Anyone using a body fat scale?
 

I'm thinking about splurging and buying one.

Can anyone give me info - reccos or "stay aways" (LOL!)?

Thanks in advance!

I just bought one today! LOL It was from Target. $40 Made by Taylor It has a lifetime warranty, does hydration levels, and can save readings for 4 users.

I don't own one but I use the one they offer at the gym I go to and I'm much more concerned with the percentage going down than I am with total weight lost... Trying to get down to about 20-22%. Tried to set up a tracker for % body fat lost but can't find a tracker for that anywhere (thought there might be somewhere where I could input manual units)

I have one and I don't even trust it. Perhaps if it did "hydration levels" I haven't seen those. Mine is a Tanita, and older. It can change from one "fat" percentage to another 10 points lower depending on whether I am retaining water or am slightly dehydrated. I can't remember when it measures lower or higher, I think it is lower if I have extra water, but I can't remember.

Anyway I would go with the fat calipers or even one of those online programs for figuring fat percentage before I would trust the scales. I was using calipers, I was using the online measurements and they were coming out about the same, the scale was much higher. So I don't trust it much.

How do scales track body fat? I would think that would be difficult to track via a scale. I get mine measured at my gym. My trainer uses these little electrode things he puts in my right hand and foot.

Sarah, I'm also looking at getting my body fat down to under 20%, if you find a good tracker that works (and I will look too), could you post please?

I have one of the new Tanitas that measures BF and hydration...it's not as accurate as the one at the gym, but uses thes same bioimpedance principal--little metal plates with your bare feet. Change the batteries every few months.
BedBath beyond, about $50.00 (but use your coupons)

Thanks for the quick feedback, ladies!! I love you guys! ;)

SherryA - I believe they've improved the scales tremendously since they first started making them. Or at least we can hope.

My trainer did the calipers with me but he told me that calipers aren't as accurate with women since it's very hard to separate the thigh skin from the muscle so that measurement tends to be skewed higher and then gives the overall BF% higher.

Marbleflys - I have a GC from Bed Bath & Beyond that I got at Christmas and I also have a coupon so I'll head there over at some point in the next couple of days. Is your Tanita the round one that's glass and metal?

LynneA & Sarahslacker - I definitely want to track my body fat % also! I'll look for a tracker as well...who ever finds one, let the rest of us know! :)

I have a Tanita one that indicates fat & water weight too-- it fluctuates a little depending on hydration. The company do recommend getting weighed around the same time of day though (recommend either right before bed or right when you wake up). And yea, same principle as the gym ones though less sophisticated--sending electrodes up your body (which apparently travels at different speed through fat than other tissues)

WARNING: do NOT use if you're wearing a pacemaker--the electrodes can interfere.

Calipers are notoriously inaccurate--it depends on how much skin is pinched and how tight the pinching is.

Anybody have a subscription to Consumer Reports? I went to do a little research on this because I have my doubts about the accuracy. CR has done some articles and there are some great teaser lines here: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/s...body+fat+scale but you have to have a subscription to get the full information.

Two notes caught my eye from CR--one is that a $2.99 tape measure might be more accurate in measuring body fat than a $65 scale.....and the other was that the scale body fat percentage was within 5 percentage points of the lab-tested body fat for only 80% of scale users (i.e., not accurate). Maybe this is a cool toy if you have the money for it, but otherwise, it might be worth digging a little for info before spending $50 or more on a scale claiming to measure body fat.

(why yes! I'm a skeptic! How'd ya guess? :lol:)

The Tanita I have is silver & gray.....(2 user settings and a guest setting)and the manufacturer recommends that you weigh yourself for lbs. in the AM and BF in the evening after you are fully hydrated. This scale has proved about 90-95% accurate for me in comparison to the scale where I work (doctor's office with the giant digital that I don't like to step on because it is in a public area).

I measure myself with a tapemeasure also, but iI think it's important to have a scale at home to check if there is a significant gain or loss.....a tapemeasure just can't do that because of the error/cheat factor. (pull it tighter and your waist is smaller)

My clothes are the best measurement of all! Today I'm dancing around in my new size 10 jeans! (I guess i can believe my scale now and change the ticker)

My doctor himself told me not to waste my money.