For the new year, I was inspired by my boss to invest in a Body Composition Monitor with Scale. What is this you ask? A fancy-pants scale... I've always wondered if these things even work, and if they did...HOW did they work. After some research, I was convinced to believe that they just might be somewhat accurate. Accurate...if you read the instructions first. I just found out that I did it all wrong this morning. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

I purchased the Omron unit. My boss went with another brand that was about $50 more...he's my boss...he can afford that. Also, the brand/model that he went with was more geared towards people that have lots of muscle from intense work outs...not something that I need. What my unit DOES do: weighs me to a tenth of a pound; measures my body fat %; measures my skeletal muscle % (this would be the muscle in our organs and the muscle that is connected to bone and used to move parts of the body...increasing this % is linked closely with raising the resting metabolism); rates my visceral fat (fat around my organs and such); tells me how many calories my resting metabolism requires; and finally, it tells me my BMI. Pretty cool, huh?

After taking the time to actually READ through the booklet, I learned that there is Resting Metabolism; Daily Activity Metabolism; Diet-induced Thermogenesis. Here are the definitions according to Omron...

Resting Metabolism...energy required to maintain vital functions.
Daily Activity Metabolism...energy used for daily activities such as commuting to work, household chores, hobbies, etc.
Diet-induced Thermogenesis...energy emitted after eating a meal.

(taken from the booklet) The ratio of these is 60%-70% for resting metabolism, 20%-30% for daily activity, and 10% for diet induced thermogenesis. This means that resting metabolism accounts for most of our daily energy consumption. If our daily food intake exceeds the amount of energy required for these activities, the additional energy is stored as fat.

So, to make life easier, raising our resting metabolism is what is key to being able to eat more calories. How do we do that? We increase our muscle mass. Seems pretty simple and it explains why JudyPetite is having to eat so much more just to stay above 100 pounds! She is nothing but muscle from all of those workouts that she does, I'm betting!

This is taken from the booklet and I think that it is very good info that pertains to all that think that WLS alone will solve their obesity issue permanently:

Ignoring a balanced diet and simply reducing food intake to lose weight can lead to a decline in muscle and bone. So even though your weight goes down, your resting metabolism is reduced making the body more prone to putting on fat.

Repeated dieting and regaining weight leads to increased visceral fat levels. It is easy to regain weight after sudden diets. This regained weight tends to appear as visceral fat rather than subcutaneous fat.

I know that personally, my waist to hip ratio has drastically changed since I weighed this amount 20 years ago. Sure, age has lots to do with it, but I really believe that it has to do with all of the yo-yo dieting over those years. My visceral fat has increased for sure. This also explains to ME why is is so easy to have a regain after losing the initial weight after WLS. We reduce our calories so drastically that our metabolism gets all caddy-wonked. This makes us even MORE prone to putting the fat back on.

So...what is the summary here? EXERCISE to build muscle is key!

I can't wait to accurately measure myself tomorrow.

Kim... you have done all the hard work for us with these gadgets du jour!
I WANT one real bad THanks SO much for the skinny on the particulars..
I think I might have to look around for a basic model and see if I can swing one.
It would be great for my hubby too! I'll keep you posted! lease do the same!
WONDERFUL info!

I purchased mine from Costco.com, but you can get it from Amazon. If you use the link to Amazon from LAWLS, you will be supporting the site!

Omron HBF-500

My boys got me one of those scales for Christmas, it was too complicated for me, I didn't want or need all that information. Exchanged it for one that can tell your % of body fat and body water. It has a 4 user memory. I like it much better.

Denise

I think that the technology is cool. I can't wait to hear what you discover, Sarge. I still say there is no substitute for a good full length mirror in a well lit room!

A full length mirror??!!! in a well lit room??!!!!
You be WACKY girl!

Kim,

Your scale sounds awesome! I love that you are getting a focus on lean weight versus just plain weight. Once you get down near your goal weight it just makes sense to be aware of your body composition. I can't wait to hear the details and watch how you progress!

Sandi,
The mirror thing makes sense to me if I was able to be impartial looking at the thing. Maybe some day.

That scale sounds awesome. I'm a little OCD when it comes to weight and numbers, etc., so I'm not sure it would be the best scale for me. LOL

Kim, did anyone ever tell you that you look like Jennifer Tilley?

@Mickeefynn: You are a wild & whacky woman!! Where's the leg? LOL

Toris...yes, I've been told many times that I look like Jennifer Tilly. All said by MEN! You are the first woman to speak...er...write the words.

This scale is good for me. I need to see these numbers, but found that I have to budget my obsession with it. Once a week is all that I'll allow myself to do a reading. I use my old scale during the week. I'm a daily scale user!

So Kim, tell us how the scale is actually working for you...What discoveries have you made? How is the knowledge changing or impacting your program?

Well Sandi...it is telling me that I need to build up my muscle and lose some body fat. My visceral fat isn't as awful as I assumed it to be...actually, I'm normal. I don't have lots to adjust, but I certainly have some adjusting to do!

I tried changing my diet a bit by adding more fat. Guess what? This didn't work well for me. I have come to realize that sticking to my original basic diet is what will get me to drop the pounds. Perhaps when I am at the weight that I want to be, I'll modify things by adding a little more fat back to my diet. I'm working really hard at keeping my balance at 25% to 30% fat intake. During my little experiment, I had increased it to about 45% to 50%. For me, it was not good. Not saying that it isn't going to work for someone else!

My time at the gym is going to be more geared towards making my muscles stronger. Squats, light weights, more squats... Today, I did 15 minutes on the Precor to warm my body up and then did 45 minutes of working my muscles via the stability ball, free weights, and bands. My legs were wobbly when I was done! To me, that is a very good sign. When I came home, I took the dogs out for a 20 minute walk. I call that a good day of fitness.

Now, it is time to get my duff away from this computer! I'm not getting stronger by just sitting here!!!

Sounds like you're making some really good discoveries! The ratio thing is so vital to our happiness post goal weight. I believe it is THE single predictor of how well we will deal with our food for the rest of our lives. Too much of one, too little of another and we're just not happy. This leads to grazing and a host of other bad habits.

Lots to think about. You know, you're kind of like an astronaut, going into outer space and describing what you're learning. Thank you for being a pioneer for us. Many will be following closely the research that you're doing now.

hugs to you. Thank you for sharing this part of the journey!

You would if your chair was an exercise ball! When still working in a traditional office setting, I found it very easy to make excuses about why I didn't have time to exercise. People laughed at me initially when I took my comfy chair out of my office. The days I was in the office, I was exercising while making those cold calls to potential customers. So . . . sit there making your posts . . . just do it on an exercise ball. LOL!