Scale help


#1

I have been weighing myself every three days and I know it’s about messirements but still curious. . I weighed my self at home this am and it said 289 ( just underwear ) I went to Dr. And they weighed me and it said 304. Even taking 3lbs for clothes that is a huge difference . Is there a scale people
Can recommend that will
Give me accurate weight every time I get on an not a pound or 1/2 difference if I get on the off and right back on

Thanks . Sorry about the longest sentence ever


(Joey) #2

Short answer: sorry, but no.
There is no scale that will satisfy your underlying issue.

You do not want to hear this but it’s the truth … your weight will fluctuate all over the map, from driving to the doctor’s office and back even if you used the same scale. Water weight is a significant constant variable, and the more you weigh, the more likely you will see larger fluctuations due to water weight alone.

I know it’s hard to internalize, but focusing on weight is nearly irrelevant in the scheme of things - especially relating to your health, appearance, sense of well-being, etc.

Your weight is a matter of physics reflecting how much the Earth is tugging on you (gravity). You weigh less on the Moon. Again, irrelevant to your larger concerns, no doubt.

There’s a lot of great info on this forum - so I won’t try to repeat much of it here in response. But the more you focus on weight - instead of the things that really matter to your success in restricting carbs - the more frustrated, disappointed, defeated, and demoralized you will feel about the entire project.

Give this thinking up sooner rather and later and you will be paying this sound advice forward to others before you know it. :vulcan_salute:


(Allie) #3

Different time of day, different hydration levels, different food you’ve eaten… not to mention variances between different scales.

Just get a cheap tape measure.


(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

The only truly accurate scale is a balance scale, assuming the weights it uses are accurately made. Any spring scale, including those fancy high-tech digital ones that have replaced balance scales in a lot of doctors’ offices, is inherently less accurate, because the spring is much harder to calibrate. If you’re lucky, your gym has still retained its balance scale.

So that means that, first of all, two spring scales, no matter how carefully calibrated, are not likely to match. The best you can hope for is that their measurements will rise and fall consistently together. You might never know which is the “real” reading, but at least you will know trends. We used to have a scale that consistently measured my weight about 30-40 lbs. (13.6-18.2 kg) lower than it really was. Now we have a scale that consistently tells me I weigh about 100 lbs. (approximately 50 kg) less. I know my true weight from using the balance scale at the gym. It’s a cheaply made scale, but accurate enough for my purposes.

So the question is just how much you want that number to mean to you. Do you care more about achieving a particular weight, or about losing inches around your waist and gaining metabolic health? Would you rather look as though you’ve lost thirty pounds, say, or lose those thirty pounds and still look just as heavy?

By the way, that scale that measured my weight as 30-40 lbs. less? I could get it to read anywhere within an 80-lb. range, just by how I stood on it. And if I measured the lowest weight possible three times in a row (I mean with no more than a few seconds between the different readings), I would still get weights that could vary as much as 20 lbs. Now you know why I gave up on scales and use the tightness of my belt as my guide, instead.


#5

Personal scales aren’t accurate but it’s fine, our weight fluctuates anyway and it doesn’t really matter how much we weight.
The best info for me is how my pants feel.
But if I use my own scale in the same way every day (I never move it), that’s good enough too. Except the scale has a personality and today I weighed myself with and without clothes and it showed the same (and I had pretty much clothes on, the house isn’t warm and the foggy weather makes me colder too).


#6

Thanks , I knew about the weighing yourself it’s just fun to see the scale see less. It was shower this am weigh myself get dressed and go to dr’s . No food water etc .

Thanks the scale info helps .


(Marianne) #7

It’s so true. The best thing I ever did for myself was to stop weighing. The scale is a total mind eff and so detrimental to one’s progress (and that can happen whether the reading is “good” or bad). For most of us with weight issues, there are so many mind games we play with ourselves after weighing. Other than a starting weight 3.5 years ago, the only time I get weighed is at the doctor’s office. I’m perfectly fine - and happier - with that.

Best to you!


(Marianne) #8

Yeah, and those still have to be calibrated every year to ensure accuracy. I worked in a school district and we were required to have that done every year, along with other medical equipment. A bathroom scale - forget it. That can be all over the place depending on how you stand on it, batteries, etc.


