Calculate fat percentage for women
The mirror method
The easiest way to know if you have too much or too little body fat is to just stand in front of the mirror and judge for yourself what you see. Based on the shape of your body, you already have a good indicator of your body fat percentage.
Calculate fat percentage
It is of course better to calculate your fat percentage and there are many ways to do this. Some more reliable than others. If you want the most precise way, you will have to have an investigation carried out in a specialized lab. This is what top athletes do, but it doesn’t have to be.
The method we use is easy to perform yourself and has a fairly high accuracy (tolerance of 1 to 3%). All you need is a tape measure and a bathroom scale. The measurements are different for men and women. The steps below are specific to women.
- Stand on the bathroom scale for three days in a row (in the morning) and calculate the average. Write down your weight in kg.
- Measure your hip circumference where they are widest and write down the result in cm.
- Measure your waist circumference and write down the result in cm.
- Measure your height barefoot and write down the result in cm.
- Now you need to refer to the table below and find 3 numbers (constants).
- For the measured hip circumference you look for the corresponding constant A.
- With the measured waist circumference you look for the corresponding constant B.
- For your height you look for the corresponding constant C.
To calculate your body fat percentage you need the three constants you found in the table above. Use the following formula:
- Fat percentage (%) = constant A + constant B – constant C
Your body fat percentage is a first indicator of your general fitness and has an influence on your health.
In the table below you can find out whether your fat percentage is too high, too low or good according to your age.
Example of Carine
- Carine weighs her three days in a row and calculates the average. She weighs 64.4 kg.
- Her hip circumference is 99 cm. In the table this corresponds to a constant A of 46.05.
- Her waist circumference at the height of the navel is 83.8 cm, which corresponds to a constant B of 23.46.
- Her height is 160 cm and that gives a constant C of 38.40.
- With the formula (A + B – C) Carine can calculate her fat percentage.
- Fat percentage Carine = 46.05 + 23.46 – 38.40 = 31.11%.
- In the table above, Carine can see that this is too high for her age. She is 52 years old.
- Time to take action !
How much can you eat?
Now that you know your body fat percentage, we can move on to calculating how much you can/should eat per day and per meal.
How much can I eat?