My Bod Pod results

Mar 28, 2012

I've been very confused over my Body Fat percentages. My home scale is one of those Weight Watchers scale. This scales not only shows weight but it also shows, Body Fat in lbs, Body Fat Percentage, Water Weight, Bone Density and BMI.

I'm a numbers person, so I also enjoyed keeping track of my numbers. But it has always bothered me that the Body Fat % on my scale Vs. My Bariatric Doctor's very fancy and expensive Tantia body composition analyzer differs so much. My Scale showed my body fat at 26.5% where my doctors scale showed a fat % of 16.9 during my annual appointment last week.

I asked the Nut how accurate their scale is and she said very accurate. I figured they must have the thing calibrated. So I figured my scale must not be that accurate. 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to get a Bod Pod test. Before going in the technician warned me Every single person that has gone in was disappointed with the results. I have to say that I didn't disappoint him.

My Reading Body Mass 195.473 Lbs with Fat % - 26.4

I had a nice long talk with the technician who is also a personal trainer. He was very intrigued with my story and why I was getting tested.

He told me that the scale is meaning less. It's about how you look and feel. We talked about what I have been doing from an exercise perspective. He suggested that I concentrate less on cardio and more on interval strength training. He also said that I was too consistent with my routine. I need to change it up. Confuse my body so it doesn't get accustomed to my work out routine. He said the goal would be to build more lean body mass. He said my weight may increase or stay the same but encouraged me to come back now that I'm in the system and compare my results as I work on building muscle.

I asked him if the excess skin that I have on my thighs and on my chest would skew the results. He said good question and told me that he would contact the manufacturer. He got back to me this afternoon. I included the response below.

Loose Skin after Bariatric Surgery

 

It has been found that the loose skin does not affect the accuracy of the BOD POD results. Body Fat percentage and Fat Free Mass percentage should all be within the correct range.

The makeup of the extra skin can only be broken down via chemical analysis, so we can't say the loose skin is only in the fat free mass category. But a study done with patients before and after gastric bypass surgery showed that excess skin did not skew the results obtained from the BOD POD.

 

Clinical Research Manager

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