Hand held Body fat analyzer?

[tovasidneeann]

have any of you seen this device? Do you think it could be accurate?

I think it might help to see the progress I make when the scale is staying the same.

http://igg.me/at/skulpt/x/55331

[primek_Kathy]

They are far from accurate but you could try one. I compared a handheld one with a stand on one and had 4% difference......which us a lot. Plus even though I had lost 5kg, the body fat went down 0,2 or something, it just made me cross. But perhaps I wasn't working out hard enough.

[Ukase]

You may be assured that you are not alone. I began to think that FitBit totally miscalculated my BMR, because despite being 1000 calories (give or take a few) beneath my burned calories for a week, I saw my weight go up and down. Then - oddly enough - I tried to drink that silly 64 ounces of water - which I do not enkoy because it tastes ...metallic and provided no satisfaction of any kind. I then found that I did indeed lose 2 pounds this week - or I'm dehydrated a bit - which is very unlikely given the 80 ounces of water I drank. (I'm too cheap to pay for bottled water. Water is and always should be free!)

My best advice - only weigh yourself once a week at the same time every night. Morning weights are usually ligher because you're dehydrated. Oh, and drink water as much as you can - even though it isn't as fun as a smoothie or a cafe mocha.

[Cybertekkno]

I have been using a handheld Omron HBF-306C for the last 4 years and find it to be pretty accurate.  I can use it 4 or 5 times in a row and get the same numbers each time.  Even if they are not 100% accurate, they can give you a good idea as to where you are now and how well you are doing in your weight loss journey.  I purchased mine for $24, so they are not very expensive and are more accurate then calipers.

The most accurate way to measure body fat is do a hydrostatic body fat test done.  Some university exercise physiology departments offer hydrostatic testing, which involves being dunked dunked into a tank of water from a preweighed scale chair.  I had this done a couple of times.