Best medical calipers according to redditors

>My scale says 14% and had gym do caliper test, they said 6%...

How the F**k did they do the caliper test in the gym? You'll get better results if your dog does them.

My advice:

• Disregard what your scale says (I assume it's electric, and those are ways off, even more so on keto because you are not retaining water).
  
  
• Use this visual guide for comparison. Be sure to read the description to see where you fit.
  
  
• If you can, buy some calipers from BodyBuilding.com or Amazon, this is the cheapest and highest quality you can get for home
  
  
• Use the guide on the sidebar (under useful links) as to measure your bodyfat. Have someone else do the measurements and use the Jackson-Pollock 7 point method which is the most accurate.
  
  Now, if you want, you can post some pictures (flexed) and I´ll help you guesstimate where are you right now.
  
  As for everything else, remeber: Diet & Nutrition > Strength Training > Cardio
  
  I wouldn't really recommend a fat fast, what is the point of it? In any case, better do a PSMF (protein sparing modified fast).
  
  If you want abs, eat perfect, hit your macros, and lift. Crash diets will crash you and are only recommended to meet deadlines. If you don't have muscle underneath, you'll just end drenched and won't look as you'd hoped.

Yes, ladies are natorious for holding water weight. It is pretty common for women to start a weight loss routine, not see any change in the scale for a month, then quit out of discouragement.

I'm a dude and I can swing 5 lbs in a day easy. Salty food, stress, hormones, carbs, activity level all lead to fluctuations is water weight. I finally bought a cheap skin fold measurement device because watching the scale was so stressful. Even waist measurements can fluctuate an inch in a day. Skin folds are very consistent.

Slim Guide Skinfold Caliper in Black with Booklet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AN3UB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8ecQAbY5WZHNT

You don't have to calculate your body fat percentage, just keep track of the measurements.

I think you are doing awesome! You are obviously very dedicated. Don't get too frustated, you will get there. Like the rest of us it just takes tinkering and figuring out.

I would track you calories over the next week and report back what you find. You want to make sure you are not undereating as well as overeating. Undereating can lead to heavy water retention due to stress - I'm concerned this may be your situation.

How is your mood? Do you feel tired or energetic? Are you sleeping well?

It all depends what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to maximize muscle building, you are better off doing less reps (4-6 range) with a higher weight.

Your approach is excellent if you are not too concerned with maximizing your muscle growth, but are more focused on burning fat. A year ago I was on a program that had me lifting lighter weights in the 10-12 rep range, while doing supersets (2 exercises back to back, it was very HIIT oriented), and it was extremely effective in helping me burn fat. It was a lot of fun doing it too.

I think following what you're doing now is good, and will get you results. Once you get at a lower bodyfat percentage, you can always switch your routine and train for muscle growth.

I recommend you start keeping track of your calories, even temporarily just to give you an idea of where you are with your meals. MyFitnessPal (and the app) is great, and the ketogains calculator was extremely accurate for me. Also, get a bodyfat caliper and measuring tape. I use this caliper and it's quite cheap and accurate, and or the tape I got this. If you start building muscle and losing fat, the scale won't be a good indicator of your progress. Keep consistent track of your measurements, like a weekly log, and take them at the same time of day (I do it in the morning after going to the bathroom).

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.

Yup! I measured in at 8% bf a few weeks back. Had no intention of losing another % point

http://www.amazon.com/Slim-Guide-Caliper-Black-Booklet/dp/B0000AN3UB/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414638571&sr=8-2&keywords=fat+calipers

If you have someone who can help you do caliper testing it's a very cheap and accurate way to measure your BF%.

I bought this last year and it comes with a little booklet on how to properly use it and calculate your BF. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AN3UB/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000AN3UB/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?qid=1398869862&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

THAT is badass. That has success written all the fuck over it. Focus on that.

On a slightly different note, pullups are a great measure of body composition because if you're fat, you aren't doing pullups, period.

My personal suggestion is to forget about weight entirely. Get yourself a pair of skinfold calipers and start tracking your body fat percentage instead.

wow.. that was extremely useful information. That needs to be linked to in the FAQ. It describes my situation exactly.

I was thinking about getting one of these body fat calipers from Amazon, and now I think I will.

Everyone has some rolls when they sit down. If you really want to get an objective look on what your BF% is, invest in some cheap skinfold calipers. They measure how much fat by the actual thickness of your skin in millimeters, and this pair comes with a handy guide that helps you convert those numbers into BF%. Skinfold calipers are great to have not just for seeing progress on cuts, but also to help you quantify lean muscle gain vs fat gains on bulks. For 15 bucks, it's totally worth it.

As to advice for what to do, cardio and diet. Specific advice for cardio, duration matters more than intensity when it comes to losing weight. Get your heart rate up to at least 50% of its maximum, and keep it there. You don't need to be running a 6 minute mile, jog at a comfortable pace and do it for 30 minutes a day. As long as you hit your protein requirements, you won't see any loss in your sweet gainz, they'll just be revealed for the world to see.

Ok, so first things first. Get yourself a pair of cheap calipers like these and measure the fat on your legs/glutes and compare to that on your abs. Report back here if you can. If you truly do carry a lot of your fat in your lower body, you likely have high estrogen (E2, or estradiol). If so, there might be some supplements that could help (as well as diet); if not, you could likely find a doctor who will prescribe an aromatase inhibitor to control it.

Second, you're not eating enough protein, at the very least, and your calories seem extremely low....although it's hard to tell the whole story since it sounds like you have days where you eat considerably more. But you need to get your protein higher.

Lastly, I think you'd benefit from lifting weights (everybody would). It doesn't mean you need to go on a hardcore bodybuilding routine. You could keep your calories at or below maintenance and go with a strength program. And if you did add some mass on your upper body, it might "balance you out" a bit.

Muscle weights four times what fat does, so it's possible that you lost a lot of muscle and gained some fat.

Scales are deceiving. BMI is the only way to go. EDIT: Whoops, I meant body/fat ratio! Preferrably using a skinfold caliper.