which scale to trust?

alexandriacaceres
alexandriacaceres Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
i don't know which scale to trust.... i mean i have used 3 different scales and got 110 for the one at the hospital and 117 for the one at my doctors appointment and also 114 for the one at my school. which one should i trust. if the one at the hospital is accurate that means i am at my goal... i would think a hospital scale would be accurate though it seems like a pretty big difference from the one at my doctors which also should be accurate. shouldn't it?
i mean this is my logic... let me know if you agree or not.... it would be easier for something to add weight to your real number than to subtract weight from the scale... am i correct. so that would mean like it would be easier for the scale to miscalculate and add rather than subtract or is this false? i am hoping that the one at the hospital is correct so that i can start maintaining and be at my healthy weight.

so wouldn't it be easier for the scale to miscalculate and add rather than subtract

Replies

  • vwbug86
    vwbug86 Posts: 283 Member
    So my weight shifts about 6lbs a day. depending on if I have worked out, eaten, or slept.

    So when where you weighed, and had you eaten?

    Best time is in the morning, after using the bathroom, before you eat or workout. Also naked or nearly so.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    The only way you can know is to take something you know the actual weight of and weigh it on all 3 scales. 10 lb weight or bag of sugar works.

    You weight varies through the day based on how much waste and water is in your system. Unless you were naked on all 3 scales the weight of your clothing will vary. None of those scales are for legal tender so they don't have to be calibrated correctly. Your best bet is to purchase a scale of your own and use it to monitor your weight. Arbitrarily picking some number and then searching for the scale to match isn't going to work.
  • alexandriacaceres
    alexandriacaceres Posts: 6
    i already subtracted the amount i think of weight that my clothes weighed and how much i could have of food still in me. so that isn't the problem i am worried about the 7 pound difference i still get. and since they arent my scales i can't test it out
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,332 Member
    Why would a few pounds really matter that much?

    I'll bet if you go to them on a different day, you'll get three even different numbers. *shrug* "Close enough" - or just pick the one you are more likely to be able to visit on a regular basis.
  • ansonrinesmith
    ansonrinesmith Posts: 741 Member
    Who knows! If you didn't weight under exact conditions for all 3, then the guessing of food, water weight and clothes is half of you conundrum. The other half is, it depends on how recently the scale was calibrated. I would guess the hospital and doctors office get calibrated more often, but they also probably get used more.

    I think the real answer here is forget the number and go by clothes and how you feel.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    I read this as "Which scale to thrust?" haha. Even though I read it wrong, my answer is still the same. Thrust them all out the window. Forego weight as a measurement of success and use a tape measure, pictures, clothes, and fitness goals as a way to measure your fitness.
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
    This might help:
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/how-to-weigh-yourself-accurately/
  • ajaxe432
    ajaxe432 Posts: 608 Member
    No scale.....measure inches with tape! Body weight flucuates to much!
  • BranMuffin86
    BranMuffin86 Posts: 314 Member
    I trust NO scale! It's all about how I feel. Like most have said measuring is the way to go.
  • Derf_Smeggle
    Derf_Smeggle Posts: 610 Member
    i already subtracted the amount i think of weight that my clothes weighed and how much i could have of food still in me. so that isn't the problem i am worried about the 7 pound difference i still get. and since they arent my scales i can't test it out
    These are two assumptions that is most probably very, very wrong. I can have a 5 pound swing from morning to evening depending on numerous factors (hydration, elimination, food consumption, etc). Include in the completely unknown of clothing to the equation and you are basically guessing.

    If you are measuring success based on weight, then just weigh yourself in the morning, without clothes and after morning bathroom break.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    When I was losing weight, I had an "official" scale. I don't know if it is exactly accurate (it is a bathroom scale) or not, but I used it for my weigh-ins once a week. Being at home, I could control the most variables - time of day, what I consumed prior to weighing in, what I was wearing.

    Other scales were interesting, but I would always take their numbers with a grain of salt since they would get used in conditions where I could not control all the same variables.
  • BossLadyDSimp
    BossLadyDSimp Posts: 257 Member
    Pick ONE scale that you can use around the same time ONCE A WEEK (or less) ... start from where that says and then go from there.

    Or don't worry about the scale at all ... focus on how you FEEL

    50540473.png
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    what difference could it possibly make? do you like how you look in the mirror? if yes, case closed. if no, keep doing something
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    The food scale. Weighing your food is highly recommended.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    At this point the number doesn't matter. Just do things to get and stay healthy, and let the number on the scale figure itself out.

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