If your clothes are tighter than they were a month ago, you can be sure that you have gained some weight. Although gaining one or two pounds is not a matter of concern, you need to take precautions to make sure that your body weight does not become too high. After all, a high body weight indicates a high body fat, which is the leading cause of a number of serious health conditions, such a as diabetes and heart diseases. Here are a few ways to measure body fat:

1. Body Fat Scales: They measure the percentage of fat by passing a current through your body and measuring the “impedance”, or resistance to the current flow. Since the measurement can be affected by your body’s water content, skin temperature and exercise, you should take certain precautions to get a more precise value of your body weight. For instance, you must fast for at least four hours and be in a state of physical inactivity for at least twelve hours before the test.

2. Hydrostatic Weighing: It is the most correct way of measuring your body fat. By plunging yourself in water, you can measure the amount of water displaced and thus your body density. Next, with the help of a formula, you can calculate your body fat.