HBF-306C Handheld Body Fat Loss Monitor

want a reason to stay on the healthy diet. If you give up before monitoring your body fat and measuring inches, you are looking for the easy way out. This is the easiest way to monitor body fat, just a few clicks and it gives a great reading. I started a lifestyle change around xmas time and like usual followed with a new years resolution to make a lifestyle change. As a PE teacher and former college athlete i was not setting a great example to my students and players. While in college I had done body comp tests to better understand the practice and each method. Like most reviews will say there are pros and cons to each but I actually witnessed a study against the gold standard, under water weighing, the omron did very well. If i remember right most amateurs with the calipers where not doing so hot. This seemed to me,factoring in the ease of use and speed of response that this is the best way to go. Personally my girlfriend and I use it at least once a week to monitor fat loss. We use it at the same time every morning every week, take two readings and use it for feedback on our diet progress. Women especially dont always lose lbs on the diet we have implemented so I wanted extra proof and motivation to keep at it as a family. As a teacher I will be using it as a tool in physical education to explain healthy body weight and body comp. I know that many factors can skew the numbers here but you dont have to be a rocket scientist or even know what a variable is to use common sense and test the same way every time. If you control your hydration variable alone you should be fine. for 30 bucks get this product, use it the right way and you will be able to track your progress and tweak your diet and fitness routine to see the results you want

After reading over several reviews of this product, mostly VERY high praise, I placed my order. I then went back and read all the one star reviews, to see what the gripes people had with the product were. They seem to mainly be that the product is not precise, that is, taking one reading after another yields a wide range of results. I got concerned that I made a bad choice, but the purchase was already complete. My item arrived today (VERY fast with the free super-saver shipping, I must say) and I've gotten a chance to test it for myself. I found that it is VERY precise. MUCH more than expected actually. Precision means repeated tests yield results very close together, while accurate means the results are close to the actual value. I cannot speak on its accuracy, since I do not have a known accurate method of testing my fat % to compare it to. But most of the reviews complain of imprecision, but I can say from my testing is not an issue. I did ten repeated readings using the correct positioning (standing up, arms straight out 90 degrees from body). The readings were ALL within 0.2% of each other. From my experience with statistics, I can say with 95% confidence that my body fat reading is 17.30% plus or minus 0.14%. I then started toying around with all the wrong positions. I did sitting, with arms in the correct position, and got an average of 17.58%. Looks like sitting skews the reading upwards just slightly. But the range of values was still quite small, and I can be 95% certain that the value is 17.58% plus or minus 0.17%, only a tiny increase in uncertainty. That result was pretty close to the correct position result, surprisingly. Now, all the very inaccurate positions: -Sitting, arms bent at 90 degrees: 14.98 +/- 0.41% -Standing, arms bent at 90 degrees: 15.66 +/- 0.27% -Standing, arms bent and out slightly forward, so screen is easily visible by glancing down (likely a commonly used incorrect position since it's the position that allows you to be most comfortable while most easily viewing the readout): 15.96 +/- 0.23% So, as long as your position remains the same over multiple readings, even incorrect positions yield quite consistent results. I can only imagine that if repeated readings yield vastly different results, it's due to a variety of positions used during the readings. OR a faulty device. Or maybe there's something funky about your body that the device just doesn't like - a few reviewers commented that it just plain doesn't work with some people, so maybe with others it works but is inconsistent. In any case, unless you are working towards a very specific body fat % goal, you're probably using this to help observe your fat loss better (rather than just using your weight, which could drop slower than expected due to increases in muscle mass from working out more), which means you're more interested in relative values anyway. So regardless of whether it's accurately reading your body fat %, you'll get use out of it by seeing how the values change in relation to what they were before. And as long as it's precise, you're good to go. So follow the directions in the manual about body position, about when to measure in relation to meals and working out, and you can feel good buying this product, because it's a great deal and gives you much better insight into your weight loss than the number on a scale.

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!

