Are Scales the Best Way to Determine Fat Loss?

In my day to day job as a fitness professional the weighing scales in our gym office is constantly in use with sweating, wild eyed members coming in and desperately hoping that they've lost those all important pounds for that week. But is this really the right way to truly measure fat loss? Well the scales can only show you your total body weight and so can only tell you half the story. The best way to use the scales is in conjunction with other tools. Scales can't differentiate muscle mass, bone structure and the amount of fat you have. I see people who are upset that they haven't lost as much as they thought they would but when I ask them if their clothes are loser they tell me that they've dropped a dress size! Because of this the scales shouldn't be used in isolation and you should use other methods to get a fuller picture of your body composition. The BMI scale (Body Mass Index) takes your height and weight and tells you if you are underweight, normal weight, Overweight, Obese or Morbidly obese. Again like the scales they only tell you half the story and doesn't take into consideration if you are carrying excess body fat or have more muscle. As you exercise you lose body fat and some of this fat is replaced by lean muscle. Because muscle is denser than fat you can have two people who are exactly the same height and weight but one can look like Arnie and the other can look like Mr Blobby. This is all down to body composition and the scales and BMI should be used alongside body fat % and the simple tape measure. You can find out your body fat % by using electric scales. After putting in your personal details such as gender, age and height it will calculate your body fat % and tell you if you are in the right range or not. The tape measure is really good and will show if you have lost size around your waist and therefore body fat. You do this by putting the tape through the belly button to get a true reading. Men shouldn't have a waist circumference greater than 102 cm and women no more than 88 cm, otherwise they run the risk of getting heart disease, stroke, hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Men often get caught out as their trouser size is often smaller than their waist measurement. That's because men's trouser size is really their hip measurement and not their waist at all. That's how you can have a guy saying he has a 34 inch waist and have it buckled up under a huge belly, Jeremy Clarkson style, where he's clearly bigger round the waist than 34 inches. So next time you get on the scales don't get too upset if it doesn't look like you've lost much weight as you may find that you've lost size and body fat and are on the way to a smaller fitter you. So grab that tape measure and find out.