Weighing Consistently
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KarlzEvanzGarciaz
Posts: 10 Member
How can you tell if you need to replace the weighing scale?, I weighed myself at my doctors office and lost weight but my home scale says otherwise. Cannot get over the hurdle number of 279lbs.
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Replies
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My home scale has never matched an office scale. I just replaced my 15 y.o. scale.
You can try changing batteries or getting your weight at your doctor's or at a gym to see if it's your body or the scale.
How long have you been at the same weight? Fluctuations and plateaus are a normal part of the process.2 -
Weigh yourself at the doctor's office, then immediately go home and weigh yourself without eating or drinking anything in between, or vice versa. If there is a discrepancy, it's probably time to replace your home scale. Our old scale was off by 7 pounds, but we didn't realize it until we checked with the doctor's scale. It was really frustrating because I was losing weight at the time and it felt like I had gained 7 pounds overnight.1
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I have not replaced my scale for at least 1-2 years since I bought it.0
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My doctor’s scale is never the same as my home scale. Try weighing something that you know the weight of for sure to see if your scale is accurate.3
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I weigh in my underwear at home and in my clothes at the doctors. I am always lighter at home obviously.
I think a lot of the time scales will be a little different from each other and that doesn't bother me. If you just use one scale at home, keep it in the same location, weigh at the same time of day (I do after I wake and use the restroom which is the best I've read) and track that then that is ideal.
I don't care if other scales say differently, my variables including what scale I use are controlled at home and I just want to know how much I am losing, not what my objective exact weight is. The only changing variable is me.
I guess you could try weighing a dumbbell or something to see if your scale is objectively off by much.11 -
I think some differences in scales happen. And can be somewhat put down to type of scale. At my primary care Dr. I know that scale will show me to be 2lbs heavier than my scale at home. Yet the scale at my Endocrinologist office has a difference of 1.25. Both Dr offices hace slightly different type of scales. These differences have been consistent for more than 5 years. We just replaced our home scale in January of this year. I know I am working on losing, and they see it dropping so that helps. Can you adjust yours? Or else just know that your Dr's shows X pounds heavier, but if you lose 3lbs on your own, it still should show a loss at Dr's. Would be nice if it was other way around, but I have never had that happen.
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Don’t compare the number on your scale to the number on your doctor’s scale. They are different scales on different surfaces and you’re weighing at different times under different conditions.
Compare the number on your scale today to the number on your scale a different time.
Compare the number on your doctor’s scale to the number on your doctor’s scale a different time.
The actual number isn’t as important as how that number is changing (which you need to measure on the same scale).
If your batteries are old-you can change them.
If you want to check your scale-weigh something you know the weight of (something like a dumbbell or heavier food item).9 -
Duck_Puddle wrote: »Don’t compare the number on your scale to the number on your doctor’s scale. They are different scales on different surfaces and you’re weighing at different times under different conditions.
Compare the number on your scale today to the number on your scale a different time.
Compare the number on your doctor’s scale to the number on your doctor’s scale a different time.
The actual number isn’t as important as how that number is changing (which you need to measure on the same scale).
If your batteries are old-you can change them.
If you want to check your scale-weigh something you know the weight of (something like a dumbbell or heavier food item).
Exactly what I was trying to say but said much more eloquently! Haha.2 -
I have nothing to add as far as the scale goes (others have it covered), but I sympathize with feeling stuck at a certain weight. And it sucks. LOL!
The only thing you can do is continue working hard and remind yourself that the scale is only a measuring tool. Don’t give it more power than it deserves. If you keep working hard, eventually you will get past 279 and find yourself with a new hurdle to cross.0 -
I have nothing to add as far as the scale goes (others have it covered), but I sympathize with feeling stuck at a certain weight. And it sucks. LOL!
The only thing you can do is continue working hard and remind yourself that the scale is only a measuring tool. Don’t give it more power than it deserves. If you keep working hard, eventually you will get past 279 and find yourself with a new hurdle to cross.
Since July I been 279lbs0 -
KarlzEvanzGarciaz wrote: »I have nothing to add as far as the scale goes (others have it covered), but I sympathize with feeling stuck at a certain weight. And it sucks. LOL!
The only thing you can do is continue working hard and remind yourself that the scale is only a measuring tool. Don’t give it more power than it deserves. If you keep working hard, eventually you will get past 279 and find yourself with a new hurdle to cross.
Since July I been 279lbs
I have been hovering around 135 since May. That is over five months. I know what I am doing wrong, I haven't been hitting my deficit consistently, and have been going over maintenance on many days. However, after this long unplanned "recomp" I am now committed to moving forward and hitting my calories like I know I should be.
I have heard that some good ways to break through a "weight loss wall" (as Heather from the podcast Half Size Me puts it - which is a GREAT podcast, I Highly recommend!!) is to:
1. focus on the next pound(s) rather than milestone weights, or
2. just get off the scale and start focusing on Healthy Habits and hitting your calorie goals.
Then, check what you weigh after a couple weeks and see where you are at.
The scale is just a tool to track progress, but it is far from perfect. It doesn't only weigh your fat mass. Don't give it more power than it deserves.
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Unless scales are professionally calibrated, there’s no way to tell for sure which scale may be accurate. Plus factors such as clothing, food/liquid contents in digestive tract etc come into play. If there’s a huge difference, like several pounds, it may be time for a new home scale or batteries. If I weigh less at the doctors office, I consider it a bonus that I’m on the right track.
What is the difference in weight at the doctors office? As far as not showing a loss for several months at home, how’s your logging? Are you weighing and measuring everything you eat and drink accurately? You should be losing if you are eating at a calorie deficit and logging accurately.1 -
My old scale used to have a 280 max. It was stuck there for years... while I was both gaining and losing weight!
Assuming your scale is on a flat, unyielding surface, and your batteries are working, you would expect that three solid months of daily weight-ins would have resulted in at least one reading variation just because of sodium and food in transit.
So either the scale is broken or your weight is not substantially changing.
Do you have reason to expect weight changes? Have you weighed yourself on any other scales? How close/far is the number you get there?0
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