Doctor's scales are usually the meanest ones..

kenzienal
kenzienal Posts: 205 Member
in Motivation and Support
Starting with a new doctor today, since I had a change of insurance. Just getting a physical done.

Sometimes it really seems their scales are out to get you.. :D I can't be the only one to fear that monster?!

Since January 12th, I have lost 10-12lbs with only 11-13 more pounds to lose before I hit my goal weight. Ate like CRAP all weekend, but clocked in at 147.6lbs this morning on my scale. Lowest weight of the year being 146lbs, so I am okay with that after the weekend I had.

Weighing in under 150lbs was my first mini goal, and I have been able to keep a steady downward trend until last weekend. (Which I will get back into that trend again, gave myself a few maintenance days)

I am a little nervous that the doctor's scale will show me at over 150lbs again. Its been YEARS since I have weighed in under 150lbs at a Doctors visit. I just want to feel as though my hard work is truly paying off.

I suppose this is another mini-goal. Weigh in less than 150lbs at the doctors visit. I'm feeling a little bloated today, so thats not helping any either. Slightly nervous, won't lie. Ridiculous, I know, but I desperately don't want that scale to go over 149.9lbs.

Replies

  • Tulip9
    Tulip9 Posts: 145 Member
    Wear some light weight shoes! I hate it too. Don't let it get you down if it reads a little higher.
  • kenzienal
    kenzienal Posts: 205 Member
    Tulip9 wrote: »
    Wear some light weight shoes! I hate it too. Don't let it get you down if it reads a little higher.

    The shoes are DEFINITELY coming off! lol
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    I hate it too. Especially in the winter when you're wearing heavy clothes. Denim jeans, winter socks, and a fleece like shirt can easily push a few pounds on. Then add in it's usually the middle of the day so you have the weight from whatever you drank and ate before hand too.

    It's just a number on a scale.... you'll be fine :) Your own scale and weigh in schedule is really the only one that "counts".
  • kenzienal
    kenzienal Posts: 205 Member
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    I hate it too. Especially in the winter when you're wearing heavy clothes. Denim jeans, winter socks, and a fleece like shirt can easily push a few pounds on. Then add in it's usually the middle of the day so you have the weight from whatever you drank and ate before hand too.

    It's just a number on a scale.... you'll be fine :) Your own scale and weigh in schedule is really the only one that "counts".

    I needed to hear that last line! Sometimes its hard to remember its just a number, but its a heck of a lot easier to set numeric goals.
  • megdnoorman
    megdnoorman Posts: 282 Member
    Yes, I have this fear too. At home I weigh in naked first thing in the morning before eating anything, so I always expect to be a lb or two heavier at dr appointments. It's still irritating though :/
  • winchestertardisrider
    winchestertardisrider Posts: 21 Member
    My Doctor and I have a solid understanding. I will turn my back to the numbers, and he/she will remain silent. I swear the scales are rigged. I went in one day and on the end-of-visit print out, there was my "weight." In bold letters. A number truly harrowing to behold. And WAAAAYYY off what I weighed at home before going. I weighed myself again when I got home... and it matched my pre-Doctor weight. So, then I assumed my personal scale must be broken... so I weighed in at the gym and at my neighbor's house. Nope. They all matched. it was the Doctor that was full of broken dreams. ;)
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    Don't worry about that number. Chances are you have probably had something to eat or at least drink and you are wearing clothes which will account for a higher number than your home scale. And from the sloppy way I have seen some MA/LPN/RNs take weights there is also room for error.
  • kenzienal
    kenzienal Posts: 205 Member
    You guys are certainly making me feel wayyyy better about it now.

    I guess there is some ingrained way of thinking that the doctor's scale number is the accurate number, and the home scale is what is off.

    I weigh in daily and track using the Happy Scale app, so I like to think I have a good understanding of my current weight.

    I have only eat 320 calories before my visit this pm, but have been loading up on the water thanks to a cold. I will just blame it on water retention if I go over 150lbs. Lol.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,147 Member
    It's been decades since I've been weighed on a doctor's scale, but I did subtract 2-3 pounds off the number to account for clothes/food/drink.
  • sydnisd183
    sydnisd183 Posts: 247 Member
    lol when I go to the Doctor's office I make sure i'm clothed with shoes, and even have my phone on my belt when i'm weighed.....just to make sure the number is off. If I know it's off I won't stress about it
  • str8bowbabe
    str8bowbabe Posts: 712 Member
    So with you! My nurse knows me so well...when I go she just looks at me and says yup you know what to do. I just frown at her, throw everything I can take off in a pile and step on the scale. Then we just laugh because this is our ritual every time. Hang in there!
  • DannyYMi54321
    DannyYMi54321 Posts: 77 Member
    Huh ... I haven't ever noticed a discrepancy at all, they generally agree to the pound. I always weigh myself at home on my scale EXACTLY like I'm going to weigh in at the doctor's office - shoes on or off, etc, and I make sure I don't eat or drink anything until I get through with the appointment (easy to do, since they often want to draw labs anyway). My PCP's office uses an accurate, but old-fashioned, mechanical scale, so it is vague about the ounces. Most doctors offices now have more accurate, digital scales that generally are within an ounce or two of my Garmin scale.
  • Nixi3Knox
    Nixi3Knox Posts: 182 Member
    They are wildly inaccurate. They weigh patients with their clothes and shoes on, also by the time you hit the Dr's office you have been eating and drinking. You can put on 10 pounds from clothes and what you consume. They don't usually subtract any amount to make up or these things. The pediatrician said my 7 year old child was obese according their measurements. The following morning I made sure to weigh her at home first thing in the morning before breakfast and in her underwear. She weighed considerably less obviously before a big breakfast and getting her clothes on. She actually didn't even fall into the overweight category. I do not trust any dr's scales for this reason.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    You could always ask to weigh naked, like at home. It might be a bit awkward though, and you might be asked to look for a different new doctor...

    Does the number matter that much? It's an emotional reaction to something you know isn't accurate. Turn your back on the scale and ask them to not tell you the number, if it is really upsetting for you, but at the end of the day, it's not going to make a bit of difference in where you are and the progress you have made.
  • cshartranft
    cshartranft Posts: 3 Member
    Because I weigh myself every morning before showering (butt naked), I simply tell the nurse or doctor my weight that morning and don't even step on the scale. If they protest, I don't really care.
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,130 Member
    Yeah, it's because you've eaten and had water and have clothes on - no worries. I'm always around 4 pounds "heavier" at the doctor, but it's not YOUR weight - it's the weight of your clothes, shoes, and food/water.

  • stelly76
    stelly76 Posts: 120 Member
    The scale you've been using every day is the only one that is showing your true progress. That scale number, as much as we love to make it important, is not as important as the difference you're feeling in your clothes, etc. I tend to go to my family practitioner and the obg within a month of each other. The obg scale always has me about 5 lbs heavier EXCEPT for last year when the aide at the Dr's office was in a hurry and didn't even let the old fashion scale right itself before she put my weight down. I KNEW the number was way off and will feel so much better next month when I go again and it looks like I lost a ton of weight. LOL
  • kenzienal
    kenzienal Posts: 205 Member
    Well superficial number or not, I weighed in at 149.2lbs. So I'm just estatic that I didn't have to see that dreaded 150.
  • murph155
    murph155 Posts: 116 Member
    cshartranft wrote: »
    Because I weigh myself every morning before showering (butt naked), I simply tell the nurse or doctor my weight that morning and don't even step on the scale. If they protest, I don't really care.

    I do the same thing and my Dr.s office is fine with it.

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