Has there ever been a discrepancy between your scale and the one at the Dr?

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dianaiku
dianaiku Posts: 96 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was at the doctor's twice in the past month and between those two visits I gained 2 lb. Yet my scale says I lost 2 lb. also there is a 6-7 pound difference with the doctor's office scale being higher. I was in such a bad mood yesterday because of this and overate at dinner.
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Replies

  • AskTracyAnnK28
    AskTracyAnnK28 Posts: 2,834 Member
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    My doctor's office scale is always higher than my home scale. I don't know why...I have a really good, expensive, digital scale so that's the one I always go by.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Unless they are calibrated, they will weigh differently. Even day to day our bodies weigh differently on home scales.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Most scales aren't calibrated so there can be a discrepancy. You can't compare the weight between one scale and another.
    I always knew my home scale was 5lbs off. It doesn't really matter what the number is, it shows whether my weight is going up or down.

    Pick one scale, stick to it. Or if you know there is a 6-7 lb difference at your doctor's, factor that in.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    I'm wearing substantially less when I weigh at home than when I weigh at the doctor's office. That's 6-7 pounds right there, even if the scales performed identically.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,952 Member
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    Yes, your weight can fluctuate dramatically during the day. You could always bring your scale to the doctor's so that you are weighing yourself under the same conditions and see what the difference is.

    See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMNPP2ZR1U
  • dianaiku
    dianaiku Posts: 96 Member
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    catscats222 wrote: »
    clothes? time of day?
    - i always eat before going to a doctors office
    high salt food the day before? or alcohol night?

    Ah! Yes I was wearing clothes and it was just before lunch time and I normally weigh myself sans clothing and right when I wake up after I go to the bathroom.
  • soapsandropes
    soapsandropes Posts: 269 Member
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    Yep, all the time. I don't worry about it since there are so many variables that are different.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
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    I find about a 2 - 3 lb difference between my home scale, the scale at the dr, the scale at the gym, and the weight watcher scale where I weigh in. I also attribute the differences to clothing differences and time of day. For co venience, the number I "believe" is my home scale weight, which I take first thing in the morning wearing nothing but undies after I pee and before I take my first drink of water in the mornjng.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    I'm always a little lighter at the Doctor's! I like their scale best :)
  • samgamgee
    samgamgee Posts: 398 Member
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    Definitely clothes and time of day! Also this is a bit off topic but I haven't been weighed at the doctor's for years, although they do ask me my weight and update it on their system. Is it normal to get weighed every time you go even if you aren't specifically there for weight related stuff? Maybe my GP and nurses are just always super busy...
  • thereshegoesagain
    thereshegoesagain Posts: 1,056 Member
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    The way to calibrate your scale to your Dr's is to weigh yourself at home right before you go out the door to your dr's. office. Don't eat or drink anything and don't use the bathroom. As soon as you get there, ask the nurse if you can use their scale. Then you can figure out the difference.
    When I did this, I weighed exactly the same both at home and at the office.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    thereshegoesagain wrote: »
    The way to calibrate your scale to your Dr's is to weigh yourself at home right before you go out the door to your dr's. office. Don't eat or drink anything and don't use the bathroom. As soon as you get there, ask the nurse if you can use their scale. Then you can figure out the difference.
    When I did this, I weighed exactly the same both at home and at the office.

    I did this too, each time I went, which was monthly for a while because I was receiving treatment, and my doctor's scale has been consistently 1/2 lb. higher than my home scale. Close enough for me! (and I love the consistency)
  • kristenlynn09
    kristenlynn09 Posts: 11 Member
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    I was 7 lbs heavier at the doctor than on my scale at home! But I figure in that 1) I had a full bladder and 2) I was fully dressed and wearing boots. But like a previous poster said, the direction of the scale is what really matters!
  • ReeseG4350
    ReeseG4350 Posts: 146 Member
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    Beyond what you ate for breakfast or whether or not you had a bowel movement before going to the doctor's office, there are so many possible reasons for two scales to weigh differently. Elevation for one. Is your bathroom scale at home on a ground floor? The doctor's office, maybe, on an upper floor in an office building? That can make a difference. Is one a "spring loaded" scale and the other a digital? If they are both digital, is one, perhaps, a platform and the other a cross-beam?

    And... Lastly... If you are not weighing at the same time for each scale - at least within a very short time range - even weighing on the same scales you can register a variance of as much as 3 to 5 pounds in a day.

    Which is why it's a good reason not to stress too much over a pound here or there unless you are consistently showing the scales moving in the 'wrong' direction. Don't weigh every day. Don't even weigh every other day. Once a week is usually more than enough (even if our heads want us to step on that danged thing every time we get out of the shower!)
  • desiresdestiny
    desiresdestiny Posts: 175 Member
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    dianaiku wrote: »
    I was at the doctor's twice in the past month and between those two visits I gained 2 lb. Yet my scale says I lost 2 lb. also there is a 6-7 pound difference with the doctor's office scale being higher. I was in such a bad mood yesterday because of this and overate at dinner.

    Did you eat before your appointment? I weigh myself at home in the morning before a doctor appt that way I know how I weigh. I know I will always be "heavier" at the doc office
  • MarcyKirkton
    MarcyKirkton Posts: 507 Member
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    My weight is the lowest in the morning, right after I pee, and nekkid. My doctor is not allowed in my bathroom. lol BUT if he were, he'd see..........

    Clothing, time of day, did I mention blue jeans? :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Once I add up the weigh of my clothes and food, mine is pretty similar to the doctor's.
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
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    kristenlynn09 wrote: »
    I was 7 lbs heavier at the doctor than on my scale at home! But I figure in that 1) I had a full bladder and 2) I was fully dressed and wearing boots. But like a previous poster said, the direction of the scale is what really matters!

    How much do your boots weigh? I was shocked to weigh shoes(the food scale weighs many items) ours we're a pound each. That shocked me, two pounds of shoes.

    OP scales can change in readings I can sometimes gain or lose .6 pounds in 5 seconds by re-weighing myself right away. As folks have said your body weighs different and different scales can measure different. yourscale+yourweightgoesdown=☺

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