KG, LBS....what the heck!

I see so many people using KG- more then i see LBS. so I thought "HEY! I should probably learn how to convert LBS to KG and visa versa because I get tired of running to google to figure out what people are talking about. "I lost 3kg"....uhh ok?
Anyways.....am i the only one that finds this confusing as all get up?

I guess i find it confusing because for us 1 pounds is just a pound. It's a whole number. but to convert it to kg, to where others would know what youre talking about, it's .45kg...and 1kg is 2.2lbs...stupid fraction of a number

typing it all out i just feel like an idiot. but it really does confuse me! haha
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Replies

  • meex
    meex Posts: 135 Member
    im the same with your lbs i usually just half it to figure out approximate kgs. Lbs are probably more accurate cause half a pound would be like .25 kgs for us, we wouldn't notice that but you probs would in lbs
  • Nikki582
    Nikki582 Posts: 561 Member
    Metric FTW :D

    I know that 2.2 lb = 1kg, but I still have to spend a bit of brain power (and eventually google) to figure it out :)
  • jocordes
    jocordes Posts: 6 Member
    haha Im the same but the other way around. I use kg (australia).. 1 kg is just 1 kg.. and Im always trying to convert pounds to kg so I know what people are on about. I guess its just what you were brought up with and where you live :d
  • bjfmade
    bjfmade Posts: 543 Member
    I don't even try!
  • sherry_ann_mt
    sherry_ann_mt Posts: 100 Member
    I work as a nurse and we convert lbs to kg all the time....but when I was learning it was confusing!!!!
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
    If they were both integers when converted, they would hardly be different units of measure.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    It is only confusing when you are trying to convert it to another unit of measurement. Step out of your bubble! :happy:
  • Gigi_licious
    Gigi_licious Posts: 1,185 Member
    I don't know what a kg is in lbs either, but I don't really care. If a friends status says he/she lost 1kg that means they lost SOMETHING so who gives a crap what the conversion is?
  • It is only confusing when you are trying to convert it to another unit of measurement. Step out of your bubble! :happy:
    I'm trying, im trying!!! haha
  • glittermouse
    glittermouse Posts: 582 Member
    I'm used to thinking in pounds, but the scale I bought is in kg (I'm living in a different country). It really trips me out sometimes, but I keep http://www.metric-conversions.org/weight/kilograms-to-pounds.htm as one of my favorites so I can convert either way pretty quickly. It's actually rather fun weighing myself in kg, then waiting to see what that means in pounds. It's often more than I think.

    Also, being American, I'm used to oz and pounds and cups and tablespoons and teaspoons when cooking, but I get mL and grams and all the rest thrown in there. Between converting from one measuring system to another AND THEN not being able to read the local language, shopping for and then making a new recipe is always an adventure!
  • I don't know what a kg is in lbs either, but I don't really care. If a friends status says he/she lost 1kg that means they lost SOMETHING so who gives a crap what the conversion is?
    sure. they LOST and thats great. but if someone posted they lost 5kg, while that is great, TO ME, 5kg doesnt seem like a lot. but n reality its 11pounds. THAT IS AWESOME! its just nice to know what exactly they lost...it's funner if you can understand and feel the same excitement for them, that they feel for themselves!! if that makes sense.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    I don't know what a kg is in lbs either, but I don't really care. If a friends status says he/she lost 1kg that means they lost SOMETHING so who gives a crap what the conversion is?
    sure. they LOST and thats great. but if someone posted they lost 5kg, while that is great, TO ME, 5kg doesnt seem like a lot. but n reality its 11pounds. THAT IS AWESOME! its just nice to know what exactly they lost...it's funner if you can understand and feel the same excitement for them, that they feel for themselves!! if that makes sense.

    See? You can do the conversion! Good for you!
  • Jessamin
    Jessamin Posts: 338 Member
    Seriously? I'm used to kilograms but can work pounds without much trouble. A kg is approximately two pounds. Double it or half it, easy peasy.
  • Crystal817
    Crystal817 Posts: 2,021 Member
    Step out of your bubble! :happy:

    Noooo! You can't make me! :mad:
  • I don't know what a kg is in lbs either, but I don't really care. If a friends status says he/she lost 1kg that means they lost SOMETHING so who gives a crap what the conversion is?
    sure. they LOST and thats great. but if someone posted they lost 5kg, while that is great, TO ME, 5kg doesnt seem like a lot. but n reality its 11pounds. THAT IS AWESOME! its just nice to know what exactly they lost...it's funner if you can understand and feel the same excitement for them, that they feel for themselves!! if that makes sense.

