Advice on scales and their discrepencies.

ElegantErratic
ElegantErratic Posts: 5
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone, I'm a first time poster here and I haven't seen any threads on the subject, so I thought I'd ask what everyone's opinions and suggestions are on this subject.

Before I started my lifestyle change, I weighed 260, which was my highest weight ever. Before I gained the weight, I weighed 160. I know how I gained it - over eating lots of fats and carbs when I went through a difficult relationship and breakup that lasted for two years. This combined with a sedentary lifestyle, that is. My significant other at the time also always wanted to eat out, have takeout, eat junk food, etc, and encouraged me to do so as well. While I do have my own mind and could have said no, it was hard to turn down some yummy pizza when it's right in front of you. I started comfort eating, knew I was putting on weight, but kept with that behavior and just bought some staple "larger" clothes. I wasn't thrilled to be gaining, but I wasn't doing anything to change it, either.

While I knew I was gaining, it wasn't until I went to an annual visit with my doctor that I woke up. I was told the number "260" and I was shocked. I thought I weighed about 223, this was according to my digital scale. But then again, it could say 223 one minute, then if I'd step on it a minute later, it'd say 206. That turned me off on digital scales. I didn't expect to weigh 260, though. Getting the shocking news, I knew right then and there that I had to change my life and the way I was living it.

So, I bought myself a treadmill. I have consistently used it for six months (which is difficult as I am chronically ill, have degenerative disc disease in my spine, and Fibromyalgia), adjusted my eating by cutting out fats, bad carbs/sugars, and all junk foods and fast food all together (for the most part anyway. I do love cheese and have to allow myself to enjoy that sometimes!). I felt good to have been making the change and I knew my health would be all the better for it.

I no longer had faith in my digital scales since they were so off from the results I got from my doctor. So I didn't use one for a while, I just worked out and ate well.

Two months later, I had an appointment with my Rheumatologist. When I got weighed there, I was told 242. That sounded believable considering water weight I'd lost and the changes I'd made, and the fact that you lose the most early on. Plus it'd been two months since I had a weigh in.

Well, a family member had a scale they weren't using, and they gave it to me. This was a couple months after my last weigh in at the doctor. It told me I weighed 228. I went with that and assumed that was correct, my clothes were fitting better, some I can't even wear now as they're too big.

Last week I weighed myself again, it said 226. I was pleased.

Yesterday I had a visit back to my regular MD. I was told that my weight was 243. My thought was "Umm... how?"

I assumed my scales were wrong.

Today I went around to different stores and checked out dial scales. I stood on three different brands, all had different weights. I assume this could be because they may not have been adjusted properly. You know, how you have to adjust them so that the needle rests on the zero. But the readings were 222, 220, and somehow, 218.

I bought the one that read at 222. I adjusted it when I got home with it as the line was sitting at about 4 pounds under the zero. I got it on the zero, stepped on it... and it read 218. How could it go down when it should have gone a few pounds higher after my adjusting it?

Anyway, I don't know what to think. I have a hard time believing I weigh 243, as my doctor said, when all other scales put me at the 218-222 range. However, I'm not convinced that I weigh as little as 218 - but at this point I have no idea whatsoever to even estimate my weight as.

So, is it possible for doctor's scales to be so much off? If not, are bathroom scales then really not reliable? What can I do to accurately find out what my weight is?

Does anyone here have any preferences for dial or digital scales? And if so, why, and what are the benefits?

Thanks everybody, I'm at a loss as to what to do!

Replies

  • beccau_20
    beccau_20 Posts: 191 Member
    Wow, that's a big discrepancy! I have no answer for you, but I'm interested to hear what others have to say too :o)

