Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss Monitor
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List Price: Our Price: $27.95 You Save: $12.04 (30%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Product Reviews of Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss Monitor
Product Review: More Accurate than my Other Scales
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're trying to maintain a healthy weight - or reach one - then a fat monitor can be key. Being 150 pounds and 50% fat is much different than being 150 pounds at 20% fat!
If you haven't used an electronic fat monitor before, here is how they work. You enter your height and weight. This gives the monitor a rough idea of how long an electrical current should take to go in one end of you and out the other. Then you hold two plates in your hands, and it sends a quick electrical message in one hand and out the other. It doesn't hurt at all - you can't feel it at all. But by tracking the speed of the signal, the monitor knows how dense your body is. That tells it what percentage of you is fat, and what percentage is other stuff (muscle, water, etc.)
How is this helpful? Well, your aim as you lose weight is to be less and less fat. Fat is large, unhealthy and bulky. Muscle is slim and actively burns calories. Don't think of gaining muscle as bulking up like Conan. Think of it as gaining lean active muscle like a ballerina or a dancer. It means you can climb stairs more easily, lift items more easily, and your overall shape will be much slimmer.
So, how well does this Ormon monitor work? We've tried it out with many people now. It stores up to 9 settings inside it, and it's really easy for a guest to instantly use it as well. You just enter your height, weight and age. It instantly knows your BMI based on that since BMI is just weight and height. Then you hold the two sides for a few moments and it tells you your body fat as well. Quick, easy, painless. We use this several times a day, just to play with it and see the progress we're making.
There are many times when you're losing weight that it seems you "aren't losing weight". But really, you are converting from fat to muscle and fat is thick and light while muscle is thin and heavy. So for example you might go from a 38" waist to a 34" waist and still "weigh the same". This is good overall, because you are slimmer, healthier, and it means that going forward it'll be even easier for you to lose the remaining weight! So seeing that progression with your body fat can be very encouraging.
Highly recommended!
Product Review: Pretty good for the price
Summary: 4 Stars
I know it's probably not "accurate" but I'm looking to see the rate of fat loss, so it will work for that. The % stays nearly the same when I'm re-scanning to test it's accuracy that way (unless I start trying to mess it up).
The thing that confuses me is it has two options: Normal or Athletic. That helps it determine how much fat versus muscle it's detecting in your body. Normal will be a few percentage points higher on fat. So I did the formula and it put me at Athletic on the dot. (I got 60). I don't feel athletic! Maybe it doesn't mean "athletic" in the sense I'm thinking of. Just more active. I'll take a lower fat percentage though!
PROS: Very easy to use. Has a guest profile and 9 'saved' profiles. Gives you your BMI based on stats you put in (just handy...you could do this online too). It's inexpensive. Accurate enough. :) Great for tracking your progress.
CONS: Normal/Athletic mode is confusing. Doesn't work on someone who is extremely muscular. When I tried to change just one option on my profile #1 it made me put in all of the settings again.
Product Review: Great Product
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered this and sent it to my dad and he simply loves the product and tells his friends about it. I'm thinking of purchasing one myself now. Product Review: Great product for a great price!
Summary: 5 Stars
This fat monitor works great. I choose this one after seeing several fitness trainers use them and wanted one to use for my wife and I to measure our fitness as we are working towards a healthier life style. I tried a cheaper one from Wal-mart but did not seem to give consistant measurements even though they were minutes apart. This one is very consistant in its measurements and is very easy to use.Product Review: Overly simplistic, inaccurate, inconsistent, large variance
Summary: 2 Stars
1. Calculates BMI when it measures body fat percentage--this is deceptive. The BMI is a straight calculation, not dependent at all on what the body fat measurement is doing. The BMI should be automatically displayed based on entered weight and height.
2. Only gives options for "Athlete" and "Normal" in terms of how much the user works out. Changing from one category to the other has a large impact on the measured body fat percentage--3 percentage points in my case, or about 15 for "Athlete" and 18 for "Normal." With all the inputs required, surely the user should be able to input more data in order to get a smoother transition from a condition of not working out at all to working out like a professional athlete. There must be some "in between" people out there (like almost everyone!).
3. Seems to have a HUGE daily variance. I've been taking a measurement every day at the same time (first thing in the morning), ensuring I haven't eaten for many hours or drunk anything recently. Yet I get a variance from about 14.5% to 16.8%, maintaining a pretty regular fitness program and eating about the same day to day. Surely my body fat percentage is not varying that much every day!