My scale is pissing me off.
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I totally empathize. Wife and I weigh first thing every morning. Electronic scale is supposed to weigh to Two tenths of a lb. We paid for a premium scale because old scale was fluctuating just like what you're seeing.
This premium quality scale will fluctuate by nearly a lb. just by stepping off, walking down the hallway, and coming back and weighing again.
It's pathetic, but we've now gotten in the practice of weighing three times in the morning and taking the average, or if we manage to get two identical weights, using the two that match.
That's one reason I quit going to WW meetings for a once a week weigh in. You're at the mercy of what the scale says on the one moment in time.
We weigh daily and chart it, and get a fairly accurate picture of how we're doing during the month.0 -
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I just read some of the other replies, and Y'all are so harsh. So let me just comment on how deliberate I am.
When we first started having issues with old scale, even though it was on a smooth tile floor, I thought it might be the surface, so I went to HomeDepot and purchased a 24" square hardwood board, and varnished it so that it wouldn't get wet in bathroom where scale is.
That didn't change the issue, even after changing batteries, so we searched the internet and finally picked a highly rated scale, at a much higher price than we intended to pay. It is closer than old scale, but it's guaranteed to weigh within two tenths, and in the thirty seconds that it takes to walk down the hallway and back, it has given readings that were a lb. or more different.
It "is" about the numbers. No matter how much you love or don't love yourself, when you start a diet plan, the measure of success is by the numbers.
The mushy mushy, oh the numbers aren't important rhetoric is for people who are trying to rationalize their failure to lose.0 -
Seems your scale isn't working so well. I'm lucky mine seems totally accurate, I can weigh myself 4 times in a row and I always get the same number.0
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To get the most accurate reading you can, first thing am after going to the loo is best simply because at that time you have an empty stomach/bladder/bowel so this eliminates these fluctuations.
Makes sense if you think about it.
It might reduce volatility, but relative to what? Who is to say that your body post urinating in a dehydrated fasting state is the weight you should be trying to measure in the first place?
Who says it isn't? Also, who says peeing makes you dehydrated? You can pee and still be perfectly hydrated, it's just your kidneys doing their thing removing the (haha) toxins from your body (haha - I hate the t word, but in this context it is accurate).
read again
I didn't say peeing makes you dehydrated. Sleeping overnight will do that with our without taking a wizz.
Fair enough, and I kind of get what you are saying in terms of "do we actually have an accurate weight". We're going to fluctuate during the day depending on how much we eat, pee, and poo. However, we do have to have some indication of what we weigh, and it seems to me that first thing in the morning is the easiest way to get consistency, even if it isn't our "true weight". Do you have another suggestion? Other than measuring tapes I mean - I don't find them particularly helpful or any more consistent than my scales. If anything I have trouble remembering exactly how far up my thigh I measured etc.
Edited to fix my spelling - it's gone down hill lately. Grr.0 -
LOLDon't fret. Remember that numbers don't make people. The heart and personality is what matters. Once you learn to embrace yourself then everything else will fall into place. Be more proud of your accomplishments. Don't be too hard on yourself. Good luck!0 -
What? I thought this site was about losing weight.Don't fret. Remember that numbers don't make people. The heart and personality is what matters. Once you learn to embrace yourself then everything else will fall into place. Be more proud of your accomplishments. Don't be too hard on yourself. Good luck!0 -
It "is" about the numbers. No matter how much you love or don't love yourself, when you start a diet plan, the measure of success is by the numbers.
The mushy mushy, oh the numbers aren't important rhetoric is for people who are trying to rationalize their failure to lose.
It might be about the numbers for you, but for me it's about body composition. A scale provides a point in time measurement of the whole package - water, bones, muscle and fat - with no regard to the proportions. There are folks out there who might weigh less than me, but have a higher body fat percentage, but according to your standard (and ones like BMI) I would be the one who is less healthy. So yes, I'm just trying to rationalize my failure to lose - those 10 sizes I've lost are obviously figments of my imagination.0 -
I'd go with the 127.80
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Stop stepping on the scale and it will stop making you angry.0
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Go to your local retailer, get a scale and weigh yourself. You can then see if your scale is broken or not. If it not, return it an get your money back.0
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To get the most accurate reading you can, first thing am after going to the loo is best simply because at that time you have an empty stomach/bladder/bowel so this eliminates these fluctuations.
Makes sense if you think about it.
Agree. Don't know why this seems to an arguing point.0 -
What? I thought this site was about losing weight.Don't fret. Remember that numbers don't make people. The heart and personality is what matters. Once you learn to embrace yourself then everything else will fall into place. Be more proud of your accomplishments. Don't be too hard on yourself. Good luck!
Hahaha! You are funny
Scales suck, because they are made in hell0 -
Congrats on your 7 pound weight loss!! Seems like the scale is working as intended!!