I purchased the Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss monitor to use as part of my on-going health and fitness routine. In 18 months I've lost 22 pounds, 12% bodyfat and dropped inches all over, but have hit a plateau and decided to focus more on my diet with the goal to lose bodyfat instead of worrying about my weight, as I've also gained muscle too. Using the Omron Omron HBF-400 Body Fat Monitor and Scale for several years now, I was getting high bodyfat readings and getting very discouraged, as my readings via the calipers ( Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester ) were 7-8% lower. As the Omron 306C was so inexpensive, and has settings for the 'athlete' - I checked on Omron's site and the manual to see if my current activity level put me in that category and it did - I went ahead and purchased it, hoping to get an fairly accurate 'guesstimate'. Much to my surprise the calipers and the Omron HBF-306C are very close in their readings. The old Omron scale is still way too high, but when playing with the 306C and setting my own profile to 'normal' versus 'athlete', I did get a bodyfat reading similar to the Omron scale. What does this mean? Your activity level is part of the equation - literally! This monitor isn't for everyone. Kids under age 18 can't get a reading with any accuracy on it, as the profile ages start at 18. 'Athlete' mode only allows for up to age 60, so if you're over 60 and active, don't waste your money on this one! In the manual it also notes that athletes and bodybuilders may not get accurate results with this device. I'm guessing that has more to do with hydration than anything else, but again, probably should stick with the calipers as a back-up. Morbidly obese people are also discouraged from using this device as a measuring tool. What I do like about it is that for many people it will work to give them a ballpark figure as to how they are doing with dietary changes and an exercise program. It doesn't tell you how much muscle you have (other monitors can...), but it's giving you a snapshot in time of what your bodyfat is and also your BMI. If you test it at consistently the same time of day and under the same circumstances (like right after you get up in the morning), you will be able to see your progress. You will have to adjust your profile if you are losing weight, as an accurate reading is dependent upon all of your profile information being accurate too. You can set your height by quarter-inch increments (a nice feature), athlete or normal, your weight, and gender. Obviously all those things don't frequently change, but your weight can. Overall this is a good device. Nice instructions, simple to set-up and use. It's a helpful fitness tool, but it's not perfect for every user. UPDATE: July 25, 2011 If you go against the rules and use this device right out of the shower after a workout - you'll have a lower body fat percentage than if you take a reading after no exercise and a night's sleep. Why? It's all about hydration. Basically if you're dehydrated, you'll get the most accurate reading, but that may not be the one that makes you smile. For women, also note that your menstrual cycle will affect your readings, so it's a good idea to take a monthly reading at the same time in your cycle. I'd suggest first thing in the morning after you urinate, 3-5 days after cessation of your period, and at least 24 hours after a workout, for the lowest water weight gain.

I've been a very studious and disciplined athlete for several years now, and I've always come to rely on body fat percentage calculators. In all my years of sitting down and doing my nutrition math, I've found that the most accurate formulas for calculating your BMR and RMR via bio-electric impedance rely on factoring your lean body mass (and thus, your body fat percentage), thus making Omron calculators in particular exceptionally useful because they're quick, easy, and don't require much in the way of configuration. It's money well spent, and worth having on hand for weekly progress journals. For those complaining about the price, ask yourself if you can really put a price tag on your own health, or more importantly, if you even have the money/access to a professional XRay or Ultrasound test every week/month. I've dodged buying one of these for years, as I've always had access to either a doctor's office or gym staff that had one on hand that I could use for free, but eventually I broke down and bought one for more frequent tests on my own time. There are definitely some things to consider however: - As with any body fat % calculator that relies on bio-electric impedance, if you're an athlete below 15% body fat, the Omron calculators can give a pretty wide range of estimates that you'll need to narrow down with frequent tests over a long enough period of time. It's not the calculator so much as the Bioelectric Impedance method. Annoying, but still beats sitting in a lab for 12+ hours or hopping in a dunk tank. - The BMI function is a loaded number; this isn't Omron's fault so much as it is the idea that BMI's are an end-all-be-all number indicating your health. As with anything else trying to tell you your BMI, take it with a grain of salt. If you are actively training to build muscle, your BMI is almost meaningless unless you consider the fat percentage as well. I'm 6'1'' with a BMI of 26, but only 10% body fat. Overweight by BMI's standards? Yes. Obese? Hardly.

