Bill,

Thanks for such a great deal of information. I have been using a Tanita body fat scale (model TBF-604) and have found it to be incredibly useful as a method of gauging progress.

How do I know how accurate it is? I don't really. However, I have found the scale to be extremely consistent, and that is what is important. By weighing myself at the same time every day under the same conditions on the same scale, I can view my progress in relative terms.

So, if the scale tells me my bodyfat% is 22%, I really don't know how accurate that is (maybe it's only 19% or it oculd be 25%). However, if a week later it is telling me I'm now 21%, I can have a fairly good idea of my progress - and that's all I really need to know.

I've found Tanita brand scales to be very consistent. While the old spring style scales are completely worthless, the better strain gauge scales seem to be quite consistent. I can get on and off the scale 20 times in a row and it will give me the exact same results every single time.

So, in my opinion, finding a decent quality body-fat scale which yields consistent results should be an adequate way of gauging progress. While it may not be 100% accurate (in my opinion it's probably quite accurate as well), I think for the average person it is certainly adequate.

The key really is not necessarily paying too much attention to the total weight, but to the fat %. Also, these numbers can fluctuate quite a bit from day to day, so comparing weekly or bi-weekly results may be better.

I've also found that if you use one of these body-fat scales, you should keep your feet dry. I always weigh myself first thing in the morning to keep results consistent. One time for the fun of it I weighed myself after coming out of the shower with my feet totally wet. The results were WAY different! My bodyfat% with dry feet was 26%, but with wet feet it came out as 19%. Huge difference!

Dean