    FWIW, my home scale is 2 - 3lbs lighter than my gym scale, consistently.
  • Honey1990
    Honey1990 Posts: 81
    Well you do have to remember that most doctors have a weighted scale that does not always get calibrated like it should. And the time of day that you went could have been a factor and what you were wearing could also have made a couple of pound gain but that much seems a little wrong. I would go with the scale you have at home. Screw the doctors scale. as long as the scale you have keeps going down then you know that you are heading in the right direction even if its not completly accurate.
  • ChristalJo
    ChristalJo Posts: 29
    I know my scale at home says that I weigh 160 right now. The doctor's office scale said that I am weighing in about 170. I find this very hard to believe. The only place I get that result is that the doctor's office. But I also have to wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that we eat, drink, and get weighed in with different clothes on at the doctor's than at home. If we are weighing as soon as we get up and urinate at home, usually wearing whatever pajamas we wear to bed, aren't we bound to weigh less than if we get weighed after we've been up for a while, have eaten and drank stuff, and are now wearing jeans, and in most cases also shoes?
  • Jayra
    Jayra Posts: 10 Member
    are you using the scale at home on carpet? I have found that my scales are always dodgy if placed on carpet. They have to be on a hard surface, but if placed in the bathroom, you also have to make sure the surface is level (it often isnt in the bathroom due to the drain in the floor with it all sloping slightly towards the drain). Some scales might be more sensitive to these then not. Other then that, check the batteries, sometimes they are dodgy when they need a battery change.
  • rjnbritt
    rjnbritt Posts: 4
    I personally think digital scales are more accurate than a dial scale. Dial scales have springs in them that measure your weight when you step on. If you stand in a slightly different spot on a dial scale, your weight will be different everytime. Also, humidity can affect the springs and cause the scale to be inaccurate. However, you can have the same problems with a digital scale, unless you purchase a good one! From my experience, doctors scales always weight me about 5 lbs more than my digital scales at home. Also, remember your weight changes during the day due to the food you eat and water you retain. It is best to weigh in the morning before breakfast and after you have went to the bathroom! :)
  • devilsangel2
    devilsangel2 Posts: 123 Member
    It does seem like a huge discrepency and I would be inclined to say the doctors scales are wrong. I know time of day, time of month i.e. where in your cycle you are and even what you have eaten can make a difference, but it does seem awfully large and some doctors don't get their scales calibrated or replaced when they should.

    For me personally, I take very little notice of the scales anyway. Body measurement is a far better way of judging how you are doing as muscle weighs more than fat. In the last year I have lost only 3 kilos (about 6.6 pounds) but have lost 16cm (6.3 inches) off my waist and the same off my abdomen, so I don't worry that my actual weight is not going down much.
  • DragonSkip
    DragonSkip Posts: 59 Member
    Same thing happened to me today. I went to the doctor and the scale said 262 which showed little to no weight loss according to their records and my scale at home is telling me 255 which is a 14 lb weight loss by my records. Not near as a big discrepancy for me but when I got below 260 at home was when I really believed I had actually started to loose weight. Made me feel like crap. I was so distressed I forgot to ask what my weight had been at the beginning of the year but I know they would of pointed it out if there was more than a 5 lb loss.
  • Jayra
    Jayra Posts: 10 Member
    If you don't trust scales, there are other ways to track weight loss, and are actually better to use as they can track weight loss even when the scales aren't moving. You can measure your waist, hips, bust, thighs. If you make sure to measure in the same spot next time, then it is a good way of tracking your progress.
  • Lozzy_82
    Lozzy_82 Posts: 324 Member
    Have you tried testing your scales with something you know the weight of? I test my digital scale every so often by weighing my hand weights, and it has always been bang on.
  • ElegantErratic
    ElegantErratic Posts: 5
    This is all really good advice. A combination of what everyone has suggested should do the trick. :) Thanks everyone for replying!
  • sweetchick06
    sweetchick06 Posts: 30 Member
    I agree that you should test your scale by putting on some hand weights. I test my scale each time before a weigh in.

    You also need to be consistent with your "weigh in" routine. Try to weigh in just once a week, at the same time of day. For example, I weigh in each Saturday morning from home. I get up, use the bathroom, then weigh myself naked. I know that if I weigh myself later that day I will see a big difference, because I ate during the day and am wearing clothes. Sodium is a big factor as well. If you have a high sodium meal right before a weigh in it can show inaccurate results on the scale. And try to keep the scale in the same spot. I know I weigh heavier in the bathroom then I do in the living room. Has to do with how level the floor is.
  • kapeluza
    kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
    THIS is the scale you want:

    http://www.amazon.com/Eatsmart-Precision-Bathroom-Technology-440-Pounds/dp/B0032TNPOE

    Eatsmart Precision Plus scale

    I just got it recently and it is VERY accurate!

    Also you can read the 1000 + reviews for it and you will see how happy people are with it!
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