These scales SURELY must be wrong, body fat way off!?

pyrowill

Hi guys, I'm really hoping that I'm not just in denial here. I'm a 226lb guy at 5ft9. So I carry a fair bit of extra weight but not masses upon masses. I bought a Salter scale that had the Bio stuff on it aswell, I don't care about water% or muscle %. I was only really interested in weight and body fat %. Now I know that the most accurate way is using callipers. I didn't need super accurate, I just needed a starting point and to see it go down really. However I ordered these scales http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salter-StowAWeigh-9147-BK3R-Analyser/dp/B0030EPISM about 3 weeks ago, they arrived and gave my body fat as 63% roughly.

Now I'm sure that that is waaaaaay off. I have been about the same weight for a fair few years now and my body fat upon previous measurements has been around 35%. Yet these scales read 63. So I sent them back to the company and said they are faulty and they replaced them today, and bam, very similar mid sixties BF% again. I went on a website which is a very vague calculator and that read someone with my waist heigh hips weight etc should be about 35%. Are these scales just crap? Or could I really be 60ish%?!?!

ThePunkHippie

No way! I just did mine using this site (http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ ) (the military one) & I'm 47% - there's NO WAY, with your height & weight, that you should be a higher percentage than me XD

mustgetmuscles1

That does not sound right to me either. Almost seems like its telling you how much is not fat.

I have a scale that has the body fat feature and as far as I can tell mine is pretty accurate. I have done the fat2fit measurements and had my BF checked at my gym and it was withing a couple percentage of both of those.

pyrowill

I'm really tempted to just get callipers to be honest! Although I really wish the scales worked, I don't want to send them back again. I'm sure they'll just think I'm in denial lol

kealambert

haha, 63% has to be way off

that would mean you could weigh 130 pounds and be in the 'healthy' category still

which I think you'd look more like

kealambert

That does not sound right to me either. Almost seems like its telling you how much is not fat.

I have a scale that has the body fat feature and as far as I can tell mine is pretty accurate. I have done the fat2fit measurements and had my BF checked at my gym and it was withing a couple percentage of both of those.

and even then, 37% sounds really high

Quickster34

For one im assuming this scale is either one where you step on or grab two metal surfaces? it sends a current through your body to measure densities and resistence therefore the amount of water will impact your number significantly which is why these sclaes are not that accurate as you have acknowledged, calipers will get you a better ballpark

pyrowill

Yes, its one of those simple you step on and it has two metal plates you stand on. I did link it in the original post. I know they aren't totally accurate and how hydrated you are can affect it by a few units I imagine, but not to take me from 35-60! I'm calling shenanigans. I hope!

pyrowill

It's just surprising that this is the second one thats doing it. The amazon reviews didn't mention it so I guess it's just some of their units....

BlueInkDot

37 is more believable. Mine is 33, last I checked. *shrug*

BlueInkDot

Just to be on the safe side, maybe ask your doctor to check your body fat however they do it there, just to get a more accurate reading to be sure. Yea?

mustgetmuscles1

37% might be high also I dont know. When I started I was at 28% BF at 210lbs. That works out to about 59 pounds of fat. Yikes.

M1chelles5

You may want to monitor your water%. I noticed when I'm low in water the body fat% goes up. When my water count is normal, the body fat % returns to my last measurement ...unless I lost weight. Then it goes down.

sktllmdrhmz

Sounds crazy to me, too. I have a similar scale that tells me 19% almost all the time, while I see 10% on my other monitor.

Elizabeth_C34

Screw the scale body fat measurements. The online calculators are bad too. The only decent measure is a body scan. My friend's scale has me at 34% body fat. Online calculator had me at 24-38% depending on which one you used. Body scan (by far the most accurate) has me at 29%. Those scales are notoriously bad for this.

rhichi

That does not sound right to me either. Almost seems like its telling you how much is not fat.

That might actually be the case. You should double check to see if it's on a weird setting.

aggiesrar05

Did you get on the scale after you'd been swimming or in the shower? They base bf% on electrical impedance which is HIGHLY affected by hydration. The more you are hydrated the more your body fat % decreases. Not sure why you would get a super high bf% though, strange.

