Say What?!

LiqueLique89

So i've been using my scale at home to weigh myself; there has been no need for me to go to a doctor or anywhere else to weigh in. At my last weigh in [monday 11/26] i was 166 lbs...but today i had a health screening for my job & when the nurse weighed me she daid i was 170.5 lbs! WTF! Is this a joke of something?
The scale i have at home is the kind you step on and the little dial points to the number and the one at the health center is the old school kind that you have to balance the ruler thing by sliding the little bars along the ruler thing.

Now i'm confused...which one is my correct weight? Which one is the most accurate? (i know that measurements are the best way to go but what kind of scale is best?)

FredDoyle

They are close enough not to worry. If yours is going down you are headed in the right direction.

neanderthin

It really doesn't matter as long as the scale your using is moving in the right direction.....I generally go by how I look naked as opposed to how much I weight........even at a decent weight I needed intervention to look better and that has motivated me to add about 15lbs of muscle and stay basically at the same weight over the last 2 years........forget the scale.

aritchey1977

That happened to me a few weeks ago, the scle at the dr's office said I was 10 pounds heavier! I started freaking out then calmed myself and just decided that since I have been using my home scale for the whole process then that's the one I am listening to.

Rayman79

Think about it this way:

Mass is different to weight. Your mass stays the same but your weight can fluctuate under different amounts of gravity... think of what your BMI would be if you weighed yourself on the moon! :laugh:

Ok ok I'm being stupid here, but what does the actual number mean in absolute terms? Nothing. It is only an abitrary number, the significance of it is only what is applied to it by you... as a way of comparing yourself to others, friends, society in general etc.

The important thing is the objectivity of the measurement. That is to say that if you always measure yourself on one scale, the result will always be consistent. Who cares what you 'actually' weigh, as long as the one scale you use to measure yourself with gives you consistent results - and hopefully a downward trend.

If you are at all familiar with statistics, it can be summed up in this case that test-retest reliability is far more important than the validity of the number.

With that I have probably just have you shaking your head wondering what the heck I'm on about... but I hope it made some sense. Bottom line, just stick to the one scale to track your progress. :drinker:

stbrad6896

Don't worry about it too much. I had the same thing happen to me, and I know it can be a little disappointing but you need to just pick one scale (the one you have at home probably out of convenience) and stick with it. Also remember your weight can fluctuate by a couple pounds give or take each day depending on water and food consumed and clothes and all that... you didn't gain pounds just because the doc's scale says you're heavier than what you thought, so don't let it get to you. Stay positive

NCchar130

If you weigh yourself like I do at home after going to the bathroom, naked, no food eaten yet, there might have been 4.5 lbs difference just accounting for clothing, food you ate, fluid you drank that day, once you were weighed at work. Just a thought.

My husband had a physical for work this week and weighed 8 pounds more at the doc's than at home. They put him on the scale in his winter coat, heavy cargo pants, and steel-toed boots, so I'm sure the clothes alone counted for most of it. I've weighed myself with clothes and shoes on just to compare and had about a 2.5 pound difference.

serendipity513

Like others mentioned, the additional weight may be due to wearing clothes, having already eaten etc. Another thing to consider is that the balance scales in doctors offices are used every day by loads of people. While the scales should get semi-regular maintenance to make sure they are still in perfect balance when at zero, they probably aren't balanced daily...or weekly, yeah probably not even monthly. So as each day goes by, the scale gets ever so slightly more out of balance and after several months it can add up to a significant difference. It may sound like kind of a cop out to say the doctor's scale is wrong, but with how many people use it on a daily basis without them being re-adjusted, I'd say your home scale is probably more accurate. That doesn't really matter to the doctor because the differene between 166 and 170 to him/her is not that great. The doctor is concerned with general trends and overall changes during a period of months, not daily fluctuations. But it matters to those losing weight because by golly you worked hard for those 4 pounds! This is why it's important to use the same scale to measure yourself and not cross compare scales. So just go by your home scale.

LiqueLique89

Thank you all for the great advice! :happy:

It was just a bit confusing at first but now i'm feeling better about the situation....i plan on sticking to 1 scale [mines] and measurements. I also will use my clothing as a way to measure my progress. :drinker:

nicpap617

Scales in MD offices, hospitals, gyms, and even at weight watchers are never accurate. So many people are stepping on and off those things on a daily basis, they are rarely calibrated. They always add an extra 4-5 lbs on me. I trust my home scale the most. But people are right, as long as your weight is going in the right direction, I wouldn't worry yourself too much with the number