I'm a fat heifer.

Krazy_Kat
Krazy_Kat Posts: 212
in Health and Weight Loss
I bought some new electronic scales because my old scales were very innacurate and I couldn't read them. My new scales test body fat and all that, I know body fat scales are notoriously inaccurate, but I thought I could track progress at the least. Anyway my scales wont register body fat that is too high or too low. I tested myself and my bodyfat came in as FATh. Too high, my body fat is over 50%. Thats gross and freaks me out. What a wake up call. I know that the h stands for heifer. I tested my whole family. Father-normal body fat range.. Daughter, just right. Mother also FATh. It freaked Mum out too. So my first body fat goal is to just register on the damn scales.

Replies

  • tadpole242
    tadpole242 Posts: 507 Member
    I bought some new electronic scales because my old scales were very innacurate and I couldn't read them. My new scales test body fat and all that, I know body fat scales are notoriously inaccurate, but I thought I could track progress at the least. Anyway my scales wont register body fat that is too high or too low. I tested myself and my bodyfat came in as FATh. Too high, my body fat is over 50%. Thats gross and freaks me out. What a wake up call. I know that the h stands for heifer. I tested my whole family. Father-normal body fat range.. Daughter, just right. Mother also FATh. It freaked Mum out too. So my first body fat goal is to just register on the damn scales.
    I think you will find that the scales you bought just suck. Get a better set of scales, or get your Doctor to weigh you and test you with calipers.
  • Krazy_Kat
    Krazy_Kat Posts: 212
    Or I could have a really high body fat. My family is either thin or really big, I need to test it on an average person
  • Krazy_Kat
    Krazy_Kat Posts: 212
    What makes you think that they aren't working? Oh well at least the weight bit works. I will register on the bodyfat setting before too long
  • roybot86
    roybot86 Posts: 8
    I feel your pain! I tried out some of those scales the other day, and firstly the weight was about a stone more than my own digital scales read, but secondly it refused to give my the other stats and showed ERR4. I concluded from this that I must so big that the machine simply can't compute such a high number! Not the most encouraging start to my diet!
  • loobybooby82
    loobybooby82 Posts: 17 Member
    I have exactly the same problem on my body fat monitor. I am 5ft 5.5 and it wont register me until I get down to 16st 13lb (237lb)....I am currently 258lbs....I cant wait to lose enough to find out how 'fat' I am!! lol. x
  • Blaineyyy
    Blaineyyy Posts: 151 Member
    I bought scales for around £30, so they were pretty decent but they told me I was 4st higher than what I was. Then I lost 5lbs and it said I'd gained another stone! Needless to say, I got a refund for that. I'd suggest measuring instead, and getting your doctor to weigh you 'cause that's more accurate than anything you're gonna find. :)
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
    I personally don't trust doctors' scales. I would feel safer with brand new ones I just bought. Doctor's seem to forget to calibrate their scales A LOT! Every time I take my kids in for a check-up, I know what they weigh from home, and it's a good 5 lbs or so off at the doc's, I tell them it's not right, so they check the scales, they're not calibrated. Oh what do ya know? So, if you go to your doc's like someone suggested, make sure the scales are calibrated. =)
  • tadpole242
    tadpole242 Posts: 507 Member
    What makes you think that they aren't working? Oh well at least the weight bit works. I will register on the bodyfat setting before too long
    If the picture in your Avatar is you, then I doubt that your are a 50% bodyfat unless your are about 4' tall, ergo the scales must not be working/measuring you correctly.
  • laura789a
    laura789a Posts: 18 Member
    I think whether the scales are right or wrong is irrelevant, they have given you the drive to do something, the first time I weighed myself and realised what had happened to my body gradually over time was the biggest kick to do something about it. And when im tired or hungry and want to give up I think about that and it spurs me on again.
    Who knows in a while you may thank your rude scales.....
    Good luck

    L
    x
  • tadpole242
    tadpole242 Posts: 507 Member
    I think whether the scales are right or wrong is irrelevant, they have given you the drive to do something, the first time I weighed myself and realised what had happened to my body gradually over time was the biggest kick to do something about it. And when im tired or hungry and want to give up I think about that and it spurs me on again.
    Who knows in a while you may thank your rude scales.....
    Good luck

    L
    x
    It matters a because they cost her hard earned money, and b if they are wrong now they will always be wrong, but who knows to what degree, they may say over now, and next month they may say fine, and the month after, super over, how can you judge progress is you are unable to have a clear starting point. (if weight be your measure of progress that is)
  • loufranks
    loufranks Posts: 45
    I bought some scales for weighing "extra heavy" people and guess what, I only JUST get a reading. I'm not about 10kg under but I was very nearly off the scale when I started. Yep, makes you feel great doesn't it?

