How accurate is your scale?

I've been finding that my scale is not exactly what you would call accurate.  I step on, get a number.  Step on again, and get a different number!  It seems to vary up to a pound in the course of just a few seconds - so I know I'm not changing weight...

Have you found this with your scale?  What kind do you use?  (Mine is digital)  If you get different numbers, which one do you choose to use as your official weight that day?

Just wondering if my scale is bad or if this is common.  It's a little confusing!

Thanks!

Do you zero it out before getting on? If you have a digital scale anytime it gets moved it needs to be zeroed out (step on it, let it go to 00) then get on and weigh.

I always do it twice just to make sure, if I get 2 in a row it's good.. Now however if you weigh, then go walk around the house or do something it can affect the number because of the blood flowing around..

Good luck!

HUGS

Krystie

My old scale did the same thing!  And it only measured in .5 pound increments.  My new one measures in .2 pound increments and no matter how many times I step on or off or where I'm standing on it, the weight always comes out EXACTLY the same.

Both my old and new ones were made by Health-O-Meter.  I think the old one was picky about exactly where you were standing on it and the new one seems to not have a "hot spot".

Sorry.. forgot to mention that.  Yes, I do zero it before each time.

My scale sucks. It's an old, cheap-o analog scale and it is hard to read. It will weigh me as 2 lbs different if I move it 2 feet over in the bathroom. I'd love to get a new, fancy one that is actually accurate but I'm afraid it will be terribly depressing to find out what I really weigh, lol. 

at the place where I used to work, a group of ladies went in together and got a high quality digital scale, and everyone was welcome to use it.  (it may have been a health-o-meter, but I'm not sure) - boy do I miss that thing ... here I have an old fashioned analog ... so I only weigh a couple of times a week, and always FIRST thing in the morning ... it's probably not terribly accurate, but gives me a ballpark.  Plus, it is built in to the wall and pulls down like a Murphy bed, so I know it's always in exactly the same spot on the floor! 

I guess I'll have to break down and buy a good one soon.

So... if I wanted to buy a "good one"  how would I know which one that is?  How can you tell before buying it that it is "good"?

I'd like to know what's considered a good scale too. My scale seems to be fluctuating 2-5lbs everytimes i get on it. I can weigh in at the gym, but im really shy:)

I'm sure mine isn't a premium product, but I like how consistent it is!  It's a Health-O-Meter brand that I bought at Wal-Mart for $35.  It will store weight data for up to 4 people and does body fat %.  I'm thinking the body fat thing is a joke though, it's measured me anywhere from 20% to 30% within an hour's time.  The weight is dead-on though.  You don't even have to be perfectly centered on the thing and it registers the same weight every time.

I think I must have the same old one you used to have- it weighs in .5lb increments, and changes between .5-2lbs every time I step on it. I have been averaging them, or taking the median number. What gets me though, is that it has me 7lbs lighter than the scale at my gym. Which is the accurate one? The gym scale is kind of like the doctor's scale- counterbalance weights that you slide over. What is really the proper procedure with those anyways? I fidget until it balances in the middle, but if I go past and it rests on the bottom, I get a bit "lighter" going back to finding the center of balance! Are those scales considered more accurate than digital at home ones? less because so many people are using them in a public club?

My scales moves in .2lb stages,  I step on it twice and if theres a change i try it again, then it usually settles on one weight. i also try to put my feet in the same place every time i step on it.

i have a digital scale as well, although i'm not sure what make it is.

i step on, see a number. step on again, and usually get a different number by about .4 but after awhile i'd find myself stepping on it 6, 7, or more times so i now get on it once, see the number and LEAVE the bathroom.

and i actually find myself happier with that.

I try to test the accuracy of my scale sometimes by weighing myself on a public scale and at home to see if there's a difference.  Usually it comes pretty close, so I guess I'm okay. . . unless the public scales are off, too. . .

My scale gives a slightly different weight (usually within 2-4 lbs) if I step on three or four times in a row, so I try to just pick the middle number.

My scale isn't terribly accurate, but I'm not worried about it. I figure it will still show any major changes. The way I look at it is a few pound fluctuation is normal, this way I won't sweat the little stuff b/c I'll never know if it's me or the scale.

Hey, I've posted this before but if you look at the Homedics site ( http://www.homedics.com/ ) who make digital scales you will see this:

Q: When I step on the scale more than once, I get a different reading each time. Why?

A: The scale will give inaccurate readings if you keep stepping on and off of the scale within a fifteen minute period.

If you want to check your weight multiple times, please wait fifteen minutes between each reading. This allows the scale ample time to reset itself.

 

I agree this is odd, and I can't personally figure out why you would design a scale with this kind of limitation but you might want to try doing your measurements at 15min intervals (perhaps during your morning routine) and see if you get better clustering of results.

To answer your question, if my scale did this I would consider my weight to be a range rather than a number.

 

My scale seems to work horribly. I weigh myself at home and I always weigh 2-5 pounds less then when I get weighed at the doctor or gym.

Ah Ha!  So I didn't gain 3 pounds this week!  I just didn't lose 4 last week!!

I have a digital that I place in the closet and get out every Friday for weigh-in.  Before I left on vacation it showed a dramatic 4 pound loss in 6 days.  Thrilled, I didn't push my luck by stepping on it a second time. 

Thanks for the tips on digital scales.  Mine weighs me the same as the other type of scale at the doc's office.  I would like for them to BOTH be wrong but I'm afraid they are accurate (now that I know the trick).