Scales from hell! Please read

I got a new set of scales and weighed in this morning it gave me three different readings one after the other and basically told me I was 10lbs up! Wtf? So disheartened its unreal clothes are fine if not looser what do you guys think? It's a digital one and was expensive I just don't get what's going on

Replies

  • dovetail22uk
    dovetail22uk Posts: 339 Member
    Kill it?

    Change the batteries?

    Make sure it's on a flat hard surface?

    Kill it?
  • QuietRain
    QuietRain Posts: 157
    My scale is like this right now. Just got it too.
    Look into an exchange? I think they're lemons.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Exchange it.

    When I got my digital scale it did show that I was five pounds heavier than I thought. But it's the same every time and it matches the doctor's office. If yours is giving you different readings then there's something wrong. First make sure it has fresh batteries and is sitting on tile, not carpet. If that's all good and it's still reading all over the place, take it back.
  • khadijak17
    khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
    I used to use my friends and hers unfortunately died I guess I needed some anyway but these have upset me soooo bad! I'm so not motivated feel so crappy :(
  • khadijak17
    khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
    It's totally new so I assume the battery's are ok it comes with carpet feet which I didn't attach as I've got laminate but I weigh in the kitchen which is where I always have done x
  • BigG59
    BigG59 Posts: 396 Member
    Were all the reading on the new scales consistent with each other?

    When you say 10lbs up, I am assuming 10lbs up on your previous scale and not a 10lbs variation on the new scale.

    Do you know if the old scales were accurate? When I started my lifestyle change, I bought new scales and also got myself weighed as part of the medical. Basically there was a 1lb difference between the two, which could be anything. Basically I trusted the new scales.

    My initial reaction was your old scales could be wrong. To see which is correct, get yourself weighed elsewhere then you will know for sure.

    As has been mentioned on MFP several times, our weight changes by several pounds during the day, so always weigh yourself at the same time.
  • runlikeananna
    runlikeananna Posts: 42 Member
    It's just a number. You don't feel 10 pounds heavier than before you got the scale do you? It's just a number.
  • khadijak17
    khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
    Were all the reading on the new scales consistent with each other?

    When you say 10lbs up, I am assuming 10lbs up on your previous scale and not a 10lbs variation on the new scale.

    Do you know if the old scales were accurate? When I started my lifestyle change, I bought new scales and also got myself weighed as part of the medical. Basically there was a 1lb difference between the two, which could be anything. Basically I trusted the new scales.

    My initial reaction was your old scales could be wrong. To see which is correct, get yourself weighed elsewhere then you will know for
    As has been mentioned on MFP several times, our weight changes by several pounds during the day, so always weigh yourself at the same time.
    10 lbs up from old scale
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    First of all, don't panic, and stop letting this make you feel bad. Your clothes feel looser, so that's the real progress right there. Try to detach yourself emotionally from the number it tells you. If you've been measuring your loss on your friend's scale, then you've still lost that weight. If you look and feel better - isn't that what matters? You've made huge progress regardless of what the scale says. Don't let that number define you.

    Try with the feet it came with. Try a harder surface if you've got one (different kinds of laminate, so I'm not sure how hard your kitchen floor is). Try new batteries, the ones it came with may be faulty or old. If all else fails, the scale itself may be faulty so take it back and exchange it.
  • khadijak17
    khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
    It's just a number. You don't feel 10 pounds heavier than before you got the scale do you? It's just a number.
    i know not to think too much on it but its frustrating ive been doing so well and struggled with my weight a lot so I can't help but think about that dreaded number x
  • ashleen7
    ashleen7 Posts: 258 Member
    When I'm buying a new scale I always try out 3 or 4 of them first and buy whichever one i weigh the least on!!Kidding myself I know!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Were all the reading on the new scales consistent with each other?

    When you say 10lbs up, I am assuming 10lbs up on your previous scale and not a 10lbs variation on the new scale.

    Do you know if the old scales were accurate? When I started my lifestyle change, I bought new scales and also got myself weighed as part of the medical. Basically there was a 1lb difference between the two, which could be anything. Basically I trusted the new scales.

    My initial reaction was your old scales could be wrong. To see which is correct, get yourself weighed elsewhere then you will know for
    As has been mentioned on MFP several times, our weight changes by several pounds during the day, so always weigh yourself at the same time.
    10 lbs up from old scale

    Oh I misunderstood. In that case the new scale is probably right. It's discouraging, I remember when it happened to me, but you didn't gain 10 lbs, you're the same size.
  • dovetail22uk
    dovetail22uk Posts: 339 Member
    When I'm buying a new scale I always try out 3 or 4 of them first and buy whichever one i weigh the least on!!Kidding myself I know!

    Ha ha! Sounds like something I'd do too!
  • Don't forget about the fact muscle weighs more than fat, are you working out also?
  • Make sure its on a hard, flat surface, don't move it & give it time to settle but the most important thing is to not get too discouraged by the numbers and focus on how you look/feel and how your clothes fit :) you'll feel so much better when you worry less about the number.

