Can You Trust a Body Fat Calculator?
Author: DaveJackson Total views: 8 Word Count: 552
I think I got my first bathroom scale body fat calculator off eBay. But since then, I've seen these things in drug stores, home improvement stores, even supermarkets! And at our local market I saw one that put my old unit to shame. I love gadgets, but they are dated as soon as you take them out of the box.
Still, I wondered if the technology had improved to the point that would make this gem any more accurate than my scale. If you own one of these, you've probably seen the body fat calculator change from day to day. And there's a reason for that. We just don't want to take the time to read that book that comes with the unit.
No time to read a manual, I just wanted to load the batteries up and kick the on switch - wait for the familiar beeps and peek through my fingers at the final reading. Isn't that what you do? Still, I wanted to know why the unit had different readings at different times of the day. So I found out.
Burning fat is probably the quickest way to lower your weight. And yes, we all need a certain amount of fat, but you know there's a limit on that, too. It's that point of excess you need to concentrate on. If you want to lose weight and get healthier, you need to work on lowering your body fat.
To find out why the bathroom scale body fat calculators were off, I compared them to the caliper method of pinching a fold of fat, and the tape measure method. The scale was higher many times. Both caliper and tape are known to be pretty accurate methods of calculating body fat. The reason the scale was off was because I wasn't using it right.
Compared to any other electronic method of measuring body fat, this calculator in the scale is the least expensive. Still, by sending a small electric current through the feet, it can tell with some accuracy what the body fat percentage is. Lean tissue transmit better than fat, so a calculation is made and displayed on the unit. Why did my percentage differ throughout the day?
There are certain parameters (that they talk about in that booklet that comes with the unit that no one reads) that have to be figured in like - time of day, how much fluid you drink, your body temperature, if you just worked out - all which affect that current flow I mentioned. Those factors skew the results of the body fat calculator.
If you buy one of these units, yes - they can be pretty accurate, but... you need to use them at the same time of day, each day. I suggest using the scale the first thing when you get up. This way, you can chart or as with my unit, it memorizes the readings and shows if you've gained or lost. It's important to discover that by losing weight, if you need to, you will not only look better - you'll feel fantastic too. Most people say their mental clarity increases dramtically. So get your body fat calculator and start using it!
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Want to find out more about quickly losing fat and keeping it off? Discover Dave Jackson's fat loss program reviews right now at http://www.thethreebest.com/fatloss/ I lost it and so can you!
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