The scale is a dirty rotten filthy stinking liar!

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  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
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    That bethlaf is fantastic... my scale is such a lying jerk! My jeans fresh out of the dryer however... they never lie. :wink:

    the jeans out of the dryer, and how they fit
    REALLY is an honest to goodness personal method
    i use to see that i have made progress!!!!!


    oh and the first part of your comment was spot on too ;D
  • Wifey7891
    Wifey7891 Posts: 91
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    the scale can be one tool to track progress but you should not rely on it exclusively. if you are noticing your clothes fitting better or image in the mirror looking more lean then things are working. you should be heavier into strength training than cardio, because it will burn more fat over long term by increasing metabolism. the scale could be deceiving because gaining muscle and losing fat will probably lead to a gain in weight. this is not a bad thing.
  • dianalee9
    dianalee9 Posts: 134 Member
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    Congrats on your success!!

    I'm leaving my scale and running away with the measuring tape! :wink:
  • deefield1968
    deefield1968 Posts: 8 Member
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    My scales went on the blink when I turned 45. I can ride a bicycle until complete exhaustion five days a week, count calories, cut the starches and sugars, etc., and the scale, I swear, sticks its tongue out at me, gives laughs and says "ha! my evil partner, pre-menopause, and I are working to ensure you never smile again." I step off and give it the finger..... I **WILL** win!
  • cchew686
    cchew686 Posts: 108
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    My scales went on the blink when I turned 45. I can ride a bicycle until complete exhaustion five days a week, count calories, cut the starches and sugars, etc., and the scale, I swear, sticks its tongue out at me, gives laughs and says "ha! my evil partner, pre-menopause, and I are working to ensure you never smile again." I step off and give it the finger..... I **WILL** win!

    Lol. And I thought I was the only one giving inanimate objects the finger, including the scale, my work computer, traffic lights, and any other number of things.
  • canadafats
    canadafats Posts: 52
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    Thanks for the kind words, everyone! Another metric that really stood out for me was my Fat Free Mass (FFM) which is comprised of muscle, bone, tissue, water, and all other fat free mass in the body. In the almost two weeks I went from 182lbs to 193.8lbs!
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
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    you want to know how susceptable it is , on saturday or any day you are home weigh yourself every hour, record the weights, then weigh yourself when you get up ..... LOTS of wild numbers.
    tumblr_m269v3GLlo1qck3nso1_1280.png

    I don't think this proves what you want it to prove. Your average weight across the day would be 139.5 +/- 0.1 lbs. The scale provides a reasonable estimate of your weight that day. Granted, you did have two weights more than one standard deviation from the mean, both they were of equal and opposite magnitude.

    The scale is not a liar. It is a tool. The problem is that we don't use it appropriately. Any single measurement of body weight on the scale is almost meaningless. We need multiple weights, over an extended period of time, to draw conclusions from it. The more measurements we have, the more accurate the average of those measurements will be in reflecting the likely true value. Will there be random high values? Yeah, but there will also be random low values, too. The more data we have, the better our knowledge of reality.

    That day, when you claim the scale told you nothing about your weight, is probably the day when you have the best idea of your real weight.

    Edit: My scale weight is an average distance of 0.34 +/- 0.02 kg (0.75 lbs) from my calculated "real" weight for each day. So, there's a lot of randomness in each day's weight. That's why I don't pay much attention to any individual weight. It's the sum of them all together that paints the real picture.
  • luadams2
    luadams2 Posts: 122
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    Today, my scale was a smug *kitten*. I got on it and I had gained back a pound. So it sat there, all silent with that look on it's face. *kitten*.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Scale bodyweight fluctuates to much naturally to be able to notice how much weight you are losing in fat over the period of just one week. The scale can be a useful indicator of your progress but over the timeperiod of months not weeks and certainly not days.

    If you are feeling better and looking trimmer THAT is what is important. I'd recommend still weighing yourself but take it for what it is don't get frustrated by it. Log your weight over the period of several months and a trend will emerge even though day to day week to week your weight will bounce all over the place.

    Its mainly due to just fluctuations in water retention man, nothing to worry about.

    I was 184.4 pounds yesterday and 186.7 pounds today. I know exactly why too, yesterday I had a bowl of Pho and Pho has a huge sodium level so with that extra sodium above my typical day I likely retained a couple pounds of water and sure enough that showed up. After a couple days of drinking lots of water and lower sodium intake I'm sure that will drop and if I drank tons of water I might artificially go the opposite way and weigh 182 in a couple of days. Its all water weight.


    The fact that it takes a week to lose a pound of fat but you can put on several pounds of water literally overnight means that the scale will often "lie" to you. But over time logging the water fluctuations will average out and you will see a downward trend overall due to fat loss.
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
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    Scale bodyweight fluctuates to much naturally to be able to notice how much weight you are losing in fat over the period of just one week. The scale can be a useful indicator of your progress but over the timeperiod of months not weeks and certainly not days.

