Home Scales vs Doctors Scales

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geminigarcia199017
geminigarcia199017 Posts: 529 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
When I visit my doctors how come I can lose weight when I step on the scales. When I visit my home scales losing weight is not as fast but slow. I find this humerous LOOOOL :)
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Replies

  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    What do you mean? If you mean your doctor's scales read you as being lighter, that's because all scales are a bit inaccurate, so if you go from one scale to another you will see a difference. Scales in doctors' surgeries are checked and calibrated more often, so the doctor's scales will be closer to the truth.

    If you mean your weight according to the doctor's scales is going down, but the weight according to your scales isn't, your scales might be faulty, but it depends how big the difference is. If it's only 2 or 3 pounds in may be due to water weight fluctuations.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    No, much more likely it's just because your home scales have become inaccurate over time. It's normal.
  • tanyaltrl
    tanyaltrl Posts: 42 Member
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    I agree home scales just become more inaccurate with time. The carpeting doesnt matter at the doctors because those scales have its own solid base that the measuring surface presses against
  • dietstokes
    dietstokes Posts: 216 Member
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    I'll be devils advocate here. I often think the scales at the doctor's office are highly inaccurate b/c they are not calibrated that often. I can jump on my scale at my house, my grandmothers at her place, my friends at her place and get a number within a pound or two of each other, while I can get wildly different numbers at the doctors. If you are concerned, ask when they last had it calibrated. Also, you can check the accuracy of yours by placing a weight on it and seeing what it reads. I have up to 50 pound weights in my apartment that I use from time to time to check the accuracy. I just hold it and step on the scale and see if the weight goes up by 20 pounds (if I'm holding the 20 pound weight).
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    I weigh at home first thing in the morning, whereas when I weigh at docs, I've eaten and am wearing clothes. My weight fluctuates 3-5 pounds during the day, so I expect to weigh in heavier at doc office. If you really want a comparison, bring your scales to the next doc appointment, set them on the floor next to doc scales, and weigh on both under the same conditions. Then you'll have an idea of how far off they are. Nurse might think it's a little unusual, but it doesn't matter. Health providers get quite excited when someone actually LOSES weight!
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,147 Member
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    When I have a doctor's appointment. I weight myself at home in the morning and just before leaving for the doctors' office, without shoes and with the same clothes that I will be wearing for the appointment. At the doctor's office, the scale usually registers 3 to 4 more lbs than my morning fasting weight, and about 2lbs more than my "before" appointment weight. I make sure that the medical assistant and the doctor are aware of the discrepancies and make a note in my chart. I am a very small person and small weight fluctuations makes a lot of difference in my body.
  • wtliftchick
    wtliftchick Posts: 84 Member
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    I only pay attention to my home scale. I think my doctors is more accurate but since I go to the doctors maybe two times a year, the home scale is what I rely on. Even if it's not accurate, it tells me if my weight is moving up or down.
  • michelleepotter
    michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
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    dietstokes wrote: »
    I'll be devils advocate here. I often think the scales at the doctor's office are highly inaccurate b/c they are not calibrated that often. I can jump on my scale at my house, my grandmothers at her place, my friends at her place and get a number within a pound or two of each other, while I can get wildly different numbers at the doctors. If you are concerned, ask when they last had it calibrated. Also, you can check the accuracy of yours by placing a weight on it and seeing what it reads. I have up to 50 pound weights in my apartment that I use from time to time to check the accuracy. I just hold it and step on the scale and see if the weight goes up by 20 pounds (if I'm holding the 20 pound weight).

    I just tried this. The only weight I had on hand was a 10lb kettlebell, but my scale registered me as exactly 10lbs heavier while holding it. Nice!

    I don't pay much attention to my weight at the doctor's office. I'm wearing clothes, I've eaten food, the scale is not calibrated the same as mine... I don't actually suddenly become 2lbs heavier if the doctor's scale reads 2lbs more than the one at home. What really matters is that I'm making improvements as measured by the same scale under the same circumstances over time. (And even then, other things like losing inches or gaining strength might be better measures of my progress than weight loss.)
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    If the scale is properly zeroed, then any error will be a small cumulative error that builds up pound by pound. That means the scale will be more accurate measuring small weights than big ones - so say you weigh 10 stone (140lb) and your scale is out by 2lb when it weighs you - if you use it to weigh a 20lb weight it'll only be out by four or five ounces - not that noticeable.

    Scale inaccuracy is just something we have to live with, and the best way to get round it is just to consistently use the same scale so that you get a clear idea of how much you've gained or lost. If you go between 2 different scales the answers will always be different. I go by my own bathroom scales, and pay less attention to doctor's scales or the Wii, for example.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
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    Okay I'm speaking with a technical and scientific background I deal with scales and balances on a daily basis.

    The important thing is to use the same scale to record or base your weight on. Depending on the quality of the mechanism and how often it's calibrated or serviced the accuracies of different scales will vary.

    Also because of fluctuations in your body you should try to weigh yourself at the same time under the same conditions on that same scale. Sometimes I'll weigh myself on the same scale at work at different times in a day and I might have a 2 to 4 pound difference. There a lot of factors that influence the weight including what you ate how, much u drank, also your bathroom habits.

    Remember don't freak out about the number on the scale as long as you're making progress that's all that matters. Remember you control the number the number doesn't control you.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
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    BiggDaddy58 wrote: »
    My Doctor's scale weighs us (Myself and my wife) at 2 pounds heavier than our home scale. BUT we weigh naked at home and clothed at Doc's (we've offered naked at Doc's but so far they have politely declined) So the scales are probably fairly close

    I never realized clothes were so heavy until I tried weighing with them on at home and wondered what went wrong. Took them back off and got my regular weight again.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
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    geminigarcia199017 wrote: »
    I weigh myself at the doctors with clothes on & shoes & I am lighter but at home with clothes and just my feet but I am heavier?

    I'm the same. I have two home scales that both put me at 2-3lb heavier than my doctors office consistently.
  • bellabonbons
    bellabonbons Posts: 705 Member
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    Depends completely on the engineering and quality of the scale. If you have a low priced low quality scale at home it will always be off. My scale is consistently the same as my doctors. It was worth it to me to purchase a high quality scale.
  • debrag12
    debrag12 Posts: 1,071 Member
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    I go by my scales at home. I use the gyms boditrak system (just a glorified scale machine with handles that reads everything) and I'm 37lbs heavier.

    I do weight first thing in the morning with nothing on at home though. The gym I've had tons of water by the time I weigh and have clothes on (it's mean to account for clothes though).

    I like all the data from the boditrak though.

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