Inconsistencies with bathroom scale?

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purple4sure05
purple4sure05 Posts: 287 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys.. just wondering how accurate bathroom scales should be and how to figure out if something needs to be changed? Also just curious if inconsistency is something I should be expecting from my home scale...

We just bought ours a month ago and it is a Weightwatchers scale because where I live that was one of the nicer, better reviewed scales.

I used to weigh in on a large digital scale at the gym. I found that when I weighed in at home without clothes and shoes I was always 1 kilo less than when I wore my clothes and shoes at the gym (always the same clothes on weigh in days).

This morning the home scale gave me 59.5 kilos. I got on 15 minutes later and it said 59.2. I got on and off for it to say 59.2 three times in a row, then back to 59.5, then again 59.2.

I decided to not drink or eat anything before the gym to weigh in for comparison. The last time I was 59.2 at home, at the gym I was 60.2. Wearing the same outfit as that time, i showed up as 59.9 at the gym, meaning I should be about 58.9 at home. That's pretty far off from 59.5 when you're losing a tiny bit per week.

I haven't had this issue before but as someone losing a pound a week at most now, inconsistencies like that make it almost useless to weigh in every day and I'm not sure how to actually know if I'm making progress. Water weight and scale inconsistenties could hide progress for 4 weeks or more. Is there any way to make my weigh ins more accurate? Is this just how it is for everyone?

Replies

  • rickiimarieee
    rickiimarieee Posts: 2,212 Member
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    My weight constantly bounces but I usually only use one scale to measure how my weight loss is coming along. If I use different scales they’re always so much different then the others. My one at home I weigh 3 lbs heavier than most other scales. I also use measurements to track.
  • sarahfadell87
    sarahfadell87 Posts: 182 Member
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    I heard weighing in the morning after using the bathroom is the standard? Using the same scale in the same spot, wearing nothing. Just go by that only?

    Im pretty heavy, so i way considerably different at different times of the day.

    I could weigh in the morning, and be 6lbs heavier by 4pm!

    My advice, use the same scale, under the same circumstances as last. Go by that one only
  • purple4sure05
    purple4sure05 Posts: 287 Member
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    sarahfadell87 wrote: »
    I heard weighing in the morning after using the bathroom is the standard? Using the same scale in the same spot, wearing nothing. Just go by that only?

    Im pretty heavy, so i way considerably different at different times of the day.

    I could weigh in the morning, and be 6lbs heavier by 4pm!

    My advice, use the same scale, under the same circumstances as last. Go by that one only

    I already do that. As I said above it told me I was 59.2 then 59.5 and back and forth over and over one minute after the next. I was only giving a comparison to another scale to show an example of the inconsistency and possibility that it was even more off than by .3 kg.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    Maybe your gym scale is the one that is off? It could be. Every scale has a margin of error. You are never going to get your exact weight to the gram, nor is it important to do so. Pay attention to the overall trend. If your home scale is more consistently weighing you as 59.2, then use that for today's measurement. But the trend is what is important, and not the exact number. It does not sound like your scale is so far off to be worrisome.
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    I have given up on bathroom scales - with my starting weight of 170 kg (375 pounds) anything was possible. For the last year I am only using the electronic scales at the gym - reason enough to go there and do some exercise at the same time. I weigh myself once a week on average and experience the usual frustrations: no weight loss for a week or two and then a sudden drop of 1 kg - as long as the weight comes off, I am not complaining.

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