So, I was visiting my parents' home on Saturday, and while in the bathroom I decided to hop onto the scale and do my daily weigh-in. The scale showed me at about 8 pounds heavier than my scale at home! When I got back to my apartment Sunday night and weighed myself, I was within 1 pound of my weight the last time I used my own scale.

This sort of weight gain/loss seems extreme, and I haven't felt my body changing, so I am figuring that one of the scales must be wrong (most likely mine--I got the cheapest one at Target after being overwhelmed by all the different options).

Now I am worried that my scale at home is broken/inaccurate, and this is bothering me. I've got two questions:

1) How can I tell my true weight? Is a doctor's office scale the only option?

2) For you guys who have used various scales, which ones do you recommend? I went with a dial scale because I figured it made more sense to start cheap and then get a better one when I was really dedicated to my new diet/lifestyle. I was also worried about digital ones because I read several online reviewers saying their digital scale went wonky after several months.

I found that non-digital bathroom scales tend to be inaccurate and very shifty. They are very dependent on the position they are being used in, if they have been moved etc. and they also tend to show the weight inaccurately. I have a sample of 3 mechanical scales - 1 of them shows a pretty close to reality weight, but it's very dependent on where/how it sits, another one adds a few (around 8) lbs, and the newest one I have (brand new) is just completely insane - shows a lot less and it just feels very flimsy.

So I decided I've had it with them, and went and bought a cheap electrical one. If it breaks in a few months, maybe I'll make an investment and buy a more expensive one. A good scale is truly worth it when you're commited to weight loss.

Also, what you could do, when you purchase a new scale, you should go to a place where they have a professional scale (like the doctors, and where I live, bigger drug stores also have them) and cross reference the result you get with your own scale. Then you'll know it's good.

But in the long run, what really matters is for the scale to show the loss correctly. The actual number, be it bigger or smaller than your real weight, is not as important as the fact that you are actually losing and the scale reflects that.

I'm having good luck with a cheap "Weight Watchers" brand/logo digital scale I purchased at Walmart a few years ago.

I went to a Bed Bath and Beyond and tried out all their scales. I bought the one that displayed the lowest weight. It's digital and weighs to the nearest .2 pounds. Turns out it matches my parents' and doctor's scales.

I don't think you need a new scale. Keep using the same one and just make sure the number is going down.

To check if your scale is accurate, get something you know the weight of....like a weight and see if the scale reads it as what it's supposed to be.

Mine's pretty old, but it is a digital scale. A couple of weeks ago at my daughters well-visit to the pediatrician, I hopped on the doctor's office scale! It was within one pound of what my home scale said. So, my home scale is accurate enough. I'm not sure what I'd use at home to test the accuracy of my scale. Let me know what you find out about yours, and good luck!

I'm thinking about buying a new scale that measures to within 2/10ths of a pound, though.

While I understand the desire to know your actual weight if you think about it what matters isn't which scale is accurate but that the scale you're using is consistant. If it is 8 lbs off - so long as it is always 8 lbs off who cares?

Scales are only useful in measuring progress over time.

snowlilly and Amy Remixed, you guys are right, I need to focus more on which direction the scale is going overall. I was feeling frustrated because I just lost my first couple pounds, and finding I weighed more than I thought made me feel like those lost pounds didn't count. This is probably a wakeup call that I need to not focus on exact numbers so much.

luckymommy, that's a good idea! At least I'll be able to know if my scale is consistently inaccurate.

For now, I'll put off buying a new scale. At least until I feel like I'm plateauing and can take comfort in small changes of 1/10 of a pound

I actually just tested mine today by weighing some hand weights. It was bang on!