What is the.......

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SeminoleFan30
SeminoleFan30 Posts: 64
in Health and Weight Loss
deal with this??? I weighed a couple of days ago on my digital scales at home and it said 293.6 and that I have gained 53 pounds. Today I go to the Doctor's Office and their scale says I weigh 276. I don't understand that. Which one is right not that I really go by what that evil scales say??
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  • MercuryBlue
    MercuryBlue Posts: 886 Member
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    Well, you might have dropped a bunch of water weight already. Also, I find the scales at my doctor's are always inaccurate.

    If you're going to be tracking your weight at home, I'd use your home scale to determine your starting weight. Then do your weigh-ins on that scale, under the same circumstances (ie- I do it in my underwear after going to the bathroom) at the same time (for me it's in the morning). Whether you do it once a week or every two weeks, or whatever.

    But to accurately track your losses, it's best to pick a scale and stick with it.
  • krockwell
    krockwell Posts: 34
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    It's usually best to stick to one scale... any way that you could always weigh yourself at the Dr's office? I find that different scales tend to be off quite a bit.

    Plus it depends on what you're wearing, if it's the exact same as it was when you weighed in at home.
  • KiriKiriKiri
    KiriKiriKiri Posts: 227 Member
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    Was the scale at the doctors office "zero'd" out before you were weighed? Frequently people hop on and off and it never gets tared, which can cause that error. Also there can be an error with the digital. I would go (next time you are in a store) and hop on one of the scales there and see what it tells you? Then you have some sort of idea where you are at and which one is closer. I have two scales at home and they run about 1 lb off from one another...

    Great question though!!!
  • KiriKiriKiri
    KiriKiriKiri Posts: 227 Member
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    I also agree...always use one scale to measure your weight loss (if that is what you were asking) but it sounds like you were just curious?
  • SeminoleFan30
    SeminoleFan30 Posts: 64
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    I usually weigh pretty much the same thing at the doctors office as I do at home, I think the doctors office is usually higher by 5 pounds than my scale.
  • ShastaAngel
    ShastaAngel Posts: 61
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    I use the same scale every time, and I think there is something wrong with it. It said I gained 30 pounds in 5 days... and I only went over on my intake one of those days, and the overage was actually just a little bit. LOL I am going by how I feel and how my clothes fit now for the most part.
  • SeminoleFan30
    SeminoleFan30 Posts: 64
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    Was the scale at the doctors office "zero'd" out before you were weighed? Frequently people hop on and off and it never gets tared, which can cause that error. Also there can be an error with the digital. I would go (next time you are in a store) and hop on one of the scales there and see what it tells you? Then you have some sort of idea where you are at and which one is closer. I have two scales at home and they run about 1 lb off from one another...

    Great question though!!!


    The scale at the doctors office is one of those old fashioned kind that you move the bars over to the numbers. I do have the digital one at home though.
  • MercuryBlue
    MercuryBlue Posts: 886 Member
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    It's usually best to stick to one scale... any way that you could always weigh yourself at the Dr's office? I find that different scales tend to be off quite a bit.

    Plus it depends on what you're wearing, if it's the exact same as it was when you weighed in at home.

    Exactly. When you weighed yourself at home, were you wearing heavy clothing? Had you had a lot to eat just before? Was it before you had a BM (gross, I know, but it weighs more than you'd think)? Was it just before you TOM?

    There are a lot of things that can cause a big jump or fall in weight in a relatively short amount of time. I'd weigh yourself at home and see what it says. Does it give a number closer to what you saw at the doctor's office, or is it closer to what it was a few days ago? If it still shows a big difference between what that doctor's scale showed, I'd hop on a third scale, and use that to decide.
  • Thinwithin2010
    Thinwithin2010 Posts: 166 Member
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    My Dr. has a scale that is 9 pounds more then every scale I have been on.. I told them and they know but even zeroing it out they can't fix it.. So I pass everytime I am there. I don't want to be depressed... lol
  • KiriKiriKiri
    KiriKiriKiri Posts: 227 Member
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    Even though it is manual scale...they still need to be tared. (Healthcare professional here...) Also agree, clothing, food, water, etc... interesting question.
  • DaveyGravy
    DaveyGravy Posts: 283 Member
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    If your digital scale is showing results like your have gained 30lbs in 5 days, it might be that your battery needs changing, it's a physical impossibility so don't worry ha ha.
  • SeminoleFan30
    SeminoleFan30 Posts: 64
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    It's usually best to stick to one scale... any way that you could always weigh yourself at the Dr's office? I find that different scales tend to be off quite a bit.

