Scale inconsistencies by multiple pounds, is this normal?

volcanogoddessan
volcanogoddessan Posts: 11 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
I use my scale pretty regularly to check my weight, I don't obsess over small changes here and there and it helps me see a trend during the week/month. For consistency the weight I record is always in the morning in just underwear, I'm used to this varying by a pound or two because of normal bloating etc no big deal.

Yesterday, however I stepped on the scale and I was down almost 7 pounds since just a few days before that. I thought this was very strange so I was worried my scale was broken. I weighed myself periodically throughout the day and showed the normal ups and downs due to eating, water consumption, and wearing clothing versus not. Even stranger is that I woke up this morning and weighed in 8 pounds heavier again!

I'm pretty bloated this morning so I expected to see a higher number but bloating won't account for 6-7 pounds of weight, right? I've been using this scale for almost a year and it has been pretty reliable and matched up with other scales I've used so I doubt that it's broken. Has anyone else encountered this before?

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    edited February 2017
    Is it a digital one? Mine does that when it needs a new battery.

    Do you always have the scale in the same spot on the floor? Uneven floors can do that too.

    Also water retention can cause big swings, as can lack of sleep, high stress, new exercise routine, salty food, time of the month for women.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    May be time for a new battery.
  • Nicklebee93
    Nicklebee93 Posts: 316 Member
    The best way to check is using a weight. If you can weight a 10lb item at 10lbs then its not broken. You can realistically "gain" upwards of 10lbs in a single day though. How salty your food is, exercise, clothing, etc.
  • volcanogoddessan
    volcanogoddessan Posts: 11 Member
    Thanks for all of your replies, I checked the bag of flour trick and it seems to be accurate but I might change the batteries just in case anyway. I'm used to gaining weight overnight just not losing it overnight lol
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    I've been weighing myself daily for four years, except when traveling, and the biggest day-to-day fluctuation I've recorded is 4.4 lb. A 7-pound fluctuation is possible, I suppose, but I imagine it would require serious dehydration. My bet is on the batteries.
  • cbelc2
    cbelc2 Posts: 762 Member
    I have 2 scales in my house. I go by the Garmin scale since it syncs with my fitness band; but I sure like the other one I got at Costco better, as it weighs me about 2 lbs less!
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    I'm going to change out my batteries for both my food scale and weight scale after reading this since I haven't for awhile. It'll be easier doing them both at once to get fresh batteries in them. Thanks for convo... it gave me the idea! :smiley:
  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
    Could be a lot of different things. Water can cause pretty huge swings though.
    If you drank the night before, that usually tends to precipitate a "drop".

    I had surgery the first week of November. The day before my surgery I was 174, the week after I had a day I was 188 (I'm not currently checking weight every day).
  • ConnieT1030
    ConnieT1030 Posts: 894 Member
    Like the others said, when mine started getting wildly different- even though it's supposed to alert you when the battery is low- I changed the battery and it started working fine again. I did weigh something I knew the weight of, and it was changing the weight on them every time. Now it gets it right.
    Why it can't tell when the battery is low when it's supposed to, I have no idea. =/
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