I bought this several years ago. I just thought I would give it a second chance. So, I typed in my info (gender, age, weight, height, etc.) and operated the monitor to get my % body fat. THEN, I lowered by weight by 10 pounds and measured my body fat again. AND, magically , my % body fat went down compared to first measurement. OK, so I raised my entered weight by 10 pounds OVER my original entered weight. Guess what - my % body fat went higher than my original result. So, three different % body fat results taken within minutes of each other. When I increased my entered weight, %body fat went up.. If I decreased my entered weight, my %body fat went down. All this occurring within a 5 minute time span. I can only reasonably conclude that the device is measuring nothing - it is just calculating a %fat based upon the numbers you enter for gender, wright, age and height.

Like all bodyfat monitors, this one is inaccurate. But some are better then others, this just wouldn't be one of them. Yes, the only true way to measure bodyfat would be to cut a person open; second to that, hydrostatic weighing would probably be the best method, but impractical for most people. So really, it comes down to these impedance-based monitors and calipers for the average person to choose from. Calipers are cheaper, but 'good' calipers would be right along the same price as this monitor. I find the calipers to be a little more reliable than the impedance models, and yes I have not only this Omron, but also a scale with an impedance monitor as well as calipers. The biggest user-error with calipers is not performing the skin-fold testing in the same spots; so long as you can perform the measurement in the same spot/way, they are great for giving comparitive body-fat measurements. By that, I mean you should be looking to compare the numbers against your own numbers to see improvement or not, not based on what others say for a recommended bodyfat (because again, none of these methods are actually very accurate). The impedance monitors have a major issue in that what you eat/drink can severely affect their readings. This means not only should you measure at the same time of day, you should pretty much have the exact same food/drink schedule every time you perform the measurement, which seems pretty impractical for most people. However, this is still ok for giving a ball-park figure; it could be off by as much as +/-2% from my usage and testing, so really this is good for long-term measurements (as in, measuring at least a month apart). Trying to perform readings daily, or even weekly, can be off from something as simple as a few extra drinks of water, or a tiny bit more or less food. Would I buy it again? Eh, probably not. I was hoping this might be a little more accurate than my scale version, but actually this one seems to very significantly more than that one; even performing measurements back to back I've seen variances of more than a percent (which again, is why its ok for long-term readings, but weekly readings should only have a change of a percent or two in fat at most, so being more than a percent off means its not very accurate for even comparisons sake).

After doing a decent amount of research on this particular method of determining body fat percentage I was thinking it would be a waste of time. Over and over again I read how it would vary a lot and not give very accurate readings. With no other alternatives that looked much better or in this price range I decided to give this product a try and see for myself. I have used it every day since the day I received it to look at an average as opposed to basing any conclusions of one reading once a week. It never varies more than one percent from day to day. As far as I can tell the readings it is giving me are very accurate. To get results that are this consistent I created a definite routine with it. I use it in the morning just after I get up before I eat anything. You have to hold the unit in the exact same place every time, and with the same amount of pressure. I have noticed the tighter I hold it the lower the body fat percentage it displays. I choose to use a medium grip that is easy to reproduce day after day. I have been strength training since receiving this product and tracked my progress. In conjunction with the use of a scale I have seen my weight drop and my body fat percentage stay the same if I am eating too little and losing muscle. I have seen my weight and body fat percentage drop if I have a good balance of exercise and diet. I have also seen my weight stay the same and my body fat percentage drop when I am eating a lot and doing intense workouts. Without this product I would be completely in the dark as to my progress. It has helped me fine tune my workouts and diet, which has probably shaved months off the time it would take me to do it just using a scale and looking in the mirror to see if I am gaining or losing muscle. If you use it consistently and apply some common sense to this product I think you will find it a cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. After reading hundreds of reviews on this product and others that are similar, I have concluded that most of the problems other people experience with it have to do with improper use. Unfortunately, there are a lot of great products with bad reviews because consumers refuse to spend the time to do a little research and apply a little common sense.