Bathroom scale Question
 

I am new to the site as well as to losing weight. I am looking for a new scale. The one I have seems to never give accurate weights. I normally will get on at least 5x til I get the same number more than once.

I weighed at a friends house and weighed less in the middle of the day than I did when I weighed on my scale that morning. I think its time for a new one, any suggestions?

Thanks
~brideinabikini

I seem to be having the same problem as well. My scale used to be a lot more reliable, but now it will go up and down about 5 pounds in the span of a minute. Up down, up down.

I thought it might be the battery, so I put a new one in. It's still having problems.

So, any advice would be helpful to me, too.

I know the body's weight fluctuates and goes up and down in a 24 hour period, so I always try to weigh myself at the exact same time (when I wake up, on Wednesdays) in my night clothes so I'm wearing the exact same thing.

Also, don't rely too heavily on the scale. Let it be a general guide. Don't measure yourself every day (its even posted somewhere in here, not sure where though) Try to measure yourself in inches at your neck, arms, thigh, chest, waist, and hips and then measure again a month later. Also take stock of how your clothes feel.

As for my scale, I have the weight watchers scale. It works pretty well though it has to be a hard surface and not carpeted (we live in a double wide trailor with old floors and I thing that has a lot to do with it) to always display the same number.

i dont think my scales that great, but what i do is i step on it for two seconds, step off it, step on it for 2 seconds, step off it, than repeat that two more times before really getting on the scale to check my weight. Then i usually do that three times and if it stays the same i go with that

Originally Posted by Martina:
I know the body's weight fluctuates and goes up and down in a 24 hour period, so I always try to weigh myself at the exact same time (when I wake up, on Wednesdays) in my night clothes so I'm wearing the exact same thing.

Also, don't rely too heavily on the scale. Let it be a general guide. Don't measure yourself every day (its even posted somewhere in here, not sure where though) Try to measure yourself in inches at your neck, arms, thigh, chest, waist, and hips and then measure again a month later. Also take stock of how your clothes feel.

As for my scale, I have the weight watchers scale. It works pretty well though it has to be a hard surface and not carpeted (we live in a double wide trailor with old floors and I thing that has a lot to do with it) to always display the same number.

I weigh myself every day so the little fluctuations are to be expected. I actually can't remember a time I stepped on it a second time to "check" it. It really never occured to me. I have a Taylor brand... not sure the model. It's glass, has a silver bezel. I've had it years and aside from replacing the batteries--still going strong!

tell me about it!!!
my scales are ridiculous: certain times they tell me that I've put on 10 extra lbs, and other times that I've lost 5 lbs when in actual fact I might have only put on 2 or lost 1.5! Nobody believed how dodgy my scales were until my friend tried them this morning and they kept saying that she had put on 2lbs when we both know she definitely hasn't!
Hmph, and they're only about 7 months old grrr

The best you can do is to do the best you can do with the equipment you've got. Not many of us can afford a retail and/or scientific quality scale, so we need to use what we have as a tool which indicates a downward trend.

In the morning, get up, empty your bladder and strip. Place your scale in exactly the same spot every time. I use a tile in the bathroom floor. Wait for it to zero then step on squarely. Take that number and write it down. Do not repeat!!
You will have removed as many variables as is possible in your situation.

No matter how many pounds this is "off" in the real world, you will be down pounds over time. If my scale has a variable of 1 pound depending on how I stand on it, I'll waiver around 137 today but at goal I'll waiver around 124, right? That's a loss no matter how you look at it.

i weigh myself almost daily.. though i know everyone says not to. i like to see the small losses every couple days.

i refuse to use digital scales. there's always some problem or another with those things, especially if the battery starts to go.

so i used the old fashioned scale that has the little dial you have to move until it's on 0. i weigh myself around noon, but before eating lunch. (right before i get my shower in!)
i'll go in the bathroom, empty my bladder, strip, get the scale out and put it in the same spot each time. make sure the dial is on 0 and then just step on it.

I have a digital Thinner scale, for about 11yrs now I think. It seems realiable. I get the same number as the doctors office.

I'm using the WW digital scale.
You have to make sure the surface is hard & flat.
I suggest weighing yourself once a week on the same day at the same time of the day (early morning) after you go potty & before any shower/food/water. I weigh in bra & panties so I don't have any "variables" like the weight of my clothes etc.

I only weigh in at the gym before I work out. I'm going to start working at a different time now, which means different work out time. Hopefully, the numbers are too different.

I have a Homedics that I love. It's digital and very accurate. It's got tenths of pounds and not just solid numbers. Too bad it's locked in storage 200 miles away and I can't get to it right now. I'm using a cheap version owned by the gal I live with and it's full numbers so it will vary from day to day. I usually feel when it bounces between two numbers it means I'm just over XXX.5 pounds and not the higher number. Example ~ if it bounces between 203 and 204 and finally lands on 204 I figure I'm probably 203.5 or so. It makes me miss my old scale.

i can only check on mondays and wednesdays as well because those are the days im at my house visiting my parents who have my scale. i always try to do it the same time, at around 11 at night, because apparently youre at your heaviest during at night and your lightest in the morning so i dont want to do myself any favors haha

