Week 17 - The Numbers Are Finally Doing My Head In!

So here's the thing.  I bought a new set of scales this week.  They really satisfy the geek within.  The Fitbit Aria scales would have to be right up there with regards to the those really wanting to get their nerd on in the area of....well.....bathroom scales....They of course have a digital readout that displays your name and that of up to 7 other individually recognised people.  They measure your bodyfat percentage (more on that later).  Of course they actually weigh you and display the number on the screen *yawn*.  Perhaps best of all, they connect to your home wireless network and upload the results for your viewing and analysis pleasure.  With your own account on the manufacturers website you can track all sorts of wonderful numbers like you Body Mass Index (BMI), calorie intake and Basal Metabolic Rate (there's a blog post in that little guy I can tell you!).

In addition to those features you can connect with other online services to pump in even more magical figures.  For example, the chart below is a representation of my average weight for the last 15 weeks based on my daily weigh ins.  I imported the daily figures for most of it.  But, my scales will do it automagically from  now on!  The dangly dots below the line are the days where my weight was pulling the average down.  The ones above the line the opposite.  It's interesting to see what the last week looks like after being ill and not training as much.  It kind of had a delayed effect.

Click on me to make me bigger!

Another awesome feature is that any exercise that I track with my heart rate monitor is also automagically uploaded to my online record and the calories I burn are offset against my daily intake.  Distance covered is also measured in the same way if I run as my heart rate monitor watch has a GPS in it.  All bases covered!

I now have to admit that it is not all geeky fun and games under the new measurement regime.  My new scales weigh me 1.7 kg heavier than my old ones.  That figure again 1.7 KG!!!  as a point of reference, the industrial strength professional type scales at my dietician weigh me in at 700 grams heavier than my old scales.  Given that the quality of those scales is superior to either of mine, I think it is safe to assume that whatever my actual weight is, that her scales are likely to measure the closest to it.

But, what does that mean in terms of the measurements taken with my old scales and tracking my progress going forwards.  Well I could adjust all the figures taken with my new scales down by 1.7kg once they hit the online presence.  In preference to that however,  I have gone back and adjusted all my old measurements by 1.7 kg in the wrong direction.  Putting that in the context of this week's weigh in....I was 500 grams lighter if I add 1.7 kg to last week's figure, but, still 300 grams heavier than my all time low the week before, even if I add the 1.7kg to it too.  I would have turned in a 101.9kg today on the old scales, but, it was a 103.6 on the new.  On the dietician's scales it would have been a 102.6kg and that is probably the closest to accurate.  Have I given you a taste as to why the numbers are, for the first time, bending my poor little brain a bit more than it can probably maintain for any length of time.

The resolution of course is to try my best to forget both the figures on my old scales and those that I might register at the dietician.  I need to just work with the numbers I see staring back at me with their happy little blue LED eyes sparkling each morning.  The amount of weight I have lost has not changed after all.  Everything has just shifted a little to the left so to speak.

Just quickly before I let you go, have you ever wondered about scales that claim to measure your bodyfat percentage?  Mine do and this week I did some research on it.  I was skeptical to begin with and as it turns out rightfully so.  For starters when I hopped on the scales the first time they registered me as having 41% bodyfat!  Now I know men are renowned for looking in the mirror and seeing Hercules rather than the Homer Simpson physique staring back at them, but, I was fairly dubious at that reading.  The next day I registered 18% and have ranged between that and around 20% ever since.

Any sources I consulted that were not selling the scales, all but wrote off bathroom scales as a reliable way to measure bodyfat.  From what I understand, the method used by these scales is to send a small electrical charge through your feet that makes a kind of circuit with your body.  The resistance of the electricity is measured and based on the principle that the charge will flow more easily through fat than muscle because muscle is more dense, the theory goes that a reading of a percentage of body fat can be taken by how fast the electricity makes the journey.  Sounds fair enough right?  Problem is that as we all know, water has a pretty gnarly impact on all things electricity.  Same goes here.  Now I don't know which way it goes, but, your results will vary greatly based on your body's hydration level.  It was put to me also that the electrical charge only forms the circuit used to take the measurement as far up as the top of your legs or if your legs touch prior to your hips only that distance.  The rest of the measurement is based on guesstimation.  Quite frankly that system doesn't cut it for me and I shall be looking at the figure with nothing more than a whimsical smile suggesting moderate disdain and the marketing ploy and half baked science behind it.  Did I sound like Sheldon Cooper then?  That's what I was going for....

Thanks for sticking with me till now.  I feel like my training is back on track and am looking forward to the week ahead!