11-07-2015 04:54 - last edited on 09-10-2019 14:53 by MatthewFitbit
11-07-2015 04:54 - last edited on 09-10-2019 14:53 by MatthewFitbit
Hi, I have a question on whether it is really possible I'm made up of 33% body fat (according to the aria scale). Here are my stats:
51 year old woman
5' 6"
132 lbs.
currently wearing a size 6
33% body fat according to the charts means I'm obese. I don't feel obese. I know I need to lose 8 more lbs. to be at my ideal weight that I feel best at, but this 33% body fat has been pretty consistent the whole time I've been dieting. Even after I lose 8 more lbs., I do not think it will be much less than 33% body fat on the aria scale. I'm definitely not lean, so I know selecting the "lean" category in the settings would not apply to me.
I'm fine with just ignoring this and feeling good about the lbs. I've already lost, but every morning it's still a little depressing to weigh yourself and think how is it possible that 33% of my body is pure fat.
I weigh myself bare foot, dry feet every morning before I shower. I do not move the scale. It is sitting on the floor in my bedroom, same spot as always.
Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity
Answered! Go to the Best Answer.
08-18-2016 09:19
08-18-2016 09:19
I'm having the same issue with the scale. I'am 5' 10" weigh 169 and have 38% bodyfat. If I do my BMI, I'm in the normal range but this says I'm obese. What's up with this? How is this calculated? I spent ~$130 on a scale that should be accurate. I'll stick with my $40 scale that seems to give me the same thing.... Very disappointing!
08-18-2016 10:11
08-18-2016 10:11
08-18-2016 23:57 - last edited on 02-23-2021 04:04 by JuanJoFitbit
08-18-2016 23:57 - last edited on 02-23-2021 04:04 by JuanJoFitbit
@lzam wrote:
I'm having the same issue with the scale. I'am 5' 10" weigh 169 and have 38% bodyfat. If I do my BMI, I'm in the normal range but this says I'm obese. What's up with this? How is this calculated?
Many people appear to confuse BMI (body mass index) and BF (body fat). Your Aria was never supposed to tell you your BMI. You don't need it for that: BMI is just a ratio between height and weight.
Your Aria displays an estimate of your body fat % which is determined by Aria using bioelectrical impedance readings combined with other information in your Fitbit account.
If your body fat % is high but your BMI is normal, then you could be "skinny fat" and should work to lose fat and increase muscle.
The Aria scale does not calculate BMI.
I agree with you. The setup process is not simple enough. Once the Aria was setup recordings to my Fitbit account were seamless.
Moderator edit: merged replies
08-25-2016 05:58
08-25-2016 05:58
08-25-2016 07:38
08-25-2016 07:38
Nope. Sorry. Really disappointed.
08-26-2016 05:49
08-26-2016 05:49
I have had this scale for over a year now. I love its measurements for weight. However, no matter what I have weighed in the last year, the body fat stays between 33-34%. I find it hard to believe the mechanics is wrong in the scale and a replacement will fix the problem. I have basically been ignoring the measurement. I would imagine there is a software issue somewhere that needs to be fixed.
08-26-2016 10:34
08-26-2016 21:35
08-26-2016 21:35
08-29-2016 06:50
08-29-2016 06:50
09-01-2016 08:33
09-01-2016 08:33
It looks like this scale is giving everyone the same issues. I recently had micro laser lipo because I was at 35% body fat and I felt like my health was deteriorating fast - I'm 5'3 & weighed 199 lbs. They took 5 liters from me and I have been so excited to start a healthier new start in life so I ordered this scale not so much for the weight but for the fat & water %. I got it last night and it said I was at 40% body fat - then this morning I was at 41.1%!!! Seriously? I'm ready to return mine....
09-01-2016 15:40 - edited 09-01-2016 15:40
09-01-2016 15:40 - edited 09-01-2016 15:40
Hey all - I posted this in another thread, but it seems to be applicable here as well:
Body fat percentage often increases when one loses weight because of hydration levels. In the first week or so of eating better, most people tend to lose a lot of water weight, because their diet includes less salt and refined sugar.
Body fat percentage is calculated as fat mass divided by total mass. If you significantly lower the total mass, while fat mass stays the same, body fat percentage will increase simply due to the above math. Even if fat mass is also decreasing, total mass almost always decreases at a faster rate, which still results in an increase of body fat percentage.
If you continue to weigh yourself daily, you'll probably see that your body fat percent goes down on days when your weightfluctuates up, since you're retaining more water those days. Similarly, on days when your weight fluctuates down, the body fat percent goes up because you're retaining less water.
Hopefully this explains a bit of what you're seeing. The good news is that you're making progress toward your goal. On a longer timeframe, you'll be more likely to see both weight and BF% on the decrease.
