Do you trust your scale?

lnicole1625
lnicole1625 Posts: 40 Member
edited October 13 in Fitness and Exercise
I notice when I weigh myself, if I move the scale in different locations the result is off by like a pound. I'm not sure what to believe.
I know it sounds silly, but this morning I weighed my self, and I was so happy. Then I moved it over since I was kind of close to the shelf and I wanted to see the results again, and it was a pound heavier. I always use the same scale every time.
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Replies

  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
    I did not know how you stood on some scales effected the reading.

    It sure does!
    I was standing with my feet angled in and a bit close together and got a reading 2 lbs lighter than my real weight. OUCH! All this time I was really 2 lbs heavier. No biggie - I adjusted my weight settings and now I stand on the scale correctly - feet straight ahead and positioned in the middle, standing very still - I feel like I am covering lost ground.....lol
  • aagnew01
    aagnew01 Posts: 33 Member
    I have a digital scale and a dial scale....and they vary. The digital always says I'm higher. When I weighed my 2 yr old, his measurements come out accurate but mine vary by about 5 lbs. It has lead to stop focusing so much on the scale, but how my clothes are fitting and how I am looking.
  • AmyLRed
    AmyLRed Posts: 856 Member
    is it digital? you may need a new battery. I always weigh myself 2x, to make sure its the same, since my digital scale gets a little funky sometimes. I havent tried moving it though.
  • krnlcsf
    krnlcsf Posts: 310
    I trust my new digital scale more than my old scale. I would notice sometimes that 1-2 lb difference if the scale was in a different location. Usually I would just figure it was bloating or something (i never tested it within seconds of each other). When I got my new digital scale it gave me a reading 2 lb heavier than my old one, so now I'm just going by that. At my dr. office the other day the weight they recorded was pretty much the same as I have been getting, so I would say its accurate.
  • Pughey
    Pughey Posts: 30 Member
    It's so strange how different scales produce different weights! Surely 1lb is 1lb regardless of what it's weighed on.
  • hhorncastle
    hhorncastle Posts: 84 Member
    My digital scale does that too. I'm sure my bathroom floor has all sorts of little dips and divots in it and if the scale gets moved, it shows a different weight. I have no way of knowing which is my "real" weight, but I've picked a spot on the floor and make sure I put the scale in the same place every time I weigh myself. I figure as long as I'm getting a consistent picture of my progress (or occasional lack thereof), whether it's a pound or so inaccurate in either direction isn't a big deal. It's what I've got, so.. that's my weight.
  • MooseWizard
    MooseWizard Posts: 295 Member
    I think it might depend on the quality of the scale. My old scale gave me different readings depending on how I stood on it or where it was positioned. I got a much nicer scale, and it shows the same no matter how I stand or where I move it.
  • silkysly
    silkysly Posts: 701 Member
    A pound shouldn’t make or break you. We weigh differently throughout the day anyway.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    When I weighed myself at home (now I do it at the gym, since my scale is in storage), I was always sure to leave my scale in the same spot (mark the floor somehow if you have to), and I actually marked where my feet go on the scale with a permanent marker. My theory was I didn't care if the weight was exactly "right," in the sense that it gave my "true" weight, what I wanted was test-retest reliability (i.e. that if I reweighed myself, I'd get the same answer). This allowed me to know if I was losing weight, even if I might not be exactly X pounds.
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,357 Member
    I know my scale and my doctor's scale are 2lbs different. I weight myself before I go and if mine says 162 his will say 164., it never fails. I weighed myself 4 times this morning because it went up lol. Said the same thing all 4 times.
  • ComeAroundSundown
    ComeAroundSundown Posts: 69 Member
    Not really. When I weigh myself, I pretty much get on and off the scale around 10 times before I confirm a weight. I move it around 3 or 4 different areas of the bathroom and place my feet on it slightly differently every time. It seems to give me very similar weights each time, but there's always one number that repeats itself 4 or 5 times. I go by that one. Obsessive, I know :tongue: lol
  • Princess41463
    Princess41463 Posts: 39 Member
    What weight do you go on for recording purposes? The one you get first thing in the morning when you are undressed...or the one at the end of the day when you are dressed?

    I weight 151 in the morning before I get ready for work --- and 154 in the afternoon when I go to Jenny Craig for my weigh in - and I'm fully dressed.
  • mommymeg2
    mommymeg2 Posts: 145 Member
    Not really. When I weigh myself, I pretty much get on and off the scale around 10 times before I confirm a weight. I move it around 3 or 4 different areas of the bathroom and place my feet on it slightly differently every time. It seems to give me very similar weights each time, but there's always one number that repeats itself 4 or 5 times. I go by that one. Obsessive, I know :tongue: lol

