Scales!?!?!

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caseyshelton911
caseyshelton911 Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a digital Weight Watchers scale (which is totally inaccurate) and I have an analog scale. I will get on digital scale and it will say something different every single time, within 10 lb difference. Then I step on analog scale and depending on how you stand on it, it also fluctuates, just not as bad. I was curious what scales everyone else uses? If other people had those issues with Weight Watchers scale? How do I know what I really weigh?

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  • BlackPup
    BlackPup Posts: 242 Member
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    What surface do you have it on? Also make sure you stand evenly in the centre.
    When we had floorboards I could reduce the reading by a couple of kgs just by standing just right.
  • caseyshelton911
    caseyshelton911 Posts: 28 Member
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    I have tile floors,and always make sure it's level. I will def make sure I'm in the middle.
  • HikeCyclist
    HikeCyclist Posts: 153 Member
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    I use the tiles on my bathroom floor as markers so I know I put my scale in the same spot every time. Also, I get on my scale slowly, and weigh myself about 3 times to make sure it's accurate. Also, make sure you stand up straight to make sure your body is more evenly distributed.
  • fyoung1111
    fyoung1111 Posts: 109 Member
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    I use a Withings WIFI scale and gave found it to be highly accurate and repeatable.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,633 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Most modern scales exhibit fake repeatability. They only show a variance greater than a manufacturer set amount in order to promote the belief they are more accurate.

    You can test for that by holding a half cup of water (4oz/0.25lbs) and a full cup of water (8oz/0.5lbs) and weighing yourself repeatedly on your scale. Don't forget to account for the weight of the glass measuring cup by using less water... or pour into a plastic cup.

    Scales are inaccurate by nature and our own movement plus slight compression of the floor do not help. Options include: make sure the floor is smooth and hard; don't move the scale, fresh batteries.

    Take three readings and average or go with the most common value. Or, take one reading only and record regardless of what it says!

    Regardless, I strongly suggest that you enter your daily weight ins in an app such as www.trendweight.com (can connect through a free fitbit account where you can enter your weight manually or through their integration with mfp) ; www.weightgrapher.com (allows manual entries through the web page); Libra for Android, Happy Scale for Iphone.

    This allows you to concentrate on the TREND of your weight as opposed to worrying about daily fluctuations which can be caused by things such as bad scales, hormones, salt in your diet, new exercise, or a myriad other reasons.

    Plus you get cute graphs to show to your friends :smiley:
    https://trendweight.com/u/94660812e1d749/chart/6m.png
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,196 Member
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    Double check the feet/pads on the WW scale--that could be your problem.
  • caseyshelton911
    caseyshelton911 Posts: 28 Member
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    Thank you all so much!!! Great tips!!! I have lost 76 pounds so far but noticed this week my scale was giving me so many different weights so it was a bit discouraging!! I will def try all your suggestions!!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    HikeCyclist wrote: »
    I use the tiles on my bathroom floor as markers so I know I put my scale in the same spot every time. Also, I get on my scale slowly, and weigh myself about 3 times to make sure it's accurate. Also, make sure you stand up straight to make sure your body is more evenly distributed.

    Snort! This made my day, reminded me of Sheldon!

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