| If you're going to be measuring your body fat | | | | the morning before you eat or drink anything. |
| percentage, you certainly want to do so | | | | 3. Measure Before You Eat |
| accurately, otherwise what's the point. You can | | | | If you can't measure your body fat percentage |
| use the best equipment and techniques possible, | | | | first thing in the morning, try to do so shortly |
| but there are still some tricks that you need to | | | | before a meal, instead of shortly after one. This |
| know to get the best possible results. Here are | | | | won't make a major difference, but it will minimize |
| five tricks that will help. They're primarily for | | | | the effects of your last meal on the results. |
| people using a scale or handheld gizmo that uses | | | | 4. Use An Accurate Scale |
| bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to measure | | | | If you use a hand-held device to measure you |
| the percentage, but are worth being aware of | | | | body fat percentage, you will need to enter your |
| even if you use one of the other possible | | | | current weight each time you measure. You'll |
| techniques. | | | | want to enter an accurate weight, which means |
| The five tricks you should know are: | | | | you need a good scale. Using an inaccurate scale |
| 1. Keep your water consumption consistent | | | | with a high-quality body fat measuring device just |
| 2. Measure first thing in the morning | | | | makes no sense. |
| 3. Measure before you eat | | | | 5. Average The Results |
| 4. Use an accurate scale (for handheld device | | | | While the body fat percentage measuring devices |
| users) | | | | you can buy today are pretty accurate, they're |
| 5. Average the results | | | | certainly not perfect. Measuring twice in a row will |
| 1. Keep Your Water Consumption Consistent | | | | sometimes give you different results. I suggest |
| The results you get from BIA devices like the | | | | you test your device by taking multiple |
| ones you get from Tanita or Omron depend on | | | | measurements in a row the first few days to see |
| the differing percentages of water in fatty and | | | | if the results are consistent. If they vary, the |
| lean tissue. The amount of water in your body | | | | trick is simply to measure three times each |
| varies somewhat depending on how much water | | | | morning and average the results. That average |
| you drank recently. To get the most accurate | | | | will likely be a pretty accurate representation of |
| results, you want to be fairly consistent with the | | | | your true body fat percentage. |
| amount of water you drink each day. | | | | Measuring your body fat percentage is easy, and |
| 2. Measure First Thing In The Morning | | | | a really good indication of your overall fitness. The |
| What you eat or drink in the hours before | | | | five tricks presented here will help you get the |
| measuring your body fat percentage can affect | | | | most accurate results from those measurements |
| the results of those measurements. You can | | | | and give you an even clearer picture of your |
| minimize those effects by measuring first thing in | | | | fitness and progress toward your goals. |