Body Fat % Scales

Vronnie wrote:

Submergency the Withings Scales sound great ...must look into getting some or at least find some place where I can just get on & have a look.

Minx the thing about the scales is that we can keep an idea on where we're losing our weight from. We want to lose fat of course not muscle. We need to build as much lean body mass as possible (I'm over 50 so I worry about having a healthy old age) & since muscle weighs a lot heavier than fat it's a little hard to assess without some measurement of body fat percentage.

I exercise quite a lot & have come to enjoy it too (whoever would have thought?) and I think that I carry quite a bit of lean muscle mass & thus weigh quite heavy compared to how compact & trim I look. I find it all very interesting!

Anything you want to know, Vronnie, just ask.

Minx fantastic weight loss in such an incredibly short period of time! Well Done!

Submergency the Withings Scales sound great ...must look into getting some or at least find some place where I can just get on & have a look.

Minx the thing about the scales is that we can keep an idea on where we're losing our weight from. We want to lose fat of course not muscle. We need to build as much lean body mass as possible (I'm over 50 so I worry about having a healthy old age) & since muscle weighs a lot heavier than fat it's a little hard to assess without some measurement of body fat percentage.

I exercise quite a lot & have come to enjoy it too (whoever would have thought?) and I think that I carry quite a bit of lean muscle mass & thus weigh quite heavy compared to how compact & trim I look. I find it all very interesting!

Yeah I got the Withings scales back in January. They work really well, and can cater to multiple people using them and keep the data separate.

Hi Vronnie, I never looked into the BMI factor as the numbers that I was at, I didn't want to know, and what I should have been seemed so unrealistic and never achievable... I think I was around a BMI of 55 when I went for my fist surgeon appointment..

I only read today that it is best to weigh yourself in the afternoon for the hydration factor for the fat, cos I always do my weighing first thing in morning before I eat anything... I have downloaded an app to keep a diary of my eating as I don't seem to be able to get my protein in, and I have noticed that my lean weight has decreased by around 7 kilos and the fat weight has stayed the same (that is since I got the scales from the beginning of March), although if I do exercise the next couple of days after, the lean spikes up and the fat inversely spikes down by around a coupe of kilos, but I am not a big exerciser (never seems to find the time with working full time, and hubby and kids etc) so it levels out after a couple of days back to the numbers given anove. (since getting my sleeve I have lost around 26 kilos).

Hope this answers your question... Sorry I couldn't be more clearer

Regards

Minx

Hi Minx

They sound really cool. It must be interesting to see your body fat percentage go down as you shed the kilos. Do you exercise to build up your lean muscle mass? How does the body fat percentage thing compare with BMI as a real reflection of where you're body is at?

Once i made my mind up to get skeeved, I was getting a bit obsessed about weighing myself, and I preferred a graphical representation to show the trend rather than stressing about the numbers each day, as the littlest bit made a difference, so I needed to know the .1 and .2 etc.. The easiest way I was managing this was to get on the wii fit every morning which meant that I had it all in black and white and therefore couldn't forget all the numbers. I used to then enter the numbers on my iPhone in an app so that I could look at it quick rather than have to turn on everything and wait for it to load up.

Hubby saw me doing this everyday and ordered me a set of scales that connects remotely to the Internet and then sends the information to an app for the scales on my iPhone... You can still use the scales as normal, but it does have both the fat and lean weights available that can be set as a weight or a percentage. It keeps very accurate records (no cheating ability!!) and very easy on the eyes for the graphical factor... Only problem is, it is too easy to get on after everything I eat or every trip to the loo (sorry for TMI!!). The scales are called Withings and look very cool in black glass, and sit very neatly and unobtrusively on the floor.. Don't know how much they cost, as hubby wouldn't tell me, but I think about $120.. It has the ability to have five different users that it sends the information separately for, or can be used as normal scales.

We love our gadgets!! (or rather hubby does and I am happy to let him)

Regards Minx

Thanks lin1970 (is that when you were born?)

I think that for those of us who are losing or who have already lost their weight a body fat percentage measurement might be just the thing they need to know rather than stressing about their BMI.

there are alot of scales out there - usually on the expensive side. ones ive seen do fat %, water %, etc. check online.

