Body Fat % scales

[katluvr]

I just purchased the Tanita Ironman (BD 554) Body Fat scale. I did it since in Bicycling Magazine they said it was good for "trending" body fat. So the scale is pretty accurate on weight. But I am worried about the body fat accuracy. Last time I was measured with calipers was at least 6 months ago. IN fact every time I have had my body fat measure either with calipers or another handheld "impedance" type method my body fat was about 30 - 31%.
So, not much has changed in 6 months--I have not really lost weight. My strength training remains 1 to 2 times per week. I have lessened and now stopped running and picked up my cycling quite a bit. My body "looks" the same. SO the point is the scale regularly reads me at about 25% body fat (I WISH!!) but my partner (scale person #2) and gets a reading closer to what she had measured in the past. It maybe reading a bit high, but it is closer than mine. So what would make mine so different? I would LOVE to think I was only 25% body fat, but I find it hard to believe since I really haven't changed that drastically.
The other thing the scale "recommends" is NOT to weigh in the AM...but at least 3 hours after rising...why? I have always done first in the AM weights?
It also recommends 3 hours after eating or exercising...so when would I weigh? I eat small freq meals and go to bed early. I guess I could weigh after work and before my work out since I only eat a small snack before I leave work.
Anyone using a body fat monitor?
Thanks!

[mimitabby]

the way those scales work is a path of electric least resistance between your left foot and your right foot.
In my husband's case, it measured him as having almost no body fat. When he bought the scale, he was 15 pounds overweight and you could SEE that it was fat. However, his legs (the path of the measurement charge) were not fatty and were quite muscular. So the reading was totally off for him.

My muscle/fat ratio was pretty much the same everywhere because I hadn't developed my legs at all when we got the scale, so my percentage (I forget what it was now, maybe the same as yours?) seemed a lot more realistic.

You should use that thing for "trend" as you put it, it's not really accurate for % body fat.

[katluvr]

Well I do have BIG quads and good muscles...but lots 'o fat on my legs. That (40+ saggy skin/fat stuff!)
Hmmmmm but I'll take that into consideration.
Maybe I'll get my trainer at teh gym to do the caliper thing again and see so I can really know how off I am.

[GLC1968]

A trainer friend of mine did a study (totally unscientific, just for her own personal info) about 10 years ago when those scales first started becoming more mainstream. She compared the scales, the hand held machine (Omron, I think?) (similar to the method a scale uses) and calipers. All in all, the best scale performance came when she did the following:

1) get up 3 hours before your normal rise time (set an alarm) drink a 12-16 oz glass of water and go back to sleep.
2) get up at normal time, pee, and weigh.
3) make sure this is not the week of your period, that you didn't eat a huge salty or fatty meal the night before, and that you aren't super sore from a workout.

I've also heard that plane flights within 24 hours can also screw with the numbers. Basically, your body water content is what most drastically affects the numbers. This is why they advise against an early morning weigh-in, you are dehydrated after a night of sleep.

All of the above aside, if you get up at the same time and do the same things every single day...then weigh then and make relative comparisons. By doing all the above to get as accurate a reading as you can just makes it harder to get repeat measurements keeping all other variables the same.

Oh, and I've always found that the scales predict way high for me. I carry ALL my weight in my lower body. The hand-held and the calipers gave me basically the same number but the scale was 3 - 4% high.

[Tuckervill]

My scale gives the water percentage in my body as well as the body fat %. Don't ask me how it does it, because I don't know.

I watch that water % as much as the BF% (what I'm really watching is the weight, though). I haven't paid a whole lot of attention in a while. Looking back at some numbers I wrote down, the water is staying within .5 tenths of a point, while the BF% is going down.

I don't know really how it all works. I figure the water % should stay pretty much the same, shouldn't it?

BTW, my scale is just like the one my PT uses, but with less bells and whistles.

Karen

[bluebug32]

I also have a Tanita and find that it's super accurate with weight, but sometimes the body fat feels way off. From everything I've read you have to measure at the same time (same variables) and look for the trends (the number doesn't matter as much as it moving up or down over time) as a better indication for losing fat.

[LBTC]

We've got the Tanita Ironman, and have for a few years. Only recently we've started using it daily - every morning, after using the bathroom, before eating or drinking anything. I have been seeing both my weight and body fat decrease, and my muscle mass generally increase, which is consistent with what we're seeing on my body. What I like best about our scale, is that it gives a metabolic age....and this morning, it called this 40 year old, 16!! I LIKE that! :)

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[bounceswoosh]

I have a scale that does weight, % and poundage body fat, water content, and BMI. Some ramblings on what I do --

I trust it on the weight and the BMI (which is a calculation that just takes pounds and height as inputs, meaning it is handy for putting on charts about averages, but doesn't actually tell you anything about how much of your weight is fat, bone, muscle, hair ...).

Generally speaking ...

I weigh myself on days when I get up around my usual time, pre-shower, pre-breakfast, and post-BM. If any of those factors change, I don't bother weighing myself, because I am more interested in the trends than in any particular day. All I'm trying to do with that stuff is minimize the variables.

If the water percentage is outside of a fairly narrow band, I ignore the bodyfat calculation. Because I weigh myself regularly, I have a good idea of what hydration number is normal for me on this scale. I don't really care if the actual number is accurate or not; all I use it for is to compare it against my normal water percentage to decide if today is a good day for the body fat calc or not. This morning, for example, the water percentage was almost a percent off my norm, and the bodyfat percentage shot up. I'm fairly sure I didn't gain 2% bodyfat in 24 hours ...

And most importantly (to me), I compare the body fat percentages that I do consider legit against what the scale has told me in the last few weeks and months. I don't really care if the scale is accurate, although that would be nice; what I care about is whether it's consistent, because then it can tell me if I am losing body fat or not.

The nice thing about scales like these is that, with multiple values to choose from, I can usually find something to feel good about in the numbers. When the only number is weight, it's way easier for me to feel bad about it, and it is also confusing -- do I weigh more because I'm gaining muscle or fat?

[Tuckervill]

That's a very good and accurate explanation of how I use mine! Thanks!

Karen