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Scale, why should I dump thee? Let me count the ways....

1246

Replies

  • Posts: 5,036 Member
    canadjineh wrote: »

    You must mean Kecap Manis - Dutch Indonesian sauce - basis for the word ketchup.

    Haha, good call!
  • Posts: 1,984 Member
    RalfLott wrote: »

    Not necessarily cheaters.... maybe just open-minded as far as lobbyists for the testing industry are concerned. (Perhaps the same lobbyists who induced our elected reps to prestidigitate ketchup into a "vegetable"..... :s )

    Leave it to the government to classify a sugar filled condiment made with a fruit (tomato) as a vegetable when there are no vegetables even in the ingredients.
  • Posts: 8,219 Member
    tomato is a vegetable according to the government as confirmed by the supreme court

    stupid, but true
  • Posts: 11,502 Member
    OK, I've not seen this thread before, so here are my thoughts:

    On the initial topic: I weigh more after I poop for some reason (another user mentioned that too), and that has been true for every scale I've ever used over the years. Also, I weigh less after I shower. It doesn't seem like I am removing that much dirt, skin, hair to counter-act the water I'm taking on.

    On the more recent topic: I've always been in awe at the tomato fruit / vegetable debate. I call it a vegetable based on nutrition content, though I know botanists are going to argue it is a fruit based on how it grows. Similar conversation with peanuts - nutritionally, they are a nut, but technically they are a legume.
  • Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited December 2016
    I always feel less than honest telling people I eat almost no fruit knowing so many "vegetables are actually fruit.
    http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-blog/fruit-vegetable-difference/bgp-20056141

    "According to botanists (those who study plants) a fruit is the part of the plant that develops from a flower. It's also the section of the plant that contains the seeds. The other parts of plants are considered vegetables. These include the stems, leaves and roots — and even the flower bud.

    The following are technically fruits: avocado, beans, peapods, corn kernels, cucumbers, grains, nuts, olives peppers, pumpkin, squash, sunflower seeds and tomatoes.

    Vegetables include celery (stem), lettuce (leaves), cauliflower and broccoli (buds), and beets, carrots and potatoes (roots)."
  • Posts: 11,502 Member
    For me, the nutrition aspects are most important. My body doesn't care what part of the plant it comes from. Then again, I'm looking at much more nutrition detail than simply "fruit" or "vegetable."
  • Posts: 5,036 Member
    Plain old scales give you no insights at all on body composition. :s
  • Posts: 555 Member
    Would we consider the scale at the doctor's office more accurate? My scale at home is very consistent with the readings and has a similar reading to the doctor's office type scales. I would be sad to learn if my scale is underestimating my weight by 5 lbs! But as far as day in and day out progress, because it is consistent I continue to use it.
  • Posts: 5,036 Member

    The problem is that our body's aren't even accurate. Lol
    Ok. They aren't consistent. That's where the problem is.

    Truer words, ne'er spoken!

  • Posts: 5,036 Member
    Bümp for anyone (else) with a sh!ț for a scale.
  • Posts: 163 Member
    It's really just a measure of the pull of gravity in relation to your body mass... Not a reflection of one's worth.

    AND gravity can change. Really.
  • Posts: 3,499 Member
    Bump up time, because this is an awesome thread.
  • Posts: 5,036 Member
    edited March 2017
    Scale technology has not advanced conspicuously since flat-earth days....

    (Instruction starts at 3:45)


    https://youtu.be/yp_l5ntikaU?t=225
  • Posts: 5,036 Member
    <refresh>
  • Posts: 94 Member
    6) You change depending at what time I weigh in, must I factor in the angle of gravity from the moon?
  • Posts: 5,036 Member
    6) You change depending at what time I weigh in, must I factor in the angle of gravity from the moon?

    Yes! It's a known fact within the lunatic fringe of creatures with scales.
  • Posts: 418 Member
    I think the scale is a good gauge of overall progress, but as you get closer to your desired goal I think it becomes less reliable. I can swing 3-5lbs in a day, and now I know that it has to do with water retention & how long since certain body functions have occurred. I love the suggestion to get a tape measure ASAP, with or without the scale use. This is what we are looking for anyways, how good we look. Not so much what the scale says. I think overall the measurements & scale are indicators of how good we look at the end of the day. So I wont ditch my scale ever! As much as I use it to indicate the way down, I never want to relax and not see the trend the wrong way either.
  • Posts: 5,036 Member
    I'm guessing you'd notice if you had to loosen your belt or switch to sweat pants for work ;), but if the scale doesn't cause blood pressure spikes 3x daily before you step on it, no big deal!
  • Posts: 979 Member
    edited April 2017
    RalfLott wrote: »
    I'm guessing you'd notice if you had to loosen your belt or switch to sweat pants for work ;), but if the scale doesn't cause blood pressure spikes 3x daily before you step on it, no big deal!

