Are all singing, all dancing scales worth it?

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Jenny65 said:
Thats a very in depth report, the ones I have ordered (hopefully coming tomorrow) are

Slimpal Scale for Body Weight Smart Body Fat Scale WiFi and Bluetooth Digital Bathroom Weight Scale Larger Display for Heart Rate, Body Fat, Weight Trend, 15 Body Composition, Zero-Current Mode​

  • [2.4Ghz WiFi Bluetooth Auto Switch] Slimpal smart scale supports 2.4Ghz WiFi connections, more stable and convenient. After weighing, your data will be automatically store to Slimpal App without opening your phone.Hand free from opening APP every time before weighing. Both WiFi and Bluetooth can auto switch,maximum guarantee of data transmission.
  • [Body Fat on TFT LCD Screen Directly ] Upgraded design with premium TFT LCD screen display, Slimpal body fat scale built in algorithm can automatically calculate your body composition directly and shows 4 essential metrics including Weight, Heart Rate, Body Fat and weight trend on TFT LCD screen directly. An up or down arrow stands next to the weight data to visually display your weight change from the last weighing.
  • [Heart Rate on TFT LCD Screen Directly] Not only body fat and body weight ,you can also check Heart Rate on the scale now! This smart scale with body fat measures a whopping 15 key metrics, establish a whole picture for your body health.
  • [Automatically Recognized & Unlimited Users] Slimpal smart scale is coated with conductive glass ITO,much larger sensor area than the metal electrodes sensor, which ensures precise measurement. Also, It is smart enough to automatically recognize who steps on in WiFi mode, each user will receive the data on their own devices conveniently. One scale for whole family, sports teams, or people living in college dorms.
  • [Work with fitness App] Download Slimpal App (iOS App Store or Play Store for Android), compatible with Apple Health, Google Fit and Fitbit. Plus, it also supports circumference tracking, record your body measurement data, it will automatically calculate the waist-to-hip ratio, offering you a complete picture of health.
Not sure if its a decent one or not but had good reviews.
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Just because I get interested in things like this - it's made by a HK company, Slimpal International, with production in Guangzhou or Shenzhen I suppose. Formed last year, no real details on the company available, like management or ownership. Not a really great look.

It's cheap and it "does everything" and it seems like the usability design may be pretty good. But there is absolutely no data I can find on accuracy, except for some worthless individual reviewer anecdotes, and once again I'd assume this is mainly a toy for anything beyond simple weight measurement etc, until proven otherwise.
 
Those are some serious stats @Eddy Edson, but not sure I want to know how weedy my arms are!
 
Eddy Edson said:
Just because I get interested in things like this - it's made by a HK company, Slimpal International, with production in Guangzhou or Shenzhen I suppose. Formed last year, no real details on the company available, like management or ownership. Not a really great look.

It's cheap and it "does everything" and it seems like the usability design may be pretty good. But there is absolutely no data I can find on accuracy, except for some worthless individual reviewer anecdotes, and once again I'd assume this is mainly a toy for anything beyond simple weight measurement etc, until proven otherwise.
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Just as well I like playing with toys then 🙂
 
You may be right though found this and the CONs are a little concerning

Customer Review Analysis For Slimpal Smart Scale!​

  • 73 Reviews
  • 4 Star Review Rating

Reasons To Purchase​

  • Provides a precise weight
  • It comes with a rechargeable lithium battery, which means I won’t have to buy batteries all the time.
  • I like how it displays body fat data on the scale.
  • It automatically syncs data, so I don’t even have to open my phone.
  • Pregnant women will appreciate this user-friendly option.
  • This scale is great because it compares your weight to the last time you weighed yourself.
  • Outside of the doctor’s office, I’ve never had so much information.

Drawbacks​

  • One of the most common complaints from dissatisfied customers is that they believe the scales are inaccurate.
 
Just watched this guy from Tech review it, interestingly the fat measurements arent reliable but the free waist measuring tool you get, does give an accurate reading of fat. I havent seen a tape measure like this before, so maybe I will use the scales for my weight and the tape measure for my fat 🙂

 
Eddy Edson said:
The more sophisticated units with handgrips etc give this kind of read out:
View attachment 21485

You'll see that it said my visceral fat "level" was 6, on some arbitrary scale where 1-9 = "good".