So @Kimb5861 - what you're describing sounds normal. Your overall mass decreased at a higher ratio than your fat mass, so the body fat reading increased.
09-02-2016 18:31 - edited 09-02-2016 18:34
09-02-2016 18:31 - edited 09-02-2016 18:34
Thank you Matthew for your clarification, still it doesnt explain why I mensure myself once and it says 27.1% and few seconds after I do it again and it says 26.6%. Or in the case of the other user in the house who did exactly the same 28% and then 25.7% ... I had not bothered asking for a replacement because I truly believe it is a hardware flaw or a software/firmware one... and I am still hoping fitbit will resolve it and hopefully push an update or making a mass recall.. Defenetly not worthy to pay the 10 times PREMIUM PRICE for it while a $10 (no-name made in china) will do pretty much the job... Yes it is nice it logs the information automatically into my profile, but what is the point of doing so, if it is no way accurate in anyway anyways... I still hope customers like myself can get a REAL SOLUTION TO THIS ISSUE... And I am not interested in getting two malfunction scales for the price of one either...
09-04-2016 09:12
09-04-2016 09:12
@IAD In addition to what I mentioned above, remember that the Aria takes a unique reading with every measurement (unlike most consumer scales, which round their results to appear more consistent). This means that minor factors like the way you stand on the scale or the positioning of your feet can slightly affect the readings. The ranges you mentioned sound pretty normal, and shouldn't affect your ability to use the scale to achieve your goals.
09-06-2016 09:16 - edited 09-06-2016 09:17
09-06-2016 09:16 - edited 09-06-2016 09:17
I agree. I actually did get a replacement scale and I STILL get varying info within 30 seconds. For instance, this morning, I weighed 137.8 and when I weighed again, approximately 30 seconds later, I was 136.8???? This happens every single day. Unacceptable for such as expensive scale. I usually weight twice and then go into the app on my PC and delete the higher of the two weights.....but, this never tells me what my true weight is and it's very frustrating and a pain!
09-06-2016 09:38
09-06-2016 09:38
May be Fitbit should sell this product as a "Quantum Random Number Generator" instead, save the money in salaries from "Public Relation" moderators and with that, design and launch a REAL weight scale for everybody who is looking into your products to get guidence about healthy life/exercise.
And please don't tell me the scale is so acurate that "wind in the room" and the cordinates of the earth at that moment affect also the measures. This product as it is, it's COMPLETLY UNACCEPTABLE!
AND This (and all the excuses coming from PR) only speak very badly about the company... I really hope managment, designers and programmers are working in a REAL/TRULY SOLUTION to this REAL PROBLEM/ISSUE....
09-06-2016 09:45
09-06-2016 09:45
09-06-2016 10:14
09-06-2016 10:14
@kaj205 See my post right above yours for an explanation of why this happens. As you continue to weigh yourself regularly over time, you should be able to visualize trends and changes toward your goal.
09-06-2016 10:31 - edited 09-06-2016 10:48
