For tech stuff, I’m going to talk about the Withings Smart Body Analyzer Scale. I got one last month, but I haven’t been here to use it except for the first three days.  Even so, I have some fascinating things to report about this nifty tool (if you don’t mind spending $150 for a bathroom scale — most of you will).

I’ve had a Tanita Body Fat scale for a number of years.  Frankly, a body fat scale is not even remotely accurate and the numbers should just be used for fun.  Seriously.  My body fat does not vary by 10% on any given day, so it’s really measuring a level of hydration (or lack thereof).  As long as you understand that critical point, you won’t freak out, too much.  I do believe over time, you can gather a general idea of what your general ballpark body fat measurement might be for general ballpark health purposes.  Do not stake your life on it.

Also do not use EITHER of these scales if you have a pacemaker. If you have a pacemaker, use the general wireless body scale without body fat measurement capability.  Also, you must have a Bluetooth capable smartphone with either Android or IOS to get the maximum benefit with this scale.  It’s also helpful if you have a wireless network in your home.  But you need the smartphone to set up your scale to store your readings where they can be accessed.  And this scale has some nifty features.

The one feature I was able to use on this scale while I was 150 miles away was the Indoor Air Quality feature.  Twice a day, the scale communicated with my account on the Withings website and recorded the CO2 reading and temperature in my bedroom.  We set the thermostat in the house for 50 degrees before we left, and the thermostat is right outside the bedroom door.  The scale was by the window, so it was probably a little cooler than the hallway.  The indoor temperature varied from 40 – 70F degrees while we were gone.  CO2 readings were pretty steady.

When I step on the scale, it will read my weight.  If more than one person uses the scale, it will determine who is on the scale by matching the weight of the person standing on the scale with the weight of the closest account.  If nobody matches up, it will assume a guest is checking their weight.  The value in this is you have no buttons to push, and you don’t need to “bump” the scale to zeroize it — one of the things many people find annoying about digital scales, and something I have to do with the Tanita. Once Withings finishes with the weight, it will compute body fat, then it computes heart rate.  After that, it checks air quality and temperature.  Then it sends everything to the smartphone app and the website to update the charts there and compare how you’re doing against your goals.

I may have mentioned I use a few apps for tracking my body composition goals.  I’ve talked about the Fitbit and it’s app before.  It’s great for tracking steps, water consumption, and sleep quality.  The Lose It! app is wonderful for logging what I eat and what exercise I perform.  I let the Fitbit feed my step count to it.  When I had to enter weight manually, I was entering it in the Fitbit app, and it would feed it to Lose It!.  Now, I either let the Withings scale do it automatically to the Withings app or manually update the app with the information if I’m not near the scale, and it will feed the information to the other two (curiously deducting .1 pound when it does — at least on manual entries). I took the Tanita to San Antonio and use it down there, manually updating the app.

So far, I like the Withings, but I haven’t had a solid chance to really put it through it’s paces.  I was mildly disturbed to note that after a warm shower, my heart rate seems much higher than I would want it to be, so I need to remember to wait a few minutes before stepping on the scale  to get that reading!

Do you use any nifty tech tools to track your health status?  If so, tell us in comments.  Do old-fashioned non-tech tools work better for you?  Tell us about those too.