Nimm's Journal, 25 March 2011

wow....great progress Nimm! 7.7% at such a quick time frame! Ever since you started P90X your % has dropped quick. Are you physically seeing the difference now?! You should be washing your clothes off your stomach at this rate! Maybe you can start a business and charge for the wash! 

Hey thanks Gerdik - I think the Omron is being kinda generous with the bottom-line number, because I don't have -quite- the definition I'd expect to see at 7.7%, but...the trend is definitely downward and for the first time in my life, I can see the abs. Not perfectly chiseled, but at least we finally have proof they're there :) It's hard to say how much difference I see from starting P90X, since that was just 2 1/2 weeks ago, but...the Omron keeps insisting my weight is about the same, but the body fat is lower, so that's good, right? I'll be patient with the before-and-after comparison until I'm further along. Week 3 isn't quite enough time! 

Remember, it's not always about the "weight" but more so the composition, which to me your readings are the proof in the pudding. And if you want to add to that, had you started measuring your arms/legs/chest/waist you would have even more proof that you probably have increased some size from before and after P90X. Which would mean more muscle mass and less fat. 

Oh on another note. If your Omron is being generous maybe mine is being a tight wad! I posted a pic up not too long ago in my journal, I think on 3/15, where my Omron shows me at 10.1%. I do pinch testing about once a month and fall into supposedly 6% area. So I am not sure what to think at this point. 

I take every home body-fat measurement with a large grain of salt. The Omrons seem to be reasonably accurate, but their best value is as a decent estimate, combined with showing which way you're trending. If your caliper test says 6% and your Omron says 10%...you're probably somewhere in between. Unless you have the option of getting a dunk tank test, or an internal imaging test, you're going to have to accept some level of uncertainty - I don't assume the Omron is 100% accurate, because it just can't be. When the readings can be significantly affected by how hydrated you are, you can't rely on them absolutely....