Those on the long road to weight loss have often used a weighing scale as their guide. After all, their main goal is to lose weight. But a scale weighs every bit of you your fat, bones, muscle, what you just ate or drank and ultimately, the number that appears on your weighing scale is not the most important number.

A more important number a number that means more in terms of overall health is your percent body fat. As most of us have heard, muscle indeed weighs more than fat. A regular scale may show a person that he has remained the same weight after weeks of working out, and this can be very upsetting and slightly askewed news.

A weighing scale with a body fat monitor, on the other hand, may show that same person that although he is the same size, his percent body fat has gone down! His muscle has replaced his fat, and this is even better than losing weight.

These days, anyone who is interested in weight loss practically needs to be a mathematician. There are just so many numbers to deal with calorie counting, grams of fat in food, weight, percent body fat, hours of exercise, etc. One of the most important numbers, though, is the percent body fat. Luckily, these days, people can check out their percent body fat from the comfort of their own homes, at the same time they are weighing themselves.

The newest and best sort of scale to have today is one with a body fat monitor. An even better weighing scale to have is one with a body water monitor, too many people are mildly to moderately dehydrated these days, and they do not even know it. A body water monitor can help them keep on top of hydration, thereby improving their overall health.

So, how does a scale measure your body fat and water levels? Bioelectrical Impedance (BIA). A person stands on the foot pads of his scale, barefoot. A low-level electrical signal is passed up through one foot, and exits through the other foot. The BIA scale measures the resistance of this electrical signal as it travels through the persons body.

Water conducts electricity, and fat contains very little water. Muscle, on the other hand, is around 70% water. Therefore, the faster the signal travels through your body, the more muscle you have.

The BIA scale is not the most accurate fat-measuring device (it has a 4% margin of error), but it is accurate enough for most people, and it is very easy to use. The results of a BIA scale can be affected by simple things like your hydration, the food youve eaten, and even your skin temperature. Weigh yourself after drinking a glass of water your percent body fat shows as higher if you are dehydrated.

So, if you are looking to lose weight, consider trying to lose body fat instead, and keep track of it on a scale with a body fat monitor.

Note: It is recommended that anyone who has and internal electronic medical device like a pacemaker should not use the fat reading feature of one of these scales