I have a Tanita (the 625), and I’m completely unimpressed with it. In the past week it’s read everything from 30% to 40% bodyfat. There’s no way I’m in that range, judging by the veins I can see.
ultrafilter, what about the scale part? Is that fairly reliable?
I guess I’d expect some variation in body fat measurements, given they use impedence - wouldn’t that vary by the body water content, something that’s apt to be more volatile? I’m just ponderin’, which often results in ridiculous ideas, but hey. (Yet a 30 to 40% difference is perhaps greater than I would have thought.)
istara Yes, I think, maybe, no! 
Yes, I can visually see the difference in muscle mass. Particularly in the definition in my arms, chest, and legs.
I think, maybe, and no because I am not seeing anything near significant changes in my measurements to support a lot of muscle gain nor inches lost.
What I’m trying to say is… I’m confused about what exactly my body is doing! Some weird equilibrium I can’t seem to figure out.
brachyrhynchos - I believe it has to do with the electrical impulse it sends through your feet to measure your BMI. Don’t worry shiver it really is twitch harmless to your blink-drool-stare overall health and AAAAAAAAHHHH MY RETINAS FELL OUT! 
ultrafilter - My BMI reading usually will fluctuate between 2-3% each morning from the previous day when I weigh myself. (It is usually between 20.4 and 22.4, not bad since it was 36 in February!) I find it matches pretty closely my weight fluctuations so I am assuming it is accurate. I also kept track of my BMI through the Navy calculations and found the Navy BMI to generally be 1-2% lower than the Tanita scale.
I do not recall, but is there a calibration that can be done to test the scale?
MeanJoe
I introduced myself in the IMHO Weight Watchers thread - and I might have contributed to that thread’s death!
I have a question - I just read this thread and was curious about the Diet Power program that a few of you mentioned (I’ve been using Fitday -but it doesn’t give you any info on how many calories you should be eating to safely lose). I downloaded it to check it out, and unless I’m missing something, it seems dangerously wrong in how it figures out the number of calories you should eat each day.
I told it that I’m 5’6.5’’ and weigh 150 (which I did when I started last week - now I’m down a few) and that I wanted to go to 130 by a certain date in August - about 10 weeks away. That assumes a two pound a week weight loss, which, if I understand all this, is a healthy and realistic goal. Well, Diet Power told me that meant an unhealthy calorie allowance of about 690 calories per day! It seems as though Diet Power figured out my BMR but didn’t take into account the number of calories one burns by just being alive. Now Fitday estimated my BMR at 1426, but then added lifestyle calories (based on how active/inactive you are) as well of about 927 for a total of 2353 calories burned per day just to be alive. I’ve been basing my daily calorie allowance on that figure minus 500.
So is Fitday.com wrong or is Diet Power? Or is it me that’s missing something here?
Color me confused (but down a few pounds and with two workouts under my belt!)
Cricket
It seems to be pretty precise (i.e., you weigh yourself five times, you get the same value five times), but I don’t know about the accuracy. I’ll put a couple dumbbells on it and see how it goes.
MeanJoe - the Atkins Diet book I just got has a slew of reasons why someone is still losing fat, but gaining muscle so no weight loss (or even weight gain).
Another obvious one is water retention - I never actually realised before that (obviously, once you think about it) water weighs loads MORE than fat. The book was saying that even if you don’t “bloat” noticeably, if your fat-depleted cells have deciced to replace their fat volume with water, you will appear to gain wait. The water will eventually go though, (they call this “whoosh”!!)
Apologies if you already knew all this, but it was new to me so might be to others reading this thread.
Hi there mcms_cricket! I’m one of the DietPower users here so I’ll try to answer your questions:
I believe 2 pounds a week would probably be considered slightly aggresive. Most everything I’ve read says that 1 pound per week is considered a safe target. 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories. To lose one pound per week you have to consume 500 fewer calories than you burn per day for 7 days. For two pounds, that means 1000 less per day and that is pretty tough.
