Measurement & Monitoring

When you're following any kind of weight management programme, often you will want to keep an eye on how you are doing. And I don't mean jumping on the scales every day, which is somewhat counter-productive as we can see-saw like mad; you're looking for the trend here!

But what's the best way to track progress?

In-clinic, I use a Tanita Bio-impedance Monitor with Innerscan technology (which you can now get for home use - see below). I use this one because as well as measuring how much fat you are holding, it will measure the all-important visceral fat area ie. what you're holding around your tum and abdominal organs which is the BIG indicator for future health trouble. It also measures bone mass, which is really useful, especially if you're post-40.

You can pay thousands for bio-impedance machines, but actually nowadays you can get sone pretty cheaply. Obviously, the more you pay, the more accurate the results are. But, I use this simple version - which you can now get for home use - and it gives enough of an indication so you can track what's going on.

Bioimpedance basically works by sending a slight electrical current (don't worry, you can't feel it!) through the body in this case as you stand on the monitor in bare feet. Lean tissue, such as muscle and blood, holds a lot of water and electrolyte minerals and conducts electricity well, whereas fat is quite dense so is a poor conductor, resisting the current. The more fat there is, the higher the resistance score. The machine is, in essence, measuring the difference in conductivity of different body parts and types of tissue.

Here's the manufacturer's blurb. Note the machine comes with a handy reference  guide so you can compare your measurements with the ideal ones.

Click here to go to Amazon to get the cheapest daily price for this machine. You can get cheaper ones but this is the best in my opinion.

Tip: it works best on a hard surface so make sure you have a hard floor you can put it on, not carpet.

And here's one of the reviews from Amazon, which I thought pretty much says it all:

And I have used many. As soon as I found out my Salter 9117s didn't actually measure your body fat, water etc by electrical signals (it just works it out -badly- from your height/weight etc) I quickly ordered these.

I was going to wait for the Tanita BC1000 to go with my garmin watch, but they have been waiting for EU approval for ages, so I decided to go with these - oh how glad I am.

They are built very well, the glass is very thick and very well engineered. The buttons are easy to press and it beeps nicely to let you know when things are ready. The screen is clear (although doesn't light up) and I like the way that each measurement is separated with it's own function button. Body fat % and weight are shown automatically and then to get each other measurement you press the corresponding buttons.

It doesn't turn itself off when you are trying to write down the measurements! Hoorah. My Salter showed you a bunch of numbers, then quickly turned to some other numbers, did that twice and shut off. This turns itself off after 60 seconds after a scan if you dont press anything.

I love the separate button per user, instead of pushing one button multiple times to get to the same user (Salter). Also the weigh-only mode and guest modes are god sends. The sensors are practically invisible on the glass, so it looks amazing.

It turns out that this is far more accurate than the Salter (obviously) and the Weight Watchers 8991BU which was 6% out on the body fat compared to the Tanita, which is a huge difference. I tested the tanita by scanning myself in the morning and in the evening after I had eating a lot. The body fat percentage didn't change but the weight did - perfect. It is incredibly accurate and consistent.

The visceral fat and bone scanners, while at first seemingly not necessary I am now highly addicted. I managed to get my Visceral fat down to a rating of 1 via ketogenesis and am keeping an eye on my bone mass, as as you know bone is a living tissue just like muscle, which can be strengthend and weakened just the same.

I highly recommend this for anyone who is serious about tracking their statistics.