Fat percentage up but weight the same

[Fit-Girl77]

• Hi, 

As per title, my bodyweight is the same, or even a little less (marginally 500g) but my fat percentage is creeping up dayly (FITBIT ARIA): 25% to 27% in two weeks.

I am not in a deficit currently, as I have just begun a maintenance phase with aim to bulk after building my calories up. I have just finished a 4 week mini cut to get rid off some lock-down fluff. I am a bodybuilder with a muscular frame and I know I am not overeating as I track my food and eat clean. I am curious why my fat percentage is going up but my weight is stable. With increased calories I'm also training harder in the weight room. 

Thanks!! 

[Glenda]

@Fit-Girl77 Body fat % is calculated as fat mass divided by total mass.  If you significantly lower the total mass while fat stays the same body fat % increases just due to the math.  Even if fat mass is decreasing total mass decreases at a faster rate which still results in an increase in fat %.  Ir is all about hydration levels.  Body fat % goes down when weight fluctuates up since you  are retaining more water then.  When weight goes down the body fat% goes up because you're retaining less water.  The first week of dieting most people lose lots of water due to eating less salt and sugar.  

          You could google for a much better longer explanation of all this, or you could just forget about body fat %.  Does anything really measure it accurately?   Best wishes

[Fit-Girl77]

Hi Brenda, thanks so much or taking the time to answer 🙂 Hopefully I understood what you were trying to say correctly. I understand that water levels play a role in fluctuating bodyfat, but since I have not actually lost any mass (or barely at 500g) , I still weigh roughly the same as I did when I started maintenance calories two weeks ago. Increased carb intake, because I am now eating at maintenance, means more intracellular water, but while my weight remains the same, body fat is steadily creeping up. With extra intercellular water, shouldn't body fat on the scale decrease, rather than increase? 

[Glenda]

@Fit-Girl77   I think you may be doing extremely well not to have gained weight when you started maintenance calories.  It makes me wonder how many calories you were eating before you went on the maintenance amount.  When a person diets on a much lower number of calories and reaches a weight they want to maintain it is usually critically important for them NOT to go directly to a normal number of calories but to increase that number 200 calories at a time for several days to be sure they don't gain and then 200 more for a couple of days, etc.   

           Lots of people start exercise programs to lose weight, eat more, and don't lose weight.  All the studies show that.  If your goal is to be very muscular rather than lose weight, that is a choice.   Maybe Haybales on here can answer your questions better than I.  I don't feel capable.  I personally would measure myself everywhere with a tape measure and look in the mirror to see if results were pleasing and forget body fat %.  If you want to be less fat you might be better off to concentrate on eating fewer calories and exercising less??  Google the recommended about of protein you should eat each day, divide that by 3 meals and eat 1/3 at each meal (not all at night).  Eat whatever you want but add an amount of a  powdered protein drink to have the right amount of protein at each meal.  With added % of protein, than most of us manage, you may feel more satisfied with fewer calories and lose fat.  Best wishes 

[Heybales · Accepted solution]

You are expecting way too much accuracy out of that reading and device.

It's not a measurement, like weight is.

It's measuring an electrical impulse (BIA scale) up 1 leg and down the other.

It's using stats about you it knows about.

It's applying some statistical averages.

And giving you a BF% reading.

And the best BIA scales (Aria not the best in tests for accuracy) can be upwards of 5% accurate IF you present exactly the same hydrated body to it. Which is unlikely, meaning water stored with glycogen in muscles, between cells, in stomach, in liver, ect. That all can change day to day, week to week.

I have not seen in tests if the Aria is considered consistent (you can be consistently off by same amount, or bounce all over the place) - but even if it is you are well within the margin of error, and therefore you really don't have a number that is meaningful yet.

If it's consistent - then rolling monthly average will indicate a direction and be useful to confirm what is I'm guessing recomp attempt.

But just as a 1 day scale reading should never be used to decide you need to change something that day regarding diet, neither should BF% too short a time.

Keep at what sounds like great program, keep logging the BF% on valid days only to try to reduce the noise (morning after rest day eating normal sodium levels and not sore from prior workout).

If you log on non-valid days with expected water weight fluctuations (like still sore), then expect easily a month of data being needed to reduce the noise and discern a direction.

I will say if you are training harder, you are likely retaining more water weight for repair, which means if scale weight really is the same, you are likely losing fat still. 

Meaning you really aren't at maintenance yet, if it's only been 2 weeks total to get an idea. You should have gained a little water weight as workouts got harder. Especially now with diet allowing body to top off glycogen stores.