At two pounds per week, DietPower has to reduce your caloric intake by 1000 calories per day (7 days x 500 calories = 3500 calories/1 pound). I am assuming this is why you are getting 690 calories which is very unhealthy. Didn’t DietPower give you warnings when setting your goal weight and when you enter food? I had a four day period where I was out of town and failed to enter anything. As a result, DietPower did some “fill in the gaps” stuff and I ended up with recommendations like yours - 700 calories - and I could not keep it from constantly popping off warnings about unhealthy recommendations. In the end, I had to start a new diet in DietPower to get my calculations back to a normal amount.
Some might say this is a fault, that it should’t allow you to do something ‘bad’ per se. I think it is a plus, as it does not force me into a program but gently nudges me into better decisions or what certain decisions mean.
DietPower calculates your daily metabolic rate in calories burned and then adjusts that number upward or downward as necessary to keep you on target for your stated goal. If the goal is too aggresive, it will still calculate you into a lower caloric intake allowance but will warn you it is not safe.
You can adjust by either a.) adjusting your goal or b.) logging activities that “earn” you more calories during the day. By essentially burning more calories, you add to your daily allowance.
Finally, keep in mind that DietPower’s daily calculations become more accurate over time. In other words, to calculate your daily caloric allowance, DietPower uses your past history to determine the average amount of exercise, food intake, etc., in the calculations. I believe the FAQ says something about making assumptions until it has at least 30 days of history. You’ll really see this start to kick in by monitoring the “Projected Goal” graph line. As the program “learns” what you are doing, it adjusts the Project Goal to show if you are going to make it, exceed, or fall short of your goal.
I really don’t know. I’m not an expert on exactly what DietPower is doing and I’ve certainly had my moments of “What the hell?!?” with the program. I have found their tech support to be pretty consistent in responding quickly to questions via email. I suspect that it is doing this to you because of the original goal but I could be wrong. Personally, I really don’t follow too closely DietPower’s daily caloric allowance but stick to 1600 calories even when it says more or less for the day.
Welcome to the Club and believe me, if I have not killed this thread myself then you are of no threat. I’m the original Thread Killa!
Hmmm… I do drink a lot of water per day, usually 70 - 100 ounces. This of course means I am up and down all night to commune with nature. :rolleyes: So, I assumed that I was not really retaining too much water but perhaps…
I still think that the main thing killing me is eating too late in the evening. I’ve read articles that say it is bad and others that say it does not matter but I’ve noticed if I eat after say, 8:00 p.m., my weight is up a pound or two the next day. It seems impossible to me to have a 200 calorie snack at 9:00 p.m. = 2 pounds heavier the next day but it keeps happening. I need more discipline after dinner in avoiding those late night munchie snacks! (Healthy snacks, mind you)
No apology necessary, I appreciate the ideas which is why I asked here - to get other people’s thoughts!
MeanJoe
After just over a week of going to the gym and watching what I eat, I stepped on the scales this morning, and…
I’m up one pound. :mad:
Aranea - Ohhhh, that is frustrating! What are you doing in regards to your diet and exercise routine? Beware of those ‘empty calories’ like soda pop.
Don’t quit yet!
MeanJoe
Aranea, don’t be discouraged! It’s possible that some “bad” (calorie dense, nutrient light) junk food that you ate just before you started your regimen took a while to show up. That does happen, y’know.
Hang in there. Try not to hang too much significance on a weekly weigh-in, but rather see what happens over the course of a month.
Best of luck!
You little heathens is fallin’ down on da job! Last post was on 6.11 and here it is 6.14…
What’s that? I’m fallin’ down on the job too? Well, I’ll be hornswoggled! I guess I am!
Okay, time for ol Fatso Q to come clean: I weighed in at 198 this morning. Too many diet drinks and not enough wa-wa.
So let’s get it goin’, y’all! We can do this!
