I can't get it measured because my gym is just equipment and protein shakes. They don't have other services. Well, a trainer, but that's really expensive.

I think I'm "skinny fat". I wear a size 3/4, I'm 5'5"ish and 116ish pounds. I can't do more than 3 push-ups. Can't do a chin-up, pull-up, or dip (I can do the kind with your feet on the ground, but not the suspended kind). I'm squishier than two obese friends of mine. My stomach is pretty big and pretty flabby. My thighs are average, a little squishy, but not big. I have no butt, muscle or fat. Never did. I can see my collar bones and spine easily, I'm bony around there.

I do weights 3x a week, and cardio 6-7x a week (25 min Elliptical 3x, 30+ min run 3-4x, no my runs are not going, the elliptical can be changed though, just no treadmill's for my gym cardio because I run enough). I do workout videos on occasion (always "sculpt" or "tone" ones, not cardio, because I can't keep up with them...except cardio yoga).

I don't know...I should love my body. But in a bathing suit, I don't. I mean, I look good in skinny jeans and a cute top. But a bathing suit? Nope. And I live near the beach, so it's kind of mandatory.

I want to feel good, and not like people are looking at my squishyness. What should I do?

I'm sure it's not 100% accurate, but I'm sure it'll give you a general idea of your body fat percentage. Make sure you have some tailor measuring tape ready!

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/

This site has all sorts of calculators.

Mikaela, don't be so hard on yourself. You're in your teenage years and almost every girl at that age (or any age) feels self conscious about her body - even if she looks good. This seems to be more of an issue of self confidence than work out routine issue.

However, if you really are "skinny fat"... What does your weight routine look like? Are you doing something intense or just half effort? What about the cardio? Intense intervals or long distance type stuff? What about your diet? Are you eating clean? These are the things you need to focus on if you want to look and feel good.

Well, you already said it, but online calculators for this sort of thing are ridiculously inaccurate. They make quite a few assumptions that just aren't safe to make. Do yourself a favor and order some calipers or a scale or a handheld monitor that measures it, you can get a scale for $50 or a set of calipers for $10... the Omron hand-held monitor I got from amazon was like $15. Those will allow you to monitor your progress and see the trends.

I try to push myself. Doesn't always happen, but for the most part, I try. I have an appointment with a trainer at my gym next week, to get my weight routine set to something that will help me, not my father's training routine that I stole and adapted.

I just started doing intervals for my gym cardio today. My runs are always long distance, because I adore it. Most of the time.

I've been slipping with my diet recently, and I know it. I seriously need to get back on track.

you can buy a scale for like 30 bucks that measures body fat %, maybe not 100% accurate, but it will give you an idea of progress regardless.

I don't really care about numbers, long as I can -feel- a difference.

It sounds like you need to do some weights to get some muscular shape to you. Eat a clean diet with the weights and I'm sure you'll look fantastic in a few weeks.

As far as body fat calculators, the most accurate one I've found has been the one here:
http://www.drsears.com/ZoneResources/BodyFatCalcul ator/tabid/414/Default.aspx

The "abdomen" is around your belly button, level all the way around. Make the tape measure snug enough that you can't spin the tape around your body, but not so snug that it starts to compress skin.

That one was low for me, as most of those online calculators are.

The trick for me was getting the abdomen measurement right, which is why described the proper snugness on the tape measure. BF calculators using abdomen measurements are more accurate IMHO than ones using the natural waist because of the wide variation in women. Some women naturally have a large waist while others have small ones, so there can be a big variation in the body fat calculations when using the waist. This one uses the abdomen, and it's always within 1% for me when compared to the gym measurements with calipers. But every body shape is different, so I'm not surprised if it's a little off for some people.

I found a program like the couch to 5k, only for push-ups. I think this will help me tremedously, as I hate push-ups, and can only do 1-2. I did the day 1 workout and I just did 10, with good form! I screamed with joy, haha. I've never done that many in my life!

Using that calculator, my BF % is 20.27%? I don't think that's entirely right...I have no butt or hips, though, so that might throw it off.

I have a trainer appointment tomorrow at the gym. They have a summer discount right now, haha.

I changed my gym cardio to HIIT. I did it on the treadmill both days because the Ellipticals were all taken. Once I get a heart rate monitor I'll probably switch to that.

Would it be too much to still do weights at my gym 3-4 days during XC?

Not if you're eating right to support your workout. Of course if you're so sore the next day that you can barely move, you should take it as a clue that you should rest a bit.

Yeah, if you have unusually small proportions, the online calculators may be off because they are standardized off of normal proportions. It's also possible that you carry the majority of your fat in one place too though. Are your arms and legs pretty lean looking?

Eating isn't a problem for me. None of my unathletic friends understand why I'm not 200 lbs with how much I eat...some people I just can't process that a large grilled chicken breast with a touch of mustard and a glass of water has a lot less calories than a big mac with a shake and fries.

Yup. My arms never had fat on them, and what I had on my inner thighs I lost a while ago. It's mostly my lower stomach, with a little on my upper stomach and my sides. I'm going to estimate about 23% would be more accurate, but I have no way of actually knowing.