Just realized the reason for my "plateau"

healthyschmealthy
healthyschmealthy Posts: 9
in Motivation and Support
So, for a few days in a row a few weeks ago, I started getting the exact same reading on my scale, down to the decimal. I was getting really frustrated and confused, and then one day, I weighed myself. Bam! Lost two pounds. Then, during the next week, I was stuck at the same weight again. Another plateau?? To the decimal number?! :noway: Then I got PMS and gained a lot of water weight, so the scale showed that I'd gained about 3 pounds, which is normal for me. The thing that was weird, though, is the next day (today), I saw the same weight. My weight fluctuates like crazy during that time of the month for me, and I got really confused. So tonight, out of curiosity, I decided to weigh myself, and guess what? Exactly the same. So I grabbed a 10 lb dumbbell and put it on the scale, and after I weighed the dumbbell, I weighed myself again, and the weight was different.

Apparently, my scale has memory, and it stays the same within about a two pound range. I. Want. To. Scream. I feel really dumb for not figuring this out earlier (lol), but I'm so mad! I've been freaking out because I've been dieting like a mad woman...and turns out that I HAVE been losing weight, and it's been the freaking scale and it's stupid "memory"! :angry:

Anybody have any good inexpensive scale recommendations? I'm seriously considering running over mine with my car. :explode:
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Replies

  • Por2gueseMama
    Por2gueseMama Posts: 102 Member
    Lol too funny but mine does the samething..... I need a new scale also! !!
  • irisheyez718
    irisheyez718 Posts: 677 Member
    Is it the glass Weight Watchers scale? Mine does that too! Right to the ounce! I just grab something heavy and hop on and off and then weigh myself, and it works okay :-)
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    LOL!

    I never would have guessed that one either!

    Two suggestions:
    1) You may want to weight yourself less often. The daily fluctuations can be very misleading. But if you really want to, go ahead.
    2) Perhaps there is a way to "turn off" the memory? If you don't have the original paperwork, try looking it up on line.

    Good luck!
  • ChasingSweatandTears
    ChasingSweatandTears Posts: 504 Member
    WOW! What kind of scale is it? I would be so mad!!! Glad you know now though! :)
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
    I hate it when machines (or programmers) think they are smarter than we are. I've read about this "feature" in various scale reviews, so I knew what was coming as soon as you said "down to the decimal."
  • keg619
    keg619 Posts: 356 Member
    Mine does that too. It can be very frustrating!
  • healthyschmealthy
    healthyschmealthy Posts: 9
    LOL!

    I never would have guessed that one either!

    Two suggestions:
    1) You may want to weight yourself less often. The daily fluctuations can be very misleading. But if you really want to, go ahead.
    2) Perhaps there is a way to "turn off" the memory? If you don't have the original paperwork, try looking it up on line.

    Good luck!

    I don't really mind the fluctuations because weighing myself everyday is sort of my daily reminder to stick with the program, lol. I don't weigh myself if I've eaten a ton the day before, though, because that's just depressing, lol!

    I might try to turn it off if I can find the instructions. I googled the brand of scale and I think the manufacturer added in the "memory" feature, because, according to reviews, this brand (Thinner) used to be really inaccurate and show different weights for people every time they'd get on the scale!

    Moral of the story, NOBODY buy a Thinner scale!! :laugh:
  • JessieArt
    JessieArt Posts: 275 Member
    OMG this drives me crazy every day. I have to clear out the memory especailly if I weigh after my husband. It automatically defaults to his weight if I don't.

    I went and got a cheapy dial scale tonight so I wouldn't take a sledge hammer to my digital one.
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
    I googled the brand of scale and I think the manufacturer added in the "memory" feature, because, according to reviews, this brand (Thinner) used to be really inaccurate and show different weights for people every time they'd get on the scale!

    Moral of the story, NOBODY buy a Thinner scale!! :laugh:

    It's not the scale's fault that a person's naked weight can vary by three or four pounds in a day!
  • healthyschmealthy
    healthyschmealthy Posts: 9
    I googled the brand of scale and I think the manufacturer added in the "memory" feature, because, according to reviews, this brand (Thinner) used to be really inaccurate and show different weights for people every time they'd get on the scale!

    Moral of the story, NOBODY buy a Thinner scale!! :laugh:

    It's not the scale's fault that a person's naked weight can vary by three or four pounds in a day!