But there are a bunch of studies showing only mediocre correlation between what these types of machine say and actual visceral fat levels, so it's really only useful IMO for looking at trends over time.

Probably not much more useful than a simple waist-hip ratio measurement. That will do a good job of measuring central adiposity - doesn't correspond absolutely to visceral fat, but a pretty good yardstick.

So eg on this report my WHR was 0.78, which is pretty low for a male, giving some comfort that the low rating for visceral fat wasn't too far off the mark.

The conclusion from this report ws that I didn't need to lose any fat but would benefit from building upper-body muscle mass. I'm sure I'll geta round to that one of these days ....
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I totally agree on the nitty gritty of body composition.

The visceral fat range on my scales is 0-30, with a similar range for "good". My score sits at 3, with the occasional foray to 4, but it reverts to three again without intervention. I see that variance as insignificant in the scheme of things.
 
My visceral fat was 15 today and overall composition 47% 😳😳
 
Jenny65 said:
My visceral fat was 15 today and overall composition 47% 😳😳
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Visceral fat should go down pretty quickly as you lose weight.

I'd say it probably makes sense to make that your number #1 target - great for diabetes, liver, CV risks etc etc etc and really doable!

And now you have a nifty gadget to track improvements 🙂

I probably would have gotten one if I'd known about them back when I was getting things under control - I'm the kind of guy who finds it really useful to measure things often and set little targets.
 
Day 5 of using scales.png
 
In total 17 pounds lost, I was 14.4 on 29th June and now am 13.1 on 17th July and finally my fat is also going down and my visceral fat has moved from 15 to 14 🙂 so so happy! I am going to be in the 12s before my sons wedding next week I am sure

Have a great day everyone
 
I didnt know where to put this, but in amongst all the negative news, I have had some positive news today.

I visited the optician today fully expecting the worst. Along with the diabetes diagnosis, my mum, grandad, uncle and sister all have/had glaucoma. So I paid extra for the 3D scan of the back of the eye. I have a perfectly healthy eye with no damage or glaucoma (although high side of normal for that, which it has been since I was in my thirties so not increased) The only thing I needed was a new prescription for long distance glasses. She said that she was pleased I have given up smoking as there is no macular degeneration either, which smoking is a leading cause of.

So I may have a dodgy liver, be obese and have diabetes but at least there is one part of me behaving itself. I told the optician she had made my weekend, I went from being terrified about what she would say to thinking phew some good news to take with me, although the cost of the glasses made my eyes water a little, on the whole a very good start to the day.
 
Excellent news! Plus the weight loss is going so well, you should be feeling very pleased! 🙂
 
Vonny said:
Excellent news! Plus the weight loss is going so well, you should be feeling very pleased! 🙂
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Thank you Vonny, I am feeling good, I think my children are pleased too as I have been the voice of doom recently and thought I dont know what I would do if I had another thing to consider as well.

How are you doing? Did you get a scale or are you going to continue using the ones at Boots or gym? I know they are not meant to be more than a toy but I am finding it motivating watching the numbers move 🙂
 
Jenny65 said:
How are you doing? Did you get a scale or are you going to continue using the ones at Boots or gym? I know they are not meant to be more than a toy but I am finding it motivating watching the numbers move 🙂
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I may just not bother with fat percentage scales. When you're just skin and bone and baggy skin, it's too darned dispiriting to be told you are fat! :D
 
Oh Wow! I got on the scales yesterday at 19.16 - weight 188 lb and 44.4% fat, then weighed again at 21.43 weight 188.8 and fat 45.7% then at 05.59 today - Weight 187.2 and body fat 46.6% No food consumed between any reading - A message came up on this mornings weigh in saying "body fat too high, and asked is that you?" WTF!!! so I have gained over this weekend, thats for sure (started at 201 pounds on 29 June) but what on earth is going on with me losing weight but gaining fat today 🙂 I knew I would gain weight as its my sons wedding weekend, but really shocked about the fat rise and amount of gain as I was so controlled with what I ate, in fact some guests were shocked at the small amount I ate, I guess this is the alcohol!
 
