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Can You Trust a Body Fat Calculator? |
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Written by Dave Jackson
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Thursday, 26 June 2008 |
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I think I got my first bathroom scale body fat calculator off eBay. But since then, I've seen these things in drug stores, home improvement stores, even supermarkets! And at our local market I saw one that put my old unit to shame. I love gadgets, but they are dated as soon as you take them out of the box.
by DaveJackson
I think I got my first bathroom scale body fat calculator off eBay. But since then, I've seen these things in drug stores, home improvement stores, even supermarkets! And at our local market I saw one that put my old unit to shame. I love gadgets, but they are dated as soon as you take them out of the box.
Still, I wondered if the technology had improved to the point that would make this gem any more accurate than my scale. If you own one of these, you've probably seen the body fat calculator change from day to day. And there's a reason for that. We just don't want to take the time to read that book that comes with the unit.
If you're like me, you want to kick the thing with your toe - hear that familiar beep and then jump on and wait for the four beeps. Naturally, we don't want to look down. That's the painful part. Yet there are a few factors I've learned that cause the thing to be all over the map.
I know I needed to get rid of fat, and through my studies I have found that is the best way to lose weight and regain health. We all need some fat - but that magic number is lower than what I was carrying around. I needed to concentrate on losing and tracking my daily results.
Studying the bathroom scale version of the body fat calculator, I found their results many times showed a tad high. If you compared it to the tape measure method, or the caliper method, it was obvious that normally it was higher. The reason was mainly the time of day the measurement was taken.
These units use a small amount of current, dispensed by the metallic foot pads, and measure the amount of resistance. Since by nature lean tissue is a better transmitter of electricity than fat, the device can measure the amount of current flowing through and make a pretty good estimate of the percentage of body fat. So why does it ever differ - sometimes greatly?
In that instruction manual that you're supposed to read that comes with the scale, they list certain things that may affect your readings. I found that time of day, the temperature of the body, what I drank and when, if I just worked out - changed the current readings on the body fat calculator enough to show me varied readings each time. Naturally, I wanted something I could track on a scale.
Accurate? Yes, they are fairly good when following the instructions. It is important, when losing weight - body fat - that you track your progress, especially the percentage of body fat. Losing that excess will make you feel better, think more clearly, and yes - you'll even live longer. So use a good body fat calculator each day, and With all that going for you, I'd start tomorrow morning!
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