Scales For You

You’ve probably noticed that very few homes now have an analog bathroom scale. These scales, which have a mechanical needle to indicate weight, are being replaced by a digital scale. Digital scales promise more features and better accuracy. It’s hard to be precise when reading an analog scale. Your weight could be 130 or 130 1/2 or 130 1/4. Who knows? The needle points somewhere near 130.  A digital scale (depending on its weight increments) may tell you that you weigh 130.2 or 130.5.

Digital Scales can offer features that are not possible with an analog scale. Some digital scales can keep track of several users. Some offer the choice of weighing in pounds or kilograms and the display can be brighter and easier to read. Advances in electronics have affected the scale industry as well as a lot of other areas. If your bathroom scales are older and out-of-date, consider shopping for a new digital scale.

If you’re good at math, you might want to play around with this formula:

weight in lbs./height in inches squared x 703

That is the formula used to find your Body Mass Index (BMI).  If that’s a little more math than you bargained for, the solution is very simple.  Just purchase a body mass scale!   A person’s body mass index is mainly used by physicians to determine risk factors associated with overweight and obesity.  However, it’s good to have some idea of what we’re dealing with before we go to the doctor.  After all, doctors don’t tell us what’s  wrong–they ask us!

Escali has a scale with an easy-to-read remote display that shows weight, Body Mass Index, Time and Date.  The scale turns on and calibrates when you tap the platform with your foot.  It has a 330 lb/150 kg capacity and a weight graduation of 0.2 lb/0.1kg, Body Mass Index 0.1%.  This seems a lot easier than working on the math formula!

Can you believe they now have digital-electronic scales that can measure the percentage of body fat? Pressure-contact electrodes are built into a digital scale’s platform that send a low current through the body to measure resistance. It seems that fat and lean tissue measure differently and this electronic genius can tell what percentage of your body is fat and lean.

I think I’ll just measure my fat and I can say, “Oh, I only have a few pounds of fat I need to lose.” Or maybe I’ll just measure my lean and not even count the fat! I may try to fool myself, but the scales will make me face the fact that my exercise and fitness program and/or my eating habits definitely need some revisions. Guess I better start shopping for a body fat scale.

Sometimes scales lie! I know we use that as an excuse many times for our weight gain when it is really due to our recent indulgences, but sometimes it is true. If your bathroom scales are old and cheap, don’t expect them to be accurate. You may need to go shopping for some new scales.

If you looking for new scales, consider accuracy, readability, size and style. My husband says, “If you buy something you don’t like, you don’t get to where you like it.” You know that is so true most of the time. Electronic digital scales are so much more advanced that the ones I used when I was young. They come in many colors, sizes and styles. Do yourself a favor and get those scales now. You’ll be glad you did!

Many of us are overweight and always looking for an easy way to lose weight. However, sometimes weight loss just seems to happen. That is the time we need to seek medical help.

Many health conditions can cause us to lose our appetite and start losing weight. This is another reason the bathroom scales should be an important fixture in our home. Escali digital bathroom scales will help you determine unwanted changes in your body weight.

It is my belief that when a hobby ceases to be fun, it is no longer a hobby.  I love to ride my Harley, but it’s no fun if the temperature is much over ninety or below seventy.  The last two weeks have been so hot and humid, I have not even considered getting it out of the garage.  We usually ride late in the afternoon, but with the weather so hot, I am completely wiped out by midafternoon.  It occurred to me yesterday that we should change our routine and ride in the early morning when it isn’t so hot.  So I set my alarm for 6 a.m., got up, got some coffee, and got dressed.  We rode from about 7:45 until 9 a.m., stopped and ate breakfast, then rode home.  It was wonderful!  Sometimes, we just have to rethink our routines.

We get into eating routines that are often not healthy and lead to obesity, if we are not careful.  Sometimes we can just change a routine a little and prevent some of our overeating habits from ruling our lives.  Eating while reading or watching television, eating late at night, eating when others are eating even if we’re not hungry–these are a few of the worst eating habits or routines for gaining extra pounds.  Change these into healthier routines and watch those bathroom scale numbers go down. 

What more could I want?  My husband cooked breakfast for me, I played golf with my daughter-in-law, ate at a Mexican restaurant, and now I’m sitting with my husband and dog playing with a laptop computer in an air conditioned house.  Life is good!

I do have one small problem, however, that continually gets bigger.  Maybe I should say, I continually get bigger.  Gaining a pound or a pound and a half a month doesn’t seem too bad, but the months keep going by and the weight keeps going up.  My large capacity bathroom scales are soon not going to be able to weigh my oversized body.  That’s sad!  I’ve got to get my willpower in gear and start eating healthy foods in the right amounts.  In other words, I’ve got to change my lifestyle!

Thursday night, I had five of my college classmates from fifty years ago spend the night at my house.  We had a wonderful time remembering old times and sharing information about our lives and our families.  It’s quite remarkable that we have stayed so close for so many years.  In some ways we feel closer to each other than to our own sisters.

I think I have also remained extremely good friends with my excess pounds.  They love me so much, they never seem to want to leave; and they bring their friends to visit.  Somehow, they become my friends, too.  Why does our weight seem to continually increase over the years–not a lot each year, but it gradually adds up.  The bathroom scales tell the tale, but they don’t prevent what is happening.  We have to take control of our own destiny.  Eating out doesn’t help because we feel compelled to eat all we paid for, including all the extra bread, etc.  It all goes back to willpower and determination.

Every time I investigate a diet program, they say, “write down everything you eat”. I never could figure how writing would help me lose weight. Maybe just looking at the long list of food I have eaten during the day will make me ashamed of myself.

I think I finally have the answer. Writing gives me the exercise I need to burn the calories I have eaten! Wow! I’ll be glad to write down everything I eat, then when I step on the bathroom scales, I’ll see that writing down everything I eat really burns those calories! 

I read recently that bottled water has become the second most popular drink in America (behind soft drinks). That’s great since water can be considered as a nutrient your body needs.

It is essential to replace daily water that is lost from the body. In fact, 60% of our body weight is water. Next time I step on the bathroom scales, I will remember that 60% of my weight is water and should not count against me.