Digital vs analogue scales?

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mehreen_xo
mehreen_xo Posts: 78 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone so why is it that there's always a difference in the number on the two scales? I'm always 7lbs lighter on my analogue scale! Of course what matters is the downward trend on either scale to determine the rate of weight loss but I want to know which one is more accurate? I would like to know my true weight for TDEE calculators etc. Thank you :)

Replies

  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    mehreen_xo wrote: »
    Hey everyone so why is it that there's always a difference in the number on the two scales? I'm always 7lbs lighter on my analogue scale! Of course what matters is the downward trend on either scale to determine the rate of weight loss but I want to know which one is more accurate? I would like to know my true weight for TDEE calculators etc. Thank you :)

    with a 7 lb difference, it sounds like one of them isn't calibrated.

    If you have some heavy dumbells, you can check to see which one correctly shows 50 lbs...

    Or you could weigh using smaller(10-25 lbs) of dumbells to see if the discrepancy remains at a different weight point.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    stanmann571 wrote: »
    mehreen_xo wrote: »
    Hey everyone so why is it that there's always a difference in the number on the two scales? I'm always 7lbs lighter on my analogue scale! Of course what matters is the downward trend on either scale to determine the rate of weight loss but I want to know which one is more accurate? I would like to know my true weight for TDEE calculators etc. Thank you :)

    with a 7 lb difference, it sounds like one of them isn't calibrated.

    If you have some heavy dumbells, you can check to see which one correctly shows 50 lbs...

    Or you could weigh using smaller(10-25 lbs) of dumbells to see if the discrepancy remains at a different weight point.

    I do this all the time esp on the scales at work...a variety of people use those scales so they could be off significantly.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    edited June 2017
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    A cheap scale is a cheap scale. It's hard to know unless you tell us the brands and such. Also, make sure to adjust your scales every so often. Especially the analog one.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    cee134 wrote: »
    A cheap scale is a cheap scale. It's hard to know unless you tell us the brands and such. Also, make sure to adjust your scales every so often. Especially the analog one.

    IME, a cheap analog scale is more likely to develop a terminal miscalibration than a digital scale, although I've seen it both ways..

    The cheap digital scale is more likely just going to be terminal...
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Put a weight on each scale to see which is more accurate.
    Change batteries and see if that changes anything.
    Pick one scale and always use it.
    A 7 lb difference in weight for calorie calculators will probably only be 30-40 calories difference. A 20 lb difference from your actual weight might be 100 calories difference. Are you losing at the rate you expected? If yes, then the weight you calculated your goals off of is close enough.

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