two scales two weights????

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rebekahstrachan3
rebekahstrachan3 Posts: 30 Member
edited March 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
I just bought my first electronic scale and there is a weight difference of 8lb compared to my old scales. I'm a bit miffed to have gained 8lbs in seconds, lol. which do I trust??
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  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    Chances are your new scales are the ones that are right, or closest, but in reality most scales will weigh differently unless they're in a situation where they are calibrated regularly. Yeah, it sucks, but you've still lost what you've lost, and you actually haven't 'gained'.
  • kayeiam
    kayeiam Posts: 215 Member
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    Best way to know which one is closer is get weight at your doctor's. My home scale is off by 1 lb from my doctors
  • rebekahstrachan3
    rebekahstrachan3 Posts: 30 Member
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    I'll maybe try the scales at boots and see which is closer.
  • ArkMom35
    ArkMom35 Posts: 225 Member
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    Do you have something that you know the weight off that you can test on both? A big bag of dog food?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    My dad had me pull out his old analog scale to compare it to mine that's a year old. Mine read five pounds less than his. But yeah, test them out with a weight or a bag of sugar.
  • ejdp254
    ejdp254 Posts: 342 Member
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    I have two scales, they weigh 600 grams difference. If i check with the Boots scale, the lower one is nearly always accurate, so i go with that and then double check with Boots one in a while. Also until recently, even though they say they can weigh up to about 120kg or whatever it is, they were usually really far out, like 4-6lbs. But no matter which scales you use they will show you your lossess if you only use those scale's.
  • Kelly79L
    Kelly79L Posts: 12 Member
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    I have the same problem, old analogue scales weigh me 3lb less than new digital scales so I'm now just focusing on lbs lost not the actual number
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    It strikes me funny that so many people on threads like this say to weigh something with a "known weight" and then mention a bag of sugar or dog food - when in other threads they're the same people that say "oh but manufacturers can be off as much 20% on package sizes so you really have to weigh everything."

    Do you really think that every 5-lb bag of sugar is going to be exactly 5 pounds????? The chance is really, really slim. And dog food is probably even further off.

    If you want to weigh something that you are (more) sure the weight of, a dumbbell is a good bet and reasonably cheap to buy; you could even return it after your testing if you have no intention of using it for other purposes.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    thats why you should use the SAME scale in the same place to measure your weight EVERY TIME. it may be inaccurate, but the loss is still real.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
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    I NEVER weigh myself. It sets me up for a miserable day/night if I am not where I think I should be. I go by clothes and their fit. Also, how strong and healthy I feel. Simple.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Phrick wrote: »
    It strikes me funny that so many people on threads like this say to weigh something with a "known weight" and then mention a bag of sugar or dog food - when in other threads they're the same people that say "oh but manufacturers can be off as much 20% on package sizes so you really have to weigh everything."

    Do you really think that every 5-lb bag of sugar is going to be exactly 5 pounds????? The chance is really, really slim. And dog food is probably even further off.

    If you want to weigh something that you are (more) sure the weight of, a dumbbell is a good bet and reasonably cheap to buy; you could even return it after your testing if you have no intention of using it for other purposes.

    Seems funny to me too.
  • cdcllcga01
    cdcllcga01 Posts: 71 Member
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    It's like having two clocks - you are never quite sure what time it is.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    Trust both although obviously one or maybe both are wrong.

    The number isn't important, the progress is what you look at.

    Pick one and use only that one.
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
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    It's better and easier to test your scales with something small that you genuinely know the weight of. For example, a gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds. Step on the scale carrying a gallon of water and check the reading. Put the water down. Did the number go down by ~8 lbs? Then your scale is probably pretty accurate. (You can weigh the water jug empty on a food scale if you want to get obsessive about it.)
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    cdcllcga01 wrote: »
    It's like having two clocks - you are never quite sure what time it is.

    I like that analogy...

    Clocks give you a rough estimate of what time it actually is. In the grand scheme does it really matter if it's 2:14 or 2:17? However, they do a pretty dang good job of measuring the passage of time.

    Think of scales the same way...they'll give you a rough guess of your weight, but the exact number is relatively immaterial. They are pretty good though at measuring the change in weight...and that's what's most important.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    What everyone else said- find something with a known weight, weigh it on both scales and see what happens. Generally, the item has to weigh at least a few lbs. If you have a dumbbell, that would be ideal, but bags of flour, dog food bags, bags of potatoes (that you weighed at the grocery store), gallons of water, etc. will all work.
  • overlook237
    overlook237 Posts: 160 Member
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    I'm a numbers person so when the two scales I have in my house didn't match, it drove me crazy. I finally decided to just pick one (the one with the lower weight on it, of course ;) ) and stick with it. I try to stay consistent with when I weigh myself and where I put the scale (old house, somewhat crooked floors). The loss/change in weight is more important than the actual number in the long run.
  • spoonyspork
    spoonyspork Posts: 238 Member
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    We have two scales. According to one, I lost like a lb a day week before then it all shot back up to only .5 lbs lost for the week and shows me losing *nothing* last week and this week, while the other had me losing nothing week before or last week, but today is 3 lbs lower than two weeks ago (putting me at a healthy weight!). Both always show a 3 lb weight as 3 lbs... so... yeah. I just figure the trend is generally down so it's all good... that or gravity affects me - and not the 3 lb weight - different in the 1 ft space between the scales! XD
  • vixtris
    vixtris Posts: 688 Member
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    The digital scale is probably the more accurate one. Before I had a digital scale, my normal ones marker would hover above 0 and I would have to manually readjust it every time I stepped on it - annoying and inaccurate. Although, my digital one started borking out on me recently and giving me different readings every time I stepped on it. Replacing the battery fixed that though.

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