As I have lost weight, my fat % goes UP on Aria. Mistake or real?

[Vegsoup]

I have lost a half a pound a day over the last week. But Aria says each day that my fat percentage is HIGHER. Is is true? How does Aria know that?

[MatthewFitbit · Accepted solution]

I understand how seeing increased body fat when you are losing weight can be confusing and frustrating. Here's some insight what's likely happening:

Body fat percentage is calculated as fat mass divided by total mass, so if you noticeably lower your total mass, while that fat mass remains the same, your body fat percentage will increase. Even if fat mass is indeed decreasing, total mass is decreasing more quickly, resulting in an increase of body fat percentage.

If you continue to weigh yourself daily, you'll probably see that your body fat percent goes down on days when your weight fluctuates up, since you're retaining more water those days. Similarly, on days when your weight fluctuates down, the body fat percent goes up because you're retaining less water.

In short, fat mass decreases more slowly than other types of mass in your body, which may result in a higher body fat percentage. I hope that clarifies what you're seeing!

[Mensaboy]

Hey All,

I have been following this string because of my own questions about increasing body fat % vs overall weight loss. Thanks for all the good info. But the one question I have that is not addressed here is, because the body fat measure comes from minute electrical charges, if I weigh with wet feet (like just out of the shower) can it cause variances in body fat measurement?

Keith

[MatthewFitbit]

@Mensaboy Yes, definitely! You should make sure that both your scale and your feet are completely dry before measuring yourself in order to get the most accurate body fat reading.

[mantababe]

sorry this doesnt make sense to me.

this is what i want to happen.....loose weight but to loose fat, and to gain muscle. 

but according to you ...if i loose total mass, then my body fat score increases...but i want my BF to DECREASE. 

my old scares [aldis crane] were excellent in measuring body fat v  muscle, and i could see an improvment in my figures over the weeks which really encoraged me to continue....now i use the aria and all i get is discouragment..as my BF gets more and the rest of the figures decrease, i want get rid of my BF 

[JSSC]

My weight went down 1.6 lbs. My body fat went from 30.7 to 42.3.  Can that possibly be correct?

[tastybrew]

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@mantababe wrote:

now i use the aria and all i get is discouragment..as my BF gets more and the rest of the figures decrease, i want get rid of my BF 

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If you don't want to know about your BF% fluctuations, then ignore the stat. If you don't want to see the BF% readings in your dashboard, un-sync your scale or delete the synced values, then enter manual weight values.

Given that your total mass is the denominator in the BF% calculation, it is mathematically logic that decreasing weight (especially in a relatively rapid manner) will lead to an increase in calculated BF%. The ratio between lean muscle mass and fat tissue is much more difficult to control than simply losing weight, which is why I wish Fitbit (and just about every "fitness" company) would place more emphasis on BF% versus simply losing weight. You lose both muscle and fat when you lose weight, which is why rapid weight loss is usually not a good idea for most individuals.

Bottom line: eat healthy, do the right types of physical activity, and eventually your BF% will decrease with your weight loss.

[tastybrew]

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@JSSC wrote:

My weight went down 1.6 lbs. My body fat went from 30.7 to 42.3.  Can that possibly be correct?

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Doubtful. Likely you had a significant difference in hydration and/or the scale simply took a bad reading(s).

[mantababe]

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@tastybrew wrote:

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@mantababe wrote:

now i use the aria and all i get is discouragment..as my BF gets more and the rest of the figures decrease, i want get rid of my BF 

---

If you don't want to know about your BF% fluctuations, then ignore the stat. If you don't want to see the BF% readings in your dashboard, un-sync your scale or delete the synced values, then enter manual weight values.

Given that your total mass is the denominator in the BF% calculation, it is mathematically logic that decreasing weight (especially in a relatively rapid manner) will lead to an increase in calculated BF%. The ratio between lean muscle mass and fat tissue is much more difficult to control than simply losing weight, which is why I wish Fitbit (and just about every "fitness" company) would place more emphasis on BF% versus simply losing weight. You lose both muscle and fat when you lose weight, which is why rapid weight loss is usually not a good idea for most individuals.

