Scales

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Guinevere_22
Guinevere_22 Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I bought a scale last week... one of those spiffy electric ones that calculate your fat, muscle, water and bone levels. It told me that I weigh 5kgs less than my mom's old scale which was a great thing to see! :D Problems arise when I weighed myself at the clinic and the scale they had also said I weigh 5kg's more. Now I don't know what to believe! Which scale is correct? Both the clinic scale and my mom's are old and have probably been squished a bit by all the heavy weights.

Does any one know how to gauge if a scale is correct or not? Are there any fail-safe methods to use that will guarantee I get a scale that is accurate?

Replies

  • mdubs76
    mdubs76 Posts: 17 Member
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    Every scale is going to be different. Sorry, no clear answer. Other than keep it consistent and base your weight off of one scale.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,391 MFP Moderator
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    It really doesn't matter, as long as you weigh yourself on the same scale you can see the trend. Also, when you weigh yourself at different times and depending if you are wearing clothes or not, that will affect the readings, especially if you weigh naked in the morning on your scale and then afternoon and clothed on a scale at the DR office.
  • Zara11
    Zara11 Posts: 1,247 Member
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    If you have weights, weigh them to see how accurate the scale is?
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
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    I agree with psulemon--consistently using the same equipment is more important than how accurate that equipment is. But, if you really want to know how accurate your scale is, take it along with you to your doctor's office or the gym. Beam scales are generally pretty good, so you could compare what the beam scale gives you with your household scale and recalibrate the latter as necessary.
  • Supern0va81
    Supern0va81 Posts: 168 Member
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    If you are going to use a scale use the same one in the same conditions repeatedly:

    weigh yourself at the same time and day weekly/monthly...
    wear the same clothes (or none!)
    same surface that the scale sits on (same room same floor)
    replace batteries every (12) months

    Or go for Non scale victories (NSV) by noticing:

    - when your clothes fit better
    - comments from others
    - your reflection changes (keep a photo diary)
    - you can perform more athletically, etc.

    Always remember the things that are beyond your control too though that will change the number on the scales or perhaps how you look, such as water weight, food intolerance's that make you bloated, or time of the month!
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
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    If you have weights, weigh them to see how accurate the scale is?

    This will only tell you so much, as inaccuracy can be scaled logarithmically in principle as the weight increases.

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