scales and fat content

got one of those new scales for christmas (no more squinting, fudging the
reading or zeroing, digital. seems that i have been overstating my weight by
a few pounds during this diet.

this thing has the fat percentage sensor on it.
mine was 15%, on the lower half of normal for my age and sex.

what exactly does this data reflect or mean? should it be ignored as long as
it is in the normal range?

Bob
197+/160/160

"bob" wrote in message
r.com...
got one of those new scales for christmas (no more squinting, fudging the
reading or zeroing, digital. seems that i have been overstating my weight
by
a few pounds during this diet.

this thing has the fat percentage sensor on it.
mine was 15%, on the lower half of normal for my age and sex.

what exactly does this data reflect or mean? should it be ignored as long
as
it is in the normal range?

Bob
197+/160/160



How can an electronic scale know your fat content.
I mean... My legs look like I should be a soccer player or a equestrian, so
on the scale I am heavy, but in a clinical fat test, it would show that my
fat content isn't extremely high anywhere but my lower trunk area.

So this isn't meant to be a personal shot at you, I am wondering how a scale
you stand on can measure your fat content.

you haven't heard of this?
there are electrodes where i place my feet, a small (not perceptible to me)
electric current passes through your body, and the impedence it encounters
is used to measure the fat content. you have to enter sex, height, and of
course weight is done by the scale.

of course, I have little or no understanding of what the 15% number means,
which is why i posted

"Steven C (Doktersteve)" wrote in message
news:8e3Hb.60114$ss5.7017@clgrps13...

"bob" wrote in message
r.com...
got one of those new scales for christmas (no more squinting, fudging
the
reading or zeroing, digital. seems that i have been overstating my
weight
by
a few pounds during this diet.

this thing has the fat percentage sensor on it.
mine was 15%, on the lower half of normal for my age and sex.

what exactly does this data reflect or mean? should it be ignored as
long
as
it is in the normal range?

Bob
197+/160/160



How can an electronic scale know your fat content.
I mean... My legs look like I should be a soccer player or a equestrian,
so
on the scale I am heavy, but in a clinical fat test, it would show that my
fat content isn't extremely high anywhere but my lower trunk area.

So this isn't meant to be a personal shot at you, I am wondering how a
scale
you stand on can measure your fat content.

If you have a bioimpedance scale (i.e. it has metal pads on the
scale), then consider that they're sensitive to body hydration and
other factors. It's important to measure yourself under similar
conditions each day - before/after peeing, before/after drinking, etc.
At best, a running average would be needed to get believable numbers.

Also, such a scale will only measure the %bf in the body parts it's in
contact with. If you have skinny arms and fat legs, it will read
higher than the same %bf but with fat arms and skinny legs. I once
measured 11% on a handheld BI, when I knew I was closer to 20%
overall.

"bob" wrote in message
r.com...
you haven't heard of this?
there are electrodes where i place my feet, a small (not perceptible to
me)
electric current passes through your body, and the impedence it encounters
is used to measure the fat content. you have to enter sex, height, and of
course weight is done by the scale.

of course, I have little or no understanding of what the 15% number means,
which is why i posted

no, I hadn't heard of that.
Science is awesome though. It's cool that you don't need to get submerged in
that huge tank anymore to get a fat % reading.

Thanks for the info.
I wonder what a scale like that is worth. A bunch I would wager.

"Steven C (Doktersteve)" wrote in
message news:wK5Hb.34028$6b2.4495@edtnps84
"bob" wrote in message
r.com...
you haven't heard of this?
there are electrodes where i place my feet, a small (not perceptible
to me) electric current passes through your body, and the impedence
it encounters is used to measure the fat content. you have to enter
sex, height, and of course weight is done by the scale.

of course, I have little or no understanding of what the 15% number
means, which is why i posted

no, I hadn't heard of that.
Science is awesome though. It's cool that you don't need to get
submerged in that huge tank anymore to get a fat % reading.

Thanks for the info.
I wonder what a scale like that is worth. A bunch I would wager.

As I understand it those types of scales aren't very acurate fat
percentage wise-- the water content of your body plays a large role in
the readout, and that can fluctuate a lot. Individual readings should
be ignored, but if you keep a running tab, the *trend* can give you a
general idea of how much fat you're losing over time.

--
revek
Seeing things a human shouldn't have to see makes us human. {Thief of
Time, 2001}

bob wrote:

this thing has the fat percentage sensor on it.
mine was 15%, on the lower half of normal for my age and sex.

what exactly does this data reflect or mean? should it be ignored as long as
it is in the normal range?

I assume it's one of the scales that measures the body's electrical impedence
via conductive footpads. I have the Tanita, so you also have to dial in your
height, gender, and activity level.

The thing take the impedence figure and plugs it into a table of known values
for height, weight, gender, and activity level (I believe the activity level
categories are adult, child, and athlete).

It's not very accurate, but if you're the type that likes these things
it can be fun to track over time. It's one more more metric you can watch
improve with time, and hopefully, it will help motivate you.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com