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You're still measuring success by numbers. Just not the numbers on the scale. You're measuring success by clothing sizes and BF%.It "is" about the numbers. No matter how much you love or don't love yourself, when you start a diet plan, the measure of success is by the numbers.
The mushy mushy, oh the numbers aren't important rhetoric is for people who are trying to rationalize their failure to lose.
It might be about the numbers for you, but for me it's about body composition. A scale provides a point in time measurement of the whole package - water, bones, muscle and fat - with no regard to the proportions. There are folks out there who might weigh less than me, but have a higher body fat percentage, but according to your standard (and ones like BMI) I would be the one who is less healthy. So yes, I'm just trying to rationalize my failure to lose - those 10 sizes I've lost are obviously figments of my imagination.0 -
I named my scale Rocky... because that describes our relationship. We get together once a week, usually in the morning, usually half dressed... and always before breakfast. He sometimes makes me happy, sometimes sad, a great deal of the time I get angry and threaten to throw him off the front deck. He's never consistent, and I'm sure I keep him around out of habit. Maybe I'll shove the lying *kitten* in the closet and see if I can do without him for the month of November.0
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To get the most accurate reading you can, first thing am after going to the loo is best simply because at that time you have an empty stomach/bladder/bowel so this eliminates these fluctuations.
Makes sense if you think about it.
Agree. Don't know why this seems to an arguing point.
Nor me it's so simple realy0 -
I named my scale Rocky... because that describes our relationship. We get together once a week, usually in the morning, usually half dressed... and always before breakfast. He sometimes makes me happy, sometimes sad, a great deal of the time I get angry and threaten to throw him off the front deck. He's never consistent, and I'm sure I keep him around out of habit. Maybe I'll shove the lying *kitten* in the closet and see if I can do without him for the month of November.
Do it!
I weaned my self to not weighing on the scale. Haven't stepped on the scale since July or August. I might check before the holidays start and then again after all the festivities (which will be mid January for me, or early Feb) just to see how it goes in poundage land.
But I see my self in the mirror, feel how my clothes fit, ... and that tells me how I'm doing.
And once every other month I check my body fat %0 -
The best time to weigh yourself is once a week, first thing in the morning after going to the restroom. That is when the number on the scale will be the most accurate.
"Most accurate" for what? Your body is relatively dehydrated at that point, and you won't get your "real" weight until you rehydrate.
Sure, it would be your accurate weight after a night of dehydration. What is more important is CONSISTENCY.
Personally, I always weigh first thing in the morning, after using the loo, and nekkid. I feel like this gives me the most consistent picture of my weight. So what if I'll weigh 2 lbs more after lunch ? As long as I weigh under as reproducible conditions as possible, I will get the best picture possible of my progress. Since I don't usually eat or drink a lot after dinner it usually works pretty well. (Unlike last night-- where we went out to celebrate a family member's birthday and ate later, more, and saltier foods. The scale said I gained 1.2 lbs in a day but in this case I know there's a reason for that, and I'll expect to lose it in the next 24 to 48 hours if I resume my usual habits.
As for the OP-- if it keeps doing that despite new batteries, just get a new scale. They wear out like anything else.0 -
^^
I think people are just arguing for argument's sake, but I'll bite this time because I feel like defeating an invalid argument. This weighing time/condition of after you get up in the AM and after you void is the best and the reasoning is right on. You can claim whatever you want is your "real weight", but the important thing is to get the closest to same conditions all the time every time as possible.
If you want to be a smart aleck and argue "well you arent hydrated", OK then, how much does it take to be "hydrated"? Did you need .5cup water? Too thirsty this morning and drank 1.2 cup, 2cups? Not thirsty the next morning? Tell us exactly how much is the "right" amount. Did you take a blood screen first to determine water concentration for your weigh in? And not going to the bathroom? Whats the "right" amount of urine and feces? Did you measure how much you have in you? No, those arguments are just silliness that get people off track. The important thing again is the exact same condition on every day as much as possible. If you want to drink 100.17mL of measured fluid before because you think thats how much you need to hydrate, do it every single time, thats fine, if you want to hold a 5lb plate of iron because you believe you gain more through the day and thats your "real" weight, thats fine too as long as you do it EACH AND EVERY TIME THE SAME WAY IN THE SAME CONDITION AS POSSIBLE. You are comparing your last state to your current state, and if you dont at least reduce some of the variables, the weigh in becomes less and less valid. "You are dehydrated, morning weigh in is not your 'real' weight so dont weigh in then" is completely invalid.
To make that valid, your purpose to weigh at a specific concentration, you'd better get out the syringes, beakers with accurate measure, and centrifuges and draw blood and analyze every weigh in then, and you still need to void, have a similar condition as possible to the past state...oh yeah, probably 8hrs rest before measure would be about as similar as we could get since no other time during the day do we get 8hrs of doing one thing in a row before weigh in, and no other time to we get the widely varied foods and liquid intake to stop for a long enough period...wait a minute...we are back to the same recommendations aren't we? 0
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