[Misora]

My mother bought herself a new scale and one of the things we noticed right away is that her scale reads like 5lbs heavier than mine! They're both digital scales but mine has more features like tracking weightloss over time for up to 4 people and body fat. Having said that mine does occasionally give really weird readings the first time you use it . Like it might say that you lost 15 lbs yesterday but if you reset it and make sure its positioned correctly on the floor it gives a reasonable answer. I'm just curious if anybody knows how electronic scales are calibrated and how to tell if one's good or not. I think I migh just slip into the gym at work one morning before breakfast and try their counterbalance scale to see whose scale is closer.

[mkmlaw]

I'm not sure about the calibration issue, but I wonder -- are both the scales on the same type of surface? Tile (large vs. small), wood or carpet?

I have large (12x12 inch) tiles in my bathroom, but found that when my Tanita digital scale was sitting on the crack between tiles, it was much more generous with my weight (i.e., I thought I weighed less). Now I make sure to position it on a single tile and it seems much more accurate.

Also, I frequently had to weigh on a digital scale for work (we had a biggest loser competition) and most weeks they had it set up on carpet. Each of those weeks, I weighed about 2 pounds less than the reading on my scale -- but the week they stuck the work scale on a hard surface, I weighed the exact same amount.

[HungryHungryHippo]

I calibrate mine every so often using dumbells.

[prinny]

Originally Posted by HungryHungryHippo

I calibrate mine every so often using dumbells.

this

[Jacque9999]

I weight myself on one scale and one scale only. It is in my bathroom and it is digital. Even when I was at the doctor's a few months ago, theirs said I weighed more HOWEVER it also resulted in the same amount of pounds lost that mine says. Have never calibrated it or anything. But my true test of my weight is how my clothes fit. I don't weigh everyday...did that for years and it didn't work for me. As soon as I went to once a week, I really saw results. Don't know why, but it worked.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by HungryHungryHippo

I calibrate mine every so often using dumbells.

cant believe this has never occurred to me lol great idea!

[rblace87]

I have a similar issue. My fiance and myself have been weighing ourselves on a non-digital manual (not sure if that's what it's called) scale for the past few years. Well this Monday, my fiance decided to buy a new digital scale because he thought the one we've been using is inaccurate (even though I was pleased with the readings). Anywho, Monday morning I weighed myself on our old manual scale and it said I weighed about 145 well the next morning I weighed myself on the new digital scale on the same surface as the other scale and it read 147.8 and than it read 148.2 about 3 minutes later without me even moving it. Then yesterday morning I notice a similar pattern but this time it would read 146.8 than 146.2. Finally this morning I hoped on the digital scale again and it was jumping from 147.2 to 148.4. I know I'm standing on this thing correctly because it gave me multiple readings of the same numbers on each trail. Anywho, after I got those readings on the digital scales I was VERY disappointed so I decide to hop on our old manual scale and it read 144! Now I'm so very confused what I should go by... My fiance is convinced the old scale is broken but every time I used it, it seemed very consistent. I know I'm not retaining any water since I just got over my TOM and have been peeing every 30 mins (TMI sorry). I also haven't been eating over 1100-1200 cals a day! I don't know what to do. Should I just go by the old scale or should I believe the new digital scale and go by that?

[Misora]

Dumbells it is! Yeah the scales are on the same wood floors and honestly I'm happy as long as either scale is moving in a downward direction from the same time last week. Weighed myself again today on my mother's and it's consistant with yesterdays. I weigh daily not to actually track my progress but it's part of my morning mindfullness routine.