    Maybe start taking measurements if you don't already.
  • Carolyn_79
    Carolyn_79 Posts: 935 Member
    Do you have any dumbbells lying around that you can weigh? Put a dumbbell on it and see how far off of a reading it gives you. That will at least tell you how reliable the reading you're getting is.
  • khadijak17
    khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
    Do you have any dumbbells lying around that you can weigh? Put a dumbbell on it and see how far off of a reading it gives you. That will at least tell you how reliable the reading you're getting is.
    no I haven't got anything like that I remember someone saying try the scales with a bag of sugar so I guess ill buy a bag and do it that way x
  • Great idea about weighing sugar or dumb bells…then you will know for sure…if it is off you will know by how much. Change the batteries for sure….who knows how long that scale has been sitting on the shelf…..IF it is off don't stress out about it , you are only using the scales to see how much you have lost, as long as you see a loss . My scales are off by about 3 lbs compared to where I was going for Weight watchers…I just used my scales numbers and every week weighed in and new how much I lost. Even the scales at the meeting was different than the DR.S who's scale do you believe? You have lost a huge number of lbs now so what ever you are doing it is working, please don't let a new scales number defeat your great accomplishments …..
    you are an inspiration to those of us who are still in the early stages of our journey !!
  • quilteryoyo
    quilteryoyo Posts: 6,474 Member
    You must have the same scales I do. When I first got mine, it was consistent. But now......there are days I weigh normal, then do the BMI version and it's different, usually up, then back to the other way and it's not the same as it was before or the BMI version. I'll usually take it 3 or 4 times to try to get two the same and count that. There have been days when it was never the same, so I just gave up. It's weird.

    Also, I agree with everyone else. It is just a number. You know you have lost 59 pounds based on the friends scale. You have still lost 59 pounds!!!!!!! Don't get discouraged with a number. If you keep this scale you have the option to start over and say you now weigh what it says you do, always subtract 10 pounds from it's number, etc. It's a number. It isn't weight you have put back on!

    You're doing FANTASTIC!
  • Sweet_Pandora
    Sweet_Pandora Posts: 459 Member
    Get rid of the scale!

    After two weeks of being back on track and making healthy food choices and exercising regularly and feeling so much better I stepped on the scale and it took the wind out of my sail! I knew what I was doing was good and I was feeling and noticing some changes. But I still let the scale mess with my head.

    My PT asked me how I would feel if I was where I wanted to be body wise and if the scale didn't show any loss how would I feel.

    It's hard to wrap my head around this though as I'm a number motivated kind of girl. I gave him the scale and asked him to put it away out of sight.

    It's only been a week but I'm going by what I am doing and how my clothes feel and no more number on a scale dictating my mood.

    Karen
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    It's just a number. You don't feel 10 pounds heavier than before you got the scale do you? It's just a number.

    A 10-pound increase would bum anyone out, even if it's illusory.


    I have a Tanita body fat composition scale. I usually weigh myself only once, but if I weigh myself again immediately after the first reading I have gotten a different result of a couple of pounds. It probably was due to the way I was standing.
  • I have to reset mine if I have moved it. I press on it and 0.0 runs across the screen and turns off....reset.....now try it.
  • BCSMama
    BCSMama Posts: 348
    I know it's discouraging, but remember, it's just a number. If your clothes are fitting looser, you are making progress. The number is essentially meaningless; the looser clothing is what you're going for anyway, right? Stay positive. If the scale continues to give you trouble (different or inaccurate readings), exchange it for another. However, I would encourage you to go by measurements, pictures and how your clothes fit more than the scale.
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
    I just had to get a new scale and it's reading a bit higher than my old one. My thought is that if yours is consistently weighing you at 10 lbs more than the old scale, I'd personally raise my starting weight to reflect that 10 lb difference. Mine is only a couple of pounds higher so I didn't change my starting weight, but 10 lbs is a lot of work to lose and I would want credit for it! In the end, I say do what is most motivating to you.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    Kill it?

    Change the batteries?

    Make sure it's on a flat hard surface?

    Kill it?

    :laugh:

    An exorcism might work, too.
  • I got a new set of scales and weighed in this morning it gave me three different readings one after the other and basically told me I was 10lbs up! Wtf? So disheartened its unreal clothes are fine if not looser what do you guys think? It's a digital one and was expensive I just don't get what's going on

    Weigh yourself 5 times over a 5 minute period. If the readings are not all with 0.2 pounds, return the scale as it is worthless. If the readings are all within 0.2 pounds, then try to find an industrial scale that is calibrated to NIST regularly (UPS store, doctors office, shipping department at work) and compare what your scale reads to that scale. If it reads more than a few pounds off then return the scale.

    Otherwise, it may be the case that the old scale was wrong and the new scale is correct. That would stink, but would not change how you look, how your clothes fit, or how healthy that you are.
  • khadijak17
    khadijak17 Posts: 393 Member
    it gave me three different readings 2lb apart its an expensive scale so its quite discouraging although i felt alot better when i hadnt weighed because my clothes said otherwise, i was just curious to see what the scale said its the worst thing i could of done i was trying to think about what i had done during the week eating wise to put it down to sodium maybe but i have been eating clean although i had a subway on tuesday afternoon (turkey breast) and last night i had fajitas but that was only one low cal tortilla with grilled chicken peppers and onion i did use a fajita seasoning mix apart from that fruit and veg and no processed food, i always measure and weigh my food and if i dont know the calories i dont put it in my mouth i think ill leave it for a week and see what happens x