I think I got my first bathroom scale body fat calculator off eBay. But since then, I've seen these things in drug stores, home improvement stores, even supermarkets! And at our local market I saw one that put my old unit to shame. I love gadgets, but they are dated as soon as you take them out of the box.

But I had to find out if they'd made any dramatic changes in technology because I had heard that these home units weren't very accurate. It's true! I used to see a very different number almost every time I step on the thing. And the reason is, I wasn't using the body fat calculator part the way the manufacturer intended it to be used.

If you're like me, you want to kick the thing with your toe - hear that familiar beep and then jump on and wait for the four beeps. Naturally, we don't want to look down. That's the painful part. Yet there are a few factors I've learned that cause the thing to be all over the map.

If you want to lose weight quickly, fat is the first thing to concentrate on. Water loss will make you weigh less, but fat is better because the effect lasts longer and makes you feel better. You do need a certain amount of body fat. But what we hear is true - lower your fat if you're overweight, and you'll feel healthier.

Everytime I put the bathroom scale body fat calculator up against any other method of determining body fat, the scale read higher. I used the tape measure method and the caliper method, and yes, there was a noticable difference. From my research I found that the time of day that I was taking the measurement greatly affected the accuracy of the unit.

On my scale, there are metal pads you stand on. All home units work this way - by sending a small trickle of current through the tissue they can determine the percentage of body fat. This is because lean tissue is actually a better conductor of current than fat tissue. I know you're starting to think all kinds of things now. Still, I wanted to know why the discrepancy.

There are certain parameters (that they talk about in that booklet that comes with the unit that no one reads) that have to be figured in like - time of day, how much fluid you drink, your body temperature, if you just worked out - all which affect that current flow I mentioned. Those factors skew the results of the body fat calculator.

Accurate? Yes, they are fairly good when following the instructions. It is important, when losing weight - body fat - that you track your progress, especially the percentage of body fat. Losing that excess will make you feel better, think more clearly, and yes - you'll even live longer. So use a good body fat calculator each day, and With all that going for you, I'd start tomorrow morning!