First of all, I'd say you shouldn't really care all that much about body fat percentage. If you feel good, look good and are performing well, then some number on a glorified scale ought not really carry much weight (pun very much intended . . . sorry, couldn't resist it).

That said, if you are really concerned with your body fat % you might want to have it measured more scientifically. I had one of those scales (a Tanita, I believe) but found that it was inconsistent (and, ultimately, inaccurate) with its readings. Often for people with low fat %, they can't produce accurate readings. And also for people that are under-hydrated they have problems. So consider that. Point being, if it really is a concern for you, use some skin fold calipers and take the series of measurements. Or, if you really want to go nuts, have a hydrostatic weighing. These exercises may produce different results than the BIA scale.

Setting the accuracy and testing procedures aside . . . as for ways to lower the percentage, you should do some fasted workouts in the morning. I've always found that's the quickest way to drop fat. Don't eat for a couple hours before bed. Then before you eat anything in the morning crank out a workout keeping your HR in your fat burning zone. It's important to stay in that zone, though. Then, after the workout, don't follow it with a high-protein shake. As long as you stayed within the appropriate heart rate parameters, you need not worry about muscular breakdown.

Of course, all of the above is based on my personal experience. It comes with the caveat that everybody's body is different and responds differently to various techniques. Good luck.

@ 5'-5, 123#, you don't need to lose weight
consistent training and good nutrition will rearrange your body mass

if you must use the scale, ignore the scale number, focus on its CHANGE over time

There is a possibility that your body fat reader is not accurate. How does it work? Is it just a scale or does it use Bio-electrical Impedance? I have one of the more top of the line body fat readers that also has a use hand held tools. I found it to have a 2% difference from a DEXA scan, my reader being the higher of the two. If your scale is just using your weight and a mathematical equation, then it is probably way off, considering that you are athletic and have a lot more lean body mass than the average women. Also, some bio-electrical impedance scales also generate a body fat reading using stats and a mathematical equation, which also makes them wildly inaccurate for athletes (usually there is a disclaimer in the instructions). Also the caliper method is only accurate if your body fat is distributed evenly, and for most women it is not! So I wouldn't trust the caliper method for an actual body fat reading, tracking progress is ok, but not for an exact number.

If you are really concerned about body fat and what to know what it is, spend the money and get a DEXA scan done. You only really need to get it done once, and then from there you can just use your body fat ready to track changes. For example I know that mine is 2% above the DEXA scan, so I make that adjustment.

Losing body fat is generally difficult, if I am trying to lose body fat, I have to make a conscious effort to always stay just a bit hungry, which is difficult. I work out between 10-22hrs a week depending on the season, and I can easily eat just as many calories as I burn without too much trouble. You can't really eat whatever you want if you are trying to lose body fat, that is a myth. IMHO. For example my BMR is 1250 calories a day, it is not that difficult to eat that many calories before dinner in the north american diet. I tried the paleo diet but I found it was too high in fat, and I wasn't really losing any weight on it. Although I did like that it was high in protein. I am not sure how much fat you want to lose, but I know for me that it took me almost two years to lose 17lbs. I found that it is almost impossible for me to "diet" and train for triathlons. What worked for me was just an increase in metabolism combined with trying not to "overeat too much."

The first step is to probably find out how much fat you have on you. I don't know how much women exactly need, probably somewhere between 15-20lbs. I hope that helps.

[quote=tri-ac]@ 5'-5, 123#, you don't need to lose weight
consistent training and good nutrition will rearrange your body mass

if you must use the scale, ignore the scale number, focus on its CHANGE over time
[/quote]

This reminds me of another recent thread on this topic, and it came down to two general points of view:
- forget the number, focus on the change (tri-ac and me)
- spend $$$ and really know your number.

Yeah, those scales use bioelectrical impedance which CAN be consistent (if you are very consistent with every other variable like hydration, time of day etc, recent exercise etc) but should NEVER be taken as accurate. I think the above comments are sound. Ignore the number. You are fine. Train because you love it, not because of the numbers on a scale.

Look up a Wiley practitioner in your area.

Meet with them, have them test your hormones and consult with you.

Take their advice on hormones, and while you're doing that, massively step back on your volume.

By the way, this should help you out too:

http://getfitguy.quickanddirtytips.com/top-10-reasons-you%E2%80%99re-not...

Ben

Ben, can you try the link again, I couldn't get it to work.

try this: http://goo.gl/lNvWx

Always good and relevant articles. thanks Ben.
I did have to laugh that the interstitial ad that came up when accessing the article was a promo for the 100th anniversary of the Oreo cookie!