    See? You can do the conversion! Good for you!
    Google is my friend! haha. im getting the hang of it now though. took me a while to realize to basically double it to get pounds and half to get kg. i think im just tired and my brain is making things seem harder then what they really are
  • sheshe32
    sheshe32 Posts: 195 Member
    Yup I'm in NZ and we are kg here. I just google converter and do it that way.
  • Same with the UK. We mostly use stones. 1 stone = 14lbs, luckily my scales do kg, lbs and stones. I've started to use lbs now as It's easier for on here but also have a conversion chart I found on Google.
  • fitness4meAU
    fitness4meAU Posts: 23 Member
    Yes it gets all the more fun when you try to figure out ST, KG and LBs! WhenI moved to Australia in 99 I didn't even know they were on the metric scale. Imagine trying to figure out how to bake! Then to try to figure ST and KG?! SO challenging. I rely a lot on my scales for grams!

    It does get easier over time though:)
  • seal57
    seal57 Posts: 1,259 Member
    This is the site I use when I want to convert kgs to lbs or lbs to kgs.......

    http://www.poundstokilos.com/
  • PlaySchool
    PlaySchool Posts: 49 Member
    I'm in Australia, we use KG's, i use the online conversion calculators to see what KG's into pounds translates as. Google is your friend.
  • runlaugheatpie
    runlaugheatpie Posts: 376 Member
    i live in another country (originally from the US) and had to learn the metric system a long time ago. I think most of the world is on the metric system! I remember learning it in around the 3rd or 4th grade and then we were told that this was the system we were going to use... only to find out in school the next year we'd switched back!
  • mmk137
    mmk137 Posts: 833 Member
    double it and add 10% to get lbs

    halve it and subtract 10% to get kg's, that's what I do.

    you get use to it
  • princessd3b
    princessd3b Posts: 130 Member
    I actually see more lbs than kg around here in MFP. ;) I guess a bit of math knowledge is required to do the conversion. Some people prefer using lbs/ kg because the value to them speak volumes. Just depends on what system you are used to. :)
  • nosugarcoating
    nosugarcoating Posts: 194 Member
    Most of the world uses the metric system. I think it is pretty much only the US and the UK that still use pounds (and the UK have stones too). I am German so the metric system is what I grew up with but I understand pounds perfectly fine.

    I use Google to convert. If you type into Google '5 lbs in kg', Google will do the conversion for you. Even easier than using a conversion site.
    It also converts other stuff, fl.oz. to ml, oz. to gr. Fahrenheit to Celsius, ft to cm, etc.
    Please note that it is impossible to convert cups to anything without specifying what the thing is, we don't use volume for measuring food. Some websites will tell you conversions for common ingredients - but with flour for example, it depends on which type flour you're using as they don't have the same density. (It makes no sense if you ask me because it is really inaccurate for anything but liquids and very finely ground things such as sugar, flour etc.) Just get a kitchen scale, and believe me, you'll never want to go back.

    When my weigh-ins post on MFP, I always make a comment below it where I convert the numbers (weight lost since last weigh-in and total weight lost) into pounds for my American and British buddies.
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
    Another one who just converts it.

    I usually put both on just for ease. I'm doing the conversion anyways (another site I visit I'm the one of three Aussies. It's just easier for me to convert then to expect them to do it) No skin off my nose!
  • I must say that when I want to feel good, I convert to LBS! :-) Made it to 30 lbs lost recently, and that just sounds so dull in kilos (about 14), but in pounds it is an awesome feeling!

    :-) Christy
  • LooseWheel
    LooseWheel Posts: 211 Member
    Being Australian I guess I like being 73 kgs rather than 160 pounds lol ;)
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
    I've only just mastered the fact that 14lbs = 1 stone! ... don't confuse me with Kg!! :noway:

    In stones you'd only be 11 (@160lbs) .. much smaller number! :wink: (well actually 11 st 6 lbs)
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
    Well, being from the UK, but having watched 10 series of the US Biggest Loser and 4 series of the Australian BL, i can convert anything into st and lbs now :D
  • It confuses me too, i can't stand metrics, haha. most of the world uses kg and stuff, the US is like the only place who hasn't switched to metrics yet. so good! but whether someone's lost 1 lb. or 1 kg. it's all the same to them. one lost is one lost. all i notice is that the person has lost weight and that's good enough for me!
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