Vonny said:
I may just not bother with fat percentage scales. When you're just skin and bone and baggy skin, it's too darned dispiriting to be told you are fat! :D
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Everyone has an amount of fat. It's what protects some of our organs from the rigours of day to day living.

My scales give me a percentage fat, which varies a little day-on-day, which I conclude relates to other factors, including hydration.
For me, the value all of the metrics on my scales are a bit like finger prick blood testing; the trends. For example, iIf my fat or visceral fat lelevs are consistently rising I have to ask myself if that's a positive, and explicable thing.

I don't fuss on a day-to-day basis. I only do a full scan weekly, at most, but I do step on and step off my scales, purely for weight daily. On a totally normal (for me) basis, my weight can vary up to a kilo on a day, again dependent of factors such as hydration and what I have "on board" if you get my drift.
 
Jenny65 said:
Oh Wow! I got on the scales yesterday at 19.16 - weight 188 lb and 44.4% fat, then weighed again at 21.43 weight 188.8 and fat 45.7% then at 05.59 today - Weight 187.2 and body fat 46.6% No food consumed between any reading - A message came up on this mornings weigh in saying "body fat too high, and asked is that you?" WTF!!! so I have gained over this weekend, thats for sure (started at 201 pounds on 29 June) but what on earth is going on with me losing weight but gaining fat today 🙂 I knew I would gain weight as its my sons wedding weekend, but really shocked about the fat rise and amount of gain as I was so controlled with what I ate, in fact some guests were shocked at the small amount I ate, I guess this is the alcohol!
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Some of that will be hydration and scale accuracy. Like all measuring tools, they will have tolerances built into them.
When I first had my scales I found my weight varied a bit inconsistently. It got a lot better when I put my scales onto a flat wooden board and in a set place, on a tiles floor, so that I'm not in danger of have the scales at a different place, perhaps even on a carpeted surface.

Weighing multiple times a day is just going to blow your mind, in my opinion.

I weigh each morning when I get up, nekkid, immediately after I empty my bladder, so I'm pretty consistent in the conditions.
 
AndBreathe said:
Some of that will be hydration and scale accuracy. Like all measuring tools, they will have tolerances built into them.
When I first had my scales I found my weight varied a bit inconsistently. It got a lot better when I put my scales onto a flat wooden board and in a set place, on a tiles floor, so that I'm not in danger of have the scales at a different place, perhaps even on a carpeted surface.

Weighing multiple times a day is just going to blow your mind, in my opinion.

I weigh each morning when I get up, nekkid, immediately after I empty my bladder, so I'm pretty consistent in the conditions.
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I bought a set of plain dumb bathroom scales just before my last Doctor's appointment a couple of weeks ago. In order to get a rough calibration, before turning up at the Doc's, I weighed myself and the results were in broad agreement with the Doc's scales. When I was first diagnosed I was 95/96 kg and for the last few day's I have been hovering around 83/84 kg, so I have lost about 12 kg since diagnosis.

Anyway, the point I wanted to make is that since visceral fat is, by definition, located in the abdomen, you should be able to get a fairly accurate estimate of visceral fat by knowing your BMI and waist measurement(?)

I added a question mark since I haven't actually worked out the details and am sort of feeling my way through the initial idea. However, I am sure the principle is sound. See here for a similar, though more sophisticated, method.

In my case:
  • My initial BMI was 29 and is now around 25.
  • From a pair of jeans that no longer fit, my initial waist measurement was 44+" and, having just measured it, is now just under 40-". (To restore the svelte like figure of my early thirties. I would like this to be 30 to 32 inches)
  • Even though I still have, smallish man-boobs, my arms and legs are quite thin and people are starting to comment on how my face is recovering it's traditional 'not quite' gaunt look.
So, from the preceding, it is fairly evident that most of my excess weight is visceral fat. Which is worrying, though the Doc was quite impressed with the progress I am making.

Irvine

Edit 1:
I failed to use the square of my height when calculating my BMI

Edit 2:
Added my waist measurement from my early thirties
 
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