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/Weight-Management-/31817/i.html?_nkw=weight+body+scales&_catref=1&_fln=1&_sop=12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282#item270961585171

found this ebay link

Interesting that people aren't very interested in the body fat percentage thing when there seemed to be so much concern around BMIs. I'm certainly much more interested to find out what my body fat percentage is if I can just track down a set of those fancy scales!

A pity that this thread hasn't been updated for a while. There seems to have been an almost obsessive focus on BMI on the forum and a discussion about body fat percentage rather than BMI might be a more realistic and more optimistic focus for people. Is it possible to bump this thread up into general chat?

Hi Lynette,
Just popped to the bathroom to get the scales and mine are Salter and I just realised that I have it set for male and not female.
Will have to find the book to change it because that will make a difference to the fat percentage I guess.
Think that the book is at work so will do it tomorrow night.
Bottom line is all the numbers are getting smaller and you have to be happy with that LOL

Cheers Gail

I want to get one of those body fat scales, much more accurate reflection of healthy weight than BMI. For example according to BMI scales I would have to weigh between 52 and 69kg's to have a healthy BMI. However based on my current body composition ( as measured by an obesity cliinic) to have a healthy 30% body fat % my ideal weight is 79kg's. Thats 20-27 kilos difference....huge!!!!
I heard the Tanita brand were very good. Maybe I'll splash out.

Hi Jilly

I just double checked Westpac and the ones I got arn't there (I think they were about the same points ie 19,100 or so), but there is another set, almost identical for 19,100 or so points.

Gail that is interesting because you actually weigh a bit less than me but your %body fat is slightly higher, so there is something to be said about the BMI not being as accurate and that we are all built so differently as these scales take into consideration age, height etc as well. My % body fat was 42% this morning which is still pretty high but slowly reducing, can't wait to get it under 40% then downward to that magic 35%. Mine would have been well and truely over 60% when I started this journey. It is fantastic that you have got your body fat % levels reduced so much already, well done.

Hi Lynette,
I bought those scales at Harris Scarfes on sale for I think $30 would have to check back through my diary.
The body fat thing is just sooooo scary though, yep I know that I also have to think about that but when I started it was 60 and really freaked me out. I was ready to cover it with a bandaid LOL
Still real happy that now it is already down to just under 50 so getting happier all the time about not covering it up.

Cheers Gail

Thanks for that Lynette - will look into getting a set as I have the Westpac altitude points.

Buggar - that means 3 sets of scales in the bathroom!!! (lol) Although I'm ready to throw the others away!!!
hugs
Jilly

I did read that, but like you I prefer to weigh in the morning after a pee. I think they recommend evening because you are more hydrated by then and hydration is how the % fat is measured against and first thing in the morning you a more likely dehydrated after sleeping without drinking water etc. I also take a diuretic (as I retain fluid usually) which may alter the reading as well. But that said, provided I weigh at the same time and under the same conditions at least I can do a comparible and it will be interesting to at some stage go off the diuretic and see what difference it makes. I ran out of diuretics last week for about 3 days and gained 2kgs, but now back on them and back down again.

I have had the Tanita ones for years. So mine are older and the new ones would be better but still do the body fat thing as well. They are only accurate to 200 grams tho but have never let me down. Did you know the best time to do the body fat % is in the evening. The reading is lower and supposed to be more accurate. But then I like to weigh myself in the morning as the weight is lower straight after having a pee and being naked. So I don't worry about the fat % so much. Too scary anyway.

Hi all
Just thought I would mention that I got myself some new electronic scales which also measure Body Fat % and Body water % through a BIA process (same process they use at Curves, but is built into the scales for weight, does the measures all at once). They are really good in terms of providing a more accurate measure of whether you are overweight etc. Body Fat % is a better measure and is more accurate than a BMI assessment in terms of health weight range as muscle mass is taken into consideration whereas BMI does not. Women should have somewhere between 25 - 35% body fat to be in the healthy range, over 35% is overweight and over 40% is obese. For men the healthly % of body fat is less. Women need a higher % body fat due to menstruation etc, if your % body fat is too low you won't get your period.
If you happen to have a Westpac Altitude credit card with points, they currently have a special going with points redemption whereby you can get a set for very little points (from memory around 12,000). So I got mine for no cost, bonus. The brand is Tanita.