I will agree in fear of the scale, the kind that weighs you, not the snake. So my first reaction to the idea that I would be getting a free scale for a body scan with a Factor meal kit subscription was something like “Oh no!”
It’s always bad or embarrassing news, I thought, and maybe I don’t know. Although, as it turns out, I was wrong on both counts.
Factor is, of course, a prepared meal brand from the HelloFresh meal kit, which I tested when I reviewed a bunch of meal kits this past year. Think TV delivery meals, but they’re actually fresh and never frozen. Factor meals are designed to be microwaved, but I found when I reviewed Factor last year that the food tasted much better when air-fried (preferably using the Ninja Crispi, the best heating device I know).
In particular, Factor is the leader in low carb and protein foods that have become equally popular among people who want to lose weight and people who want to lift it. So, this scale. Factor would like you to be able to track your progress in gaining body weight, losing fat, or both. Then continue using Factor to make your fitness or wellness goals.
While your first week of Factor is currently discounted, regular price meals will be $14 to $15 a serving, plus $11 shipping per box. That’s less than most restaurant deliveries, but certainly more than if you were preparing this meal yourself.
If you sign up between now and the end of March, a third Factor meal box will come with a free scale of Wings Body Comp, which normally retails for north of $200. Wings doesn’t just measure you. It checks your fat and bone and muscle ratios, and indirectly measures stress levels and the elasticity of your blood vessels. Basically, WIRED’s favorite smart scale, something like a fitness watch for your feet.
Anyway, to get the deal, use the code CONWITHINGS on Factor’s website, or follow the promo code link below.
Is My Body
The scale that comes with a Factor subscription is about as good as it gets: the $200 Body Comp scale from high-tech fitness monitoring company Wings. The scale uses bioelectrical impedance analysis and other proprietary methods to measure not only your weight but your body fat percentage, your lean muscle mass, your visceral fat, and your bone and water mass, your heart rate, and even the stiffness of your arteries.
To get all this information, all you need to do is stand on the scale for a few minutes. The scale will recognize you based on your weight (you’ll need to enter a description when you set up your profile for this to work), then cycle through a series of measurements before giving you a fun weather report for the day.
Your electrodermal activity – “the response of the skin by stimulating the sweat gland in your feet” – provides a measure of stress, or at least excitement. Withings also aims to measure your arterial age, or stiffness, by the speed of your blood with each heartbeat. This sounds esoteric, but it has some scientific backing.
Note that many doctors warn against taking non-specific measurements of body composition as gospel. Some doctors argue that previous “gold standard” measurements are not entirely accurate, either. It’s a big debate. Personally, I tend to take the scale measurements as an easy way to track progress, and a good home indicator when there’s a problem that needs a doctor’s attention.
And so, I was scared. Too much bad news to get at once! I thought so.
