"The scale doesn't lie. People do"

Okay, so it's a common quote from TLC series My 600-lb Life.

Raise your hand if you remember when TLC was really The Learning Channel and had really amazing stuff to watch, instead of scripted reality television. 🙋

When I came out of the gym this morning, my mother was at the pool. She was deep in conversation with one of her (international snowbird) friends and they were talking about a scale the friend uses. 

This is the same friend she ended up giving the Torfurky to last week, by the way.

So the friend was explaining to my mother some app she has on her phone. They were going into everything it does and how closely she monitors it. It was then explained to me, that this app is tied to a "really cheap, 30 dollar bathroom scale". The friend then shows me the app and tells me what it can do. 

Essentially, when you turn the scale on and step on it, it sends electrodes through your body. What those electrodes are doing, are measuring all sorts of things. Things like BMI (Body Mass Index), muscle mass, bone mass, water weight, heart health, body fat, and all sorts of things. She relies on it, in part, due to her eating habits (of being a vegetarian). Knowing how she's doing in daily activities, is great. Especially since it all syncs to the product app. 

She knows she's got challenges with some parts of this, when she gets headaches due to dehydration. She'll set a reminder to drink more water, but if she weighs herself, the scale can tell her what her body is doing. 

It really sounds like some sorcery and I can't tell you why. But I can tell you that I am not in the medical field. Thus, this post is for informational purposes only and does not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a licensed healthcare provider for concerns about your health. I am here to talk about stuff I hear from people, things I learn, and open a door for someone else to look into something they may be interested in. It is then, when that person can go do their own research. 

The woman spoke about how she has two of these scales - one at her Florida residence and one at her Canada residence. She trusts this scale to do its thing and listens to her body when she needs to up her hydration or lower her snacking. For thirty dollars, she thought the scale was well worth it, and it's already paid for itself because it tracks everything for you in the downloadable app. You can see how your body fluctuates daily (if you weigh yourself daily) and you can change the profile and settings to suit your need, much like you can change your diet and exercise to get healthier. 

She's learned a lot about herself by using this, and has more knowledge about her guts and organs than she did growing up. Yes, she still sees a doctor, but she's more empowered to do positive changes with this. 

She didn't tell me the name of the scale, but from what I could gather, the app looks similar to the Renpho line of machines. Amazon does have one on a 43% discount right now, marked to 19.99 (currently listed as "Amazon's Choice"). It retails for 34.99, so it's about right in the ballpark of what the woman was talking about. 

After listening to the conversation and being shown the app, I was thinking about this all day. It does sound too good to be true. A scale that can magically tell you everything you're doing with your body, without the need to visit a doctor every month? You can learn what's happening to your insides and adjust your diet as needed? Why isn't this marketed more? Why aren't doctors suggesting this thing instead of prescribing medication? 

Plus, wasn't there a (fairly recent) time when certain health apps were talked about being banned (like the women's health - period trackers, etc)? The pull was due to security / privacy reasons and needed to be taken off the download shelves. This inckudes hacking problems, data management, unclear rules and regulations.. list goes on. Even for an "official" program, there was still cause for alarm because there was no full accountability going on should things go south (vulnerabilities can be aplenty).  

I'm not an expert by any means. I remember seeing the headlines and hearing the conversations. So what's this (admittedly California based) product doing differently? Is it any different than the machines and software already out there? Does this woman really care? If she's not completely filling out the profile to include a lot of information, is she safe? 

No one is immune to anything. Hell, I had MyFitnessPal and Runkeeper apps on my phone. I know MyFitnessPal got hacked at one point as well as I sometimes forgot to add my intake some days. Plus, the only reason I downloaded it originally was because one of my doctors kept insisting I use it (he swore by it - lost over 100 pounds and counting). I didn't find it 100 per cent useful all the time, honestly. With Runkeeper, I thought it was more of a pain to use because it kept wanting me to upgrade to a paid version and a lot of times, the little voice coach wasn't always helping (sometimes it got redundant as well). I also couldn't sync my podcasts to the app so I can have the Runkeeper open and listen to shows at the same time, even though there was supposed to be an option.

Now that I have a smart watch (okay, I'm on the Apple product line with an iPhone and Watch [series 3]), I use the bloatware fitness app that came with the watch and somehow magically downloaded to my phone during one of the iOS updates. That's become an easier product to use in the gym because I just open the app on the watch and select the program I'm doing (elliptical, stationary bike, etc). 

Everyone is different. Everyone does their own thing. We have an old analog (dial) scale in one room (which we tend to use to weigh our luggage when we're flying) and a Weight Watchers (digital) scale in another room. 

Gotta keep 'em separated. 

I dare you not to do any air jamming as you attempt any of the musical parts to the Offspring's "Come Out And Play" track from their 1994 Smash album (track 7 for reference).

Gawd I aged myself. 

But yeah, we keep them in different rooms for the sake of "you have to have a scale on level flooring, in the same spot, every day, for accurate readings". The analog may be a little more reliable some days, but the digital is easier to read because it's more clear (my eye sight is crap). Beggars can't be choosers; we just do what is needed. 

I need to still lose weight, even though one of my doctors were amazed last week because I am down a surprising amount (to them). They weren't expecting me to lose what I have (slightly north of 20 pounds) in a short period of time, but I'm getting it done by going to the gym every day and watching what I eat. I don't need the fitness apps I had in the past because I'm following whatever crazy is in my head. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat, but I still drink water. I cut down on the junk food, salts and colas. I am a little more careful these days and I'm trying to get down further in my weight. It's tough for sure, but I'm trying. 

As Dr. Now would say "stop doing weird tings".

I shall! 

Today's Wednesday.. I think a new episode is on... Gotta get ready for it. I've gotten used to guessing the "unknown weight" and have been pretty damn close. 

Catch the weight on the flip side..

Cheers;