We just bought a fairly expensive ($80-something) set of Tanita scales that measures bodyfat and percent water.
So far, I'm disappointed. Is there a trick to taking consistent measurements with these things? I'm curious if others have decent results.
It ranges from 7.8% to 10% depending on the time of the day. It has a general trend of lower percentages as the day goes on, but even that's not consistent. There's also the question of whether or not to use "athlete" mode and it makes a whale of a difference, like from 8% to 16%.
The percent water is inconsistent also. One day, I hadn't had a drop of water all day and ate several large meals, and it read the highest of all the days so far! The other days, I was very hydrated and it read about 5% less (59% vs 64%).
I think I need to plot the results and try to identify a pattern.
Edit: I do think the scales are very accurate at weight measurement. I just took a reading and then, umm, suddenly decreased my water content, and it had me 0.4 lbs lighter. It seems to read correctly and does not change readings if I rock forward or backward. The bodyfat measurement seems sensitive to water loss also. It went from 8.9 to 9.2 on these two measurements.
DBD
So far, I'm disappointed. Is there a trick to taking consistent measurements with these things? I'm curious if others have decent results.
It ranges from 7.8% to 10% depending on the time of the day. It has a general trend of lower percentages as the day goes on, but even that's not consistent. There's also the question of whether or not to use "athlete" mode and it makes a whale of a difference, like from 8% to 16%.
The percent water is inconsistent also. One day, I hadn't had a drop of water all day and ate several large meals, and it read the highest of all the days so far! The other days, I was very hydrated and it read about 5% less (59% vs 64%).
I think I need to plot the results and try to identify a pattern.
Edit: I do think the scales are very accurate at weight measurement. I just took a reading and then, umm, suddenly decreased my water content, and it had me 0.4 lbs lighter. It seems to read correctly and does not change readings if I rock forward or backward. The bodyfat measurement seems sensitive to water loss also. It went from 8.9 to 9.2 on these two measurements.
DBD