    If you are feeling better and looking trimmer THAT is what is important. I'd recommend still weighing yourself but take it for what it is don't get frustrated by it. Log your weight over the period of several months and a trend will emerge even though day to day week to week your weight will bounce all over the place.

    Its mainly due to just fluctuations in water retention man, nothing to worry about.

    I was 184.4 pounds yesterday and 186.7 pounds today. I know exactly why too, yesterday I had a bowl of Pho and Pho has a huge sodium level so with that extra sodium above my typical day I likely retained a couple pounds of water and sure enough that showed up. After a couple days of drinking lots of water and lower sodium intake I'm sure that will drop and if I drank tons of water I might artificially go the opposite way and weigh 182 in a couple of days. Its all water weight.


    The fact that it takes a week to lose a pound of fat but you can put on several pounds of water literally overnight means that the scale will often "lie" to you. But over time logging the water fluctuations will average out and you will see a downward trend overall due to fat loss.

    Ah, Pho! I have to drive 119 miles for the nearest bowl of Pho. So worth the drive and the water weight!
  • Betty_Rubble
    Betty_Rubble Posts: 117 Member
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    Hahah! This is so great and just what I needed to read today!

    I have that mystery pop up weight that in my heart and mind I KNOW is just water retention/bloating/glycogen, but my goodness does it make this whole thing frustrating as hell.

    My tape measure is never a liar. While I've only lost a couple pounds since the beginning of March, I am down a solid inch in my waist.
  • canadafats
    canadafats Posts: 52
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    My tape measure is never a liar. While I've only lost a couple pounds since the beginning of March, I am down a solid inch in my waist.

    That's great! Good job.
  • jakethepurplesnake
    jakethepurplesnake Posts: 8
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    Seriously, my scale almost lost it's life yesterday!! All of this HARD work, moderation and water, the damn thing does not budge!!
    I bought a second scale just in case the first one was off!.............................GRR
  • mary2178
    mary2178 Posts: 10 Member
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    Such an awesome thread to make me laugh when my scale is going up and my daily calories are down with both cardio and strength training up. It's so frustrating, but.....

    it's worth the fight.
  • krawhitham
    krawhitham Posts: 831 Member
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    Congratulations!

    I *hope* my scale isn't a liar, because it's saying I'm down 12 lbs, and I'm happy about that :D
  • somefitsomefat
    somefitsomefat Posts: 445 Member
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    I'm 5'11" 239. I feel like the scale lied to me when I walk by a mirror and see myself. When I try to do a pull it seems like maybe the scale was telling the truth. Like most things it's all relative.
  • UtahWI
    UtahWI Posts: 257 Member
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    Today, my scale was a smug *kitten*. I got on it and I had gained back a pound. So it sat there, all silent with that look on it's face. *kitten*.

    Mine and yours. Sigh. *kitten*, every one of them.
  • Phildog47
    Phildog47 Posts: 255 Member
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    I can't call my scale a liar when my fat pants get tight again :sad:
  • 424a57
    424a57 Posts: 140 Member
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    My tape measure is never a liar. While I've only lost a couple pounds since the beginning of March, I am down a solid inch in my waist.

    I am amazed. Both a tape measure and a scale are measurement tools. One measures mass (or rather the effects of gravity on a given mass), and one measures linear distance. Neither one can possibly "lie", however they can *both* be used incorrectly and inconsistently -- just like any tool. A quality tool will reduce the variability in the measurements, but cannot eliminate them. I bet, if you measured your waist five times a day, there would be some variation. But, of course, that isn't a lie. Right. (sigh)
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
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    I've been working my *kitten* off! Eating right. Working out hard four days per week. Strength training and heavy cardio. I'm feeling better than I have in probably a few years and my clothes are fitting so much better. People are noticing.

    I hadn't weighed myself for about a week because I was out of town. I got up this morning, did my routine in the bathroom and looked at the scale. "Don't do it!" I thought to myself but when do I ever listen to myself? In one week of great exercise and eating well I lost...0.2 pounds!

    After I threw my scale into my bathroom mirror :) I calmed down. "I'm going to see my personal trainer tonight, I'll get him to put me on the body composition analyzer." I got on this and got my printout during my first session with him. I got to my session and got on the analyzer. Wouldn't you know that after just under two weeks I went from a Fat% of 39.8 to 35.2. My FatMass went from 120.2 to 105.2! I think these numbers are amazing.

    Moral of the story: Do not read too much into the scale. It does NOT tell the whole story of your progress.

    90% of people here do not understand this. This might be a bit high but reading these forums .. it is a huge huge issue here. MFP unfortunately .. kinda works on the scale number and most people cannot handle it emotionally when it does go up. I personally only care about actual body fat % and muscle mass numbers. The scale really does suck at telling us something useful.

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