Scales! Which One's Right??

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VeggieKelli
VeggieKelli Posts: 232 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Here is my journey the last few weeks with scales:

first, there is the scale at my home, a newly purchased cheaper end digital scale. I assume it's a little inaccurate but only by a pound or two because I've measured it against the second scale, at my university gym locker room (that scale is a digital accurate "official" looking one, lol).

Then, I came to my parents' home at the holidays and reacquainted myself with a digital bathroom scale that for the last five years I've accepted as extremely accurate. I was about 2 lbs off from my scale at home, so nothing out of the ordinary.

Finally, today. I weighed myself at my parents' this morning before doing anything, in the nude. 178lbs, as expected.
Went about my day eating, drinking, eating a little more than usual cause I knew I'd be hitting the gym.

Work out at the gym, blah blah, drink 32 oz of water, burn 1017 calories, used the restroom, took a shower, put on clothes, and then decide to weight myself just out of curiosity.

It's a traditional doctor's office scale, where you move the little weights across the top til it balances. I get on, adjust, and it stops at 172. I am puzzled and spend the next few minutes trying to adjust my stance, make sure I'm not sabotaging/reading wrong. Finally, I settle at about 172.5 and am confused.
Went home, weighed myself in the same outfit, 180lbs.

What should I believe?? I'm so confused, does anyone have any advice on what type of scale is the most accurate? I know it's more about the inches, but I still would like to know!
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Replies

  • fzyfrog
    fzyfrog Posts: 456 Member
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    None of them. They're all lying *kitten*.
  • ohmywonwon
    ohmywonwon Posts: 30
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    I'd like to know as well. My gym has that old fashioned type of scale where you move the weight along the top or whatever. I bought a digital scale (kinda cheap ish) but thought it would be alright seeing as Weight Watchers endorses it. My friend however said there was about 1.5kg difference between her scale and mine o.O
  • ohmywonwon
    ohmywonwon Posts: 30
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    None of them. They're all lying *kitten*.

    Hahaha xD
  • Curvy1taliana
    Curvy1taliana Posts: 371 Member
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    http://www.amazon.com/Eatsmart-Precision-Bathroom-Technology-440-Pounds/dp/B0032TNPOE/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_cart_1
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I don't thi nkit matters - just pick one of them (home is probably easiest) and weigh yourself regularly on this one.
    Then you can see the changes , which is more important than the actual number.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    The only way to know which one is right is to use a calibrated scale and weight yourself at the same time as your other scales. Or if you have something you know the weight of, you can weigh it and see which one is correct. Which one is right doesn't really matter. Pick one and use that to measure you progress.

    I find gym scales can be inaccurate. They are used a lot and not usually checked for accuracy or calibrated. Also, you didn't say if you sweated or not but I know if I burned 1000 calories, whether I drank water or not, there would be a drop in my weight as I sweat a lot.
  • ashnm88
    ashnm88 Posts: 748
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    I go based on the doctor's office scale.
  • VeggieKelli
    VeggieKelli Posts: 232 Member
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    I don't thi nkit matters - just pick one of them (home is probably easiest) and weigh yourself regularly on this one.
    Then you can see the changes , which is more important than the actual number.

    You are absolutely right! It's just been kind of annoying...
  • PlomkChocho
    PlomkChocho Posts: 21
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    None of them. They're all lying *kitten*.

    LOL. this made me luagh! but anyways. i have the same proplem today! i had 2 scales in the same room on the same foor. and with the same outfit i went on the first one it said i was 105 then i went on the second one it said i was 110!, i kept repeating it just to make sure. but it kept saying i was 105 on the first one then 110 on the second one.
  • catherine4211
    catherine4211 Posts: 944 Member
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    None of them. They're all lying *kitten*.

    LOVE!!!!!!
  • dcarreno
    dcarreno Posts: 83
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    that is funny. scales could be men just ask if these pants make my *kitten* look fat I never got asked that question but maybe because I might just say the truth
  • catherine4211
    catherine4211 Posts: 944 Member
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    I go based on the doctor's office scale.

    I refuse to get on the scale when I go to the dr. I really had to argue with his new nurse the last time. It almost got ugly.
  • cameralinds
    cameralinds Posts: 239
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    I'm going to state the obvious, and most of us (including myself) don't like to follow it... but you shouldn't be weighing yourself multiple times daily. You should always weigh in on the same spot, at the same time, in the same clothes (or none!) Measure your progress by the same scale, not four different ones.
  • premiumchilenita
    premiumchilenita Posts: 600 Member
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    the lighter one :bigsmile:
  • crzyone
    crzyone Posts: 872 Member
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    Scales are not our friends!!! Don't worry about them....my doctor's scale showed I had gained 39 lbs in three weeks and I know I had lost because my clothes fit better and I had been doing great on diet and exercise. They didn't accept that and I got the "look" an talk about how I needed to lose weight. I went home in tears and started eating and didn't stop for three years. Now, I don't care what the dr scales say and I get frustrated with the one I have at home because it doesn't want to move, BUT I KNOW that the clothes fit better and I'm doing better overall, so FORGET the scales and just keep doing what you are doing. Or, if you have to choose one, choose the one you have at home and forget the others.....you will consistently weigh on the one you have at home.
  • cmoe25027
    cmoe25027 Posts: 26 Member
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    I never use another scale other than the one in my home(other than when I go to the doc), and I always take my "official" weight directly after rolling out of bed and using the restroom. Scales are imperfect and very different from each other, even a professionally calibrated big bucks scale won't help you if you don't have regular access to it. I prefer the cheaper ones so if it talks back I won't be upset about chucking it out the window!

    Cheers,
    Collin
  • xginanax
    xginanax Posts: 333 Member
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    I weighed myself at home and at doctors and they seem the same! so my suggestion is weigh yourself with only one scale. and use that.
  • BobbyClerici
    BobbyClerici Posts: 813 Member
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    Stop worrying about the scale.
    Progress is not the number but the trend as you have something definitive to track your results.
    You need to pick a scale - one scale, and just use that and that alone.

    Further, I'd also recommend you track body fat, and you can do that here.
    http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

    People obsess too much about the number and not enough about just results.
    Are you getting good results?

    It sounds like you are, so keep it up, and GREAT JOB!
  • grmpy1
    grmpy1 Posts: 462 Member
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    <
    This!
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
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    Weight is a relative thing, and quite meaningless really (you would weight a lot less on the moon, but you wouldn't look or feel any fitter). 8 pounds doesn't really make a difference one way or the other. Go by how you feel, how your clothes fit, etc. Stick to one scale and weigh there simply to measure progress.


    The only way to know which is accurate is to see which is calibrated. A gym scale which is used and abused by hundreds of people needs to be serviced and calibrated frequently. There will usually be a sticker with initials and a date if this has been done.

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