Erratic weights... which one is right???

shakybabe
shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Got shock of my life this morning.. I decided to try weighing in bedroom as I'd removed scales form bathroom last time I took a shower.

I tried the body fat scales first as they are usually lighter but put them on the rug to weigh and they said I was 8st 6!!! ... there's no way I'm 8st 6! ... so took them in bathroom to weigh on hard floor and then I was 11st 2!

I decided to do same with the old scales (regular digital.. give one weight) .. on rug in bedroom I was 11st 8 (first time), went in bathroom.. 12st again... couldn't quite believe the bedroom weight so went back to try that again and this time I got 11st 12!

The body fat scales are usually consistently under, so I've either lost weight and am now 11st 8 or 11st 12,. or still 12 stone??

They must be faulty?.. so got another set of ebay.... 'll just wait until they come and see what they say I am... hope I can get a consistent number on those!

Anyone else had this problem?

Replies

  • mirenner
    mirenner Posts: 205
    sounds like you have a very unreliable scale...

    the only reliable ones are the ones in doctors offices sadly...
  • CarolynB38
    CarolynB38 Posts: 553 Member
    Weighing on carpets or rugs will get you erratic results. Try to weigh on a hard floor where possible. You should also use the same pair of scales every time. They are all different but if you use the same scale the discrepancies will be less. :smile:
  • Thamantha
    Thamantha Posts: 102 Member
    It sounds like the difference is caused not by your scale, but by the place of weighing. Scales do not work well on thick rugs or carpets, it is best to use hard floors for weighing in on.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    Always weigh on a hard floor, and with the same scale. The actual number isn't what's important, it's the trends, and it's hard to see the trends when you use different scales since most home scales are at least slightly inaccurate. I would go with the loss on the hard floor from the scale you've been using the most.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    Definitely, only weigh on a hard floor.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    the one that's the same scale and the same spot on the floor as the last time you weighed, and same time of day wearing same thing or lack thereof,........ that's the one that's right.

    If you use a different scale and it says 2 lbs lighter, it doesn't mean you lost 2 lbs, it just means that scale is calibrated slightly off, or the other one was, but it doesn't matter the actual number, it's the progressive pattern that matters. A number is just a way to tell your progress, and a sh!tty way at that. the better way is tape measure and fit of clothing.

    so if you get to your goal weight and are happy with what you see in the mirror and look great in your clothes, but then buy a new scale that says you weigh 8 lbs more, are you going to try to lose 8 more pounds even though you are happy and healthy just the way you are, just to match some random arbitrary number in your head?

    Think about it for a few minutes, then decide if this is even a big deal at all.

    Keep the same scale in the same spot of the same room and use it at the same time of day (first thing in the morning naked) WEEKLY, and you will see your downward pattern regardless of the number it states.
  • goron59
    goron59 Posts: 890 Member
    sounds like you have a very unreliable scale...

    the only reliable ones are the ones in doctors offices sadly...

    Is that because they are in a doctor's office? or because only scales used in doctors' offices are reliable? What if I take a doctor's office scale home and use it there - does it become unreliable?

    All rhetorical :-)

    Some scales are better than others. Most weighing devices benefit from being used on a hard level floor. Some scales show different results depending on where you stand on them. Physical balance-type scales are generally more reliable, but are larger and more expensive.

    Your best bet is to use the same scales in the same place (preferably on a hard floor) every time.
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
    Thanks... as I've already ordered the new scales I'll see what they say when they get here. a. the old ones have been left on the bathroom floor and got wet (its a walk in wet room so most of floor gets wet when I shower) as I never thought about moisture and stuff from the steam even though they were far enough away to not get soaked.

    If the new ones gives the same weight each time.. I'll take it that they are right.

    I thought numbers were important? . it says for my height (5ft 3 and half) I should be between 8 and a half and 10 and a half stones... scuse the stones I'm in yorkshire, uk we've always weighed in stones!

    I was 12st 7 in June and that weight was taken at hospital app on special scales you can sit on (I'm wheelchair user) I did wonder if my balance would affect weight as I struggle to keep still on the standing ones.. even with walking frame placed around it to hold onto. (has to be very small step up.. the big avery scales have too big step up.. I can't manage it)

    Usually I get on and off a few times and the weight I get the most,I take as mine, just to give me a rough idea if I'm losing or gaining.

    I've lost a few inches off waist and tummy but I want the scales to say about 10 stone (preferably 9 and half if can get down that much) but if can get under 10 and half at least I will be at the top end of healthy for my height and it might mean I can sit up for longer without pain when I need to go out in manual wheelchair.
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