    I get what you mean, but sometimes weight gain is gradual, and clothes naturally stretch over time. Also I dont like tight clothes so buy mine a little loose anyway - I can easily gain a whole size in pants before noticing - one day they will seem a little tight, so I go to buy new pants and have to go up a size. Check the scale and gained 10 pounds. I dont want to wait until I have to switch to sweat pants before I "notice" ! By then its a little late!

    So I weigh every day. But I use a wifi scale that autorecords it for me, so I just jump on in the morning, glance at it and get in the shower and forget about it. once in a while I check the graph of the past few weeks to make sure it is not trending up.
  • Posts: 720 Member
    bowlerae wrote: »
    Would we consider the scale at the doctor's office more accurate? My scale at home is very consistent with the readings and has a similar reading to the doctor's office type scales. I would be sad to learn if my scale is underestimating my weight by 5 lbs! But as far as day in and day out progress, because it is consistent I continue to use it.

    From a purely nerdy perspective, if I can't calibrate it, it's can not be precise. It may very well be accurate as far as repeating possibly wrong data, but most of what we are doing are estimates at best.

    If we could, in general, step back from attaching so much importance to that number and just use it as a tool, so many would be happier with themselves.
  • Posts: 5,036 Member
    edited April 2017

    It may very well be accurate as far as repeating possibly wrong data, but most of what we are doing are estimates at best.

    Yep. The same goes for food values. We can be off by significant amounts - and that's assuming we measure accurately.

    Just looking briefly through reports on supplements at Labdoor.com, even well-reputed companies can be off by 30% on the amount of active ingredient per serving.... :s
  • Posts: 1,603 Member
    Vis-a-vis the original question of the thread, it reminds me of a programme I watched many years ago, on body function, health, and odd facts, and I distinctly remember them trying to work out a conundrum:

    They introduced a guy who at the time, held the world record for eating 5kg of spaghetti in around 10 minutes, or something ridiculous like that....So: They weighed him before the eat-in. He ate, on stage, in front of a live studio audience, 5kg of pasta as fast as he could (but didn't break his own record) and even while he was chewing the last mouthful, he got back onto the scales.
    He weighed just 1lb more than before eating 5kg of spaghetti.

    W T actual F.....?!
  • Posts: 575 Member
    bowlerae wrote: »
    Would we consider the scale at the doctor's office more accurate? My scale at home is very consistent with the readings and has a similar reading to the doctor's office type scales. I would be sad to learn if my scale is underestimating my weight by 5 lbs! But as far as day in and day out progress, because it is consistent I continue to use it.

    My scale used to be in a doctor's office and it is different from the scale in MY doctor's office.
  • Posts: 481 Member
    I have a fancy 'weight watchers' scale that has all the bells and whistles, but I don't use it any more because its accuracy is abysmal. The readout will confidently tell you down to 0.1 pounds what it thinks you weigh, but if you get on and off five times in a row you will get five different results. And they can very by several pounds each way.

    It turns out that it was only accurate to with +/- 1 pound, for weights under 100 lbs. Over 100 lbs, it was worse than +/- 1%. So at 400 lbs, that's +/- 4lbs, or potentially an 8lb swing, every time you get on the thing.

    What I use now is a commercial scale meant for measuring products. I got it on sale at Staples, and its accuracy is +/- 1 lb up to 400 lbs. I've found it is a lot more consistant and reliable / believable. The readout doesn't give 0.1 lb increments, it does 0.5lbs but if I fall on a .5 I round up, I only record whole numbers in my diary / log.

    Even at that, I know the scale may not be terribly accurate because our bodies fluctuate daily and weekly. But it's a guideline, and it's numbers, and I do like numbers. :smile:

    p.s. sorry if I've posted all that before, I am having deja-vu but I don't think I've posted in this thread before.
  • Posts: 1,984 Member

    Intelligence is knowing the tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it onto a fruit salad....

    Does this mean my fruit salad of zucchini, tomato and avocado is no good?
  • Posts: 5,036 Member
    cstehansen wrote: »

    Does this mean my fruit salad of zucchini, tomato and avocado is no good?

    Just don't put ketchup on it...
  • Posts: 1,984 Member
    RalfLott wrote: »

    Just don't put ketchup on it...

    I never liked that red sugar sludge.
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