Often, women want to know if those body fat scales work to measure their body fat composition. The answer is "No".

These types of scales don't account for dehydration. For example you could step on it in the morning and be 28% body fat then later in the day you step on it again it says 33%. Fluctuations in water within your body will vary weekly as well as daily. If you have are holding water in your body, especially during your monthly cycle the results will vary. It can be frustrating and overwhelming too. Electrical devices which you simply hold are not effective as I mentioned earlier. This is not to be confused with the digital calipers which can also measure your body fat.

If you are working with a professional that can track your body fat, most likely they will take it with caliper, which is a body fat tester. How does body fat tester work? To use this tool, it is very easy. You simply take certain skin fold sites on your body. The product comes along with a guide and sites for you to measure.

Can I use a body fat tester on myself? Yes you can.

Keeping track of your body fat by testing it will actually get you results quicker. Why? Think of it this way, if were in sales and you had a monthly quota to reach you figure out how many sales you would have to make in a day or week in order to get to your goal. Additionally, by tracking it you would also figure out after each sale what you did that worked as well as the sales that you didn't get to keep you on track of your monthly goal. This is how your brain works..when it is given a set of instructions in this case your body fat goal. It will find a way to keep on top on your goal and if you need to tweak your program it will make adjustments or in this case you would simply post your question on the forum.

For example: "I have been tracking my body fat using the calipers and for the past 3 weeks nothing is changing what can I do to get my body fat moving in the right direction?"

From there you will be able to get the answers quickly with this question along with explaining what your are doing with your nutrition and training. Finally women can take control and feel good about measuring their fat loss progress by understanding how this tool works and detach their once scale mentality.

What about weighing myself, why do so many programs focus on weight loss rather than fat loss?

Because weighing yourself is only a small portion of the picture to measuring results. Remember muscle weighs more than fat. So many women will get discouraged when weighing themselves right after they implement a fat loss program, as they tend to see the scale go up. What you need to realize is that your body will fluctuate when you start working out, especially with weights you tend to retain what is called inter cellular fluid (water weight).

How accurate is a body fat test? The secret is really the same method and the same tester when using a body fat test. I like to use a 9 site reading but to get more information about the body fat and it's sums. However, don't be concerned about that, as I mentioned the key is the same method and the same tester. To perform the test you can have your friend, or someone else that you feel comfortable measuring. Do you want to know how Accu measure body fat tester works in your fat loss program.