DEXA Scan Results

[Guest]

I just had a DEXA scan and it confirmed my suspicions. I'm thin on the outside and still soft in the middle. What I mean by that is that even though my BMI is 22, my fat is 37%. Ugg! Plus I'm still an apple. My waist to hip ratio is 1.12 (goal less than 0.8). The good news is that my bones look good. Yay for me. They did say my recorded fat % may be a bit high since I have some loose skin on my tummy which is just skin and fat. I guess I have some more work to do. I need to increase my lean muscle while loosing some more fat. I hope it will be easier to do once spring/summer comes since I enjoy the outside way more than the inside of a gym. Has anyone had similar results and what did you do to improve them?

[catwoman7 11,272]

I was opposite. I had one done when I got down to 146 lbs (I'm 5'6") so I could see how much further I had to go. She said "ah...you're done". My fat % was 22%, which is on the lean side for women. (I did eventually get down to 138, which I knew was too thin for me - I'm pretty muscular and have a large frame, and I didn't look very healthy at that low a weight). But anyway, those DEXAscans give you info you'd never know otherwise - I found it very helpful (it also reported that my bone density was below average, so I went to my doctor, as the scan technician recommended - turned out I had (and have) osteoporosis. Never would have known it that early if it hadn't been for that scan!

[FCB 3]

The same here, I did Inbody test last week and found out that I still need to lose around 12-15 Ib of fat and gain 6-8 Ib of muscle to be in optimal range. So, these are my goals or year 2 of WLS: Gain 10 Lb muscle and Lose 15 Ib fat.

[lizonaplane 1,613]

How often should you have a DEXA scan and at what point(s)? Does insurance cover them? Are they hard to find? I live in a large metropolitan area with lots of academic medical centers.

[catwoman7 11,272]

I only had one - about four years ago. All i wanted to know was how much more weight i could realistically lose, and the answer was... none. So at that point i had a good idea of a realistic range for me.

Insurance doesn't cover them. They do for the kind you get at doctors offices when they check for osteoporosis, but that's all those give you... your bone density. To find out your body composition ( eg, percentage of fat), you have to go to a sports lab (some universities have then) or one of those commercial places like DEXAFit. I think the scans run around $100-150. They may be cheaper at a university, but I'm not sure

To find a commercial one, just Google DEXAscan for your city. For universities, you'll probably have to go the university's web site to see if they offer that

Edited June 1, 2021 by catwoman7

[lizonaplane 1,613]

1 minute ago, catwoman7 said:

I only had one - about four years ago. All i wanted to know was how much more weight i could realistically lose, and the answer was... none. So at that point i had a good idea of a realistic range for me.

Insurance doesn't cover them. They do for the kind you get at doctors offices when they check for osteoporosis, but that's all those give you... your bone density. To find out your body composition ( eg, percentage of fat), you have to go to a sports lab (some universities have then) or one of those commercial places like DEXAFit. I think the scans run around $100-150. They may be cheaper at a university, but I'm not sure

Thanks. I think I would like to keep track of my body composition as I'm moving through this journey and $100-$150 doesn't seem unreasonable to do in six month intervals for the first 18 months or so as my body changes. At least get one at six months out for starters to see how much muscle I've lost and what my body fat % is to see what I need to work on.

[HealthyLifeStyle 351]

I never heard of this. I want/need to get this done asap. Thanks for the info.

[catwoman7 11,272]

Just now, HealthyLifeStyle said:

I never heard of this. I want/need to get this done asap. Thanks for the info.

it's supposedly one of the more accurate ways of measuring body fat

[HealthyLifeStyle 351]

2 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

it's supposedly one of the more accurate ways of measuring body fat

Wonder why insurance won't pay for this as part of the WL program? It should be available for everyone at some point after their surgery. I am very curious about getting this done.

[ShoppGirl 5,072]

I just had to find out if I can get this near me and I can. I am so excited. I had never heard of this. I want to lose about 30-35 more pounds and then get it to see where I am at.

[lizonaplane 1,613]

I actually just signed up for one at the end of the month (before surgery) to get a baseline. It was $99, although I'll probably have to pay like $25 for parking since it's downtown!

[ShoppGirl 5,072]

2 hours ago, lizonaplane said:

I actually just signed up for one at the end of the month (before surgery) to get a baseline. It was $99, although I'll probably have to pay like $25 for parking since it's downtown!

Near me it is $150. I think I am going to wait till I reach my current goal and see if I have room to lose more and how much muscle I lose.

[lizonaplane 1,613]

20 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

Near me it is $150. I think I am going to wait till I reach my current goal and see if I have room to lose more and how much muscle I lose.

It was a grand opening special. I wanted to see how much muscle I lose, and how much fat, so I want to see my starting point. Honestly, I would have done it at $150 too.

[ShoppGirl 5,072]

3 minutes ago, lizonaplane said:

It was a grand opening special. I wanted to see how much muscle I lose, and how much fat, so I want to see my starting point. Honestly, I would have done it at $150 too.

Yea I might have done it pre surgery too just to be able to compare but I never realized it was something available to the general public.

[lizonaplane 1,613]

On 6/1/2021 at 8:00 PM, ShoppGirl said:

I just had to find out if I can get this near me and I can. I am so excited. I had never heard of this. I want to lose about 30-35 more pounds and then get it to see where I am at.

@ShoppGirl Did you end up getting one? I did one in June, 3 months before surgery and I'm signed up to get another one next week. Hoping for improvement!