Source
r/keto•
BilliardKing

Help! My Fitbit scale keeps saying that I'm gaining body fat! Is this normal?

I used to come in at around 46% body fat but since starting keto it's been all over the place, seeimingly trending upward. This alarms me. Is this normal starting out as I lose water weight and glycogen? I'm not eating a hell of a lot of calories (hovering around 1200 net) but I don't feel hungry most of the time and I don't have a lot of money to spend on fancy things or extra meat in order to increase my intake. I've heard of these "fat bomb" things but they look and sound absolutely disgusting to me.

Please see graphs after my calculator info

Generated by Keto Calculator 9.0

26/M/5'6" | CW 288.5 | 47% BF | Lightly active

  • 1400 kcal Goal, a 49% deficit. (770 min, 2751 max)
  • 25g Carbohydrates
  • 100g Protein (92g min, 153g max)
  • 100g Fat (30g min, 250g max)

Graphs:

Weight has dropped significantly in the last week or so

This is my Fat vs Lean Graph, which is the concerning thing.

Body Fat % Graph

MFP Net Calories - Last 7 days

Posted Sep 28, 2015, 1:37 PM UTC

913
Panda0rgy20/F/5'1" [SW - 160] [CW - 105.6] [GW - 105]•

Scales like that are inaccurate because people eating keto have less water in their bodies. Those scales are calibrated with a certain water percentage in mind.

5
BilliardKingOP26/M/5'6" | Heaviest W 302 | Keto SW 300 | CW 288.5 | GW 150•

Thank you for the reassurance.

2
hualosmanM/26 5'10" | 04/17/15 SW:268 | CW:215 | GW:193•

Bioelectrical impedance scales are notoriously inaccurate for people on keto diets. The scale passes an electrical current through your body and then determines your body fat by calculating the resistance against an average individual's body composition. Ketogenic diets cause you to have a below average amount of water in your body, throwing off that calculation.

5
BilliardKingOP26/M/5'6" | Heaviest W 302 | Keto SW 300 | CW 288.5 | GW 150•

Thank you for the reassurance and the science!

2
Flatline42M/34/6'1" | SD 8/16/15 ¦ SW 338 ¦ CW 296 ¦ GW 275•

Drink a quart of water and wait 10 minutes and try again. I bet your numbers will be different. I can swing my scale's BF% by like 15% by drinking water. In the morning after I take a leak it's like 43% BF and in the evening when I've drank a ton of water with dinner/after dinner it's like... 28%.

I really don't pay any attention to it.

And yes, if you're just starting keto you're passing massive amounts of water and dropping a lot of weight. Your numbers are going to be funky.

Edit: Fatbombs are not a big deal. Throw some cream into your eggs. Cook with an extra tablespoon of coconut oil. Make a milkshake using cream, ice, protein powder, and flavoring (half a cup of cream is something like 400 calories.)

It's easier than hell to bulk up on calories and fat.

3
Ddm1963•

There not very accurate so many variables. If really interested go get a DEXA scan

2
DownhillYardSaleSD: 9/1/13 | 33/M/5'7" | CW:167.4 | GW 150•

Scale inaccurate. Get a digital scale without BF measurements.

KC;KO

2
geldedusM/42: 180cm(5'11) SW: 82kg(180#) CW: 69kg(152#) GW: 65kg(143#)•

In the long run, if used under the same conditions, the impedance scales are consistent and give a certain measure of progress. I won't dismiss them so harshly.

2
DownhillYardSaleSD: 9/1/13 | 33/M/5'7" | CW:167.4 | GW 150•

Your IF precludes relying on them.

Therefore:

Scale inaccurate. Get a digital scale without BF measurements.

-1
geldedusM/42: 180cm(5'11) SW: 82kg(180#) CW: 69kg(152#) GW: 65kg(143#)•

I use a FitBit Aria scale. I step on the scale always in the same conditions, namely 15 minutes after waking-up and walking around in the house for morning activities, and after going to the bathroom.

This way the measurements are the most consistent from day to day.

Otherwise, I mainly consider the Saturday morning weigh-in and body measurements, and compare with the last Saturday, to assess progress. The weekdays and Sundays weigh-ins are mostly "for fun". And to have a weekly mean value (which is more noise-free).

1
Jackawolf•

I have an Aria scale and the body fat goes up and down, but overall trends downward. Yet, I would be the first to say it's probably not accurate. This is my second scale due to inaccuracies. Also I've gone through 5 fitbits. Sometimes I get the celebratory vibration for reaching 10,000 steps - while I am sitting on the sofa watching tv!

1
wendymoiraangela•

try buying calipers. they're like 12$ on amazon. Much more accurate.

1
fat_logic_detectorM|091915|197|190|175•

fitbits are a marketing gimmick. Dump that useless thing. Unless you're doing a full body hydro dip for BF%, there's no way to really tell.

You can get fairly close with visual estimates and taping/calipers but even those are so-so prone to massive error.

-1
Major_Fudgemuffin24/M/5'10" | SW:286 | CW:220 | Next GW:209•

The scale might be. The pedometers are pretty snazzy though.

If nothing else they encourage me to go walk more. And when in challenges with coworkers, it taunts you and makes sure you know when you're falling behind.

9