An off scale purchase (that is not horse-related)

One of the tools of serious dieting is a good scale -- and I've had a bunch of'em. Over the weekend, my old Tanita went on the fritz. The digital numbers are fading, and replacing the batteries didn't help. That's the bad news.

The good news is, the new scales do everything but steam your carrots. An Tanita is the scale of scales, praised in Consumer Reports and generally thought of as a top consumer model based on reliability and accuracy. And as a compulsive dieter, getting three different readings in the span of five minutes is likely to give me a panic attack.

Here's a list of what the model I ordered measures (and my values in parentheses):

• weight: 124.4
• body fat (27%, or high normal)
• muscle mass (low)
• bone mass (low, confirmed by bone density tests)
• daily caloric intake (2100 calories)
• visceral fat (low)
• Metabolic age (21 -- my real age is 47)

I am so tickled with this purchase, money absolutely does by happiness, albeit temporarily. My husband was skeptical, but when I got him to stand on it and get his readings his interest really perked up. Now he's hopping on every day to check changes in his muscle mass. It's not for everyone. But if you're health conscious and like to track your fitness progress, give it a look!