Looking for advice on digital scales!

eringrace95_

So I’ve been weighing myself on a Weight Watchers digital bathroom scale for a few years and my dad and sister both told me my scale seems to be weighing them higher than they normally are. To test it out we weighed ourselves on mine then my dad’s scale and my dads scale is 3 pounds under my scale!

So I go out and buy a new scale and the new scale is 9 POUNDS under my WW scale!

TL;DR: Anyone have suggestions for a super accurate digital weight scale?

eringrace95_

I should mention that I tried a 15 pound free weight on my scale and my dad’s and my dad’s was spot on accurate but my WW scale was reading 19.8! My dad’s scale is an analog non digital one though so I was questioning its accuracy lol

LyndaBSS

I have a Withings Body Smart Scale. I love it! It syncs to the Health Mate app which then syncs to mfp.

hwoltmann

I recommend the Withings Body Cardio.
The Body Cardio has a solid aluminium base without feet. It is designed to work on almost any surface, from hard floors to thick carpets.
And the synchronization with MFP is really great.

steveko89

Whatever you get, body fat analysis pads are pretty useless; too much variation in hydration or it extrapolates based on height, weight, and age.

neugebauer52

I prefer not to use domestic scales because they seem to jump up and down - so frustrating. I only use the electronic scale at the gym - it gets calibrated every 6 months, that should give me my correct weight.

StatChicBayes

I have a Renpho scale (from Amazon) that syncs to my iPhone Health Kit (also works with Android) and provides a breakdown of BodyFat, muscle etc. The weight readings are within 0.1 to 0.2 of my (newish) WW digital scale I bought at Costco at the beginning of the year. (I wanted to track body fat and have something that syncs automatically rather than entering all of the time.) I re-calibrate it periodically when it starts to get to far off from the WW scale, but have been happy with it so far. I am pretty sure it uses some algorithm for body fat, as some of the readings are exactly the same as when I have been at that weight previously, while I would have expected more variation.

lorrpb

neugebauer52 wrote: »

I prefer not to use domestic scales because they seem to jump up and down - so frustrating. I only use the electronic scale at the gym - it gets calibrated every 6 months, that should give me my correct weight.

The downside is that you might not always weigh under the same conditions—same clothes, nothing to eat or drink, etc. One’s weight fluctuates quite a bit during the day based on hydration, sodium, activity, etc so when weighing at any time other than first thing in the morning you’re potentially introducing more variables. If it works for your situation, great!

eringrace95_

Thanks for all the suggestions!!!

sgt1372

Every home scale will vary in accuracy and precision.

If you weigh it w/a known wt (like dumbbells or weight lifting plates), as you already learned, you can adjust the reading according, or, if the scale has a zero adjustment, like many analog scales do, you can correct the measurement internally.

Danp

Step on 10 different sets of consumer grade scales and you'll likely get 10 different results which is why it's important to take all your readings from the same scale.

The key metric you should be focusing on is progress. If scale 1 says you moved from 150lbs to 149lbs and scale 2 says you moved from 148lbs to 147lbs they're both showing a 1lbs loss even if they're both reading slightly different overall weights. The difference between them only really matters if you're moving between the two. Depending on which way you go you'll be (falsely) seeing a 3lbs loss or a 1lbs gain.

You can get different results on scales depending on which direction you're leaning. With my scale the highest readings come when my weight is on the ball of my right foot (leaning forward and to the right) and lowest when when on my left heel (leaning backwards and to the left). You just need to do your best to keep everything as consistent as possible so that variations are kept to a minimum.

LivingtheLeanDream

I also have WW ones and felt they were weighing high (have them 3 yrs and only recently felt they weren't right), I bought Salter digital ones - and whaddya know, they both weighed within 0.5lb of each other - (yeah it didn't make me happy as I was sure I hadn't gained 5lbs in recent weeks! but I had)

Have you changed your batteries? I would try that before buying another set.

At the end of the day regardless if you feel they are weighing higher, if you are seeing loss (if that's what you're aiming for) thats the main thing.

eringrace95_

That’s an interesting tip I hadn’t thought about buying new batteries! I’ll definitely look into that.

lgfrie

The most accurate scale you can buy for home use is the Tanita HD351. Everything else pales in comparison. If you take your weight 100 times on that scale, it will be exactly the same all 100 times. If you alternate with, say, holding a cat because you're paranoid that the scale is designed to "lock" to a certain weight if the new weight is within .5 of a pound (as many digital scales are, to hide their inability to measure accurately within a 1 lb range), then you will get 50 of your exact weight and 50 of the exact you + cat weight, alternating. It is never off by even 0.2 of a pound. The scale does not care about angle, position, humidity, change of location, or anything else. It is as or more accurate than anything your doctor is using. It has no functionality like body mass, heart rate, syncing to Fitbit, etc. - it does only one thing, tell you how much you weigh, but it does it extraordinarily well. My first one lasted 11 years; I'm now on my 2nd.