Weighing in clothes?

lyricalLies13

So I might sound like a total noob but i weigh myself with clothes & shoes on (because i use the scale at the gym) so should i be subtracting something from the number it gives me? I seen another post on here about it but couldnt find it when i went back to look for it.

janalayn

I weigh in my clothes too (I don't think the people at Curves want to see me naked LOL). Don't worry about the weight of your clothes ... unless you are wearing a parka. Just wear the same outfit on the days you weigh, you might be off a pound or two for your naked weight but you will still know if your weight is going up or down.

Doll483

No. It gives you an idea of how much you've lost. If you reallyyyy want to be super accurate though, substract about a pound.

lyricalLies13

Thanks! I read somewhere else something about fully clothed you need to subtract up to 5 pounds and I was like...theres no way thats possible lol

JuzG

Not an exact science sadly lol. all dependent on the style of clothing (Hoodie instead of tank top, sweatshirt or t-shirt, sweatpants or leggings or shorts), fabric
(cotton, lycra, Corduroy lol), shoe type (light weight running shoes, combat boots). Usual number can be anywhere from 3-6lbs depending on your fashion sense :-). Hope this helps.

19danno77

Weigh your workout gear at home on a food scale in a bag on a tared plate. OR if you don't have a food scale, put all your stuff in a clean plastic bag and weigh it in a produce scale at the grocery store. Then, subtract that weight from your clothed weight.

SheehyCFC

Let me answer your question first - it depends on the clothes. Usually they're ~3 lbs (including shoes), but I would NOT exclude them.

But to get the most precision, the key is consistency... if you don't have your own scale - make sure you are wearing the same 'amount' of clothes. try to make it around the same time of day... and since you are doing it at the gym, make sure it is either before OR after your workout... don't flip-flop.

Most people prefer morning weigh-ins, because a lot less factors come into play( water retention throughout the day, amount eaten in a day, calories consumed prior to weighin) but that is just preference.

Being consistent with how/when you weigh in will give you the best estimation of your loss.

**EDIT - altered 1st line for clarity

mrmanmeat

So I might sound like a total noob but i weigh myself with clothes & shoes on (because i use the scale at the gym) so should i be subtracting something from the number it gives me? I seen another post on here about it but couldnt find it when i went back to look for it.

I weighed my clothes. I know which outfit i'm wearing (w/ or w/ out shoes) is either 2-3lbs.

TourThePast

if you're weighing yourself at the gym, you've probably had at least a drink that day, even if not food! You may not realise, but a big glass of water weighs 1lb!

As you seem interested in accuracy, forget the gym scales and buy some of your own so you can weigh yourself first thing in the morning.

marieautumn

weighing in clothes makes a big diff i think...when i weigh in clothes i generally weigh 3 lbs more...3 lbs is a big diff to me at least.
Oh and you should weigh first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything.

PeaceCorpsKat

I find the most accurate measurement is in the morning, just after I wake up, before I drink anything, naked.

The variation throughout the day is up to 10 pounds, after I have eaten, drank coffee, put on clothing, make up, hair care products. So invest in a home scale, I personally find it helpful.

jen88ve

I weigh myself in shoes and clothes too because I do it at work, but since I do it every day like that I'm not too concerned about it because it's a pretty good idea.... As long as you do it like that each day and not mix it up, it should be pretty accurate.

lyricalLies13

I find the most accurate measurement is in the morning, just after I wake up, before I drink anything, naked.

The variation throughout the day is up to 10 pounds, after I have eaten, drank coffee, put on clothing, make up, hair care products. So invest in a home scale, I personally find it helpful.

Wow maybe I should look into getting a scale for home.

Thanks for all the answers. =]

TourThePast

Thanks! I read somewhere else something about fully clothed you need to subtract up to 5 pounds and I was like...theres no way thats possible lol

With a winter coat, jeans and boots, with car keys in your pocket and a bit of loose change, it could easily be 10lb.

You can't just pick a figure, it will vary wildly. You could try weighing yourself in the same clothes every week, but honestly just get a scale and weigh yourself naked!

amyy902

yeah you'll weigh more. but its not about the actual number, this is what i tell my clients - im a PT. as long as you are wering pretty much the same sort of thing you'll keeping variable similar. so you'll see a progress and loss. if youre intrested purely in the number, buy a pair of scales for at home and go nakey for weighing! i put my work clothes in a bag (not including trainers) and i was wering 2.5 lgs (about 5lbs) of clothing, that was a fleece, tracksuits 2 tops, a bra a croptop socks, undies and leggins so, yeah there was a huge differnce lol!! but yeah dont stress just wear the same sorta thing and do it that way

fionaface

Just to add my two cents...I like to weigh myself at home by myself without clothes on because I want as accurate a number as possible. Shoes can be quite heavy, and clothes can add up too (although not as much in the summertime of course).

