Question for UKers

ninerbuff
ninerbuff Posts: 49,027 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So many times I read about how many STONE someone weighs. Just curious if scales over there measure in just lbs and stones?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    yeah, somebody post an image!
  • SLL1803
    SLL1803 Posts: 49 Member
    Manual scales teens to show stones and pounds and kilograms.

    Digital scales probably have a setting that allows them to flip between the two. Mine are set to kg because stones are outdated and not really used much any more
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,655 Member
    KG is the standard unit now, but if you’re old enough you still think in stones and pounds, or ounces for cooking. I weigh all food in grams for MFP but still bake using ounces as it’s how I was taught 🤣
  • Walkywalkerson
    Walkywalkerson Posts: 456 Member
    I find it difficult to think in kgs it confuses me - I have to calculate it in to pounds and then tge pounds into stones 😅
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    I can set my scales to kg, pounds or stone.

    I weight myself in kg but if anyone was to ask my weight I would give it in stone as, like a American might automatically be able to picture what 150 pounds looks like, most Brits can do the same but with stones.

    Americans tend to do height in inches where as I would do it in feet and inches - same thing that I can picture 5 foot 6 inches but tell me someone is 70 inches high and it is meaningless and I have to do a conversion.

    Just depends on what you have grown up with I think.
  • swimmom_1
    swimmom_1 Posts: 1,302 Member
    When you ask an American their height, they say 5, 4. Not 64 inches. Inches aren't used that much, as we would have to convert that also, to visualize.
  • KNoceros
    KNoceros Posts: 326 Member
    I’m a UK’er and in healthcare. We use kilos and metres at work.
    I chose to use kilos for my own weight because I was less likely to get fixated on a particular number/ target.
    My height I do either.

    Exercise (running / cycling / weights) is in km / kilos.
    I cook in lbs and ounces.

    (I don’t think of myself as THAT old - 43)
  • swimmom_1
    swimmom_1 Posts: 1,302 Member
    I'm in healthcare also, an RN. I do dialysis on patients. We weigh them in Kilos. As 1 Liter of fluid removal weighs 1 Kilogram.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,941 Member
    edited September 2021
    Pretty sure most body weight scales will show all forms of measurement (Kg, lbs, st&lbs). Mine has a setting to switch between all relevant metrics.

    Like others have said, I think in stones for body weight - it just works mentally for me - I know what a weight in stones looks like - and sure, I can figure out pounds (14x tables anyone? 😂) but it’s not as easy to picture and kilos - wtf! I’m 53kg but what the heck does that look like! 🤷‍♀️ I’m clueless!

    In the rest of my life I use an eclectic mix of metric and imperial. Some of the 100’s of recipes that live in my head are in ounces, some are in grams. I have no issue converting one to the other.

    Miles are my standard distance measurement. Again, I can mentally convert to Km but why would I bother! I have no more appreciation of what 100 yards looks like than I do of 100 metres! Height is feet and inches. I can ‘ready reckon’ in both imperial and metric fairly well when it comes to most things.

    Don’t get me started on the insane craziness of ‘American Cups’ or ‘Australian Cups’ though…that way madness lies! 🤯
  • I2k4
    I2k4 Posts: 193 Member
    The Cdn chart is a laugh. When I came from the US gasoline was still sold in Imperial (UK) gallons, about a fifth larger than US. Then came Litres, another headscratcher for calculating "mileage" or talking to Yanks. (As to scales, don't own one.)
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    I can set my scales to kg, pounds or stone.

    I weight myself in kg but if anyone was to ask my weight I would give it in stone as, like a American might automatically be able to picture what 150 pounds looks like, most Brits can do the same but with stones.

    Americans tend to do height in inches where as I would do it in feet and inches - same thing that I can picture 5 foot 6 inches but tell me someone is 70 inches high and it is meaningless and I have to do a conversion.

    Just depends on what you have grown up with I think.

    No, Americans do not tend to do height in inches. I have never heard anybody in the U.S. do that. We give our height in feet and inches.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,371 Member
    When we moved from the UK we brought an analogue scale that measured in stone. It's probably still in the basement of my dad's house. His favourite practical joke when visitors used the bathroom and, of course, hopped on this weird scale was to tell them a stone was 15 lbs.

    We may be metric here in Canada but I weigh myself in lbs. I don't think in kg for big weights, just for food. All my food is weighed in grams.

    I drive in km/hr and measure distance in km except when I walk. I use MapMyWalk's default of miles. I express relative distance in feet, like something being 200 feet away.

    I use Celsius for temperatures in winter but Fahrenheit for summer, and for cooking. My home's thermostat is in Celsius, however.

    Clearly my life is a schizophrenic mishmash of metric and Imperial, but fortunately weighing myself in stone is long gone.
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    edited September 2021
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    freda78 wrote: »
    I can set my scales to kg, pounds or stone.