I also have a digital WW scale. I should follow Susan's advice and step on ONCE. Lol, I don't know why but I always step on like three or four times just to make sure I guess. It is usually only a .1 or .2 variation each time I step on, however at my last WI it said 163.5 twice in a row and I was so excited, and for some stupid reason I stepped on again and every time after that was 164.2... I was kind of bummed but oh well it usually doesn't have that much of a variation. I've had it for a few years now and it's still going strong. :)

My scale fluctuates so much. If I don't have it in the exact same spot of the floor every time, I get a different reading. I know it's time for a new scale for me, but I'm just making do with what I have. I like mine b/c it has large digital numbers and a tenth of a pound with it. I think scales need to be calibrated every so often. Only wish I knew how to do it! :)

Up until about an hour ago, I had this old Taylor scale that was horribly incosistant and made it seem as though I was GAINING weight, not losing it; had it not been for measurements and knowing that I wasn't eating anywhere near enough to be gaining weight, I would have really thought that I was putting on pounds and not taking them off!

However, today the EatSmart scale that I ordered from Amazon two days ago got here and it's both accurate AND consistent (I used it to weigh a few things that I already know the weight of). I'm pretty happy with it so far, and I think not worrying about my scale playing tricks on me will be nice for a change!

I also have the Eat Smart scale from Amazon. I got one after I got one for my mom and saw how great it was. I think I only paid around $36 for it but it was very highly rated on amazon for accuracy. It is great becuase you only have to step on it and don't have to "tare" it every time.
Unfortunately, I just went on Amazon and it is out of stock. They had 2 other Eat Smart scales on there.
If you want to look elsewhere, the style I have is: EatSmart Precision Premium Digital Bathroom Scale with 3.5" LCD and "Step-On" Technology. It's black on top.

Hope this helps!

I picked up my digital scale at Target where it was on sale. I usually weigh in the mornings and if I have any inconsistencies with the number I just write down the highest one.

I have a cheapie $10 dial scale from Walmart that I use now. I 'calibrate' it with a 10 pound metal weight disk from my workout room and it's pretty accurate thus far.

definitely check out the weight watchers glass memory digital scale, it's very reliable, measures to .2 of a pound, and only about $40. I saw them at Target recently.

I have the Taylor Body Fat Analyzing scale and it has been very accurate so far. I also like to hop on a couple times in a row and it almost always gives me the exact same reading in a row. No problems so far. The only complaint is that when you push the button to have your fat analyzed, it makes a very loud annoying high pitched beep. The instructions should read: cover your ears, then step on to begin fat analysis LOL :)

My scale is not accurate also. Before I step on it in the morning I tend to put a 15 pound weight on it and make sure that my scale reads the weight as 13.8 lbs. For some reason my scale will say that the weight weighs 13.8 lbs. So I turn the scale on and place the weight on it and sometimes it says it is 12 lbs or 14 lbs so I just wait for the scale to turn off and then I put it back on making sure not to step on the scale till it says 13.8 and then I hop on and thats how I get my weight for the day. If I step on it without using the 15 lbs weight first I get a really low reading for my weight and I prefer to get the real number

My current scale is kicking the bucket. It's a digital that weights only .5 pound increments. It's not behaving properly, even with a brand new battery.

I've been debating between the Taylor 5599, Health o Meter BFM688KD-81, and Health o Meter BFM588DQ-81. Those are the three so far I've seen that looked pretty good. I'd like one that does hydration and bodyfat just because I'm curious as to what it'll say

I can't tell which one is better, they all have good and bad reviews. The Taylor looks like it has bone mass measurements, how important is that to have in a scale? I don't know what that is exactly and if I need to have a scale with that info.

I had been through this problem and it used to make me so mad. I finally just saved up and got a good scale. I did a review of it on my blog.(click here to see it) I love it, it's so accurate, the weight doesn't change when you get on it five minutes later.

The Taylor Body Fat scale is also good. I bought it just to see how it was and it kept up with my Tanita pretty well. I ended up giving it to a friend who needed a good scale.

My scale isn't very accurate, but I bare with it since I don't have the money to buy a new one. But when I'm not in the mood for my scale's BS I choose to take a urine test instead to see how much fat I'm burning. If the test turns purple I'm satisfied, if it doesn't I work out. That way I don't worry too much about what the scale says and I continue to lose weight. The scale is more of a curiousity thing to me now.

Thank you all for your responses. I ended up ordering a Tanita 2001w-b. I ordered this one because the lady I nanny for has this one and it has stayed accurate even after all 3 of her children play with it! She has had it for many years!

Thanks again for all of your input!

Well, I didn't want to deal with my wonky scale any longer. My mom also had a wonky scale. She gets Consumer Reports at work and they had a whole article in the new issue about scales, and the best was a Taylor model.

So we went to Target last night and found the scale, which had Biggest Loser stuff all over the packaging, and we each got one.

It seems WAY more accurate than my old one. For instance, I can step on it, get a number, step off, step back on, and get the same number. That's an improvement! It also lists weight to two-tenths of a pound, where my last scale only gave you your weight in whole numbers.

Yay! Now I'm really excited about my new scale. Oh, and it's glass and sleek, so it ups the decor in my bathroom. ;)

I just ditched my Taylor and switched to a WW. My taylor was up up and then down. It irritated me. I know you shouldn't look at it but I like looking at it. :)