    I do the same thing. :)
  • Reesa32
    Reesa32 Posts: 35
    When I weigh myself in the bathroom it always reads different then when I weigh in the kitchen, the floor in the kitchen is harder so this is what i use to make sure im accurate
  • BanjoKd
    BanjoKd Posts: 150
    My scale hates me. I've been pondering a new one, but the one i have wasn't cheap. I even put a 15 lb kettle bell on it last week because i thought it was a dirty liar....the bell weighed 14.9...scale 1 me 0.
  • Ant_M76
    Ant_M76 Posts: 534 Member
    Not really. When I weigh myself, I pretty much get on and off the scale around 10 times before I confirm a weight. I move it around 3 or 4 different areas of the bathroom and place my feet on it slightly differently every time. It seems to give me very similar weights each time, but there's always one number that repeats itself 4 or 5 times. I go by that one. Obsessive, I know :tongue: lol

    Lol, I do exactly the same (except it's in my kitchen - the bathroom floor is softer and doesn't give true weight). I jump on and off at least 4 or 5 times and shift the scale around to various spots :)
  • ryno0618
    ryno0618 Posts: 361
    Nope I don't trust my scale. Its just a benchmark anyway.
    Depending on how you place your feet and shift your weight around you will get different readings. Depending on the type of flooring the scale is sitting on you will get different readings.

    What I do is weigh myself 3 times. Step on the scale, step off, step on the scale, step off, step on the scale. I take an average of the 3 weights. And I always have my scale in the exact same spot on the floor.

    And all scales are different. I weigh more at the gym than I do at home, etc. Just use one scale. Its just a benchmark anyways. It really doesn't matter what weight you started at, what matters is what weight you have lost. So whether the gym scale or the home scale reads differently doesn't matter as long as the amount lost is the same then its all good.
  • fatnomo100
    fatnomo100 Posts: 59
    I know what you mean! I have a digital scale and I place it in the exact same place every time I step on it! I will do it three times and and take the best number.
  • EmmaR31
    EmmaR31 Posts: 184
    Not really. When I weigh myself, I pretty much get on and off the scale around 10 times before I confirm a weight. I move it around 3 or 4 different areas of the bathroom and place my feet on it slightly differently every time. It seems to give me very similar weights each time, but there's always one number that repeats itself 4 or 5 times. I go by that one. Obsessive, I know :tongue: lol

    I do this! Except my scale (digital) does give different weights but I tend to take the reading that comes up the most and also the heaviest to be on the safe side.

    On my to do list: Buy a freaking new scale!
  • ScubyUK
    ScubyUK Posts: 271 Member
    I was wondering the other day how accurate my Digi Scales were, bathroom is a tiled floor, but in a 191x something house, so I grabbed 3 different bar-bell weights, and put them on, letting the scale power off each time. each weight registered correctly (within 100g/3.5oz)

    Quite chuffed with that, I prefer using measurement to guage success but it's still nice to see the line on the graph sloping downwards!
  • badgerbadger1
    badgerbadger1 Posts: 954 Member
    Not really. When I weigh myself, I pretty much get on and off the scale around 10 times before I confirm a weight. I move it around 3 or 4 different areas of the bathroom and place my feet on it slightly differently every time. It seems to give me very similar weights each time, but there's always one number that repeats itself 4 or 5 times. I go by that one. Obsessive, I know :tongue: lol

    Quoted for truth.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    I trust my mirror over my scale.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • KitTheRoadie
    KitTheRoadie Posts: 641 Member
    Not really. When I weigh myself, I pretty much get on and off the scale around 10 times before I confirm a weight. I move it around 3 or 4 different areas of the bathroom and place my feet on it slightly differently every time. It seems to give me very similar weights each time, but there's always one number that repeats itself 4 or 5 times. I go by that one. Obsessive, I know :tongue: lol

    Lol, I do exactly the same (except it's in my kitchen - the bathroom floor is softer and doesn't give true weight). I jump on and off at least 4 or 5 times and shift the scale around to various spots :)

    Yep, I do this too! :smile:
  • revjames
    revjames Posts: 75 Member
    I put 25kg of free weights on my mechanical scal and it recorded the weight pretty much spot on. the digital recorded 25.5 so digi will be 2-4 lb heavier than the mechanical
  • ComeAroundSundown
    ComeAroundSundown Posts: 69 Member
    Glad to see I'm not the only one lol
  • Luthorcrow
    Luthorcrow Posts: 193
    I tested my digital scale with a free weight and it was spot on. I also have weighed myself at my home scale and compared to the medical style one at the gym and the numbers agreed. I do make sure to keep my scale calibrated and re-calibrate when I move it, etc.

    Also the BF% seem to be pretty consistent when done at the same time each day.
  • leighroberts1
    leighroberts1 Posts: 3 Member
    I have electronic scales and no matter what i do i always weigh the same. i used my normal bathroom scales which say i'm 7 Lbs lighter. does my head in. i'm going to stick with normal scales now my electronic are crap. I'm working out eat very healthy and i never lose anything on electronic.
  • Pajke
    Pajke Posts: 10 Member
    Uhh, my scale acts up

    One day I weight 4 pounds less and the other days it's just like those pounds never even existed..
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
    I know with my one if I stand too much to one side and not enough in teh middle it can impact on the reading.

    And no, never trust the scale.

    It is entirely untrustworthy.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Hmm.. not really but I loved mine today since it said I lost lots of body fat and a bit of weight. Usually I think the best use for them is throwing them out a window.
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