    I weight myself in kg but if anyone was to ask my weight I would give it in stone as, like a American might automatically be able to picture what 150 pounds looks like, most Brits can do the same but with stones.

    Americans tend to do height in inches where as I would do it in feet and inches - same thing that I can picture 5 foot 6 inches but tell me someone is 70 inches high and it is meaningless and I have to do a conversion.

    Just depends on what you have grown up with I think.

    No, Americans do not tend to do height in inches. I have never heard anybody in the U.S. do that. We give our height in feet and inches.

    Okey Dokey, my mistake, sorry if I inadvertently offended you. :#
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    freda78 wrote: »
    I can set my scales to kg, pounds or stone.

    I weight myself in kg but if anyone was to ask my weight I would give it in stone as, like a American might automatically be able to picture what 150 pounds looks like, most Brits can do the same but with stones.

    Americans tend to do height in inches where as I would do it in feet and inches - same thing that I can picture 5 foot 6 inches but tell me someone is 70 inches high and it is meaningless and I have to do a conversion.

    Just depends on what you have grown up with I think.

    No, Americans do not tend to do height in inches. I have never heard anybody in the U.S. do that. We give our height in feet and inches.

    Okey Dokey, my mistake, sorry if I inadvertently offended you. :#

    No offense.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,941 Member
    ythannah wrote: »
    When we moved from the UK we brought an analogue scale that measured in stone. It's probably still in the basement of my dad's house. His favourite practical joke when visitors used the bathroom and, of course, hopped on this weird scale was to tell them a stone was 15 lbs.

    It’s early, and I may not be properly awake but can someone please explain the joke here? A stone is 14lbs rather than 15 obviously but I can’t see that the difference is enough to make it practical joke worthy. 🤔
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    ythannah wrote: »
    When we moved from the UK we brought an analogue scale that measured in stone. It's probably still in the basement of my dad's house. His favourite practical joke when visitors used the bathroom and, of course, hopped on this weird scale was to tell them a stone was 15 lbs.

    It’s early, and I may not be properly awake but can someone please explain the joke here? A stone is 14lbs rather than 15 obviously but I can’t see that the difference is enough to make it practical joke worthy. 🤔

    Well, I guess it's because average weights are anything from 8 stone upwards. If you thought you weighed 140lb (to keep the maths easy) and hopped on the scale to find it said 10 stone you would be pretty annoyed to find that you weighed 150lb.

    Maybe this had the useful practical effect of stopping the visitors eating all the chocolates and drinking all the wine!

  • Fatgonegirl
    Fatgonegirl Posts: 126 Member
    I use kg and g for everything but human body weight for which I use stones and lbs. I use m & cm for everything but human height where I use feet and inches. My scales can measure in either stones & lbs or kg but not just lbs. I don't know anyone, no matter their age who uses kg or lbs for human body weight, everyone uses stones and lbs. I also use Celsius not Fahrenheit and miles not km.

    I don't know why but I like stones and lbs, I would be sad if we stopped using them. Perhaps it is just a sign of getting older?
  • Bella_Figura
    Bella_Figura Posts: 4,331 Member
    I have digital scales which allow you to flip between stones and pounds, pounds only, or kgs. I weigh in kgs but that makes me unusual for someone my age (56) - most folks age 50+ weigh in stones & pounds. My health care background accounts for the kgs, but I can convert to stones in a heartbeat, and visualise weight in both ‘currencies’. By the same token I think of myself as both 1.55m and 5’1”. I’m bilingual 😝.

    Temps (weather and cooking) I measure in Celsius but can convert mentally to Fahrenheit. I weigh food in grams. I cycle/walk in kms and drive in miles. I’m bilingual in terms of liquids - can visualise both pints and litres.

    When Americans refer to liquids in ‘quarts’ and ‘ounces’ I get totally lost...
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,371 Member
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    ythannah wrote: »
    When we moved from the UK we brought an analogue scale that measured in stone. It's probably still in the basement of my dad's house. His favourite practical joke when visitors used the bathroom and, of course, hopped on this weird scale was to tell them a stone was 15 lbs.

    It’s early, and I may not be properly awake but can someone please explain the joke here? A stone is 14lbs rather than 15 obviously but I can’t see that the difference is enough to make it practical joke worthy. 🤔

    Well, I guess it's because average weights are anything from 8 stone upwards. If you thought you weighed 140lb (to keep the maths easy) and hopped on the scale to find it said 10 stone you would be pretty annoyed to find that you weighed 150lb.

    Maybe this had the useful practical effect of stopping the visitors eating all the chocolates and drinking all the wine!

    Exactly, He kept the number small enough to be credible but still a bit disconcerting. You'd have known he was pulling your leg if he'd told you a number that inflated your weight by 20 lbs but your clothing didn't feel any tighter. A sudden 10 lb jump is more believable.

    I probably should have mentioned it was always women who asked. If men were trying out the scale they kept quiet about it.

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