    I know. I'm talking about people who tested it out by weighing themselves four times in a row within a few minutes, and getting different weights every time.
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
    Ahhhhh. That's different. I can get my scale to shift a pound or two depending on how I position my feet, but this sounds more serious. Note to self: Don't buy the Thinner scale!
  • VirginiaWoof
    VirginiaWoof Posts: 147
    i can weight myself twice, five minutes a part..and the scale will fluctuate up to 3 lbs! what is this crap?
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
    Not crap. It's doesn't build up that fast. :wink:
  • gaia3rd
    gaia3rd Posts: 151
    My previous, very accurate, digital went bonkers a month ago and I was hunting for a replacement (they don't make that model anymore). Seems a lot of the newer digital scales do this trick, probably in response to complaints that people would step on the scale 3 different times and get 3 different readings. Rather than make the scale more accurate, it's much cheaper to make the memory hold the previous number if the reading is close. I tested one Taylor model by stepping on it wearing light shoes, then holding something that weighed less than a pound, followed by me without the shoes. The second and third time it lingered at the newer (probably correct) number for a second, then locked onto the original figure. After extensive research, I bit the bullet and spent $50 on a Tanita, a brand known for it's accuracy. Have had it a couple of weeks now and am very satisfied.
  • rlong637
    rlong637 Posts: 25 Member
    Wasn't "Thinner" a Horror movie? LOL should of been an omen! That wasn't funny to you, but i LOL'd. I woulda took a hammer to that POS! :happy:
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
    :laugh: you gotta admit that's pretty funny! Stupid things though! Who would think that's a good idea for a pair of scales. So blinking stupid! Definitely a new pair x
  • misslariss84
    misslariss84 Posts: 20 Member
    I was having a problem with my 6 year old Tanita scale recently (it was a couple lbs off) and I went to the message board for help/suggestions. I was told to take the battery out and put it back in so the scale could recalibrate itself. I did that and I've found that it is much more accurate now. Maybe try that! If that doesn't work, I've been satisfied with my Tanita for a number of years and it's about $30 on Amazon.
  • nwg74
    nwg74 Posts: 360 Member
    Would it lose the memory if the battery was taken out and put back in ?
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
    :laugh: you gotta admit that's pretty funny! Stupid things though! Who would think that's a good idea for a pair of scales. So blinking stupid! Definitely a new pair x

    I'm fascinated by difference in idiom. I take it from your post that the British call the flat thing sitting on the bathroom floor "a pair of scales." I suppose it must come from the days when scales looked like this:

    Balances-Scales-3.jpg

    But you still call the thing below "a pair"?

    scale1.jpg

    I found out earlier in the week that yours have readouts in stone and pounds. Now I learn you even call them something different. Fascinating!
  • milkandtea
    milkandtea Posts: 116 Member
    Mine does this as well and it drives me mad. I have to calibrate it each time before I weigh myself.
  • auuudriana
    auuudriana Posts: 18
    Haha, I have one of the Weight Watchers scales and it does the same thing. I ALWAYS always always grab like something heavy before I actually weight just my body.
  • deevatude
    deevatude Posts: 322 Member
    when i put my scale that i got from Walmart on the ground it always gives me a reading without even doing anything or stepping on it

    i never heard of the memory thing before either, this is good information.
  • healthyschmealthy
    healthyschmealthy Posts: 9
    My previous, very accurate, digital went bonkers a month ago and I was hunting for a replacement (they don't make that model anymore). Seems a lot of the newer digital scales do this trick, probably in response to complaints that people would step on the scale 3 different times and get 3 different readings. Rather than make the scale more accurate, it's much cheaper to make the memory hold the previous number if the reading is close. I tested one Taylor model by stepping on it wearing light shoes, then holding something that weighed less than a pound, followed by me without the shoes. The second and third time it lingered at the newer (probably correct) number for a second, then locked onto the original figure. After extensive research, I bit the bullet and spent $50 on a Tanita, a brand known for it's accuracy. Have had it a couple of weeks now and am very satisfied.

    Thanks, I'll be looking into one of those! Now that I know about this one's little issue, I'll use it a little bit longer just because I can't justify buying myself a new scale at the moment, but as soon as I can, this one's going in the garbage!
  • mem50
    mem50 Posts: 1,384 Member
    Is it the glass Weight Watchers scale? Mine does that too! Right to the ounce! I just grab something heavy and hop on and off and then weigh myself, and it works okay :-)

    I have the glass weight watchers too but I guess I got a faulty one, the weight changes all the time. Maybe it's like me and has a bad memory? LOL
  • scrambuglady
    scrambuglady Posts: 14 Member
    It sounds like you have a digital scale? I hate those. I have a regular one that has the arm for weight....Ive had it for a few years. Yes throw yours in the front yard lol. Glad you figured it out.
  • migoi357
    migoi357 Posts: 173 Member
    Two words... scale skeet.
  • mem50
    mem50 Posts: 1,384 Member
    Two words... scale skeet.

    HeeHee.....scale Frisbee was mine when it went out.......right into the pond.
  • krystina_letitia9
    krystina_letitia9 Posts: 697 Member
    Is it the glass Weight Watchers scale? Mine does that too! Right to the ounce! I just grab something heavy and hop on and off and then weigh myself, and it works okay :-)

    Haha, I had that one too. I just bought a new one. Thank God.
  • amyreafleng
    amyreafleng Posts: 69 Member
    Interesting!! My old scale would vary if I weighed myself twice in a row so I always weighed myself 3 times and went with the middle weight....the new scale will weigh exactly the same 3 times in a row...couldn't figure it out...Thanks!!
  • giggitygoo
    giggitygoo Posts: 1,978 Member
    YES! This drives me mad! Crazy scale. I always weigh holding my 5 pound weight, and then weigh again without it. It's the only thing that will work.

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