Why does my scale stays at a certain number despite me losing weight.
AshlynnHH
Posts: 27 Member
Last two months I have went from 235 to 232. But, for some reason my home scale steadily reads that I’m 235 lbs all the time despite my body physically losing more weight than that. I’m not complaining about it not completely matching my body type. Just wondering why it’s like that? Wouldn’t the number be smaller if I lost weighed and gain some temporary lbs?
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Replies
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If your home scale is giving you the same weight, how did you determine you lost weight? Are you using another scale in addition to your home scale?5
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Where are you getting the two numbers from?1
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YepItsKriss wrote: »If you stand on it with something heavy like a 2L bottle and then stand on it again without it will change
Scales sometimes have a memory function to prevent crazy changes from people constantly getting on and off the scale
This, except I suggest standing on it with one foot as I didn't have weights hanging around at the time my scale did this (have a new scale now that doesn't)0 -
The two numbers are from a doctors office scale and my home scale. The office scale is more reliable. Sometimes the home scale will change but it’s always above 235 lbs. Most of the time on a normal day it’s at 235.0
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Bathroom scales are only so accurate. They can be as much as +/- 5 lbs off. Your body weight will also vary from day-to-day and throughout the day.
Scales tend to be consistent with themselves, however, and if you're weighing yourself during the same part of your day, you should expect it to move. Sometimes, as a mechanical function, some scales will get temporarily stuck at a certain number just because of the way metal wears on metal.
You can try removing and re-inserting the batteries on digital scales (or replacing them with fresh ones). You can try placing your arm on the wall and holding up some of your weight when you're on the scale to see if it'll register a lower number. You can try holding some stuff while you stand on the scale to see if it'll register the additional weight.
If you have the patience, play with it a little bit. If it's just not a good scale anymore, see about returning it or acquiring something else.3 -
time for a new scale. $16.00 for a new digital very simple one at walmart.
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AshlynnHeartful wrote: »The two numbers are from a doctors office scale and my home scale. The office scale is more reliable. Sometimes the home scale will change but it’s always above 235 lbs. Most of the time on a normal day it’s at 235.
Does your doctor's scale show that you've lost three pounds in that time, or is it just that it shows a different number?
Different scales will give different readings. It's possible that you haven't lost anything.6 -
Buy a new scale and start over. I constantly got different readings from my home scale and the Gold's Gym Scale. So I carried my home scale into Gold's and weighed myself with each scale and acknowledged the difference so that when I weighed on either scale I would know exactly how much I weighed. Buy a new cheap scale, drop by your docs office and weigh yourself on both Whalla! I promise your doc will not mind you doing that.0
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AshlynnHeartful wrote: »The two numbers are from a doctors office scale and my home scale. The office scale is more reliable. Sometimes the home scale will change but it’s always above 235 lbs. Most of the time on a normal day it’s at 235.
The two scales have a calibrated difference of 3 pounds. To get the most accurate scale results, weigh yourself at the same time of day on the same scale wearing similar clothing, or preferable no clothing at all.
I weigh myself first thing every morning, using the same scale, naked except for my Fitbit, after I visit the restroom .4 -
Her home scale is defective is what she is saying. Time to get a new one. If she keeps losing weight the doctors scale will continue to have an ever increasing calibrated difference compared to her current one that sticks at 235.1
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donjtomasco wrote: »Her home scale is defective is what she is saying. Time to get a new one. If she keeps losing weight the doctors scale will continue to have an ever increasing calibrated difference compared to her current one that sticks at 235.
Well, that's why I'm gently trying to find out if the doc scale showed a difference and the home one didn't -- or if it's simply a matter of there being two different scales and two different weights. I don't think the OP clarified that.4 -
235 to 232 is within the range of normal fluctuations, you probably haven't lost much if any weight.3
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So is the doctor's scale showing you're down to 232 from what you see on your home scale? That doesn't mean you lost weight...that means the scales are just giving you two different readings, which is normal.
I don't think your scale is defective...I think you haven't lost much, if any weight. A few Lbs is well within normal body weight fluctuations.2 -
I should say that my doctors scale is not a digital scale. It’s one of those scales with the sliders that you have to balance.