#9

Thanks


(Joey) #10

Forgive me for taking this snippet out of context, but there’s no “fun” in weighing oneself. Either a false sense of accomplishment … or crying. Neither is a worthwhile pursuit :wink:


#11

It’s definitely not fun seeing the same number for several years but I can imagine it being fun :slight_smile: It definitely has nothing negative when I do it :slight_smile: Or it’s super rare but not serious even then. I am all for weighing ourself at any time, even multiple times a day IF we can handle it well (it wastes time and makes no sense to do it often but people have stranger hobbies. my SO tends to weigh himself in the evening. I do that too, it’s better for me mentally even though I never had any problem with seeing any number. if I am fat, I see and feel that anyway :smiley: being heavy has not many cons since I don’t even have a motorbike… not like it matter much there but it affects the mileage and keeping that low is a great hobby. and I did joy biking but I can’t help hipermiling is very enjoyable too. not always and not to any extent, of course… but back to weighing myself, I like to see I have a good weight at night :slight_smile: not like it is very informative but I don’t care, it’s just some baby fun. nothing real fun so I almost never weigh myself).


(Rebecca ) #12

Once the darn thing started to predetermine my mood and emotions for the day I threw it away.
At my Physician’s office, I turn around and tell them I don’t want to know my weight.


#13

Weather determines my mood, my scale has zero chance :smiley:
(There is fog since several days, I am a miserable one now. It was the main reason I had any problem with seeing 75kg instead of 73kg on the scale. But it probably will go down. I am super patient, not losing any fat for many years even if I try is my life :smiley: But I have WAAAAAY bigger problems anyway, my extra fat is a tiny little annoyance here and there. That probably matters a lot.)


(Karen) #14

Choose one scale, weigh at the same time every day. I suggest in your pajamas. Make sure scale is in the same spot on the floor. You’re not looking at the weight you’re looking at the change in late. Every school is different


#15

Yes but I noticed if I stand a little different it’s a pound diffrrrncr . I’m 6’2 eith size 13 feet so even a little different foot placement throws it off


(Allie) #16

I can step on mine, off, and back on again - magically lose 3lbs.


#17

Maybe not that much but the same. I typically step on mine multiple times and it usually adds some random weight to it the first time and gives some more consistent numbers later… So I ignore the first and average the next 3 if I am really patient…

My scale has a personality. It’s very stubborn but it doesn’t mean it’s totally reliable. Oh and it just goes off from the zero when empty sometimes…

Good thing I care about the fitting of my pants more.


#18

I think weighing yourself every three days is too often. This is just my opinion mind, but I would recommend weighing yourself once a week or every second week, I weigh myself every second or third week. And though I’m now about a month into keto there has been no change on the scale since my initial 3kg water loss. I tend to fluctuate 2-3 kg anyway and consider this normal. I just use a cheap old scale. What I would reccommend is using a measuring tape, measure once a week or every second week, perhaps take a weekly photo, and keep a weightloss journal. Note down your measurements, goals, achievements, and lastly think up a reward for each achieved goal, to keep yourself motivated. You could also fill the journal with inspirational quotes for strength and further encouragement. The thing I’ve discovered is that making any pursuit of a health goal more of a journey instead of trying to race to the finishing line, makes it something more positive and healing and perhaps also sustainable. Though don’t get me wrong, I understand all about being impatient. That’s just being human in my opinion.


#19

This is the scale I have, no frills, very quick, very consistent. Literally bought it because of all the reviews of being great at the only thing it’s supposed to do. I’ve had all the smart scales and they’re all a waste.

If I get on/off 5x it’s going to say the same thing. Just make sure you’re weighing at the same time everyday in the same conditions.

If you’re going to track weight, weigh daily so you can see trends and pick up on your normal weight fluctuations, which can be 3-5lbs for most. Weighing every 3 will make that hard to zone in on.

One thing I really like about my macro tracker I’m using is it figures out not only your TDEE, but your weight swings so when you weigh in, you give it your scale weight, but it also shows perceived actual weight separately. So I may put in 220.1 one day 223.5 the next day, but it’ll only change my perceived actual weight up .3lbs or so, because it’s accounting for my typically weight swings, which is awesome. Then, if I were to consistently keep reporting higher weights, it’d start raising my perceived weight. Nice to have a sane math backed idea of your weight as opposed to over reacting nothing.


#20

Thanks that is the same scale I have but always different . What macro tracker are you using