Spring Scale, Digital Scale, No scale?!

Options
I just had about 6 different weights pop up on my digital scale, but my spring scale stayed at the same number basically every time I stepped on it.

What do you use/Do you find it to be accurate/Do you prefer not to use a scale?

Why are scales so annoying? Can't we just get an accurate read every time?

Replies

  • IAmFranciscoB
    Options
    my digital scale will do that from time to time as well. i dont weight often but when i do its at the gym.

    or just walk into a UPS store ask them if you could stand on their scale. im sure theirs are accurate. they have to be its their job
  • stylistchik
    stylistchik Posts: 1,436 Member
    Options
    I like the fact that my digital scale has a bf% reading but I feel like it's inaccurate. I hate to get hung up on weight because I lift weights so I'd rather go by measurements.
  • mamawescher
    Options
    i use a digital i got from walmart. i find that if i lean back more on my heels, it says a weigh a little more. otherwise it is fine
  • quill16
    quill16 Posts: 373 Member
    Options
    I pre fer my digital, but although I weigh everyday, i use it as a tool to look at trends. It can get you crazy looking for a specific number and direct measure of your daily progress. Eat right and exercise and you will see and feel progress. Get a standard of weight at your doc office or other place say once a month.
  • KeriW626
    KeriW626 Posts: 430
    Options
    I have a digital scale it is acurate to my dr.s scale. That makes me happy. Im about to start lifting, so I will add measurments. I am not one of those scale junkies who has to weagh multiple times a day. I do it every monday morning, unless Im away. I assume the scales available to me are not = to mine, so why bother. Good luck in your search.
  • KeriW626
    KeriW626 Posts: 430
    Options
    If your digital scale is going crazy, giving you differant results, in a matter of mins. I would suggest new batteries.
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
    Options
    I just had about 6 different weights pop up on my digital scale, but my spring scale stayed at the same number basically every time I stepped on it.

    What do you use/Do you find it to be accurate/Do you prefer not to use a scale?

    Why are scales so annoying? Can't we just get an accurate read every time?

    I don't like digital, I don't think they're accurate. Step on one time you're 5 lbs more than 2 minutes later... I don't have a scale at all. I plan on borrowing my mom's who lives right down the road. She has a digital one though. When I've weighed myself on it before, I step on it a few times and average what I get each time.
  • czuniga03
    czuniga03 Posts: 99
    Options
    I only weigh at the gym..it's more accurate!
  • SmallMimi
    SmallMimi Posts: 541 Member
    Options
    Any scale can be inaccurate. Our home scales are not professionally calibrated at regular intervals, so over time they will provide inaccurate readings. Even your doctor's or local gym's scale could be inaccurate if it is not calibrated on a regular basis. If a scale has been calibrated it should have a sticker or something to indicate when it was calibrated, by whom and when it is due for the next calibration. Then per NIST (National Institute of Standards Technology) the scale is required to be accurate within a certain percentage depending on the scale.

    Information provided by the wife of a professional Metrologist (Metrology is the science of measurement)
  • kalyn_QT
    kalyn_QT Posts: 273 Member
    Options
    Digital scales kept changing so I switched to a spring scale which I like better.only downfall is if I lose less than a pound I won't know.
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
    Options
    Love my digital from walmart..health o meter. Pretty darn consistant so far.
  • 150930
    150930 Posts: 19
    Options
    i like my digital scale, but what I've come to realize is that the surface upon which the scale rests affects that weight. When my scale is on the tile I am 7 lbs heavier than if the scale is on the carpet or a towel. Needless to say, I love my carpet:-)
  • lausa22
    lausa22 Posts: 467 Member
    Options
    I only have a spring scale. I find it more accurate because it doesn't flucuate for me.
    I went to my doctors once, and they told me I was 5kg heavier than what I was. I went home, checked my scale, my sisters and my boyfriends mum's scale! Nope, I was the same weight I was before I went the doctors!

    So not even the doctors scale is always accurate :)
  • Ahanaz
    Ahanaz Posts: 353 Member
    Options
    I read somewhere that digital scales reacts to temperature in the room and other small stuff like that. also it depended on brand. If you weighed yourself in the morning when it's cool from the night air, it reads differently than if you weigh yourself during the day, yet another number will pop up if you use it in the evening when it's hot inside after the day's burning sun.

    The spring scale (the one's at the gym) are the most accurate and is not depending on anything around it. If you do prefer digital, make sure you use it under same conditions. Same cloths/no cloth, same room temperature, or put it in a room where the temperature stays the same, weigh yourself around the same time of the day, after morning bathroom visit, before breakfast or whatever you decide on. That way you will at least get an accurate change in your weight.
  • krisiepoo
    krisiepoo Posts: 710 Member
    Options
    A spring scale makes me think too much and since I weigh in in the morning when my brain is all fuzzy I need the digital :)
  • tajmel
    tajmel Posts: 401 Member
    Options
    I went through six or seven scales before I bought the one I have now, and every one had that changing weight based on how you stand / where on the floor it is problem. The one I have has to be "calibrated" if you move it (basically you have to let it give you one bogus reading) and then it will give you the same reading no matter how you stand. On amazon, it's "EatSmart Precision Premium Digital Bathroom Scale with 3.5" LCD and "Step-On" Technology". I freaking love the thing.
  • FitBarbie2986
    FitBarbie2986 Posts: 202 Member
    Options
    I have a spring scale & it seems my number on there changes every time i stand on it...i weighed myself on my BF's moms digital scale & kept getting the same number..maybe it all depends on how much you spend on one..i know my spring scale was really cheap ($10-$15)..that was my BF being frugal..haha :laugh:
  • happyfeetrebel1
    happyfeetrebel1 Posts: 1,005 Member
    Options
    i like my digital scale, but what I've come to realize is that the surface upon which the scale rests affects that weight. When my scale is on the tile I am 7 lbs heavier than if the scale is on the carpet or a towel. Needless to say, I love my carpet:-)

    Scales will tell you not to have on any cushy surface, because the scale itself will sink down and it won't be accurate. Heck, I'd weigh myself in a snowbank if I could lose that last 30 lbs :P
  • scrmngdsy
    scrmngdsy Posts: 54 Member
    Options
    Thanks for the feedback and suggestions everyone, very interesting.

    I think it's time I invested in a fancier scale!
  • HorganMom3
    HorganMom3 Posts: 63 Member
    Options
    I went through six or seven scales before I bought the one I have now, and every one had that changing weight based on how you stand / where on the floor it is problem. The one I have has to be "calibrated" if you move it (basically you have to let it give you one bogus reading) and then it will give you the same reading no matter how you stand. On amazon, it's "EatSmart Precision Premium Digital Bathroom Scale with 3.5" LCD and "Step-On" Technology". I freaking love the thing.



    Ohhhh I like the way that sounds :)
    Going to be looking into one of these!!!