Which One Did I Buy

I purchased the BC 532, but depending on which country you are in the actual product number may be different. The image of it is at the beginning of this post.

Is it Accurate

The important thing to note about a body fat scale is that the measurement can change a lot during the day. If I measure myself first thing in the morning my reading can be much higher than at the end of the day. For example, when I first got it my readings in the morning were around 19% while at the end of the day was around 18%. 1% in body fat is a big deal.

The reason for this, according to Tantia, is my hydration levels. The higher your hydration levels, the more accurate and consistent your readings will be.

It is All About the Trend

That being said, I now take my weight measurements first thing in the morning and then my body fat measurements before I go to bed, at exactly the same time. I ensure that I am hydrated sufficiently each time. With this structure in mind, the true value of a body fat scale can be realized.

As opposed to the distinct number it gives me, I am not watching the body fat trend in relation to my weight. What I actually want to see is my weight staying the same or going up while my body fat goes down. This way I know I am maintaining (or putting on muscle) and getting rid of that body fat. I have seen this effect as my reading is now around 17.5% (I started around 20%) while my weight has only decrease slightly. That is the right trend.

Glad I Bought It

Overall, I am glad I bought it as it has given me one more key performance indicator to track on my journey. Without measurement we have no idea if what we are doing is working or hindering us. That to me is invaluable.

If you are interested in a scale like this, the cheapest I have seen it is on Amazon.

Usually Friday nights can be a problem from a diet perspective. My wife and I like to totally kick back, order some take out and watch some TV and / or movies. We still did that, except that I ordered the small hamburger and fries and fries instead of the large one and then had one of those 100 calorie chocolate bars. Friday nights are cheat nights but I have set a goal to still enjoy the cheat meals but instead of going whole hog all night, I have a special meal and sweet snack and that is it. Based on my calorie calculations I ended up at 1376 – keep in mind this was an Eat Stop Eat day so my calorie count was supposed to be this low for the day.

Just going through my previous posts and I noticed that I have not written about my goals for the contest. Here they are:

Short Term – all by April 9, 2010

1. Weight: 137 – 143 pounds
2. BF %: 9 – 11%
3. To work through 3 full TT workouts for the 12 week program
4. To track my progress weekly with body measurements
5. To take a progress picture once every two weeks
6. To ESE twice per week (Tuesday & Friday)
7. To track my calories and eat no more than 2100 calories per day 95% of the time
8. To control my Friday night cheat by keeping the meal within my chosen calorie limits for the day

Bought another gadget today – the Tanita InnerScan Body Composition Monitor. If you want to ensure you see that post, please be sure to sign up to my RSS feed.

(Photo Credit)