My New Scale

I know a scale is everyone's worst enemy, but I also know that I should probably have one to better monitor my progress. I bought the Beurer Body Analysis Scale from Bed Bath & Beyond for only $29.99 (well, even cheaper than that, with my coupon). It's great, because it not only gives me my weight but my body fat percentage, my water percentage, and my muscle percentage! I initially was only interested in my weight and body fat percentage, but the extra stuff will be good to track, too.

My plan is to weigh myself every Saturday morning before making up my meal plan for the week. That way, I will have one more guide to aid me. Once a week is probably still too frequent, but at least if I didn't lose weight or if I gained weight, I can take a look at my body fat percentage and my muscle percentage to see if it's something I need to be concerned about.

Even though it's Wednesday night, I decided to give my new scale a test whirl. After inputting my data, I got myself measured and received the following numbers:

Weight: 125 lbs

Body Fat: 28.3%

Body Water: 52.2%

Muscle: 35.7%

And then, for kicks, I measured my waist circumference, which was about 30".

According to the handbook that came with the scale, I'm just over what they consider "average" for body fat percentage (28% for women between the ages of 20-29; "good" is between 18-23%, and "very good" is less than 18%), but I'm well in the range I'm supposed to be for my body water percentage (50-55% for women).

Of course, according to HealthCheck Systems, my body fat percentage is "acceptable," and to be "fit" I should be somewhere between 21-24%, which Beurer states is "good." When I take a look at their equations and input my numbers, in order to be the minimum "fit" I should focus on being at 24% body fat and 120 lbs. To be at the brink of athleticism, my measurements should be 21% body fat and 116 lbs.

I want to be 115 lbs... but I'm not so focused on being "athletic" so much as I am being "fit" and healthy. So, if I manage to get below 120 lbs and bringing my body fat percentage down accordingly, that just might be good enough.

Body water percentage is interesting, but I want to look into that some more.