Di Hickman

discover how to live your yoga, and love life

Quick and easy body fat measuring

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Accountability is HUGE for weight management and fat loss, and I’m going to admit that I haven’t been the best at tracking fitness, weight or fat percentage over the last year. I’ve been following the more intuitive method of just seeing how my clothes felt, how my body looked naked, and how I felt. That served me well for my 2015 goal of becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher, however for my 2016 goal of bikini competitor that is NOT gonna cut it. I need to know numbers. I’m a big believer in Karma and wouldn’t you know it just a week before I was due to go on vacation the folks at Blu Beets asked if I was interested in reviewing their smart weight loss scale, uh, yeah! I received a free smart scale from Blu Beets in exchange for writing a review on the blog.  This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase through those links, I’ll receive a small commision.

accountability weight management and fat loss pin2

So let’s start at the beginning with the truthbomb that weight loss and fat loss are NOT the same thing. Yes, you CAN lose weight and still have the same amount of body fat. Which is NOT what I want! My goals for 2016 mean I need to lean out by reducing fat, but also build some muscle. So let’s see where my starting point is and find out weight, body fat, BMI, and get some stats here, stat!

Body fat measurement methods

For those not in the know there are a few different methods for measuring body fat including: Dexa Scans, hydrostatic weighing, skin calipers and Bioelectrical Impedance. The Beets Blu smart scales work on bioelectrical impedance, which whilst not as accurate as Dexa or Hydrostatic methods it is quick and easy, can be done by anyone and is much more affordable. Dexa and hydrostatic are pretty accurate however that comes at a cost, both in time and money! One session could be upwards of $50. Skin Calipers can be great but again you need an experienced user. Whilst they do have a margin of error bioelectrical impedance scales measure fat loss quickly, easily, and you don’t need an extra person.

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Beets BLU smart scale

My first thoughts were “why do I need this? It’s just a scale right?”. Yes kinda, but wait, no! My old scale just did weight, and it had been gathering dust in the bathroom for a while, unused. Well this scale from Blu Beets is bluetooth so it tracks everything automatically to your iPhone, like magic! Yes for reals. No pen or paper needed! No entering the digits into your phone app, you step on the scale and it does all the tracking for you. Wow, technology exploding my head right there. I downloaded the app, and it walked me through setting up the app and my scale.

blue beets scale app
Foolproof set-up and instructions.

I’ll be honest I don’t think I could have gone wrong: insert batteries (included, thanks!), place on hard surface. For the body fat measurement you need direct contact with the skin (no socks). Step on scale, wait for 2 beeps. I was just thinking to myself “pretty sure I could have figured all this out” when my phone started talking to me. Wha? Yep my phone is telling me my stats! I don’t even need to lower my head to look at the scale display (which is a beautiful blue btw, you know I LOVE blue!!!)

beets blue scales
I had the scale set on KG initially then used the button underneath to switch to lbs!

So as you can see I started at 59 kg / 130.1lbs (hey the 0.1 counts), 26.4% body fat and 30% muscle. The fat and muscle ratios are the ones I want to turn around. As you can see I am now 128.5lbs and dropped a tiny 0.3% fat and gained 0.2% muscle however this was the day after! Which goes to show that you need consistency in the time of day that you weigh and measure yourself, as you would with ALL body fat measurement methods. As I generally take my stats in the morning I’m going with the bottom figure or 128.5lbs as my starting weight and stats.

accountability weight management blue beets
Accountability selfie. My abs are almost visible again! Those vacation treats did a number on my abs, plus flying in general bloats you! I miss Hawaii though!

Accountability for weight management and fat loss.

The Blu Beets scale is going to be a great tool for weight management and fat loss over the upcoming year! Love that I can track all this, without having to actually DO anything other than step on the scale. Yeah! Also it syncs with the ‘my health’ app if you were using that which is great. Oh and it also comes as an android app for apple-haters. All in all TWO THUMBS UP. Along with the  smart weight loss scale, I’ll be using my Garmin for running/biking and my heart rate monitor for weight training, other cardio and classes. All of which I’ll be tracking on Runkeeper and myfitnesspal, so friend me @workoutwithdi!

So what does all this mean for accountability? I have a ground zero. So my before pic is above and  these are my starting stats.

  • Weight            128.5 lbs
  • Body Fat         26.1%
  • Muscle            30.2%
  • Upper Bust    34″
  • Bust                 36″
  • Lower Bust    30 1/2″
  • Waist               30 1/2″
  • Hips                37″
  • Thighs             22″

Moving forward I want to reduce my body fat, increase my muscle mass, and lose inches from my waist, hips, and thighs. Hahaha don’t all women want slimmer waist and thighs? That means, diet, exercise, consistency, dedication and accountability.

For inspiration or my bikini competitor fitspiration: Jamie Eason. I love her build, her definition, and well her everything. This is what I’m shooting for. Lean, strong, but still feminine. I know she’s 2″ shorter than me and about 10-15 lbs lighter, but the kicker is she’s around 15% bodyfat so I have a ways to go there. But still amazing inspiration!

fitspirationJamieEason2

How do you stay accountable for weight loss, fat loss?

Who is your fitspiration?

 

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. CourtneyLynne

    I have a scale like this. Such a love hate relationship with the thing lol… I love knowing my body fat but at the same time it’s like yikes! Lol

    Reply

  4. Blanca

    Ahh I don’t stay accountable at all for my weight and I need to change that ASAP. I have been wanting to eat more healthy and excerise more so I can lose a couple of pounds and to tone up my body 🙂

    Reply

    • Di Hickman

      Yep accountability is big! Put it out there. Make it a blog post series? Monthly weigh in, take measurements, celebrate successes BUT never forget WHY you are doing it.

      Reply

  9. Eva/ Kid Minds

    My clothes keeps me accountable. If I feel like my favorite jeans are getting too tight, it’s time to step up my exercise routine and skip the dessert. A smart scale would be a nice addition to my bathroom though

    Reply

  11. Jaime

    You look amazing! Good luck with the competition next year! My goal is for 2017 (My 39th year!)! I think I need this set up.

    PS Jamie Eason is my girl crush and my inspiration!

    Reply

  19. logancan

    This is the neatest scale! I love that you have such awesome goals! I have a few that I am working to achieve and this was very inspirational for me! And those pics of Jamie? Wowza!

    Reply

  20. tiarasandtantrums

    you look amazing! I don’t’ track anything I eat. i thought I might and tried to count calories once – too much work!! I don’t have time, i should, but I have asthma, allergies and acid reflux AND vertigo – so there is so much other stuff that distracts me that weight right now. I have

    Reply

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