Is it worth buying a 'Fat Scale'?

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 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

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.

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.

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. 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!

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.

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?

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

That should have been minxie

Im sure a quick chat with a nurse or your doc will advise wether its a good idea to buy one or not? Or maybe if they have one you could just pop in and have it checked along with a 'health check' when theyre back to all that as normal again? Much better to have the all round health picture maybe?(weight, blood pressure etc?)

*minxie• you are correct that 1lb feathers weighs the same as 1lb lead.
However, 1 cubic foot of fat will weigh less than 1 cubic foot of muscle.
Hence muscle weighs more than fat. And one person can weigh more than another but be slimmer.

ps www.withings.com/uk/en/scales

I have a set of smart scales from Withings, not cheap, but they do have discounts sometimes, several different ones, and they keep the readings on an app on phone/tablet, so you can keep track of weight/bodyfat/pulse/muscle/bone etc, , I myself have the top of the range only because they offered a discount at the time, but would recommend them, but a word of caution they are quite heavy bit of kit

Why not ring your drs surgery and ask for a chat with the surgery nurse? Or even your drs advice? (over phone if they arent back to normal appts yet?) Ive noticed that when they weigh people at hosp visits (when they weigh/measure prior to going in for appt) they dont always have digital scales that do all that- theyre mostly just 'common' old type scales that read only weight, but not body mass etc? And its not just what you eat but when- i was told i was doing it all wrong by only eating one main meal later in day as the body puts itself into 'starvation mode' and then increases on fat! (Nurse in orthapeadic clinic told me that) But have a chat with the surgery nurse or someone first- see what they say- as you dont want to just get 'obsessed' with the fat on the scales as a body does need some body fat to function, just not huge excesses- theres a danger of becoming focussed only on that if its there showing you whenever you step on them.

Rowantree you are doing a fantastic job with exercise. Surely you can be confident your health is improving without a gadget to tell you?
I'm a total sucker for gadgets that claim to link up to an app on my phone (car Internet, fat measuring scales, cctv - you name it) and apart from my Fitbit they never seem to work. Even the Fitbit has wonky moments.

These were investigated on “trust me I’m a doctor” and it was discovered they only measure the fat content in legs not elsewhere. For this reason I haven’t bothered though would love to know how much fat I’m actually carrying

I’ve had and used these scales for over six years. Mine are called Weght Watchers and were bought online. I use them all the time for monitoring just my weight.
Also use them for checking parcels by standing on them with the package!!
I try to eat healthily and exercise but every 18 months or so, I seem to slip - make excuses for not walking, eat cakes every day etc. I think I’ve always been like this! Then I start to feel sluggish & put on weight.
These scales motivate me to get back to my healthy routine. I use the fat analyser to shock me into action! It really does help me to see the readings and feel that sense of urgency to stop it getting worse.
Before I had the scales, I would only think about doing something when I could no longer get into my clothes - meaning a long slog to get back to a healthy weight.
For me, they are definitely worth the cost!
The booklet explains everything about fat monitoring. You may need to read it many times!! However, once it clicks, it’s very straightforward.
Every time I restart the fat analysis, because it’s been over a year, I have to read the booklet and refresh myself as to how to set the scale.
For me, I pretty much know I’m eating badly but can’t seem to stop. Reading the figures; seeing the proof, kick starts me.
It’s probably reassuring for others to see that they’re doing a good job.

Mine has all those options on it but I don’t know how to use any of them.

Muscle doesn’t weigh more than fat, it’s just more dense. A lb of feathers weighs the same as lb of lead