Scale Trust Issues

okay_fine
okay_fine Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’m skeptical about my scale. I don’t totally trust it. It’s on a thin carpet, (the floors in my bathroom are slanted, where my scale gives me 3 TOTALLY different readings within a minute in there) but its placement (on the rug) is the only thing that keeps me weighing in daily.

It’s stayed in the same spot for 3 months and shows a downward trend so I’m sure its capturing a loss, but the actual number not being accurate really kills me. I’m trying not to let it bother me, and just accept that all of my progress/weigh ins were BASED on where THAT scale has lived this whole time.

Idk….I’m 19lbs down today and realize that even if the NUMBER isn’t technically correct, I KNOW I’ve lost weight. What do you think? any similar experiences?
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Replies

  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,067 Member
    i usually get a different reading on my scale if i weigh myself, pull one of the batteries, replace it and weigh again, i'll get a different result - and the result after replacing the battery is repeatable multiple times. i don't move my scale, so i can't imagine why that happens, but i see from 1/10 of a pound up to a 5 pound difference each time.

    btw, my scale is on a hardwood floor.

    i've owned several scales in the last 10 years, and only 1 of them was reliable without having to fiddle with it - and most weren't reliable period. it's very frustrating.
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    OH YES, I know how you feel. My starting weight was 170 kg / 375 pounds and our electronic home scale didn't know what hit her. Up 5 pounds, down 2 kg. So frustrating - eventually I used the elephant scale at our gym and voila! It gets calibrated every 6 months or so and I believe and trust the readings. I only weigh in once a week - 4 years later and some 40 kg / 90 pounds lighter, I finally found a better home scale - it's reading is usually about 1 kg / 2 pounds higher then the gym scale.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,218 Member
    Piece of wood, hard tile, even a hard tile ON a piece of wood.... all of them better than little scale feet sinking in carpet.

    Perfectly level unyielding floor even better, but, you know, moving to a new house vs making do.. one of many compromises...😹🤷‍♂️
  • alung2k3
    alung2k3 Posts: 81 Member
    I'm from the UK so every few weeks I would jump on those scales at Boots (other stores available) and use that as my main way to track.

    I tried to keep the conditions the same as much as possible. E.g. Monday at 9am, no breakie beforehand.
  • LoveFitJoi
    LoveFitJoi Posts: 2 Member
    I carry my scale into the bathroom everyday. I need tile floors! I want to know the truth!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,133 Member
    LoveFitJoi wrote: »
    I carry my scale into the bathroom everyday. I need tile floors! I want to know the truth!

    There is no "true weight" anyway. There's only a current range over a day or few. That will vary by a small number of pounds even within one day. More important: There's a trend over multiple weeks that tells us whether we're gaining, losing, or holding steady on body fat level. Muscle mass change takes many weeks to months, so the scale - even a BIA scale - isn't going to give much insight.
  • history_grrrl
    history_grrrl Posts: 216 Member
    Definitely a problem. I got a new scale since the old one was garbage and unreadable, but my bathroom floor tiles have a wavy texture so I too was getting different readings for every location. Now I have a 12”x12” piece of flat wood under it and think it’s more or less accurate, but still a bit iffy. Bathroom floor is the only uncarpeted floor in my upstairs, so no other option.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,913 Member
    edited September 2023
    LoveFitJoi wrote: »
    I carry my scale into the bathroom everyday. I need tile floors! I want to know the truth!

    Besides what AnnP wrote, carrying the scale can mess with it as well. If you carry it, place it on the floor and step on it then the first measurement is likely wrong. Then you have to wait for it to forget your previous weight if it does this (mine needs about 10 minutes), and then you can use it properly. Why not leave it in the bathroom?

    Edit: another way to fix stuck weight is so step on it with a heavy object, get off, get on again without it.

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