Fat Percentange Mass reading weight scales,,,,,,,,Do they really work?
I recently bought a new scale that reads your body fat mass, your water percentage, your bone density and your muscle fat percentage and how much calories you should eat. Plus your weight. (Lbs or in Kgs)
You program by entering your age, your gender, your height and that is it. It allows I think 8 to 12 different types of accounts you can put. But the instruction book that came with it doesn't say what it means. So I am thinking of returning it back.
I personally do not agree with it because the scale reads that I am very obese (A high BMI, but my muscle mass it says I am 26% body fat). Then I try weighing again and it reads completely something different. I don't think its accurate.
Do anyone believe those scales are accurate and if is so what is a good one to buy that anyone recommends. Do you think they really work? If so what is your experience with them or do you recommend a specific good one. Also those that you HAND held. Do those work as good? Or do the old fashion way with calipers, measuring tape and if you can afford it do the water tank to find the correct muscle fat percentage?
Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option!
As for the precentages I think they are as good as any other method we will do at home. Kind of a guideline not absolute. For instance you will see people post about adding 2 lbs of lean mass overnight etc. Not really happening that way. It might be that the scale can no measure it, but it takes days to add new mass,. I use it as a guide over the long term.
HW 440, SW 386, CW 229.8
Mine tells the BF percentage as well, but after I got it, I read a lot of things that said there are many, many variable that affect the reading, everything from how hydrated you are to how sweaty your feet are. Take it with a grain of salt. The only true test of body fat is the "gold standard" water tank test.
I consider it about a reliable as BMI at determining actual health.
Banded 10 years & maintaining my weight loss!! Any questions, message me.
Hahah. Don't get me started on the BMI scale. I cannot believe the guy who invented that scale and we still follow it. I totally do not believe in that chart. It is SOMEWHAT accurate to a point I agree as a guideline but definitely not a real reliable chart to follow. For example Small bone, medium bone and large bone makes a difference. Plus I know many athletes that will be completely off that scale.
I was watching the news the other day and I saw that the average height of a male years ago in some country was 5 inches higher than years ago, something like that due to how diet and advances in medical technology has advanced. Just like people are living to OLDER ages than dying as younger than their answers and more woman are having kids at later ages in life (not recommended but its happening).
My next question is going to be about the BMR (that is when you burn calories by doing NOTHING at all, even sleeping. I recently found out my HMO does the test in 30 minutes for 35 dollars and it will tell you what you burn when you sleep. But I asked him (the guy that conducts the test) a good question that he couldn't answer but is going to look into it. Because you know it goes by how you breathe, your age, how active you are and all that good stuff. But my question was what if you take medication to help you sleep at night and pain medication as well at night time (and a few during day) strong ones when needed, that definitely will lower your heart rate (causing you to breath less and not pump as much blood and don't burn much more calories). Will that make a difference for someone sleeping at night. He thought about it and said yeah definitely it will change. Let me look into that if we do decide to do the test.
But that is another question to ask. :)
The scale I am returning it back. Its saying my body fat (bmi) i super obese at and I weight 168 lbs an 5'4'' (yes still fat but not what I use to be and still need plastic surgery) and the body fat muscle mass reads 26%. I bought the Hercules weight scale from Big Five because it was on sale for 20 dollars last week. I stepped on it 2-3 times and it changes the weight 2-3 lbs but the other numbers stay pretty much the same. Then I go to my Conair or weigh****chers scale (not sure) Bought at Costco and weights great and it weights me the same 2-3 times the same weight in a row. Plus I like it......it actually weights me more than the doctors scale. But only by a few lbs (I guess the clothes). Plus I trust the doctor scales. The digital ones of course. Plus if you where to go to big five and just OPEN the box to look at the scale (its the only scale they sell that does fat mass)......the instruction manual doesn't tell you what the other stuff means. It gives you a chart for two things. Plus they don't match up on me.
Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option!
I have an Escali scale that has been reasonably accurate (under 2%) when I have compared it to the two times I had my body fat % measured by the hospital, BUT it does vary quite a bit from week to week even when my weight is stable from week to week, so clearly it IS affected/fooled by hydration level or something. (it also measures hydration, but I am not sure how accurately.) Obviously, if I didn't gain any weight, my body fat % didn't change from 24 to 26%.
If you only want a rough idea, that is one thing, but if you want it to tell you exactly when you get down to a certain level, I wouldn't rely on it for that.
Lora
Edited to add: the calipers and measuring tape are useless. The hand held impedance devices seem to be reasonably accurate, but nothing will be as accurate as the water submersion. It sounds like your scale is completely wacked out as far as body fat % goes!
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
Batwingsman · 5 replies · 1659 views