It is also true that one scale is going to weigh you differently than the next. Also, if you need to weigh in a public place where you need to have clothes on, just try to wear the same clothes each time and pick the same scale too.

jessicataylor2

It really depends on how heavy your clothes are. But since it's at the gym it's probably around a pound. If you wanna be more accurate you could take your shoes off. I still only weigh myself (unless it's at the doctors) right in the morning after I go to the bathroom, before I've eaten anything, and without my clothes. That way you only get your body weight. Not your food, water, or clothes weight.

curvykim78

I weigh myself naked in the mornings, before I eat breakfast. That way I know my true weight and can't say the weight gain/loss is due to a lot of clothes. No excuses, it's just me on the scale.

tinabell153

I weigh myself at work. I take off my shoes, but I still have a full outfit on. I just subtract 1lb or so.

clintbritt3

if you're weighing yourself at the gym, you've probably had at least a drink that day, even if not food! You may not realise, but a big glass of water weighs 1lb!

As you seem interested in accuracy, forget the gym scales and buy some of your own so you can weigh yourself first thing in the morning.

Yes, buy your own.... it doesn't have to be a crazy expensive one but a quality one that will give you an accurate weight (within a lb or so). I weigh myself in the mornings after I have gone to the bathroom and am in the process of changing out of my jammies, so I only have underwear on. A nurse friend of mine says this is the best, she tells her overweight patients to do the same thing. This is the weight I record, since I assume it's most accurate, although it can fluctuate if I had a high sodium meal the night before, so I usually on log my weight every week, and I take the lowest most consistent number (since mine can go up and down all day sometimes up to 5lbs) Hope this helps you

Xbwalker

I strut around the gym naked before weigh in. It lets everyone know that I am about to weigh in.

RachelVerthein

I weigh myself in the mornings naked before I jump in the shower. But I also do it later in the day with clothes on just to see the difference and it gives me an idea if i'm loosing weight or not.

iuew

fully clothed, the weight is up to five pounds heavier for me.

sa11yjane

If you weigh yourself on the Wii fit it gives you different options for clothing allowances and 'light clothing' deducts 2 pounds. When at slimming world one obviously had to weigh fully clothed and so I used to just wear the same clothes every week as ultimately it was about tracking weight loss.

heybales

Bring the exact outfit as you are wearing, or close as possible, add shoes to it, just a bundle of clothes.
Weigh yourself with shoes.
Add shoes to the bundle of clothes.
Subtract for your weight.

Now you know how much those clothes weigh, and can do that in the future.

But for consistency, what others have said about time of day is much bigger influence than that type of accuracy.

Does knowing weight X is more accurate than Y by 2.6 lbs matter, when the glass of water you may or may not have had weighs 1 lb, or extra sodium in lunch retained 2 lbs of water?

If you buy a simple scale for home, stand on it several times at store to confirm it is consistent.

If you are weighing at the gym first thing in morning, day after rest day, then that is valid enough, weigh the clothes to subtract.

19danno77

Topic's drifting here so I'll add what I think is ideal:

Weigh daily, same time of day, naked...I shoot for just before I shower then go to bed. I also try not to drink anything big right before, and I go to the bathroom just before. I find morning is 1-1.5 lbs lighter and I'd imagine I'm in quite a dehydrated state...the part that bugs me about morning is the old bowel movement...seems lame to weigh what I'm about to put in a toilet, depending on exactly when that occurs. Weighing daily reduces noise and "drama" on a bad weigh-in plus you'll get a better feeling about what your weight is normally ignoring all the hormonal/dietary induced fluctuations.

Jaidee1979

I like to be consistent so I weight myself naked in the morning after I've used the bathroom and before I eat or drink anything.

scrambuglady

This is gonna sound crazy but I weigh my clothes and wear them when I weigh in and subtract that amount.

nightsrainfall

Truthfully for me. I don't count or discount clothing. I'm more caring about a difference in weight, so just try to wear consistant types of workout clothes so that instead of taring at 0 you are at 2 or 5 - but that won't change the number of pounds lost... Plus once finally down at the goal weight, generally that 2 or 5 isn't quite so important anymore.

If you have a digital scale, you can weigh yourself multiple times and the weight will probably change. They also say that time of day, hormones, stress, salt, water, etc - will also cause a more dramatic increase/decrease of weight over or within a single day, than any amount we may have actually lost for that day. So basically weight fluctuates anyway - I wouldn't worry too much about it. Go with what you feel is comfortable.

I do measure and prefer inches over a scale though.

rduhlir

Always weight yourself with shoes off. Shoes, depending on type, can add up to 4 lbs. In the military, we generally give 2 lbs due to clothing. So...if someone weighs in at 130, we record it at 128.

LaLongueCarabine01

When I was in the Marine Corps back in the 90's, we subtracted eight pounds when weighing in our camoflauge uniform with combat boots on.
I would imagine that clothes themselves weigh only a pound or two, and the determining factor is how much your shoes weigh. They can add as much as five pounds on their own before factoring in clothes as well.
It's very unrealistic to suggest that you wear the exact same thing when weighing yourself at some location away from home, as people will notice that you always wear the same thing, and begin to think you're some kind of weirdo.
But, you likely wear the same type of clothing to that gym. So simply take your shoes off for the brief moment that you're weighing yourself, and then subtract about a pound off your measurment for just your clothing.

Best of luck to you!