Why am I at my healthy weight but still look fat?

[Anonymous]

Im now at my nice healthy weight and I still have a massive belly and big thighs and big calves. I measured myself and have lost inches off everywhere but why is my belly still like a balloon!

[Emiliamazing]

You may have to look at where your weight is concentrated or your muscle mass to body fat ratio is.

[Guy13]

Cardio burn. Fat weighs much less than muscle.

[Asker]

Huh?

[lbigtonyl]

No.. lol
that's a common misspoken statement.
1 pound of muscle and 1 pound of fat weight the exact same.

What (is) different is muscle is more DENSE than fat. 1 pound of muscle could be about the size of a tangerine and 1 pound of fat be the size of a grapefruit.

[WellGreetingsISay]

It could be that your bodyfat percentage is just higher. The only way to change that is working out.

[Asker]

My body fat percentage is 17.6%

[WellGreetingsISay]

That's very low. Sorry, I'm not sure what makes you look bigger then. Are you sure you actually look 'fat' and it's not just you judging yourself harshly?

[Asker]

Oh is it actually low? I don't know. People say I’ve lost a LOT of weight like they’re genuinely shocked. My clothes don’t fit they’re too big. The scale says I’ve lost it. I’ve measured myself with a tape and I’ve lost so much inches off everywhere. Maybe i have body dismorphia

[WellGreetingsISay]

Yeah, that's a pretty good level of bodyfat. Like you said, you measured yourself around, so you can see it has gotten less. I won't ask how much you measured, but it's good you know it.

[Asker]

Well I didn’t measure myself. My nurse measured me because I asked her to

[lbigtonyl]

They probably measured you with a caliper. Those aren't the most accurate ways of measuring body fat. It's outdated just like the use of bmi to calculate obesity. The reason calipers aren't that accurate is because everybodies fat distribution is different. You (can) get a rough estimate of body fat with a caliper but it'll be off by 3-5 % .

If you want the most accurate widely used method to measure your body fat that almost nobody will dispute then you need to get a DEXA scan. Only downside is they are about $99.