Scale Confusion ...

Ok, I know scales aren't the only thing you should count on to see how much weight you've been losing, but I have two different digital scales, and they both report drastically different results - on the same day, at the same time.

So, I got my monthly today, which means (most) of the pms water weight gain should be gone.

I have both of the scales on a flat, hard surface, and used them today, before I ate breakfast and AFTER I used the bathroom. I also weighed with just a light shirt on, no pants.

The "bodyfat" scale (which is "supposed" to calculate bodyfat, but doesn't), reports that I am 201, as of today.

Then I got on the regular digital scale, which reports that I am 193.4! (quite the lowest number i've seen in years) as of today. I've been with CC for a week, and my calorie intake is about 1400.

While i'm glad to be (hopefully) in the 100's, That's a large difference of 7.6 pounds, so I don't know what one to believe. My measurements are mostly the same too.

Can a scale really be off by that much? .. or should I just get a new scale? lol.

It probably just a question of calibration: all instruments are inaccurate and have some sort of error built in. In industry you pay for higher accuracy; with consumer devices you usually pay for style, and it's uncertain whether a more expensive scale is actually more accurate.

The thing to do it not to worry too much about what the scale says, but compare your weight on the same scale to previous days. So pick one and just go with it in consistent circumstances.

Only worry about the few pounds difference once you are around your target weight. I would suggest at some point weighing yourself at a gym or the doctor's (the old-style balances are actually much more precisely engineered than the digital scales you can normally get) and comparing that to your two scales and figuring out which one is closer.

Well, my home scale was off by 15 pounds, compared to the doctors scale. Now that was quite a shock.. i almost cried when i heard the doctor tell me my weight, because i had been weighing myself with one that was 15 lbs off. :(

Bathroom scales are not pinpoint accurate and it's the trend that matters rather than the absolute number.  Pick one set to weigh yourself on and stick with that... 

Original Post by gi-jane:

Bathroom scales are not pinpoint accurate and it's the trend that matters rather than the absolute number.  Pick one set to weigh yourself on and stick with that... 

I completely agree because I had the same problem! If you want to look for other weight loss indicators take measurements weekly and look for downward trends because even if the scale shows that you are not "losing" weight you may still be losing fat. 

I try to avoid the scale other than once a month. That's me. I get too neurotic about the numbers, and it's a trigger for failure for me. Once a month, I know I'll show some weight loss, so, I'll weigh a few days in a row at that point, and then accept the range within a few pounds.

I can tell that my clothing is loose, and my size has dropped. Also, working out and drinking more water creates false impressions. Muscle weighs more than fat, so  you can actually seem to be stagnant, or gain weight, but, it's misleading. If my clothing size is getting smaller, it doesn't matter that the scale doesn't deceive me.

My home scale/s (2 of them) also vary tremendously. I was devasted that my weight at home turned out to be 10-12 pounds lighter than the doctor's scale. I take that into account with my home scale when I weigh, but, generally, I use my home scale as a gauge, not as the number to do BMI.

Best bet is to go to a doctor to get weighed.
Weigh yourself as you are leaving, and then once you can get in the door. (Same clothes, don't drink or eat in between and best if you are driving because you can vary your weight by a bit just from walking)

I recently bought a brand new scale for the bathroom. Turns out it is off by 1.4-1.8lbs (differs the three times I have compared it to the scale I use at my doctors that is calibrated each day using the same 50kg weight)
And I used the scales less than 10 minutes apart!

The important thing, as others have said, is the trend, not the absolute number.  I would get on and off the same scale (with a minute in between) and write down the number.  Then do the same thing with the other scale.  Pick the one that gives you the most consistent number, throw the other one away.  If they both give you consistent numbers, I know I would pick the one with the lower number and throw the other away, but if you care what you weigh "in the real world" you might want to find out which is more accurate as well as more consistent.

Personally, my weight is between me and my scale, I don't really worry about what I actually weigh as long as I am consistently losing.

It's too bad the body fat% scale doesn't work.  I have a Tanita body fat% scale, which although always has me a bit high compared to what I found out at the heath-wellness doctor's, it still is always consistent.  I also twice have been able to compare the Tanita weight to the weight that the HS wrestlers use.  It was spot on both times.  Having said, that, though, I can "jiggle" on the scale and change the reading slightly, or I can weigh 5 or 6 times right in a row to test the weight and get some slightly different readings.  That's just the nature of home bathroom scales.

I very much suspect that 193 is much more accurate.  Just pick that scale, and use that as your guide.

Best of luck in your goals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

True Story: I had been weighing myself using two different machines for about a week and they both started off at the exact same weight. Then one showed me losing what seemed to be about a pound a day, while the other one showed me staying at the same weight for a week. Eventually there was about a 7lb difference and I knew something was fishy. I turned the more pleasant weighing scale around, the one that told me I had lost so much weight, and the battery was dangling down off the bottom. Pushed the sucker in and ... turns out that I hadn't lost a pound a day after all. Maybe a pound a week.