# Smart Scales Body Fat Newcastle Diet



## Weekender (Jun 10, 2021)

Day 16 of the Newcastle diet, averaging 400g a day weight loss and well on track.
My measuring obsession is starting to fade. This seems typical.

I was thinking of upgrading my smart scales as the ritual repositioning of my feet 30+ times in the morning to get the biometric data (particularly body fat) to work was losing it's appeal.

Body fat is an important measure, as it is the visceral fat the diet is targeting and you lose this in tandem with subcutaneous (gut) fat. I want to get in the normal range (Spoiler alert  - the answer is 'a man needs a maximum 37 waist")

Researching smart scales, I learned that "The most accurate readings were off by about 21%, while the least accurate were off by about 34%".
They work by a small electrical current running up through your leg and across your pelvis, measuring the amount of resistance from body fat.  Then, the sensors in the scale measure the level of resistance that the current met as it travels back through your other leg

Formulas are then used this to calculate:  _Fat-Free Body Weight, BMI, Body Fat, Skeletal Muscles, Subcutaneous Fat, Visceral Fat, Body Water, Muscle Mass, Bone Mass, Protein, BMR .A_ll from a current through your leg!

I was concerned because I have stick like arms and legs, I make Kermit look pumped. I worried: '_perhaps the formulas aren't accurate for a gut on sticks like me?_'

The scales calculated a body fat of 24.1% - high but not in the danger zone


Using an online calculator I got 27.9% . Obese. A very different result.


So I will stick to a tape measure - I need to lose 5" around my waist


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## Vonny (Jun 10, 2021)

My sister swears by (or at!) her all-singing-all-dancing scales which do everything bar make her a cup of tea. I personally just prefer normal scales, a tape measure and the nhs BMI calculator. I too had stick-like arms and legs and have sadly lost weight off those as well as round my waist and now have baggy skin rippling all over. Hey ho, I suppose no one ever died of looking baggy. 

Good luck with that tape measure!


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## grovesy (Jun 10, 2021)

I don't see the point in wasting my money on all sing and dancing scales.


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## Weekender (Jun 10, 2021)

Vonny said:


> My sister swears by (or at!) her all-singing-all-dancing scales which do everything bar make her a cup of tea. I personally just prefer normal scales, a tape measure and the nhs BMI calculator. I too had stick-like arms and legs and have sadly lost weight off those as well as round my waist and now have baggy skin rippling all over. Hey ho, I suppose no one ever died of looking baggy.
> 
> Good luck with that tape measure!


Yes Vonny, my limbs seem to be getting skinnier and my gut looks the same. Ho hum. It's what's on the inside that counts I guess


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## AndBreathe (Jun 10, 2021)

Weekender said:


> Day 16 of the Newcastle diet, averaging 400g a day weight loss and well on track.
> My measuring obsession is starting to fade. This seems typical.
> 
> I was thinking of upgrading my smart scales as the ritual repositioning of my feet 30+ times in the morning to get the biometric data (particularly body fat) to work was losing it's appeal.
> ...



I have had these since 2014.  They're still going strong.

If you are going to invest, please ensure you choose a set with hand grasps, as the more measuring zones (hands as well as feet), the more accurate measurements are likely to be.

For me, it's unimportant if a scale says I weigh xkg, or ykg, or that I have x or y percentage fat, but it is important they are consistent.

The Omron BF511s do record a measure of visceral fat.


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## Weekender (Jun 10, 2021)

AndBreathe said:


> I have had these since 2014.  They're still going strong.
> 
> If you are going to invest, please ensure you choose a set with hand grasps, as the more measuring zones (hands as well as feet), the more accurate measurements are likely to be.
> 
> ...


Thanks AndBreathe, more measuring zones would be better, and you're right the trend is more important than the baseline number. It was only 4 weeks since my T2 diagnosis, and I haven't got my head around what happens after I finish the Newcastle diet (The 'rest of your life' bit). Anything that helps put you in control of yourself is worth investing in.


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