I have been using a BIA Scale for a few years now (daily for about 8 months now), so I’d like to add my 2 cents here. Hopefully you find it useful.
Machine - Omron HBF-514C Full body sensor and composition meter
Tips
-
The values are not necessarily accurate on a daily basis. They will fluctuate and that might throw you off times. However, if you are consistent and regular they are excellent for long term tracking.
-
Do your test at the same time each day, keeping as many variables (amount of water, food etc in your body constant). I have found that measuring myself right after waking up in the morning is the best time to test. As soon as I get up, I pee, and then weigh/measure myself. IDo it before drinking any water or coffee.
This way I am able to keep things constant as much as possible. Minimum amount of food and water in my stomach and generally the water distribution is pretty even since I have been in the sleeping position for at least 7 hours. If I were to do this in the evening, the variables are not always the same. How much water I have in the body, what I have eaten, how I feel etc all make a difference in the readings. By doing it in the morning, the factors are at the most controlled level.
- Do your test everyday, but average the results over a week. I take a reading each morning, but then average the weeks results. For example, my week starts on Monday - Sunday, so I average the weeks result and only use the weekly results for comparison. The weekly average provides the best results if you want to track your progress.
As mentioned earlier, daily results can fluctuate due to many small causes (I even think the type of workout from the previous day has an impact on my results). However, this averages out over a week. The weekly averages are very good indicators of your progress.
-
Do not use the BIA scale to check your precise body fat%, but use it to understand the trend. The actual body fat% mentioned in the BIA might be a couple of percentage points off the actual number. However, if you see that your weekly average body fat% is decreasing on a regular basis, you are doing something right.
If the BIA shows your body fat as 18%, the reality might be anywhere between 16-20%. However, if your weekly body fat average is falling every week by 0.4%, then you are on the right track. If your weekly body fat% average is going up, you need fix a something.
-
Stick to one scale. I visited my inlaws for about 4 weeks during this period and they had a different model of an Omron BIA. It showed my skeletal muscle% nearly 5% off what mine was showing. However, I used it only to check the trend/weekly average and it seemed to work. But for that you need to use it for a longer period (2 weeks +)
Good luck with a BIA. Its a very handy tool as long as you know how to use it.
