This is just an impossible task! Basically which scales are the most reliable?

I've had 2 cheapo digital ones this year the lastes ones went a bit mental the other day so I bought some more this morning. The ones I bought are £20 traditional ones and are telling me that I'm 1/2 lighter than I thought I was (which would make sense as the digital ones were going crazy and after 2 weeks of hard work and almost starvation I had managed to put on 2lbs accordint to them....where as these tell me 1/2 stone down, otherwise!)

Anyway, as much as I love what these new ones are telling me, I'm worried that perhaps they're lying also........I'll find out in a weeks time I suppose!

So which scales do you all use? Digital or traditional? which do you find the most reliable. The digital ones I find like to make up your weight each time you stand on them, but the traditional ones I've used elsewhere can sometimes tell me I'm a whole stone lighter. I'ts so

Welcome to 3fc.

I have digital scales made my someone called Salter i got them from argos a few years back , and they are crap. I had my offical weight in with the dr on wednesday adn before i left home i sneaked a peak to see whether it had shifted , well my scales said i was 127.4 which is like 281lbs (20st1lb) and when i got to the dr's i was 126.9 which is 279.7lbs (19st13lbs) so my scales were totally wrong. I have been looking at geting those WW scales cos they give u ur BMI , weight and fat loss or something and they have steady feet on them , although i dont think any are as good as the dr's industrial lokoing ones.

Teresa

I use digital scales. I use the set at the gym, I don't own a pair at home. If I did I'd be hopping on them every day (and probably be in a loony bin by now).

ive got some body fat ones Tantia or something..

IMHO would bother the body fat monitoring is wrong.. not v accurate u should use calipers to measure if u want to know/other methods. ive lost 4+stone... and only 4% fat.... how can that be right!


if u google bmi index then there are many sites to put in your height and weight thats that taken care of!....

Scales are all made differently and so far, none of them give the same results more than once for me, LOL I had an old upright old fashioned scale that seemed to be the best for consistent weigh ins until my 5 year old decided to use it as a launching pad and jump on it as hard as he could. I went to Target and bought a cheapo Taylor digital scale and that darned thing tells me I weigh as many different weights as times I stand on it. It also weighs different in each room in the house. I never realized I could weigh 10 pounds different at different places in the house! I am going to go out and buy a regular old fashioned scale and just use that from now on, I'm getting a bit tired of trying decipher my weight.

I was weighed at my doctors on Friday and came in at 18st 13lb and when I got weighed at home on the same day I was 19st 5lb! So now that I've joined this site I've used the 18st 13lb on my ticker as I'll be going back to the doctors every month for a 'weigh in' and hopefully this will stop me jumping on the scales every day too.

Yeah thats what i do katie they are so much more acurate thean your own scales.

Teresa

Still cant help myself jumping on them every day at home though
I have an appointment with a nutritionist tomorrow at my GP's surgery, dont know if she will weigh me or not

I dont go to the doctors regularly so that is a problem for me. However when I go for my pills they sometimes weigh me and take my blood pressure. Would be quite interesting to see the look on their face, plus I guess I can get some extra diet tips from off the nurse next time im there.

I have normal scales, they are about half a stone heavier than the ones at my fellas house. However, if i get really light using these scales I will be imensely happy when I jump on his! (scales that it!)

LOL we know what you ment Loopy LOL

Teresa

My problem with the difference in weight between mine and my doctors scales is that mine are digital and pretty accurate as they have matched up with the scales at ww - it's my doctors which I believe to be wrong, even though they do show the better weight! But as I'd rather monitor my weight via the doctor that's why I'm choosing theirs ... not cos they're showing lbs lighter honest :-)

Kalijack - when I've seen nutritionists and dieticians (diabetic) in the past they have weighed me so don't be surprised if their figures are different to your own .... good luck with it.

I can stand on my scales three times in a row and get a difference in reading of up to five pounds, five pounds in a few seconds lol. I weighed at my mum's house a couple of weeks ago and I weighed half a stone less, totally confusing hehe.

Scales are tricky things. Different manufacturers use different methods of callibration. Also, which surface you put the scales on affects the reading. Eg I can vary by 3-5lbs if I move my scales onto carpet or an uneven floor.

The best thing to do is to buy a pair of scales (any pair) and record your weight at the same time of day, wearing the same clothes and keep the scales in the same position. Yes some scales can vary by a good 7lbs, I'm not sure how accurate scales claim to be (probably they don't claim it at all) but if one set is accurate to +/- 5%, then that 5% can be quite a few pounds over a few stone. Eg if you actually accurately weighed 150lbs on some properly calibrated scales, then the cheapo bathroom set could have you weighing anywhere from 142.5 - 157.5 and still be accurate to within that 5%.

IMHO I wouldn't worry what the actual number is, as long as it's lower than the last time you stepped on under the same conditions.

Oh and if you get a variation in readings within seconds, then it's either time to change the battery, or time for new scales! I had a nice mechanical pair (£3.50 from Argos) that did me very well until they had me weighing about half a stone lighter the next time I stood on them, then about down to 8st (I weighed 12 at the time!). I wish!

its funny how touchy those things can be .. then they make us very touchy too! .. but yea they say not to move it .. leave it in one place .. odd how a diff spot on a floor can throw it off ..but depending on wether the floor is softer or harder the scale can give different results .. the pressure into the base of what it is sitting on fluctuates .. if the floor is linoleum then it can give a lil when you stand on it .. vs. if its on ceramic tile and doesn't have any cushion. some scales can react that way .. not all I don't think .. but anyways ya get what I am sayin *i hope* .. best thing is to leave it in one spot .. try to weigh at the same time .. if you weigh in the morning you are bsicly empty .. but if ya weigh in the afternoon .. you have your water intake for the day .. food intake .. everything that hasn't digested and is still sittin on ya so to speak .. clothes make a huge difference.. i wear the same thing to my weigh in's at WW every thursday .. i bet they think i only have one set of clothes! but I try to keep it consistent since we have our meetings at 6:00 in the evening! anyways don't know if this helped or not! just a few thoughts

My scales (regular type) are probably totally wrong - they put me at a good 9lbs lighter than my dad's digital scales.
Then again, mine are on tiled floor and his is on carpet.

I just use mine in the same spot at the same time of day and monitor the difference.