TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

[Niblet]

Xtexan brought up a great point about body fat analyzers... I bought a fairly cheap one from a Walmart.... Any thoughts on how accurate this thing is ? I'm 5'2'' and I weigh 117.5 lbs. (about 5 or 6 too heavy I think) My analyzer says that my fat % is 33 % !!! I find that hard to believe. I do light weights, I work hard at a school caffeteria, I do barn chores and gardening plus cardio.... Is it possible that 33 % of me is fat !?!? Ugggg ! I really don't get too hung up on this gaget thank goodness but I do rely on a tape measure and the way my clothes are fitting... After 23 days of not drinking I've lost 3.5 lbs... Hopefully the sloppy fat that alcohol layered on my body... I will be checking out the fat analyzer that Xtexan suggested though.... Thanks and have a healthy great day for yourself.:thanks:

[lushy]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

I think the accuracy rate of those home scales is very unreliable. I have one as well and while I have weight to lose I just cannot believe my body fat is as high as it says......

[AAthlete]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

Thought you might find this useful (and I agree that those scales only give you a very rough ballpark number):

The American Council on Exercise has categorized ranges of body fat percentages as follows:

Description------Women--------Men

Athletes -------- 16–20% ----- 6–13%
Fitness --------- 21–24% ----- 14–17%
Acceptable ----- 25–31% -----18–25%
Obese ----------- 32%+ -------25%+

[lushy]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

You have now ruined my day AA. Thanks!!! I am going to throw out my scale right now!

[Niblet]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

Lushy You're so Dang Cute !!! Wind up your arm real hard before letting go of that scale to burn a few extra calories !! Tee!!! Heeee!!!

[trixietrack]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

no !!! more worries. I am athletic but I have this little fatty belly that makes me nuts. If I used that fat measuring gadget, I would probably pass out from the reading

[goingsobermum]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

I've had a shock in the past with a fat analyser. Remember it is a tool to help you realise you have work to do if you want to change. There is no point buying a gadget then throwing it out because it doesn't say what you want it to. Some of the analyser scales have different settings for athletic or sedentary people.

[nancy]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

Do you belong to a gym? Mine does the fat analyzer test.

I was in the overlly fatty range. i don't look that bad though. I am about 15 pounds overweight.

[Lorelei]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

If the scale uses an electrical pulse to measure body fat the total percentage includes water weight as well. My scale at home says that I am 41% fat but when I got my fat measured at the gym I was 37%. I still have plenty of work to do but I know I will get to 25%.

-Lorelei

[Newyear]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

I got one at Target and have used one at my gym. The one from Target (much cheaper than the gym one) said I was about 32-34% fat. The one at the gym said 27-28%.
Now when I started at the gym the same device said I was at 33.8% fat and after working out for 5 months it has slowly gone down. The one from Target(just recently purchased) gives me a different reading each time I use it and I question the accuracy...so I threw it out!

Lisa

[xtexan]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

One thing I have found from a career that depends heavily on measuring devices of all sorts, both mechanical and electrical, is that precision and accuracy of any instrument can be affected by a multitude of external factors.

I have found that a reading from my Tanita scale will be wildly different in the morning after just waking up, right after returning home from work, and then taking a reading right before bed.

I can change the readings quite a bit, by just guzzling a pint or better of Gatorade.

The weight in water method has the highest accuracy from what I read, but that too can be affected by your hydration level.

The scales use bio-electric impedance to a small pulsed electric charge that travels from one foot, up your leg, across the hips, down the other leg and foot. I find that a handheld that measures from hand to hand will give a much different reading. My upper body fat reads average 16% on upper body, and 23% on lower body. I can make these numbers go +/- 3% it seems in any one day.

The trick is to take readings at the same time, under the same conditions as you possibly can. I find that taking a reading right after I get home from work, right after taking my socks off gets very consistent readings day after day. The electrical contact pads need to be clean to minimize any resistance to electrical measurement errors. I use a white scotch-brite pad to lightly buff them every so often.

Your hydration level will change the readings as well. A mathematical formula in the scales computer will take into account a lot of things, but it is designed to almost do "one size fits all". Height, sex, age are all figured in my scale, and it has an athletic build flag as well.

You can change your bodies electrical impedance by a lot of things. Your pH level can affect it. I have not yet tried drinking some baking soda water to change my ph, and see if that makes a large swing in the reading, but I will try to do that soon as an experiment.

The scales were never meant to give a scientifically precise number, but rather a relative progress number. The Tanita is accurate (from some other reports) in determining relative changes.

I was hoping someday they could make a scale that could take into account various body dimensions such as waist size, thigh, calf, arm size as well. Those things could be input into the scales program to further enhance the precision I would think.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on using them as a measurement tool for motivation.

Neil

[satori]

TAYLOR Body Fat Analyzer Scale ?

Yeah - I agree with Neil - these things are easily affected by many factors, and the hand to hand ones are fairly dire!

The one thing that messes most with the readings on my scales fat measurement is how dry my skin is.
Probably the electrical conductivity of my skin changing with different degrees of moisture.

Like Neil - I try to measure at exactly the same time and under the same conditions every time.
My preferred time is first thing in the morning immediately after I get up - but before I have been in the shower.

I am currently running at around 14% body fat. :upset: :upset:

And I SOOO wanted to be an athlete like AA!

(AA - you had better fess up and change your name if you are above 13% fat - but I suppose AFitness does not have the same ring to it! )

Satori

xxx