Is it worth buying a 'Fat Scale'?

That should have been minxie

I got some Renpho scales for under £20 on Amazon and find them really useful. Not sure how they work, but needed scales anyway and decided to get them. Seem to be really accurate. Eat as healthily as you can and make sure you exercise. It’s not all about the scales, it’s how you feel. Take care and be kind to yourself x

You must be right Anne9054- as they tend to use one of those type scales at orthapeadic clinic- where i was weighed as awaiting double knee replacement (but everything put on hold for all lockdown ) so i see its helpful for them to know, but most other clinics use normal scales i noticed.

Hello. First time posting! We have just this week bought new scales and the watches that go with it. (Similar to fitbit). My hubby has a heart condition plus we are both overweight and the reason we got them is to actually monitor whats going on inside our bodies. I got a real shock at some of my measurements and its made me want to really focus on losing the weight. But as mentioned, you dont really need that level of detail but it certainly gave me a kick up the backside.

How do the scales know whether they are weighing fat or muscle?????

Haven't looked it up on the www, but what causes visceral fat? I know I am overweight but the kind of fat? no idea. I do no BMI means next to nothing. One very fit and muscular person comes out with a higher BMI than a person of the same height who is thin and does no exercise. Are those scales not another gadget to make money from? I am not convinced anything other that medical investigations will reveal which kind of fat a body has.

joesdadnick- had a quick look at the link- like look of it but some features may go unused so would be waste in that sense, i like the look of the easy use bp moniter but they REALLY are expensive at over £200! Such a shame as more people could benefit from items like these if costs were lower

Yes i know you can buy cheaper bp monitors but they're such a faff& these withings are much less hassle& more streamlined etc. Will have to wait see if they do a sale on them too?

Rowantree, thanks for asking this question. I'm interested for the opposite reason, I'm severely under weight due to medical issues and I'm trying to put on weight.

Cleland, thanks for your detailed information.

Roselily1. I have absolutely no idea how its done but the MI body composition one we have goes into great detail from BMI to body fat, many others but the one that got me was body age...... that was my wake up warning!

My daughter has quite fancy scales like this which she uses constantly.
Scales like hers can indicate the amount of visceral fat - not visible but stored internally and quite possibly lethal.
Rather than spend out on an expensive item like this, why not request a visit to your health centre, or anywhere that has a set you could try for free. That way you would set your mind at rest that you aren't carrying visceral fat and spend money on cheaper standard scales.
If visceral fat is detected then it requires more than just cutting down on cake to address.
This whole issue came up on a BBC series about aging where a very lovely and slender Angela Rippon found that she had this problem.

RoseLily1

How do the scales know whether they are weighing fat or muscle?????

According to the blurb they work by sending a tiny electric current up your leg and it measures the resistance from fat, which is more resistant than muscle.

I have scales with fat percentage in one home and ordinary in another home and I really miss the body fat % scales since lockdown I’ve been stuck with ordinary scales. I think it’s useful when you can see after a lot of exercise the fat % go down even if weight doesn’t much. I find that encouraging. I don’t know how it works but it seems to.

Rowantree have you thought of trying baking the Keto way? I've no idea how many calories it has, but I bake a chocolate brownie cake for my daughter which contains butter, eggs, cocoa powder, dark chocolate Xylitol and Ground Almonds. She has lost a lot of fat with this diet

Seriously? Don’t you think the medics/ doctors/ nurses at the local surgery have enough to do ?
Please don’t waste their precious time

Rowantree, sounds as though you are reaping great rewards with your current regime. Well done. Much too intense for me. I did long and slow as I didn't want to deprive myself. Interesting how we all find our own way to success. Would just like to reiterate something I saw in a previous contribution. Be kind to yourself.

I may be wrong but I'm sure I've seen public scales in Tesco that can tell you your fat content! Costs but a few pence.

Sadly, I dont think it would make it any easier to diet or exercise.

Have you seen the TV program which I've just been hooked on this morning? "My 600 lb life." My goodness, those people are ENORMOUS jelly-like Michelin men. We need to keep an eye on our weight as even if it goes on gradually by say, 10 lbs a year, after 10 years we will weigh 100 lbs more. Any scales are better than none. Weigh yourself daily, not weekly, and if you notice you have put weight on cut back on the pasta , bread, and cake until you have taken it off again. Good luck.

I don't think these scales will pick.up.visceral.fat. sometimes people who are incredibly thin can have visceral fat. Your weight will fluctuate with food, muscle, fluid and even hormonal.retention so I fail to see how it will work.

It's probably something you're better off discussing with your doctor or practice nurse. If they feel your BMI needs serious attention or you're on statins or high blood pressure medication it could be advisable to keep a strict eye on bodyfat ratio. But if you're just a few pounds overweight - personally I wouldn't bother.

Don't waste your money, they are not reliable at all. The most accurate way of determining body fat is a dexa scan.

I think it depends how interested you are in keeping track of your statistics. I bought a set of WeightWatchers scales, on impulse, in a sale at Sainsbury's a couple of years ago. They were £16 at that time. I enjoyed recording the stats, twice a week after my two fasting days, for a while and it was good to see the body fat reading going down steadily, while the muscle mass remained stable. However, you can track your loss of visceral fat simply by measuring your waist. A tape measure is way less expensive than all-singing-all-dancing bathroom scales!

You wouldn’t be seen as wasting the time of the staff at your surgery at all if you asked for a check up and mentioned that you were thinking of getting these scales, asked for advice on reducing your visceral fat etc. - they are only too keen to help those people who want to help themselves keep fit, most people unfortunately don’t.

i had some years ago and i found that the readings fluctuated drastically. i gave to a charity shop in the end. they may have improved but if so look at Aldi and Lidl when they sell them at different types of the year