There are several ways to calculate your body fat. Each method can produce different results so sticking with one and consistency is the key.
Online Body Fat Calculators
Most online body fat calculators will utilize a formula developed by the U.S. Navy to estimate your body fat percentage without calipers. By entering your height, neck, waist and hip measurements, the formula calculates your body fat within 1 to 3 percent margin of error.
Skin Folds Pinch Test
Calipers are utilized to measure folds of skin around particular areas of your body. It can be fairly accurate if a personal trainer performs the test. There are a lot of different formulas used to figure body fat using this method and is often calculated differently by each individual. So to maintain accuracy, have the same person conduct your skin folds pinch test. Ultimately, this method is not a precise measurement of your body fat percent, but can be used a point of reference for monitoring your progression.
Water immersion test
This is far and away the most precise way to measure your body fat percent. Using this method, you exhale the air from your lungs as you get submerged into a pool of water. This method has an error margin of 1 body fat percentage point and must be conducted by a trained technician and is relatively expensive.