Weight Loss Surgery Forums

While weight loss is certainly the driving force for many of the health benefits gained after weight loss surgery, body weight is by no means the only measure of success. After bariatric surgery, weight loss will stall at least one or more times for most  individuals. Weight loss plateaus and some may never reach their goal weight. Wow, that was uplifting. However, during a stall in weight loss or after goal weight has been achieved, successes can still pile up. Blood pressure, resting heart rate, cholesterol, strength, endurance and flexibility are just a few factors that can be improved even when weight is stable or won't seem to budge. Another factor that is easily measured and can be positively impacted whether weight is decreasing or not, is body composition or body fat % (BF%). 

 

 

We could cover endless reasons to measure your BF% but I will keep "the reasons" down to a couple. 

 

1. BF% is a better predictor of health than BMI.  (Especially for those who are very active or avid strength trainers.) BMI is a weight-to-height ratio and does not take into account an individual’s body composition. For example, if you take two men of the same height and weight, and one has a BF% of 15% and the other 30%, the BMI is the same for both. 

 

2. It is very possible for body weight to stall or plateau while BF% decreases and muscle tissue increases. If your BF% is decreasing, this is a good thing even if body weight is not changing much.

 

Body Fat Percentage Classifications   Source: ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 6th Ed., 2000 and ACSM’s Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 4th Ed., 2001

 

Different Methods

• Hydrostatic or Underwater Weighing: With its high embarrassment factor, Hydrostatic weighing is often considered the "gold standard" when measuring body composition. Hydrostatic weighing requires a few accessories including a scale and a big tank of water which you will be submersed in and directed to blow out all of your air. Oh yes, it also requires a tight pair of skivvies (MY EYES, MY EYES!).  
• DXA, DEXA, or Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry - Also used to measure bone mineral density, this nifty machine will set you back close to $100,000.
• BOD POD - This also involves skivvies but no water. Go figure! Looks like a large egg that you sit in but at around $40,000 you may only find these at a local university, health club or gym.
• Skinfolds - As it sounds, the Skinfold method requires pinching and measuring various folds of skin all over the body in order to estimate BF%. In the right hands, the Skinfold method can be very accurate. The embarrassment factor can also be high for this one. 
• BIA or Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis - With reasonable accuracy (+/- 2-3%), you can measure your own BF% by standing on a BIA scale in the comfort of your own home. Unless you decide to stand on your front porch naked as a jaybird, the embarrassment factor is pretty low for this one. BIA is amongst the most convenient and low cost way to measure BF%. BIA can also be done simultaneously while measuring body weight with the proper scale. Let's take a closer look at BIA.

• Brand - Brands of BIA scales are also numerous but some of the most popular include Tanita, Omron, Taylor, Health O Meter, Seca, Detecto, LifeSource and Withings. It would be difficult to suggest one brand over the other since there are so many different features to choose from. More importantly, I would suggest you to check customer reviews of the different brands or products before you buy.
  
   
• Multiple Users - When setting up a BIA scale initially you generally enter basic information like birth date, sex, height and race. If there may be more than one person using the scale, make sure the scale handles multiple users/profiles.
  
   
• Memory - Do you need the scale to save the data for future review or do you use something like ObesityHelp's Health Tracker to save and monitor your data? I couldn't resist the harmless plug. :) Some will also come with proprietary software.
  
   
• Communication - If a scale does come with software or provides you with access to a web based application, how does the scale transmit your information? Does it require you to plug your scale into your computer using a USB cable or can it use the wireless network in your home? A scale worth mentioning here is Withings. I have to say that the Withings scale is measurement bliss. You can easily set up Withings to automatically and wirelessly store your data in your personal Withings account on the web. Yeah, it's pretty sweet.
  
   
• Capacity - Make sure the scale's weight limit meets your needs. Some scales have relatively low weight capacities although most BIA scales these days have a capacity of 350-400 pounds.
  
   
• Modes - Different equations can be used to estimate BF% depending on your fitness level and/or level of physical activity. Some scales come with "standard" and "athletic" modes while others have only a single mode. If you are an active individual choose as scale that will meet your needs.  
   
    
• Price - BIA scales range from less than $50 to more than $200. The more expensive scales come with more features but are not necessarily more accurate.
  
   
• Bells and Whistles - Some of the higher end scales come with bigger and better screens, in scale graphing abilities, calendaring abilities and who knows what else. Some of these features are nice to dream about but, at the end of the day, may be overkill.