Accurate Weight?

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newengland11
newengland11 Posts: 27 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have just a regular scale at home, I bought it brand new. I weigh myself like once a week when I first wake up after using the restroom. I do the same thing every time. The same amount of clothes, the same time every week, etc. Last week it said 158lbs and then today it said 155lbs. I haven't been going to the gym much recently. Maybe once this whole week. But I have kept up with my proper eating. Do you think my scale is accurate? How do y'all get accurate readings on your scale?

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  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    It sounds like a normal fluctuation to me. You are not the same weight all the time. Many people fluctuate 3-5 lbs per day do give yourself s range to work with.
  • newengland11
    newengland11 Posts: 27 Member
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    Thank you!!
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
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    Your weight fluctuates all the time. I actually like weighing daily because of this - it means I have enough data points to see fluctuations for what they are. Here, for example, is a month of data:

    weight.png

    If I had weighed only on 12/13 and 12/20, it would actually look like I gained weight that week, when in fact I was losing as an overall trend - 12/13 was a very low date, which makes sense because I woke up that day feeling dehydrated.

    All the short-term gains and losses are irrelevant, but the long-term trend of the month is decidedly down, which is really what I care about.
  • newengland11
    newengland11 Posts: 27 Member
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    Oh, wow. That's crazy!!! I'm gonna try doing it everyday as well.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
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    newengland11 wrote: »
    Oh, wow. That's crazy!!! I'm gonna try doing it everyday as well.

    You really should. I use an app called Happy Scale and I log my weight every single day. I don't let the fluctuations bother me too much as long as the overall trend shows that my weight is going down. Another tip I'd like to suggest is weighing yourself first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom in the nude.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
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    I really like doing it every day - the only thing is you have to go in realizing sometimes you'll see gains, sometimes even several days in a row, and you have to recognize that these are fluctuations and not get discouraged by them. Like 11/22 through 11/25, for me, showed an upward trend, but I knew my long-term trend was down and that's what matters.

    Still, I always think that having more data is better than having less data. Weighing less often doesn't really make fluctuations go away, it just makes them harder to recognize.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    rankinsect wrote: »
    I really like doing it every day - the only thing is you have to go in realizing sometimes you'll see gains, sometimes even several days in a row, and you have to recognize that these are fluctuations and not get discouraged by them. Like 11/22 through 11/25, for me, showed an upward trend, but I knew my long-term trend was down and that's what matters.

    Still, I always think that having more data is better than having less data. Weighing less often doesn't really make fluctuations go away, it just makes them harder to recognize.

    ^^ This! And great job on the trend! Impressive!!

    I like Happy Scale too.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    edited December 2015
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    There is a site - TrendWeight.com that helps smooth fluctuations out. My largest change was 9 lbs. in just a few hours. That is an extreme example, but the point remains intact.

    ETA: The 9 lbs. in a few hours was during a period of actively attempting to lose weight, and the rapid change is unexplained. I'm not providing any examples in this thread of rapid weight change that IS easily explained.

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