Bottom line: eat healthy, do the right types of physical activity, and eventually your BF% will decrease with your weight loss.

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you are missing the point.....i want to know BF but i also want to know my muscle %. 

my last scales aldi crane showed muscle % and body fat, i would regualry see the muscle % increase and the BF decrease. 

and what i dont understand why DO I WANT to LOOSE lean mass...lean mass includes everything tht isnt body fat, i want to loose body fat and keep my lean mass not loose my mean mass, i am ensuring in my weight loss to do strength training/runningi am NOT crash dieting

im sorry but none of this makes sense

i do expect to loose some muscle but not to have it going the way the scales show, my crane scales showed an increase in muscle and decrease in /bf...aria show a decrease in lean mass and an increase in BF...yes i understand the equation, but what is the point of fitbit producing figures tht dont mean much to people??? 

by the way i run 3/4 times week i do HIT and i eat healthy, i have lost 2 stone over the last year i have also lost body measurement, i dont pay too much heed to weight as i want to exchange some of my BF for muscle, which is why im so disappointing in this product.....it is the other figures i look at more than the actual weight and ive spent nearly £100 on a set of scales which isnt delivering me the info i expected

ps i am now down to a size where im looking for more of an increase in muscle mass rather than weight loss, i use the scales as a guide but im finding the info they give do not guide me, if id known this was waht they are like i wouldnt have bought them, and i certainly wouldnt recomend them, the info is not straight forward. 

[mantababe]

TBH if i hadnt had previously owned the aldi crane scales i would know no difference and would accpet the info tht arial is giving, but knowing what reat info the crane ones gave have put arial ones well down the list 

[tastybrew]

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@mantababe wrote:

you are missing the point.....i want to know BF but i also want to know my muscle %. 

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You can do the simple math or look at the lean vs fat chart.

[mantababe]

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@tastybrew wrote:

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@mantababe wrote:

you are missing the point.....i want to know BF but i also want to know my muscle %. 

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You can do the simple math or look at the lean vs fat chart.

i dont want to have to do that i would like expensive scales to give me decent info..

aldi cheap scales

weight, /bone mass/BMR/AMR/BMI/BF/muscle mass/water %

fitbit expensive scales

weight/lean mass V BF

now i can do without all the other bells and whisles of the aldis scales [although it was nice having all tht info and still struggle to belive tht cheap scales do tht whereas expensive ones dont]  but i, stupidly, thought the lean mass and BF would show differently to what it does. 

i would weigh myself on my old aldi scales and see a gradual increase in muscle and a decreas in body fat....it encouraged me to carry on 

i now weigh myself on my fitbit ones and feel demotived lean mass decreased BF increased [yes i understand the formula for this figure but it doesnt motive you, im not after just loosing BF im also trying to build up my muscles 

fitbit is loosing their way....they have removed the body measurement from dashboard [another thing i take into account with getting fit and also it is a VERY BIG thing to keep a measurement of, they have produce scales that give VERY BASIC measurements, if they want to stay ahead of the game they need to up their game NOT decrease it. 

fitbit is bout getting fit.....thts encompasses the whole range of things...loosing weight/exercising/eating well, so to do tht you need a whole range of measurements, we shouldnt have to tie up with MFP [coz they also have a better food input section] or whatever one we do so we can add our measurments, i shouldnt have to consider going back to cheap scales and then manual inputting the info onto my fitbit dashboard [which actually wouldnt take all the info i want to put....so instead of having things all in one place ie fitbit dashboard its scattered all over the place and on paper, ive wanted to go premium but seeing as im not getting what i need without out doing tht im not going waste my money. 

ive done well this past year with loosing weight and getting fit, i now want up my game, and to really improve myself i need better measurement facitities 

fitbit please look at what the crane scales offer and for well under £50, you are paying lipservice to body measurement not good enough for a leading fitness tracker company. i would not recomend these scales to anyone i would suggest they go for the aldi crance scales everytime. 

