Doctor's Scales Wrong?

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CelineO006
CelineO006 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Since about 2 months ago I've been trying to lose weight, mainly due to unbelievable back pain. When I started, I weighed about 200lbs.

At the weekend my sister and I spotted some scales in a shop and decided to try them. I stood on them a couple times and every time the reading was about 170lbs. :happy:

However, at the doctor's yesterday morning, she weighed me and it came back at 196lbs?! That puts my BMI at obese! :noway:

The thing is, I certainly do not look even CLOSE to obese! I've been taking my measurements regularly since I started losing weight and they've decreased a LOT. My body has slimmed down to the point where I can see the beginnings of a thigh gap, if I stretch I can see my ribs poking out and my shoulder blades are also poking out.

So my question basically is this, how can there be a 26lb difference in the space of 3 days? For the record, my doctor just uses an ordinary step on scale with the face and the arm that spins around, not a proper scale with the weights.

Replies

  • nicola1141
    nicola1141 Posts: 613 Member
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    There isn't a 26 lb. difference in your weight. One of the scales was wrong. Very few scales are really kept completely accurate, so you'll always find a difference between scales. To measure your weight loss, stick with one scale and a similar time of day.

    (FYI, I'm in the obese category - also in the 190s - and I can see my ribs and shoulder blades).
  • rabblerabble
    rabblerabble Posts: 471 Member
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    I always weigh on the same scale in the same spot on the floor first thing each morning. But obviously in this case, one scale is outrageously incorrect.
  • writergeek313
    writergeek313 Posts: 390 Member
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    It's more likely that the scales in the shop were wrong. Just hopping on some random scale isn't an accurate way to track your weight. It would be better to buy a scale and then weigh yourself regularly to get a sense of what your weight really is.

    My weight is usually a little higher when I go to the doctor because I'm wearing clothes (and sometimes shoes) and because I usually go in the afternoon and have already had quite a bit of water. A few pounds of fluctuation is normal, but 26 pounds is a different story.
  • threefancy
    threefancy Posts: 93 Member
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    It's unlikely that the doctor's scale was wrong. One of many patients standing on it throughout the day would have mentioned something to them about it.
  • kelseyhere
    kelseyhere Posts: 1,123 Member
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    It's possible the doctor's scale was not calibrated, but it's more likely that both the doctor's scale AND the scales at the store are both a little bit off (could be in either direction). The store may have purposely set their scales lower to encourage people to buy them. Think, you go to a store, weight yourself, and you appear lighter than normal, so you think oh great, what a good scale! I'm making progress. Also, when you were at the doctor you were likely wearing different clothes (and probably shoes) then when you weighed yourself. Most people can easily wear 5-10 pounds of clothes. Really though I would not worry so much about the difference between the two scales, and instead focus on losing weight overall. Get a scale for your house and always use the same scale. That way even if it is off, it's always off in the same direction. My mom has three scales at her house and there is about a 10 pound difference between them.
  • Rizabees
    Rizabees Posts: 80
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    I don't pay too much attention to doctor scales for a few reasons: I'm wearing clothes [including shoes and sometimes multiple layers], and I may have already eaten before I head to the doctors.

    But for 26 lbs, one of the scales is wrong.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    Ask your doctor when the scale was last calibrated. Up to about ten pounds difference could be explained by a combination of normal body weight fluctuations, clothed vs. naked weighing, and normal margins of error on both scales. Twenty six pounds seems too large a difference to explain, even if all of these factors worked against you.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Really though I would not worry so much about the difference between the two scales, and instead focus on losing weight overall. Get a scale for your house and always use the same scale.

    This.
  • scottkjar
    scottkjar Posts: 346 Member
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    You can SEE the difference. Don't worry about the scale. Your weight is only one key number. Your measurements are also important, how far you can walk or jog, how much you can lift, what size your pants are, etc., are also key numbers. Don't focus on any one number.
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
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    Different scales will give different readings depending on when you weigh yourself. I normally weigh myself on the scale at work which is similiar to the kind you may find in a drug store, that also gives blood pressure and other health data. Don't know if its accurate or not, but I would weigh myself first thing in the morning before I ate. If I weighed myself any other time of the day on a different scale I would get a reading of up to a 5lb +/- difference. Now that I'm in the gaining muscle phase, I decided to order a Body analyzer scale that will measure my body fat %. It may not be as accurate as having my bf% done professionally, but it will give me a good starting point and let me know if I'm going in the right direction. Now when I go to the doctor, I tell them not to let me know what my weight is.
  • CelineO006
    CelineO006 Posts: 8 Member
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    If you started at 200 pounds 2 months ago, you would have lost 30 pounds in 2 months to be at 170. That's a lot of weight to lose in a short time.

    If you had done that, it would be obvious to you where you had lost the weight -- tummy, thighs, arms, etc. You said nothing about SEEING any differences, which suggests to me that you did not lose 30 pounds.

    I can see a lot of differences in my body. My tummy, thighs, calves etc. have all become thinner. I hadn't actually paid much attention to my calves at all until last night when I was shocked to see just how skinny they looked :p
    It's possible the doctor's scale was not calibrated, but it's more likely that both the doctor's scale AND the scales at the store are both a little bit off (could be in either direction)

    I wasn't really expecting the scales in the shop to be completely accurate, so I know they're out by a couple pounds at least. However, my dad stood on the same scales in the shop and got a weight that seemed pretty accurate to him. He's been monitoring his weight continuously over the past 2 years and he said that that weight was right for him, possibly even a bit more than what he was expecting.
  • Krista916
    Krista916 Posts: 258
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    Doctors office scales have to be calibrated. It's a JCHO regulation for preventative maint.

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