    The only thing I can add really is to try being kinder to yourself. Thinking of yourself as a heifer really isn't doing anything good to your self esteem. One thing I can recommend is to try journalling - for every bad thing you write about, find something good in it and (speaking as a lifelong pessimist here) I can guarantee that you will feel more positive and motivated.

    For example, the other day my journal went kind of like this:

    The bad news: binged on Subway, crisps, soda and cheese on toast

    The good news: only got a 6 inch sub instead of a 12, picked lower fat crisps and sugar free soda and had half as much cheese on toast. So although it was a binge, it was about half the calories (or less) than usual.

    The key thing I took away from that was "yes I binged, but I proved I can make healthier food choices". That's pretty huge really. When I thought of it in those terms, it was much more motivating! Try it :)
  • tpittsley77
    tpittsley77 Posts: 607 Member
    What makes you think that they aren't working? Oh well at least the weight bit works. I will register on the bodyfat setting before too long
    If the picture in your Avatar is you, then I doubt that your are a 50% bodyfat unless your are about 4' tall, ergo the scales must not be working/measuring you correctly.


    This is exactly what I was going to say. There is NO way you are 50% body fat based on your picture. You should go to fat2fitradio.com measure yourself, and check out their body fat calulators. The military one is good for men. Check out the other ones tho. They are pretty accurate for me.
  • jdhosier
    jdhosier Posts: 315 Member
    I bought an rather expensive balance scale years ago. I then got too heavy to weigh myself on that scale because I was over 350lbs. My first goal was to be able to weigh myself on the scale, so I just kept working at it until I was able to get a weight measurement. You are right, it is a great motivator. I did a happy dance when I was finally able to move the big weight after I had lost more than 80 lbs.

    I agree with others. Get some calipers and do the pinch test. Or, just take your measurements with a tape measure. You really want to monitor your progress. The real victories have nothing to do with the scale or the body fat. It will be how you feel and the way your old clothes will fall off you.

    Good luck. You CAN do this!
  • jesz124
    jesz124 Posts: 1,004 Member
    I'm not a great lover of scales generally. I could of been having a really good week, eating well, exercising plenty and if the scales show me a weight I don't like I can just chuck the towel in totally and go on a binge. They make me so angry some days. If I could ban them I think I would. We really shouldn't use them to judge ourselves I think. At the end of the day it's a number. Thats it, nothing more. It bears no relevance to our self worth as a person. Try to maybe judge your losses from how your clothes fit? I think I will be weighing myself weekly (on the gym scales) to keep an eye on things perhaps. But I'm going to rely on my tape measure far more. My scales at home have a flat battery and I have decided I will NOT be replacing it! You could weight your perfect weight on the scales but it doesn't reflect your health at the end of the day.
  • marymayt
    marymayt Posts: 5 Member
    for me the scale isnt my best friend its ok to see how you are doing week to week but it can set you back sometimes I do speak from experience b/c I weigh too often myself I want to throw it away sometimes.I just go by how my clothes are fitting alot b/c even though the scale isnt moving like I want my clothes fit loose but I know how you feel just stick with exercising and drinking plenty of water and healthy eating it all go hand in hand all we can do is try, try hard, try harder walk, walk,walk and we one day will reach our destination
  • almostatgoalweight
    almostatgoalweight Posts: 234 Member
    Just to clarify things but scales are notoriously bad for measuring fat percentage. The reason is that they pass a small (safe) electric current from one leg to another and compare the results to a database of people with known fat percentage. So they ignore the top half of your body which may (or not) have a lot of fat. They also are incredibly variable in results. If you're going to use them, take an average of 30 readings in order to get a consistent result. There is a lot of "noise" in the data.
  • Rynoman2k3
    Rynoman2k3 Posts: 152 Member
    This thread delivers! LOL I know I shouldn't but I giggled. You'll get there! If you put your mind to it, anything is possible!

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