdominal circumference against the skin at the navel (belly button), level and parallel to the floor. Arms are at the sides. Record the measurement at the end of member's normal, relaxed exhalation. Round abdominal measurement down to the nearest ½ inch.

Neck - Measure the neck circumference at a point just below the larynx (Adam's Apple) and perpendicular to the long axis of the neck. Do not place the tape measure over the Adam's Apple. Service member should look straight ahead during measurement, with shoulders down (not hunched). The tape will be as close to horizontal as anatomically feasible (the tape line in the front of the neck should be at the same height as the tape line in the back of the neck). Care should be taken so as not to involve the shoulder/neck muscles (trapezius) in the measurement. Round neck measurement up to the nearest ½ inch.

There's plenty of freeware calculators online as well as some webpages that calculate the formulas.

3) The most accurate body fat percentage test is a hydrostatic water test where you are dunked in a vat or water and weighed.  I don't know much about this one but it's supposed to be the most accurate of all the tests available. 

Paul I have a lot of loose skin...and my body fat percent is around 12.8 (tanita scale). .....although to be honest I don't look as built as Chad.....when I was weighing in at 248 sometime early last year...my body fat percent was in the high 20s....perhaps you should concentrate on some weight lifting and try to lose that last little bit of weight if you want to have a lower body fat percent. I  think that many of us...because of our weight lifting regimes and cardio regimes would have very close to single diget body fat percents.....except it's skewed because of all the excess skin and such.  I went to 4 different plastic surgeons....and all agreed from a visual inspection of the areas of my body (arms, thighs, chest, stomach, butt and thighs) that there is very very little fat left....it's almost all hanging skin.  Scott