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Group: Specific Diets & Nutrition

Body Fat Scales

maab Posts: 35 Joined: 2002/04/29	2002/11/25, 04:10 PM I'm in the process of buying a new bathroom scale and I landed on reading about those Tanitas Body Fat scales. Has anyone of you experienced them? Thank you
rkahl Posts: 84 Joined: 2002/11/21	2002/11/25, 04:15 PM Yes, I have a Tanita scale. They will have different readings at different times of the day. Morning seems to be the worst for the fat count. Mine has the ability to setup adult or athlete or child as a setting as well as male or female. If you are muscular, use the athlete setting. Do your measurements at the same time of the day and that will show you your progress. I believe they can be off as much as 3% +/-. It is a great tool. I recommend them highly. -------------- Randy Kahl
neptune_ Posts: 38 Joined: 2002/11/22	2002/11/25, 04:16 PM I have a Tanita BF scale. Seems to be fairly accurate for body fat. I don't know what the variance is though, since I've never had a dunk test done to compare it with. I'd say its probably about +/- 3%? As far as body weight, its right on!
Carivan Posts: 8,542 Joined: 2002/01/20	2002/11/25, 06:41 PM I have a tanita, just make sure your bladder is empty and like rkahl said , same time all the time. -------------- To change it, or to create it, simply train it! Ivan Montreal Canada
mackfactor Posts: 766 Joined: 2002/10/17	2002/11/26, 11:51 AM Bio impedence scales generally aren't very accurate. Several variables, particularly the amount of water in your body can affect the outcome. If you're going to use one, check a couple times a day, every day of the week and average the value. You should get a fairly accurate weekly number. -------------- "Don't follow leaders and watch your parking meters!" -- Bob Dylan
colgin Posts: 35 Joined: 2002/11/18	2002/11/26, 01:48 PM I bought a Tanita body fat scale a couple of months ago (I forget which model, but the one with 4 users, and settings for adult, child and athlete). Given that they are not much more expensive than an ordinary digital scale they are probably worth the extra money if you don't already have a scale. That said . . . I have found the scale to be very unreliable. I did not expect to get an accurate measure so much as a somewhat accurate measure of change over time. During a period of about 2 1/2 months since I have used the scale, I have lost 15 lbs. (from 188 to 173). Yet the scale has shown on average (I check at the same time every morning and then average over a several day period) a decrease in bodyfat of about 2%, whereas I should have expected to have lost around 5-7% bodyfat given that weight loss. Now of course the 2% number is possible. I could have been losing mostly lean muscle mass from improper dieting. However, I don't think this is the case. Over this period I have been lifting 5 days a week at the gym and my strength has increased, not decreased. I have also lost around three inches off my waist during that period, my face has thinned out, and my love handles (my number one problem) have started to disappear (finally!). Also, I had a measurement done at the gym at one point with calipers that gave a much lower number than the Tanita scale. Ultimately, the Tanita scale will give you some kind of a ballpark number to work with, but I would not obsess too much about the results you get. On the other hand, the weight readings they give seem to be extremely accurate for a home model. I hope this helps. -------------- Peter New York, New York
Firehawk734 Posts: 295 Joined: 2002/07/31	2002/11/27, 02:35 PM From what I have heard about body fat scales...It is too shaky depending on your hydration levels. If you are too dehydrated it reads higher or something like that. Get calipers. They are much more accurate IMO.