09-06-2016 10:31 - edited 09-06-2016 10:48
Sorry, Mathew why did you delete my reply? Nevermind, its back online again....
09-06-2016 10:32
09-06-2016 10:32
so here is my super loooooooooooooong post!! this is every weigh in since april 1st. I weigh in every morning between 6:30-8:30am before i shower. for the most part you can see what the mod is trying to say.
Body | |||
Date | Weight | BMI | Fat |
4/1/2016 | 197.22 | 26.74 | 12.654 |
4/2/2016 | 197.94 | 26.84 | 12.864 |
4/3/2016 | 198.66 | 26.94 | 13.074 |
4/4/2016 | 199.38 | 27.04 | 13.284 |
4/5/2016 | 200.11 | 27.13 | 13.496 |
4/6/2016 | 199.18 | 27.01 | 15.557 |
4/7/2016 | 199.28 | 27.02 | 15.605 |
4/8/2016 | 199.38 | 27.03 | 15.653 |
4/9/2016 | 199.47 | 27.05 | 15.701 |
4/10/2016 | 199.57 | 27.06 | 15.749 |
4/11/2016 | 199.67 | 27.07 | 15.797 |
4/12/2016 | 199.76 | 27.09 | 15.845 |
4/13/2016 | 199.87 | 27.1 | 15.897 |
4/14/2016 | 199.94 | 27.11 | 15.42 |
4/15/2016 | 200.02 | 27.12 | 14.943 |
4/16/2016 | 200.1 | 27.13 | 14.466 |
4/17/2016 | 200.17 | 27.14 | 13.987 |
4/18/2016 | 201.34 | 27.3 | 14.626 |
4/19/2016 | 202.51 | 27.46 | 15.265 |
4/20/2016 | 200.9 | 27.24 | 15.687 |
4/21/2016 | 200.9 | 27.24 | 15.432 |
4/22/2016 | 201.34 | 27.3 | 15.539 |
4/23/2016 | 203.1 | 27.54 | 15.833 |
4/24/2016 | 204.85 | 27.78 | 16.127 |
4/25/2016 | 206.6 | 28.01 | 16.421 |
4/26/2016 | 208.35 | 28.25 | 16.718 |
4/27/2016 | 201.67 | 27.35 | 16.336 |
4/28/2016 | 201.6 | 27.34 | 15.923 |
4/29/2016 | 201.52 | 27.33 | 15.51 |
4/30/2016 | 201.44 | 27.31 | 15.097 |
5/1/2016 | 201.47 | 27.32 | 15.236 |
5/2/2016 | 201.42 | 27.31 | 14.961 |
5/3/2016 | 201.37 | 27.3 | 14.684 |
5/4/2016 | 201.96 | 27.39 | 13.385 |
5/5/2016 | 200.24 | 27.15 | 13.631 |
5/6/2016 | 199.09 | 27 | 14.128 |
5/7/2016 | 199.26 | 27.02 | 14.18 |
5/8/2016 | 199.43 | 27.04 | 14.232 |
5/9/2016 | 199.03 | 26.99 | 14.385 |
5/10/2016 | 201.19 | 27.28 | 14.774 |
5/11/2016 | 199.23 | 27.01 | 14.553 |
5/12/2016 | 197.66 | 26.8 | 15.064 |
5/13/2016 | 199.07 | 26.99 | 15.291 |
5/14/2016 | 200.31 | 27.16 | 14.687 |
5/15/2016 | 199.73 | 27.08 | 14.607 |
5/16/2016 | 198.87 | 26.97 | 14.699 |
5/17/2016 | 197.86 | 26.83 | 14.897 |
5/18/2016 | 198.63 | 26.93 | 15.425 |
5/19/2016 | 195.08 | 26.45 | 15.258 |
5/20/2016 | 199.65 | 27.07 | 15.342 |
5/21/2016 | 198.54 | 26.92 | 15.277 |
5/22/2016 | 197.44 | 26.77 | 15.212 |
5/23/2016 | 196.34 | 26.62 | 15.145 |
5/24/2016 | 194.82 | 26.42 | 15.444 |
5/25/2016 | 194.2 | 26.33 | 15.552 |
5/26/2016 | 193.21 | 26.2 | 15.395 |
5/27/2016 | 194.62 | 26.39 | 15.552 |
5/28/2016 | 196.69 | 26.67 | 15.015 |
5/29/2016 | 196.34 | 26.62 | 14.543 |
5/30/2016 | 196.49 | 26.64 | 13.748 |
5/31/2016 | 195.59 | 26.52 | 13.796 |
6/1/2016 | 195.06 | 26.45 | 13.746 |
6/2/2016 | 194.16 | 26.33 | 13.47 |
6/3/2016 | 194.95 | 26.43 | 13.522 |
6/4/2016 | 195.59 | 26.52 | 13.958 |
6/5/2016 | 194.27 | 26.34 | 14.526 |
6/6/2016 | 193.89 | 26.29 | 13.774 |
6/7/2016 | 193.1 | 26.18 | 13.946 |
6/8/2016 | 193.45 | 26.23 | 14.131 |
6/9/2016 | 192.41 | 26.09 | 14.26 |
6/10/2016 | 192.7 | 26.13 | 14.298 |
6/11/2016 | 193.45 | 26.23 | 13.965 |
6/12/2016 | 192.44 | 26.09 | 14.104 |
6/13/2016 | 192.72 | 26.13 | 13.777 |
6/14/2016 | 193.1 | 26.18 | 13.762 |
6/15/2016 | 192.55 | 26.11 | 13.895 |
