Body fat measurements

The six weeks has come round so quickly. I remember thinking back at the start that it seemed like a huge amount of time but now it's almost here - W day is just 3 days away. I'm feeling very positive, and whatever the number on the scales, I know I have made good progress. I will also get my cholesterol tests done and will be interested to see if there is any difference.

As I don't want to go back to my GP every time I want to get weighed, I will be weighing myself on my own scales on Tuesday morning to get a new baseline. Then using the same scales at the same day/time every 4 weeks will be my routine. The scales that I bought also measure body fat so I am going to be monitoring that too going forward.

I am aware that body fat measurements aren't terribly accurate, so I wanted to find out a bit more about them. This article is really great:

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bodyfatscales.html

Body fat scales use a technique called Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis... or BIA for short. Very simply...

A small and completely harmless electrical current is passed through your body. The electrical current passes more quicklythrough fat free tissue like muscle than it does through fat or bone tissue. So...

The amount of resistance to the electrical current relates to how much fat-free mass a person has and their body density. Here's the first challenge...

Like all body fat tests, body fat scales don't actually measure your body fat percentage. They determine your body density. The scales then use a formula to calculate body fat percentage based on body density. Here's the key...

These formulas just predict your body fat. Unfortunately there is no one formula that accurately predicts body fat for the whole population. Differences in age, gender, ethnicity, body size, and fitness level all have a significant affect on the results.

Most scales can account for some of the basic differences such as age and gender, but take the actual body fat percentage they give you with a pinch of salt. What does this all mean for you?

Well, whether body fat scales measure your "true" body fat percentage or not doesn't matter! As long as they can accuratelymonitor changes in your body composition over time, that's all you need.

Your body position, the amount of water in your body, your food intake, skin temperature and recent physical activity can all adversely affect the results of body fat scales. So...

To achieve accurate, consistent results, you must standardise the way you perform each test. That simply means making each test with your scales as similar as possible. 

So, I will be doing my best to be consistent in how I do the measurement. The last time I had my body fat measured was at the same time as the cholesterol tests back in April. While I know that a straight comparison between that result and whatever my scales say will not be terribly meaningful, due to the factors described above, it is impossible to resist the temptation... the previous measurement was 47% so lots of room for improvement!

In the meantime, planning on enjoying a very delicious weekend.