Weighing In and Scale Accuracy Questions

Did you weigh yourself at the same time of day, in the same state of dress and after consuming what you normally would before weighing? It's normal for different scales to show different weights which is why it is always recommended to only use one scale. But you also need to remember that weight isn't static, 6 pounds Is within the normal range of daily fluctuation, I can weigh myself in the morning and then at night on the same scale and be 5 pounds heavier in the evening, it doesn't mean I've gained 5 pounds, it's just all the food and fluids I've ingested, no big deal. As long as your weight is trending downwards on your regular scale there is really nothing to worry about.

But if you want to check your scale try placing a known weight on it, e.g. a 5 pound dunbell and see what it says

The floor at your parents may be straight but is it yielding? A floor that has give in it is more likely to provide incorrect results.

Scales cannot and are not calibrated to an absolute standard unless you do so using calibrated weights.

Incredible as it may sound five lbs is a high but perfectly possible variance between scales.

That said, the fact that you may have been wearing clothes and may have eaten food or drunk fluids in addition to a smaller than 6 pound variance between the scales is what you probably saw.

The most accurate portrayal of your weight trend can be discerned by running a line through the cloud of daily weigh-in values that you collect.

If that is impractical, happy scale for the iPhone, Libra for Android and trendweight.com (if you would rather use a website) all smooth out your day-to-day weight variations and highlight your longer-term weight trend.

They're not perfect in that they have a (by design) slight delay in reacting to longer term ups and downs; but they most certainly identify those ups and downs in short order and reduce the customary panic that ensues when people weigh themselves and discover that they've put on or lost water weight overnight.

In any case as a female you should probably be looking at 5 to 8 week trends to account for possible water weight variation during various times of the month. Most guys may be able to shorten that and look at ~3-4 week trends.

You can only do what you can do. Some people have tried to create a stable platform for their scales by putting tile on top of wood to try and build an unyielding straight-ish surface for their scale.

In any case if you're using your scale at the same spot all the time, hopefully that is enough to give you consistent measurements. You actually do not need to care about the accuracy of a particular number. Consistently measuring your relative weight will tell you whether you're losing weight or not.

And it sure sounds like you are! So, if that is your goal, well done!!!

Scales have a certain accuracy above a minimum weight and usually up to a certain weight. And then, usually, slightly less accuracy up to their maximum weight.

You have no guarantee that a dumbbell is the stated weight beyond approximately.

In any case weighing yourself with a known weight and seeing if the difference is approximately correct is probably your best bet as compared to just placing the weight on the scale directly.

I have an old manual scale that sits in its assigned place on the bathroom floor, ready for me every morning. I kinda like entering the day's weight in MFP and Libra and watching the charts adjust.

Your CVS scale is doing it's job--helping you track your progress. New and fancy isn't necessary. Whether you started at, for example, 150 or 156 doesn't matter; it's the changes you see over the long run that get you to your goal.

I would have to agree to stick with one scale in one place and same time of day. Your weight can go up and down quite a bit in one day. I have seen 5lbs difference on the same scale. I just sometimes get busy and dont drink enough and I know i am dehydrated. Once I have had fluids and eaten the weight goes back up. if your floors are uneven maybe try to get a small piece of wood or something solid to put the scale on that might give it a better even surface to sit on.

The other thing I would suggest is stop worrying so much about the scale and look in the mirror. Better yet if you can get one of the tape measures that taylors would use and measure yourself.

No bathroom/kitchen scale is particularly accurate. They are usually pezioelectric pressure sensors that aren't going to be super far off from your actual weight but not extremely accurate either. I mean keep in mind 99% accurate for a 200 pound person would be +/- 2 pounds.

Scales tend to be fairly internally consistant but not externally consistent. Meaning the same scale will tend to record the same weight for a given mass even if that scale is wrong by a few pounds while it might vary quite a bit from another scale that itself is also internally consistent. It's not like you have a fixed mass anyways so really a scale that is +/- 2 pounds accurate is plenty accurate.

You'll have more luck using the same scale and looking at a trend overtime though rather than trying to compare between different scales. Even if your parents scale was technically more accurate (ie closer to your true weight) that doesn't mean you haven't lost 6 pounds.