I did however have a friend that was naturally scrawny and had pretty much no body fat who decided to play with my scale after we went swimming. It ended up telling him he had 98% body fat. I think it went past 0 and back to 100%.

Sorry this doesn't help much.

huntindawg1962

Check that it is not telling you body fat in lbs - some scales let you choose % or actual lbs. Weigh first thing in the am.

Calipers can be notoriously off too - especially if you don't know what you are doing. BodPod is close and DEXA scan is even more "gold standard." My Withings scale came remarkably close to the DEXA scan within an hour of each other - but it will fluctuate throughout the day so.

pyrowill

It's definitely not, it says 65% BF. how frustrating!, thanks for the replies guys!

PeachyPlum

Damn, I wish I'd read this thread before I ordered a body composition scale - I literally ordered it hours ago!

Hopefully, I'll have more accurate readings or I will be mad!

giantruss

I have the salter scales and have it set up with four profiles for our family and it seems to read ok for us,?

are you sure you havent got a profile setting incorrect?

mfpcopine

I have a Tanita scale. I've always assumed that its estimate was a little low. The other day, it gave me an estimate of 23%, while a "military" calculator that I'd read was conservative gave me a reading of 26%. The latter has a margin of error of 2%

I use the Tanita reading as a baseline.

BigDaddyBRC

Take that crap back.

Do the US Navy calculations:
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/library/blbodyfatcalculator.htm

Its far more accurate

mfpcopine

It's definitely not, it says 65% BF. how frustrating!, thanks for the replies guys!

To have a comparison, why don't you do a Google search for body fat percentages you can calculate with a tape measure?

Allic1971

I have the weight watchers scales (BF reading 34.4%) and Accu calipers (BF reading 34%), both seem ok to me, and similar when I do the military body fat calculations.

Hope you figure it out :noway:

Saffyra

Does it give you a choice between Athletic and Normal body types? This could possibly be the problem. I know it gives my husband a crazy reading if its not on Athletic.

shamr0ck

Calipers are not accurate, far from it.

The scales can be pretty close - mine usually puts me within a couple of points of the DEXA scan that i have done quarterly. DEXA is the current "gold standard" of body composition calculators - google it if you aren't already familiar.

My hubby is 6'3", started at 240, and was 38% bodyfat at that weight, so 37% is definitely within reason for a male that has been out of shape for some time. The good news is that he is now at 212 and 20% bodyfat (took 6 months).

mfpcopine

Calipers are not accurate, far from it.

I've read that calipers can be very accurate, but you need to know what you're doing. I use a scale.

mfpcopine

I'm really tempted to just get callipers to be honest! Although I really wish the scales worked, I don't want to send them back again. I'm sure they'll just think I'm in denial lol

Go to a store and try weighing yourself on a Tanita scale.

pyrowill

Calipers are not accurate, far from it.

Calipers are incredibly accurate. But only in the right hands. I'll try the Athletic mode just in case, but. D have it set to normal. Just seems strange that two of the same models give a similar reading.

And all the online ones that take into account measurements aswell as weir all put me around 35-37. I'm sooooo sure 65% is way off. I'll try Athletic mode later.

huntindawg1962

Calipers are incredibly accurate. But only in the right hands. I'll try the Athletic mode just in case, but. D have it set to normal. Just seems strange that two of the same models give a similar reading.

And all the online ones that take into account measurements aswell as weir all put me around 35-37. I'm sooooo sure 65% is way off. I'll try Athletic mode later.

Or send it back for another one. There is the possibility that your unit has an issue in the calculations that is giving you an incorrect reading. Yours sounds like it may be giving you % of lean body mass instead of body fat.

Calipers have utility - not very good on larger people as they can not get the "pinch" repeatably and as you state "in the right hands" of which I have yet to meet the trainer at health clubs that has had more than cursory training. And home use is really subjective.

Get a DEXA or BodPod if you really want the facts as close as they come.