No, before I go to the doctors office I always weigh myself on my home scale to see a difference(with and without shoes. About a week ago for once my scale lined up with the doctors scale. Usually there’s a 2 lb difference. ) To say that I barely lose weight, I did lose three lbs at my last true weight weigh in which was towards the end of last month which was 232 lbs. Last weeks doctor visit I didn’t take the numbers into account because I was close to menstruating and bloated. I mean that I didn’t lose much weight since then but I see a physical difference on my stomach. Ever since I steadily lost weight the home scale decides to do its own thing at random intervals. Maybe like a the replier said, I should try putting in new batteries and such.4 -
Actually, if I were to go by a complete doctors scale of my weight loss, that would be three or so months passing. I would have lost 6 lbs from the time before till now.0
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I would trust the home scale over the doctor's scale. While the scale itself may be accurate you are more likely to have different stuff going on before you step on the scale. With the home scale you can limit inconsistencies by weighing when you first get out of bed.4
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OP says: "Sometimes the home scale will change but it’s always above 235 lbs." "Most of the time on a normal day it’s at 235. But, for some reason my home scale steadily reads that I’m 235 lbs all the time."
I think I am reading that her home scale is not reliable. Am I missing something here?0 -
I have a digital weight watchers scale that is stuck on a particular number. I thought I was going crazy for weeks until I grabbed a five pound weight and stood on it again and the weight didn’t change. But hey, if anyone wants to weigh 128.5 forever have I got a scale for you. I just got a new scale.8
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donjtomasco wrote: »OP says: "Sometimes the home scale will change but it’s always above 235 lbs." "Most of the time on a normal day it’s at 235. But, for some reason my home scale steadily reads that I’m 235 lbs all the time."
I think I am reading that her home scale is not reliable. Am I missing something here?
Well, it could be that OP is maintaining in a range where the low end is about 235 on OP's home scale, which is calibrated about three pounds heavier than the doctor's scale, and the rest is just normal fluctuation. I don't think we have enough information to know.
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Comparing before you go to the docs is not hard science. You really both scales side by side at the same moment to compare. In the time it takes to go to the doc office, your weight can change even weighing on the same scale. Try it at home sometime just for kicks. Most people's weight bounces around wildly during a day. That's why it's said to weigh at about the same time every day.1
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How often do you weigh yourself at home?
How often do you go to the doctor?
More importantly, are you tracking your calorie intake, and are you eating at a calorie deficit in order to achieve your weight loss goal?3 -
I wouldn't compare different readings from different scales. However, there could be something wrong with your home scale.
Are your clothes fitting differently? Have you taken body measurements with a tape measure?
Do you have a weight you can put on the scale to see what it reads? Does anyone else use the scale?
Have you ever changed your scale battery?
Are you weighing on your scale at the same time of day under the same conditions every time?
When my scale acted weird I changed the battery and it was fine.0 -
From my experience, doctor's scales always read something different from what I see at home.0
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Comparing before you go to the docs is not hard science. You really both scales side by side at the same moment to compare. In the time it takes to go to the doc office, your weight can change even weighing on the same scale. Try it at home sometime just for kicks. Most people's weight bounces around wildly during a day. That's why it's said to weigh at about the same time every day.
The doctors office can take me an hour of waiting or less of weighing. Because I know weight fluctuates I tend to not eat or drink anything if I know I’m going early in the morning. I don’t know if it truly stays the same when I do that.WinoGelato wrote: »How often do you weigh yourself at home?
How often do you go to the doctor?
More importantly, are you tracking your calorie intake, and are you eating at a calorie deficit in order to achieve your weight loss goal?
I weigh myself at home in between going to the doctors. Which would be every couple of days a few days after the first day of menstruating and stop a week before first day. I have a small time frame of when I weigh myself on the scale for a true number.
I don’t got to the doctors often, just when I get sick which happens to be every other month in the year.
I do track my calorie intake. I’m using MFP’s lose one lb a week calorie count. However, I don’t lose a pound a week but only two or three per month at the lowest.I wouldn't compare different readings from different scales. However, there could be something wrong with your home scale.
Are your clothes fitting differently? Have you taken body measurements with a tape measure?
Do you have a weight you can put on the scale to see what it reads? Does anyone else use the scale?
Have you ever changed your scale battery?
Are you weighing on your scale at the same time of day under the same conditions every time?
