Medical Scales - Providing Precise Measurements For Precise Diagnosis By Stephen Lamb At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

It’s one of the things you can count on: The moment your doctor’s appointment begins, the doctor or a nurse says “Shoes off, step on the scale, please.”

As the years go by, your doctor charts your weight fluctuations, discusses potential health risks associated with your weight, and helps you create a game plan to live a healthier life.

From the time you are a tiny infant in the basket of a pediatric scale, throughout your childhood and teens, your doctor is paying attention to signs of specific risks like obesity, diabetes, malnourishment and anorexia.

Whether your doctor uses an older-style mechanical scale with the sliding metal beams, or one of the newer digital scales that also records your body mass index (BMI), it is important to record your weight regularly. Even the floor scale at your local gym can give you an accurate reading of where you are in terms of health and fitness.

Scales that record weight and BMI are an excellent measure of whether you are fit, or possibly fat-thin. Fat thin people are within their correct weight range, but their fat content may be higher than it should be, compared to muscle mass. Weight tracking programs that can read the output on your doctor’s scale can calculate just how much muscle and fat you have, versus what you should have.

If you are following a strict doctor-designed weight-loss plan, these numbers are what you should be checking, in addition to your overall weight. It is important that you not lose muscle when dieting, or it will slow your metabolism. If your doctor or local weight-loss center uses calculating software to track your progress, you stand a much better chance of maintaining a healthy weight once the fat comes off.

Following a weight-loss plan or diabetic diet can be a daunting task. It can be made easier by weighing and measuring food portions. With restaurants changing the mindset of Americans by serving two and three times the amount of food we eat in one serving, it can be hard for us to judge for ourselves just what a 3 oz. piece of chicken or fish looks like. How much spinach is in a pound? Is half a melon a full serving of fruit, or is it actually two servings? Weight-loss centers will often take the time to teach patients about portion control by showing them how to use a food scale in the kitchen. One of the most important lessons is to spend Sunday afternoon weighing in and measuring your meal portions for the week, so that you need only do the cooking when the time comes.

A portion scale is a must for anyone on a weight-loss program or diabetic diet. These can range from the petite countertop version scales to the much larger hanging-basket style scale found in butcher shops and fruit markets, and all sizes in between. Digital or dial, pounds or kilograms – there is a right one out there for every purpose.

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