I just got my Tanita scale that measures not only weight, but also body fat....(Love it....I just don't like what it tells me ) Tanita also suggests that we get a baseline for our weight/bodyfat. Basically weigh yourself daily for a week....and divide the answer by 7. There was also some useful info that I thought I would share with everyone, since scales and measuring has been a topic of discussion lately!!
A Special Message for Women:
Hydration Levels
Weight may fluctuate day to day, and so may body fat percentages-because weight is one of the fundamentals that determines body fat content. Much of this fluctuation depends on the body's state of hydration - or how much water it contains. Variations in hydration can be due to food, caffeine, or alcohol consumtion, medication, diuretics, streneuos exercise, stress or illness.
Menstruation
Women experience a much greater change in hydration levels throughout their menstral cycle. Therefore, female users of this scale should be aware of their monthly cycles when establishing a baseline for body fat and afterward during their regular monitoring program.
Menopause
Hormonal Chanes due to menopause also cause water retention and variations in measuring.
For Best Results for measuring Body Fat
To monitor progress, compare weight and body fat percentage measurements taken under the same conditions over a period of time.
* Be consistent-always measure at the same time of the day, preferably early evening.
* Always measure in bare feet
* Allow at leas three hours after rising, eating a big meal or excercise.
* Measure with out clothing
* measure after you have emptied your bladder.
Women have More Body Fat Than Men
By nature, a woman's body is developed to protector and a potential fetus. As a result, women have more enzymes for storing fat and fewer enzymes for burning fat.
It is much more than just weight
Woman A and B were the same height and weight, and had the same percentage of body fat when they started to diet. Each lost a total of 15 pounds over the same period of time. Although the results appear identical, Woman's A diet consisted simply of cutting calories. She lost weight, ut very little fat, so her body fat increased-she is actually fatter. Woman B's diet combined cutting calories with a program of excercise. In addition to the 15 pound weight loss, her body fat dropped to 16.6%
Just to give you a perspective, I weight 243 pounds and have a bocy fat of 51%.....eeeeeeeeekkkkkkks.
I hope you found this as thought provoking as I did. I learned a lot!!