Weighing Method & Tanita Body Fat scales

When tracking my weight and body fat I have an official weigh-in once a week at home in the morning. I'd suggest either a Sunday or a Monday to ensure consistent results. As I'm not out on the town partying on Saturday nights I'm not seeing significant variations between Sundays and Mondays.

I'll sometime weigh myself morning and evening over a few days just to see how my measurements fluctuate. This is more for me to get to know my own body then for any official measurements. I'd typically caution about daily weighing as you'll not necessarily see a daily decrease in weight and this can be demotivating. What I've noticed is that my weight will vary by 0.5kg to 1.5kg from morning to evening. A fair bit of this increase will be water as I'm dehydrated in the morning and super saturated in the evening. My body fat measurement varies the opposite way, typically decreasing by 1-2% from the morning to the evening as I have more water in my body, the electrical pulses travel easier and hence my body fat reading is lower.


I suggest taking official measurements in the morning as it is typically going to produce more consistent results to compare. You've not eaten in a while, most people get out of bed at a similar time each week etc. For me the ritual is: get up, a trip to the bathroom and then time to weigh.


I have a Tanita body fat scales which I bought over 6 years ago. They work well for me, and based on providing gender and height will use electrical impulses to measure body fat percentage. From comparing the measurements with other means (calipers etc) I've found that for me they do present a pretty accurate assessment.

It's worth a warning here though.. My brother bought a different (more expensive) set of Tanita scales about 2 years after me and his ones always provided a ~4% lower body far reading. So don't take the reading as correct unless you've been able to validate it by other means. Now whether the readings are always higher or lower than the true value, it is the trend that is important i.e. month by month is the body fat % reducing as you journey towards your target.

The scales work by sending an electrical impulse up through one leg, across and then down the other leg. Now depending on where about on your body you store your body fat you may or may not find the readings are accurate. All I can say is the scales I have work well for me as an individual.

If you're looking to buy body fat scales then I'd recommend researching specific models, Amazon is always a good place. There are many manufacturers and models these days, some will be suitable for you, others may not. If you're able to then try and get your body fat measurement measured at a gym or by a doctor and then find a store that sells the scales and see if you can try them there, or try at home and return if they're not accurate.