Does anyone else's scale change dramatically when you weigh multiple times?

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Clinton1074
Clinton1074 Posts: 25 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My scale will change by 2-4 pounds from the first time I weigh to the second or third in the morning. And I have not taken any food in or gotten rid of any food in the interim.

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  • noclady1995
    noclady1995 Posts: 452 Member
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    Mine doesn't change by that much...maybe by 0.2-0.4 lbs. But it's always the first that's the highest and then the following 2-3 measurements will be the exact same. So I have to get on and off the scale 3-4 times for me to get my weight! LOL.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    You're using a consumer grade piece of equipment with a wide tolerance.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    is anything changing at all? clothing you are wearing. did you take a shower and your hair is wet. did you drink anything?

    if not your scale may not be the most accurate....reguardless you have very little to gain form weighing yourself multiple times a day. pick one time. keep the conditions consistant. stop making yourself crazy.
  • mpeters1965
    mpeters1965 Posts: 370 Member
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    I could step on mine three times in succession and get three different results. I finally just bought a new scale. It was making me nuts. I had probably had it 15 years or more though. I wonder if they get wonky over time.
  • Sarasari
    Sarasari Posts: 139 Member
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    Mine does. I don't do anything different. I weigh myself upon waking, same time every week after using the bathroom, before eating and drinking, in the same spot and in the same clothes. It varies 2-4 pounds. Drives me crazy. I will usually wait for the scale to stay the same weight three times in a row and go with that number, sometimes it just takes awhile.
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
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    Yep. My scale is ... well. I need a new one.

    So I will weigh several times in a row, always re-adjusting it back to 0 if (when) it pops off 0 when I'm not standing on it. (It's not digital.) I will probably see several clustered numbers, and 1 or 2 "crazy" numbers. Like this:

    156, 155, 150, 157, 163, 156, 155

    If my most recent weight was 156, I will note that I'm seeing 155. If I see the 155 for three days, I will change my recorded weight to 155. If not, I wait until I do see it for a few days. I ignore the outlying numbers.

    Another fun fact: The number I decide is correct from my scale is always exactly 6 lbs down from my parents', my doctor's, and any other medical scale I've come in contact with in the last 10 years. So I add 6 lbs to the number. (So 161 instead of 155.) It doesn't matter, really, except it helps me keep track of what a doctor would think my BMI is, and if I do get weighed anywhere else, it helps me know if I've actually gained or lost. (I spent time at my parents' a few weeks ago, and was only 5 lbs up from recorded, so suspected I'd lost 1 lb, and when I got home to compare, I had!)

    My method above actually does mean that I'm not surprised when I get weighed at the doc's, so I think it's decent for getting a real number out of a really bad scale!

    Of course, you could always just replace the scale. For me, it's just not high on my list of financial priorities right now.

    (And if you are weighing yourself, leaving, coming back, and weighing yourself again, just ... don't. Relax. Remember, your body fat percentage is not 100% -- maybe it is 30%. That's 70% of your weight comprised of other things, and some of those things fluctuate. We also change height throughout the day! Go enjoy your day.)
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,649 Member
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    I would love to have a scale that gives me a different (but not too different) number every time I get on. That way I would believe it is giving me the real number it believes I weight.

    I hate "modern" scales that fake consistency by throwing the same number back at you regardless, unless they detect a change greater than the value they've been programmed with.

    And sometimes that value is as much as 0.8lbs like with my last scale!
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    I didn't see anyone mention this- try changing the batteries. My scale was doing that as well, put in new batteries and it stopped happening. Usually when it gives you a different number each time it's the batteries.
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
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    I don't weigh myself more than once in a day, so I'm not sure about mine.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    higgins8283801 wrote: »
    I don't weigh myself more than once in a day, so I'm not sure about mine.

    They weren't talking about different weights during the day but rather "step on, read, step off, then step on again right away.

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