6/16/2016 | 191.69 | 25.99 | 14.053 |
6/17/2016 | 192.35 | 26.08 | 13.97 |
6/18/2016 | 192.99 | 26.17 | 13.883 |
6/19/2016 | 191.95 | 26.03 | 13.847 |
6/20/2016 | 195.32 | 26.49 | 13.866 |
6/21/2016 | 194.4 | 26.36 | 14.022 |
6/22/2016 | 195.41 | 26.5 | 13.295 |
6/23/2016 | 193.43 | 26.23 | 13.439 |
6/24/2016 | 193.43 | 26.23 | 13.659 |
6/25/2016 | 193.85 | 26.29 | 13.678 |
6/26/2016 | 193.75 | 26.27 | 13.607 |
6/27/2016 | 193.65 | 26.26 | 13.536 |
6/28/2016 | 193.54 | 26.24 | 13.789 |
6/29/2016 | 191.91 | 26.02 | 13.838 |
6/30/2016 | 190.58 | 25.84 | 13.835 |
7/1/2016 | 191.84 | 26.01 | 13.809 |
7/2/2016 | 191.22 | 25.93 | 13.954 |
7/3/2016 | 192.19 | 26.06 | 13.932 |
7/4/2016 | 193.1 | 26.18 | 13.404 |
7/5/2016 | 193.03 | 26.17 | 13.484 |
7/6/2016 | 191.47 | 25.96 | 13.42 |
7/7/2016 | 189 | 25.63 | 13.876 |
7/8/2016 | 190.41 | 25.82 | 13.93 |
7/9/2016 | 190.54 | 25.84 | 13.439 |
7/10/2016 | 192.04 | 26.04 | 13.032 |
7/11/2016 | 191.78 | 26 | 12.715 |
7/12/2016 | 189.66 | 25.72 | 12.93 |
7/13/2016 | 191.55 | 25.97 | 12.222 |
7/14/2016 | 189.09 | 25.64 | 13.187 |
7/15/2016 | 191.55 | 25.97 | 13.55 |
7/16/2016 | 191.05 | 25.91 | 13.284 |
7/17/2016 | 189.99 | 25.76 | 13.204 |
7/18/2016 | 188.16 | 25.51 | 12.876 |
7/19/2016 | 188.58 | 25.57 | 13.024 |
7/20/2016 | 188.58 | 25.57 | 12.829 |
7/21/2016 | 187.3 | 25.4 | 12.562 |
7/22/2016 | 188.36 | 25.54 | 12.956 |
7/23/2016 | 188.84 | 25.61 | 12.927 |
7/24/2016 | 188.27 | 25.53 | 12.989 |
7/25/2016 | 188.27 | 25.53 | 13.043 |
7/26/2016 | 187.56 | 25.43 | 12.994 |
7/27/2016 | 186.79 | 25.33 | 13.104 |
7/28/2016 | 185.45 | 25.15 | 12.534 |
7/29/2016 | 185.58 | 25.16 | 12.718 |
7/30/2016 | 187.83 | 25.47 | 12.586 |
7/31/2016 | 187.83 | 25.47 | 12.299 |
8/1/2016 | 187.83 | 25.47 | 12.204 |
8/2/2016 | 187.83 | 25.47 | 12.012 |
8/3/2016 | 187.08 | 25.37 | 11.982 |
8/4/2016 | 186.33 | 25.27 | 11.952 |
8/5/2016 | 185.58 | 25.16 | 11.921 |
8/6/2016 | 185.18 | 25.11 | 11.809 |
8/7/2016 | 184.17 | 24.97 | 11.871 |
8/8/2016 | 185.12 | 25.1 | 12.255 |
8/9/2016 | 184.26 | 24.98 | 12.284 |
8/10/2016 | 183.75 | 24.92 | 11.126 |
8/11/2016 | 183 | 24.81 | 10.717 |
8/12/2016 | 183.2 | 24.84 | 11.454 |
8/13/2016 | 183.63 | 24.9 | 11.013 |
8/14/2016 | 184.06 | 24.96 | 10.572 |
8/15/2016 | 182.54 | 24.75 | 11.182 |
8/16/2016 | 182.43 | 24.74 | 11.852 |
8/17/2016 | 182.07 | 24.69 | 11.675 |
8/18/2016 | 180.05 | 24.41 | 11.826 |
8/19/2016 | 182.19 | 24.7 | 12.546 |
8/20/2016 | 181.72 | 24.64 | 12.036 |
8/21/2016 | 181.48 | 24.61 | 11.935 |
8/22/2016 | 181.66 | 24.63 | 11.918 |
8/23/2016 | 181.83 | 24.66 | 11.901 |
8/24/2016 | 181.57 | 24.62 | 11.798 |
8/25/2016 | 181.3 | 24.58 | 11.694 |
8/26/2016 | 181.06 | 24.55 | 9.597 |
8/27/2016 | 180 | 24.41 | 10.116 |
8/28/2016 | 182.23 | 24.71 | 10.189 |
8/29/2016 | 183.79 | 24.92 | 12.015 |
8/30/2016 | 182.49 | 24.75 | 11.272 |
8/31/2016 | 181.77 | 24.65 | 10.309 |
9/1/2016 | 179.8 | 24.38 | 10.635 |
9/2/2016 | 180.95 | 24.54 | 10.859 |
9/3/2016 | 181.13 | 24.56 | 10.678 |
9/4/2016 | 180.31 | 24.45 | 10.701 |
9/5/2016 | 182.07 | 24.69 | 10.64 |
09-24-2016 05:57
09-24-2016 05:57
I have the same stats as you! and 32% BF. I was a little shocked when I looked it up online and it told me that I'm obese! (5'7" and 136 lbs).