Digital scales

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ashleylovesclairegayle
ashleylovesclairegayle Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So my digital scale is all over the place with my weight. I understand that weight will fluctuate but do most people see 5+ lbs fluctuation from day to day?? Should I get a non digital scale?? Thoughts?

Replies

  • katrinamosley
    katrinamosley Posts: 2 Member
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    I'm in the same boat as you.. Seemed like my weight changed every few minutes.. In about to purchase a new one
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Are y'all weighing yourself more than once per day? Just weigh once, under the same conditions - same scale, scale on hard surface (not carpet), same state of dress or undress. Easiest to do first thing in the AM after a pee.

    Your scale will fluctuate like mad throughout the day, which is normal.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMNPP2ZR1U
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
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    I fluctuate anywhere from 7 to 10 lbs in a day depending on activity, food intake, and hydration. It's normal. It's generally advised to either weigh less often, or use something like trend weight which will help filter out the noise in your data set.

  • ashleylovesclairegayle
    ashleylovesclairegayle Posts: 8 Member
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    Seriously I can weigh twice in a row it will give me 2 different numbers! Sucks cause I didn't buy the cheap one either!
  • echmain
    echmain Posts: 103 Member
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    The accuracy of a scale has nothing to do with digital vs non-digital.

    That's only the display. Weight is an inherently analog measurement.

  • 88meli88
    88meli88 Posts: 238 Member
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    I have a digital scale and I do not see such fluctuations on a regular basis and without good reason...my day to day changes have been between +0.2 and -0.4 kgs on a regular downward trend. occasional jumps happen after a hard workout or when I forget to drink water. good scales are pretty important
  • Azercord
    Azercord Posts: 573 Member
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    You probably got a scale that doesn't tare correctly. I would send it back if possible or throw it out and get a new one. As long as a scale has a tare function it should be fairly accurate. You might also try opening it up to see if anything came loose mechanically and is messing with the functionality of the spring.
  • dalielahdawn
    dalielahdawn Posts: 141 Member
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    I'm five pounds more right now than I was this morning. It varies a lot through out the day. So I only weigh once a day in morning (except just now to give you an example of the difference lol)
  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
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    Depends on when you weigh yourself. I've been meaning to do so every day at 9am but working to midnights has really made me not want to get out bed until much later. I was reading until 2am yesterday. I'm not sure how much water do you lose when sleeping?
  • ANGIEVINO
    ANGIEVINO Posts: 5 Member
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    I have the same problem with my scale. Very frustrating. I usually weigh myself a few times and whatever comes up more than once is what I go with.
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 806 Member
    edited January 2016
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    If the scale says something different when you get on multiple times in a row then you need a new one. I got one for $15 at fred meyer works great.
  • MonkeysForSale
    MonkeysForSale Posts: 11 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMNPP2ZR1U

    Scooby's awesome.

  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
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    stevenfullman wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMNPP2ZR1U

    Scooby's awesome.

    This is a very informative video, and I too, enjoy Scooby's antics... but not everyone can get on board. There was an entire thread the other day about how he needed to put on a shirt, lol.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    There is difference in digital scales. Some use an old spring mechanism and just put a digital display on it. Others (like mine) use a strain gauge, which I understand to be more consistent and accurate. My scale cost less than $30 and it is both consistent and accurate.

    Another issue can be your floor surface. If the surface is not hard and smooth, and the scale not level, that can affect the accuracy.
  • wrenak
    wrenak Posts: 144 Member
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    I had a cheap health-o-meter from Walmart (under $20) that we'd had for years. I had to step on it 2-5 times to see the same number twice. But when we had a 7.1 earthquake last week it started registering 4-5 pounds higher for everyone, even when I changed the battery. I tossed it. Mom bought me a new health-o-meter, although a slightly better version (under $30) and it has the same number every time I step on it (within a minute or so) so I probably don't need to step on it 3 times in a row, but it's a hard habit to break. LOL
  • ashleylovesclairegayle
    ashleylovesclairegayle Posts: 8 Member
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    I will be honest and say I do weigh too much but I only "count" my weight in the morning and it's all over the place. But maybe I'm losing track and it's closer than I think because I don't always record it. For experimental purposes I'm going to record it every day for a week and see if I'm wrong...
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited January 2016
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    ashleylovesclairegayle wrote: »
    I will be honest and say I do weigh too much but I only "count" my weight in the morning and it's all over the place. But maybe I'm losing track and it's closer than I think because I don't always record it. For experimental purposes I'm going to record it every day for a week and see if I'm wrong...

    You're probably not wrong. Everybody fluctuates up to several pounds a day. Sodium intake, water balance, your TOM/female hormones, how much food is in your colon, etc. all make fluctuations completely normal. I dropped almost 4 lbs. yesterday morning when I weighed, then was back up 2 lbs. from that this morning - and I know there's no way I ate 7000 calories yesterday to gain 2 lbs., nor was I in a 14,000 calorie deficit the day before to lose 4 lbs. Additionally, weight loss isn't linear - you're not going to lose every day (or even every week/month) at the exact same rate.

    If your scale gives different readings when you step on it multiple times in a row, you either need a new scale or you need to relocate it. Mine is a cheap digital scale and if I step on and off it four times in a row, it will show the exact same weight every time, down to the tenth of a pound. If your scale is on carpet or an unsteady surface, that will screw up the readings. It should be on a hard, flat floor (tile or wood, for example) and in the same place on the floor every time.

    For consistency's sake, weigh once a day, on the same scale, in the closest to identical conditions you can. For me it's in the morning - I get out of bed, pee, go straight to the scale and weigh naked every morning at roughly the same time. Different clothes/shoes, what you've eaten or drank, whether you've gone to the bathroom or not - all those things can introduce inconsistencies and mask the true picture. Don't ever pay attention to what any other scale says - scales for home use aren't consistently calibrated and one scale could be off 5-10 lbs. from another.

    You might want to look into a weight trend app such as Libra (Android) or Happy Scale (iPhone) - you enter your weight and it monitors the overall trend while smoothing out the daily fluctuations, to give you a better idea of what's really going on with your weight trend.
  • ashleylovesclairegayle
    ashleylovesclairegayle Posts: 8 Member
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    Wow awesome I'll download one of those apps for sure! Great info thank you so much

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