Bathroom Scale

[meridian]

Might be too late, but I have an Omron HBF-400, it's right around $40, and it's got all the functionality I wanted; weight, body fat %, bmi, and programmable up to 4 users I believe.

[sundial]

I bought a Tanita scale that measures weight and body fat. I think you can find it at Target or Bed Bath and Beyond.

[Ana]

Might be too late, but I have an Omron HBF-400, it's right around $40, and it's got all the functionality I wanted; weight, body fat %, bmi, and programmable up to 4 users I believe.

How does it measure your percent body fat?

[Possegal]

How does it measure your percent body fat?

I would imagine through electrical impedance. The impulse would have different rates of distribution through tissues dependent on the water in the cells. What I learned from one I had though, if you get that measurement when you first wake up, it says you are like ALL FAT. I'm fat, but I'm not all fat.

[Ana]

What I learned from one I had though, if you get that measurement when you first wake up, it says you are like ALL FAT. I'm fat, but I'm not all fat.

LOL--you mean 100%?

[Possegal]

More like 80%. I'm pretty sure I have a little bit of muscle, and I can stand upright so there must be some bones in there too. After freaking out, I then read somewhere that you need to NOT do this measurement first thing after waking up, which is of course when I like to weigh myself so that I don't also weigh the Mt Dew and Reese cup.

[Tuckervill]

I have a Tanita that I got at Sam's Club for about $40. It measures body fat, too, and I weigh every single morning and it doesn't think I'm 100% fat. It's pretty much inline with the muy expensive Tanita scale that my gym uses.

Karen

[Possegal]

Mine is a Tanita. And it actually makes sense that your body's hydration state will affect the reading.

See two posts here on this board where others talk about the same thing.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=22661
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=25177

What mine does is say ERROR and the papers with the scale say that it will read error if your body fat is over some high number, though honestly it was a while ago and I can't find the brochure to know what the number was. I just remember reading it and freaking out. Then I searched, and then the science of it also made sense. In the afternoon, I read something in the 30s (still horrid, but not as bad as I thought based on the morning). It is probably something far more problematic for big fat people like me!

But scientifically, time of day will affect anyone doing these readings because your hydration levels vary and that is how it measures percent body fat.

Here is what Tatina says about when to do the reading:

As your total body water level changes naturally throughout the day, this may affect your body fat percentage readings. First thing in the morning you will be dehydrated and the fluid in your body will be stored in the central trunk area. As the day progresses, this fluid becomes more evenly distributed and, of course, eating and drinking will also affect your total body water level. So even though your actual body fat mass will not change during the day, your body fat percentage will, as your total body water changes. Your body fat reading could vary by as much as 3-4% in a 24-hour period.

Consistency is the key to using your Body Fat Monitor. The best time is in the early evening, before your meal, when hydration levels are more stable. This increases the accuracy of the readings. If you are unable to use your Body Fat Monitor as this time, pick a time that's convenient for you and stick to it. Take your readings at the same time and under the same conditions each day.

Of course with me, it could be a combination of me being a lot of fat, me having more than the average level of hydration fluctuation in the day, and my scale not being all that great despite others liking the brand.