** I LOVE YA’ SKINNY LITTLE HEATHENS!** :D:D:D:D:D
As always, the word “Heathens” is meant in a grandfatherly, Walter Cronkite kinda way.
Right!
Q
34.5 lbs GONE.
I don’t think water retention is related to water consumption - if all your systems are working, you should just pass it through.
There are various reasons you might bloat and retain it (eg hormonal imbalance, or your body temporarily “refilling” emptied fat cells, according to Atkins) but just drinking lots of water should make you pee not bloat.
A minor setback –
Somehow I did something to my right foot. It feels sore, as if I twisted my ankle, from the middle of my foot to about halfway up the right side of my lower leg. Makes walking a little gimpy, and while I can do my morning mile, I can’t go as fast as I’d like and I’m very sore when I’m done. So I’m going to take a break from it for a few days. 
Bummer – the walking is my favorite part of this whole deal!
I’ll keep going with my eating plan and weight training (avoiding the leg exercises) until my foot feels better, then try again.
I must be getting old. Not yet!! I’m only 36.
Since I last posted, I know I’ve only lost another pound, but I’ve noticed something…
You know, when you get to my weight, lumps on top of lumps start to show? Well, I’ve noticed some of those secondary lumps are gone. Especially right on top of my thighs.
Working out has really paid off.
Wow, I thought this thread had died a natural death since I hadn’t gotten an email notification in what seems like weeks.
Then suddenly today I got one, and saw that y’all have just been whispering behind my back!
I’ve had a minor setback. Major stress at work. Same ole sh*t, just that it got on my last nerve. So, I was doing a little munching here and there. Then a minor financial situation (too eager to get that last old, large bill taken care of from when I was laid off a while ago) had us eating rice, beans, and oatmeal. But the worst may be yet to come. After campaigning for a year, my bosses finally relented (actually they were forced to becuase of new regulations they couldn’t comply with) and are letting me work at home. I didn’t think this would be a problem since we had a 7-11 in our parking lot at work and I seldom went over there except for diet coke. But now food is WAY too accessible. And, since I have a teenage boy in the house, the junkfood is in good supply.
So, the gist of it all is, I’ve gained nine pounds.
So, I’m telling myself over and over - “just think, now that you have more time on your hands, it will be easier to get those workouts in!” Which is true.
So, I’m back in there.
OK, 3 more pounds gone, for a total of 46! Only 67 to go:)
Because of some problems on the home front, I haven’t been getting to the gym as often, but I did some volunteer work this morning, planting a memorial garden, and boy, did I get a work out! Moving stones, shoveling mulch, etc. etc. for about 5 hours! Also, even though I haven’t been working out like I should, I haven’t abandoned my eating plan, so that’s one good thing.
On Tuesday (day after tomorrow), I have to have some surgery, so I’ll be out of the exercise loop for a few more days, but by the time I recover, things should also have settled down here. So, back on track for me!
lorinada, You can borrow my favorite “southernism”: When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop diggin’!
Saturday morning weigh-in: 235, same as last Saturday.
I went to my dietitian today, too. Wearing my clothes, shoes, and leg braces, my weight was 237-8. So I think our home scale is accurate.
She told me she doesn’t want me to lose any more than 1-2 lbs. per week, because any more than that and I could start losing muscle as well as fat. In fact, she was considering adding more calories to my diet plan, but I talked her out of it We’ll wait and see what my August weigh-in is, when I go get my next hemoglobin glucose test.
Oh yeah, last weekend Joel and I finally got around to checking out the pool near our home. We got a schedule for their therapy swims. So now we just need to get Joel a decent pair of swim trunks, and maybe we can check it out.
Of course, my exercise would be decidedly low impact. When I did pool therapy a few years ago, my “exercises” basically consisted of walking from one side of the pool to the other, then floating on my back and doing scissor and bicycle kicks. But my dietitian said those exercises would work the large muscle groups, so it would definitely help me control my glucose levels.