    Plus it depends on what you're wearing, if it's the exact same as it was when you weighed in at home.

    Exactly. When you weighed yourself at home, were you wearing heavy clothing? Had you had a lot to eat just before? Was it before you had a BM (gross, I know, but it weighs more than you'd think)? Was it just before you TOM?

    There are a lot of things that can cause a big jump or fall in weight in a relatively short amount of time. I'd weigh yourself at home and see what it says. Does it give a number closer to what you saw at the doctor's office, or is it closer to what it was a few days ago? If it still shows a big difference between what that doctor's scale showed, I'd hop on a third scale, and use that to decide.

    I weigh at home Naked, so I don't weigh that way at the doctors office. I had on blue jean shorts and t-shirt, and no shoes on at the doctors office. I weighed the day that I weighed here after I got up and after I went to the bathroom and had a BM, nope not my TOM or just before. Today at the doctors office I weighed in at 11:10 got home and weighed again and it said 295, I have a second scale and it said the same thing. I have no idea what the deal is.
  • DaveyGravy
    DaveyGravy Posts: 283 Member
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    Also, sometimes its easy to forget you drank say a pint of water or milk, which weighs about 1lb or something like that so if you have had a few drinks and some food, you're going to be way heavier than you expected if you weigh after that.
  • SeminoleFan30
    SeminoleFan30 Posts: 64
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    If your digital scale is showing results like your have gained 30lbs in 5 days, it might be that your battery needs changing, it's a physical impossibility so don't worry ha ha.

    I changed the battery and tried it again and it still said the same thing, but I am not worried about it too much.
  • boniekatie
    boniekatie Posts: 147
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    I had a digital that never did weigh accurately. I could get on the scale and then check it again ten minutes later and it could be up or down as much as 20lbs. If your digital said you gained over fifty pounds then it sounds like it has a problem. Do you feel fifty pounds heavier?

    Also some digitals are very touchy. You have to put them down and leave them. If you move it around or pick it up and put it away it could be off. Also if the floor that it sits on is not level it can throw it off. I hated my old scale so much I would go to my mother's to weigh. She had one of those like the doctor with the bars that move. As long as they are zeroed regularly, they are the most accurate.

    I ended up buying myself a new digital scale when we moved too far from my mother to use hers and my new one works great. So it might just be time for a new scale.
  • galelynn57
    galelynn57 Posts: 9
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    This may sound crazy but I put my scale in the same spot everytime I weigh myself. Never put your scale on carpet or an uneven floor. I have even taken my scale to the garage and put it on the cement floor to weigh in. Just a thought......
  • MercuryBlue
    MercuryBlue Posts: 886 Member
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    This may sound crazy but I put my scale in the same spot everytime I weigh myself. Never put your scale on carpet or an uneven floor. I have even taken my scale to the garage and put it on the cement floor to weigh in. Just a thought......

    Amen to this. I've weighed myself on the 'wrong spot' on my bathroom floor, and it said I'd lost 5 pounds. I was like 'no bloody way that's possible'. So I moved it back to where I normally kept it, and it gave me the correct weight.
  • SeminoleFan30
    SeminoleFan30 Posts: 64
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    I had a digital that never did weigh accurately. I could get on the scale and then check it again ten minutes later and it could be up or down as much as 20lbs. If your digital said you gained over fifty pounds then it sounds like it has a problem. Do you feel fifty pounds heavier?

    Also some digitals are very touchy. You have to put them down and leave them. If you move it around or pick it up and put it away it could be off. Also if the floor that it sits on is not level it can throw it off. I hated my old scale so much I would go to my mother's to weigh. She had one of those like the doctor with the bars that move. As long as they are zeroed regularly, they are the most accurate.

    I ended up buying myself a new digital scale when we moved too far from my mother to use hers and my new one works great. So it might just be time for a new scale.


    no, I don't feel that much heavier. I know I have gained some weight b/c I had to be on some Predisone for Arthritis but I don't feel like I have gained that much weight. I use my scale in the same spot every time. I am not that worried about it seeing as how I use the scale just to keep check on things, I mostly go by how my clothes fit and I just don't feel like I have gained that much weight.
  • dansdeb
    dansdeb Posts: 164
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    Like everyone is saying - use one scale, same time when you weight. Also dressed (or undressed) the same.
  • kimberleighdiane
    kimberleighdiane Posts: 26
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    I sugest putting a weight on your scale. I have a 8 lb that I make sure my scale is registering the proper pounds. you can use houses hold items such a cans put a few cans on there and see what they weigh 16 oz = 1 lb

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