My scale is so wonky! I had one before this one that I threw out because of the same thing! I bought this one just last week because I needed a scale that was accurate. Now I'm going through the same thing with this new one as I did with the old one.

The highlight of my morning is getting on the scale and seeing if I've lost any--but that has recently been ruined since I'll step on my scale 7 times and get 5 different readings within a 5 lb range! It is impossible to track my progress like this.

This scale is a Taylor and it was about 30 bucks. It kills me that the box boasts how accurate it is against other brands which couldn't be further from the truth! I know that more expensive scales would likely be more accurate but I can't afford to spend 100 bucks on a new scale. I've resigned myself to only weighing once a week as long as I have this scale since I can't take the near heart attack I have every morning with the scale says I've gained 6 lbs from yesterday or lost 4!

What scales are you guys using? Are they consistent and accurate?

No my scale sucks big time...so I, like you, had to be resolved to weighing once a week only and I make sure every condition is the same: on the hallway floor (hardwood), nekkid, at around 10 in the morning, on a Saturday before I do anything else.

I just bought a new digital scale. The brand is Healthometer. It is right on with my doctor's office scale surprisingly! I love it and have not had any issues with it.

You shouldn't move your scale. Regardless of how much you pay for them, they're delicate instruments. I keep mine on my bathroom floor and I only have to move it about 4 inches each time to weigh myself. If you keep it in a drawer, closet, or somewhere else where you will always be picking it up and putting it down, its going to have a shorter shelf life than if it just has a home on a flat surface somewhere.

I hate scales!!!! I have a WW scale I got online at Walmart.com. It was only like $30 unlike a lot of others that are $50+. It is definitely accurate. I actually have 3 scales in total b/c I realized the ones i have are not accurate. I am psycho I know. Good luck. YOu can go to Bed Bath and Beyond and try several out there.

Hope it's ok I am posting here as I am 31 and not a 20-something anymore. I saw the post in the main index and am also worried about this so I wanted to chime in on the topic.

Is your floor even?

I live in a 100 year old apartment that doesn't have an even floor anywhere and I also have a Taylor scale (it was 40 at Target). I too am worried about it's accuracy. I always weight myself in the same place 3-4 times and will be the same weight, however if I move it to a different area of the floor, sometimes I am 6 lbs more!!! I don't know what about the floor impacts it the most and tried to google and couldn't find a solid answer - for example, maybe if my heels are in a lower spot than my toes I will weigh more, but maybe if one side of the scale is higher than the other, me weight will cause it to dip down and it will even itself out and be more accurate?

I have the biggest loser scale from target and i really like it. I feel like I get pretty accurate readings.

This might make me a ridiculous nerd but:

Your weight is really just the force of the Earth pulling your body down. Technically it's your mass X the force of gravity. The scale represents a force that's holding your body up (normal force). The number on the scale represents how hard the force must "work" to hold you up. That's why, if you weighed on a scale whilst moving up or down in an elevator, your weight would be much different.

This explains why the scale changes so much. If you stand on it even slightly differently or if it's not completely flat, your readings will vary from weigh-in to weigh-in.

Btw, this is all according to my Physics professor xD

I have a taylor that often likes to give me a completely wrong number the first time i step on it. Then the second time it will give me the real number and it usually sticks to its guns after that. It does often make me wonder if it isn't just totally full of sh**, but the balance beam scale at the gym seems to back it up.

ETA- note that both the Biggest Loser scale and WW scale sold at Target are Taylor brand scales. I have the Biggest Loser one, but I think a Taylor's a Taylor

I have a WW digital scale and it went a tad wonky on me for a week or so but then it straightened itself out lol

It is pretty darn accurate compared to my doctors office and friends scales. I think I paid $30-$40 but it has been a few years now so I am not positive.

I always put it on the exact same spot on the bathroom floor, I line it up with the pattern on the linoleum and can not step on it until I am sure it is exact.

I have a tanita scale that I got like 3 years ago at Bed Bath and Beyond for around 30 bucks and it still works great even though my son broke off the front of it. Now I just have to hit the little button with my toe haha

I have a glass WW scales, the trouble with it is that it remembers my weight from the last time I stepped on it.. if the weight change is a lb or under/over from the last time I was on it, it just registers the old weight. It sucks! So I just step on it w/one foot or something the first time i get on it.. so it registers something else. Then I step on it as I would regularly to get the "new" accurate weight. Its a pain in the butt for sure, Im thinking of getting a new one, but they all have issues it seems.