When my scale acted weird I changed the battery and it was fine.
My clothes have been fitting me differently around my stomach and waist. I never take body measurements.
I don’t have a heavy enough weight. I need to press down with my foot to get the scale to start reading anything. I’m the only one who uses my scale.
I haven’t changed the battery since I brought it in winter/spring.
It would be impossible for me to weigh myself on the scale at the same time of day because I cannot get up at the same time all the time. But, I always weigh myself whenever I wake up and use the toilet.0 -
AshlynnHeartful wrote: »Comparing before you go to the docs is not hard science. You really both scales side by side at the same moment to compare. In the time it takes to go to the doc office, your weight can change even weighing on the same scale. Try it at home sometime just for kicks. Most people's weight bounces around wildly during a day. That's why it's said to weigh at about the same time every day.
The doctors office can take me an hour of waiting or less of weighing. Because I know weight fluctuates I tend to not eat or drink anything if I know I’m going early in the morning. I don’t know if it truly stays the same when I do that.WinoGelato wrote: »How often do you weigh yourself at home?
How often do you go to the doctor?
More importantly, are you tracking your calorie intake, and are you eating at a calorie deficit in order to achieve your weight loss goal?
I weigh myself at home in between going to the doctors. Which would be every couple of days a few days after the first day of menstruating and stop a week before first day. I have a small time frame of when I weigh myself on the scale for a true number.
I don’t got to the doctors often, just when I get sick which happens to be every other month in the year.
I do track my calorie intake. I’m using MFP’s lose one lb a week calorie count. However, I don’t lose a pound a week but only two or three per month at the lowest.I wouldn't compare different readings from different scales. However, there could be something wrong with your home scale.
Are your clothes fitting differently? Have you taken body measurements with a tape measure?
Do you have a weight you can put on the scale to see what it reads? Does anyone else use the scale?
Have you ever changed your scale battery?
Are you weighing on your scale at the same time of day under the same conditions every time?
When my scale acted weird I changed the battery and it was fine.
My clothes have been fitting me differently around my stomach and waist. I never take body measurements.
I don’t have a heavy enough weight. I need to press down with my foot to get the scale to start reading anything. I’m the only one who uses my scale.
I haven’t changed the battery since I brought it in winter/spring.
It would be impossible for me to weigh myself on the scale at the same time of day because I cannot get up at the same time all the time. But, I always weigh myself whenever I wake up and use the toilet.
But if you are going to the doctor when you are sick, that would likely have an impact on your weight.
Disregard the scale at the doctors office. Focus on ensuring you are doing the right thing at home to lose weight at the rate you've selected. Are you using a food scale to weigh all the foods you eat before logging them?
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Now it’s going wacky, again. It weighed me up to 240 the first time and the second time went back to 237. I weighed myself at one of those blood pressure and scale systems they had in my grocery store, yesterday. From gaining water weight and eating yesterday it says that I was 236. So the home scale is kind of accurate for now.
Then I saw that it wants me to replace the battery. So, it has to get a replacement.0 -
You need to stop scale hopping. Pick one scale. One. Use that one consistently.
Your “true weight” doesn’t matter; you want a PRECISE scale, not an accurate scale. Choose one device and weigh under the same circumstances consistently and that should chart your course.4 -
When i first started losing weight i lost so many inches, went down several pant sizes and then found out the scale was saying i lost only 2lbs.
Find a different way to measure your weight loss. With either measurements or even just going by how your clothes feel.0 -
All home digital scales vary from moment to moment by a certain percentage which works out to one or two pounds of most people's weight. You will find this in the small print on even the scales which claim on the box to be accurate to within .2 lbs - it's just a function of the way they work and can't be avoided. Most scales have a built in memory which reads the same as the last reading if it's within a certain time frame and close to the same number, to conceal the fact that they are inaccurate. As others have mentioned, you can get around this by weighing yourself with a heavy object such as a water bottle to reset the memory, then weighing again.
If your bathroom floor is uneven and your scale is not in the exact same place at all times, the problem is that much worse. There's a spot on my floor which reads a full pound lower than other spots.
You also mentioned that you don't get up at the same time every day. Sleeping in can equal a couple of pounds of weight loss through water. Getting up early, the reverse.2
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