[MusaFit4Life]

Makes alot of sense and definitely cleared this up. Unfortunately, I think this reflects the limitations of this scale. The scale really needs to give a more comprehensive read out on water, bone mass, muscle mass, etc. this would really paint a awesome picture for the users and it's quite necessary and expected from a company such as Fitbit.

[JuanJoFitbit]

@MusaFit4Life Welcome to our Fitbit Community! Your feedback and comments are greatly appreciated as this helps us to keep improving our products and services.

[HybridSwimmer]

I think the more important question here is how on earth are you losing half a pound every day? What is God's name are you doing that is so effective? I have weeks where I workout 2 hours a day and count my calories to the max and I'm gaining a pound a week? Would you kindly share how you are attaining this weight loss every day?

Thanks

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@Vegsoup wrote:
I have lost a half a pound a day over the last week. But Aria says each day that my fat percentage is HIGHER. Is is true? How does Aria know that?

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[HybridSwimmer]

Beyond discouraging and very annoying. I'm experiencing the same thing. It's like what's the point of using a device to assist you when it's showing the opposite of what your doing?

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@mantababe wrote:

sorry this doesnt make sense to me.

this is what i want to happen.....loose weight but to loose fat, and to gain muscle. 

but according to you ...if i loose total mass, then my body fat score increases...but i want my BF to DECREASE. 

my old scares [aldis crane] were excellent in measuring body fat v  muscle, and i could see an improvment in my figures over the weeks which really encoraged me to continue....now i use the aria and all i get is discouragment..as my BF gets more and the rest of the figures decrease, i want get rid of my BF 

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[GritsnGravy]

I'm having the exact same issue, I got my Aria 2 6 days ago and literally every day my body fat % has gone up.

Here are the results. 

Day 1: 89.6 KG, 17.6% BF

Day 2: 88.9 KG, 18.2% BF

Day 3: 88.4 KG, 18.3% BF

Day 4: 88.3 KG, 18.4% BF

Day 5: 87.1 KG, 18.5% BF

Day 6: 88.7 KG, 18.6% BF

It's absolutely maddening!! I weigh myself roughly the same time every day, place the scale in exact same part of floor, always have dry feet.

I'm a 6'1 guy, I lift weights 3 times a week, quite a bit of cardio, eat plenty of protein and get plenty of sleep and am generally in a 500-1500 calorie deficit. 

When I look at the breakdown and saying that all my weight loss(prior to last day) has been pure muscle loss and not only that - that I'm GAINING fat mass is absolutely frustrating. 

[MatthewFitbit]

@GritsnGravy Increasing body fat percentage does not indicate increasing body fat mass. See this post for an explanation of why this is normal.

[jhalligan]

So same for me, started working out again after couple months bad habits, lost 7lbs in 4 days and BF% climbed from 24.5 to 26.5. Serious cardio / strength training involved, eating good w calorie deficit, feel thinner, stronger, muscles larger.  Like others was puzzled why muscle mass was dropping more than fat mass.

Realized after reading multiple threads and looking at the Fitbit stats that the Aria values are Fat Mass & maybe more importantly LEAN MASS. My assumption was “Lean Mass” was synonymous with Muscle Mass, probably incorrect???  Rather is Lean Mass = muscle mass + bone mass + water mass + potentially some other mass?  Fat Mass is just Fat Mass.

Could my hypothetical scenario (with hypothetical numbers) be... gain 1lbs muscle, lost 1lbs fat, lost 5lbs water... thus:

lean mass -4 = (1-5)

fat mass -1

Thus losing more lean mass than fat mass increases BF%?

[Weblyn]

Hi HybridSwimmer, 

Have you tried implementing Keto or intermittent fasting into your routine? For me at my age 48 pre-menopausal, it has been the only thing that has worked. I am down 27lbs since July 7th of this year. I also walk/run on my treadmill for an hour 3 times a week. I have also made sure I am getting 8 hours of sleep each night. Once I meet my fitness goal, I will switch CarbManager & Fitbit apps to maintain. Right now I am staying under 1200 calories a day with only 20 carbs or less a day. I am loosing .35lbs a day, it's not a half pound a day, but it certainly has made a difference to my self confidence. Hope that helps.