Scales....which to believe!

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sec2011
sec2011 Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
I recently got weighed at the doctors and was told i weighed less than my home scales told me i did. I always thought my scales at home were pretty accurate, but now i've been to the doctors I'm unsure what to believe. Are doctors scales usually the best to go from? I have scales from weightwatchers at home, and they said i was 6lbs heavier.

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  • careylk
    careylk Posts: 7
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    I would go with the doctors scales but was it a digital scale? For as much use as a doctors scale gets it may not have been calibrated for a while. I have the weight watchers scale as well and it is pretty accurate. Also I would use the scale at home because that is what you started with for your beginning weight. Have a great day and keep on keepin on!!
  • sec2011
    sec2011 Posts: 8
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    My home scales are digital, but the doctors scales aren't. They are the usual type. I just assumed with people using them all the time they would be kept sharp. I will carry on weighing at home and see what happens.

    Thanks!
  • gilito
    gilito Posts: 5
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    I have always found discrepancies with different scales. Home, at the doctor and at TOPS meetings. So I picked one. The official weight is TOPS. I still weight myself at home but I know it will be more at TOPS. Just don't worry about the difference. If we loose weight at home, we will loose weight at TOPS and at the doctor... right?
  • sec2011
    sec2011 Posts: 8
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    Yep we will do! I was excited for a minute because i thought i was even closer to my next milestone lol. Maybe soon!
  • emnk5308
    emnk5308 Posts: 736
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    Test your scale.. here is what I did..
    I got on it and wrote down what I weighed.. without changing anything I picked up a 15 lb weight my boyfriend uses..
    I wrote down that weight..
    My weight with the scale was 15.3 lbs different. =) Pretty accurate I would say!

    Usually dr's scales are accurate but your weight does fluctuate.. maybe you were wearing more clothes the first time you weighed? Did you wear a night gown thingy at the dr's? I was wondering why my weight went up 4 lbs after I got dressed.. Jeans are heavy =p
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    I recently got weighed at the doctors and was told i weighed less than my home scales told me i did. I always thought my scales at home were pretty accurate, but now i've been to the doctors I'm unsure what to believe. Are doctors scales usually the best to go from? I have scales from weightwatchers at home, and they said i was 6lbs heavier.

    I would believe the one that you have consistent access to. :P
  • marieautumn
    marieautumn Posts: 932 Member
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    it depends on the time of day you were weighed, what you consumed prior to that, etc...if it was just a couple pounds i would split the difference. its most accurate to weigh yourself in the morning, before consuming anything, completely naked in my opinion.
  • Swissmiss
    Swissmiss Posts: 8,754 Member
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    I would just stick to one set.
  • Sierra_419
    Sierra_419 Posts: 201 Member
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    i think the doctors scales just estimate... when i get weighed at the doctors they dont let the balance even out all the way before they record the measurement.. so it may be a couple pounds off.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    I'm wondering about this too. I recently went to the doctor said I weighed 5lbs MORE than my home scale says! I wanted to cry, but I mentioned it to the nurse and she made a comment like, "Oh yeah, that's just the scales we have around here." It made me feel better but I'm still paranoid!

    I decided to focus more on measurements than the scale. Also, if the number on the scale is going down, I guess it doesn't REALLY matter what your weight is... as long as you're heading in the right direction.
  • Jessica_Laraine
    Jessica_Laraine Posts: 12
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    I work in a doctor's office and our scales are off all the time. We have 3 different doctors in our suite and none of the scales are the same. I would track your weight loss on the same scale you've been using because all of them are different.
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
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    I recently got weighed at the doctors and was told i weighed less than my home scales told me i did. I always thought my scales at home were pretty accurate, but now i've been to the doctors I'm unsure what to believe. Are doctors scales usually the best to go from? I have scales from weightwatchers at home, and they said i was 6lbs heavier.
    So if you go by the Dr. scale will you just weigh once a year? Did you weigh at home and then go right to the Dr and weigh?
  • katejkelley
    katejkelley Posts: 841 Member
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    I once saw two doctors, one right after the other, but in different clinics, so both made me weigh in. Both scales had a different reading. I don't think just because a scale is in a doctor's office, it is necessarily true. Think of all the people who get on them every day. Human error abounds! My home scale is a Weight Watcher's digital scale, and I think it's pretty true (even if I don't want to agree with it all the time!).
  • ChristySeeksBalance
    ChristySeeksBalance Posts: 43 Member
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    Does the actual number really matter that much? I figure I'm better off using the same scale at the same time of day, wearing the same amount of clothing. That way even if it's not 100% accurate, I should be able to accruately track my progress.

    That, plus my doctor's scale is a big fat liar.
  • kimwillis1968
    kimwillis1968 Posts: 5
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    Everywhere I am weighed, it is different.

    Every Doctor's office is different.....it is all about when the scales were calibrated.

    I go based on my scale becasue that is what I started with.

    Good Luck!!!!
  • sec2011
    sec2011 Posts: 8
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    I was at the doctors first thing in the morning, and made sure i hadn't eaten or drank anything. My clothes were only lightweight trousers and a cotton top. I usually only weigh myself in the morning, due to eating etc adding lbs.
  • sec2011
    sec2011 Posts: 8
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    I go to the doctors every 6 months, was just shocked at the difference....lol.
  • htmlgirl
    htmlgirl Posts: 314 Member
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    I just try to ignore what the doctor's scale says because
    1. it's usually in the afternoon and I have already eaten and drank at least a bottle of water by then
    2. I'm wearing clothes at the dr and depending on what I'm wearing that'll add weight
    3. It's not a consistent weighing and who knows if the scale is accurate or not

    I like my new dr because he just asked me how much I weighed so I didn't have to worry about that.

    I would take something you know the weight of (such as ... weights) and see what the scale says.
  • saragato
    saragato Posts: 1,154
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    I work in a doctor's office and our scales are off all the time. We have 3 different doctors in our suite and none of the scales are the same. I would track your weight loss on the same scale you've been using because all of them are different.

    I've never trusted a doctor's office scale, especially the ones that require the nurse/nurse's assistant to slide a little thing down a line to try and balance it. So many times they never do balance it and let it dip heavy. The digital one at my primary physician's has always put me between 15 and 20lbs heavier than I am, but you have to take into account you're also weighing with clothes and maybe jewelry on and that people are on and off that scale daily. I know the scale at my gym, a Health-o-Meter brand, is inaccurate because the area you step on to is torn to shreds.

    With scales outside your home you never know when they were last calibrated/adjusted or how old the machine is. It can give the doctor a good idea where you're at since I know even with that stupid scale my doctor can see in the numbers my loss, but personally I wouldn't rely on them for your own personal tracking.

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