Weight scale giving different readings

[Darren2013]

What can cause a weight scale to give different readings when I step on it a second or third time within 1 minute? I always weigh on an empty stomach with the same kind of clothing but I notice the weight read is not the same. First time it says 233.8 pounds and then a minute later I weigh again and it is 235.6 pounds and then the 3rd time 233.2 pounds. I don't know if it is underdone or overdone but it isn't giving a consistent reading.

 

Also are weight scales at doctors offices regularly calibrated?

[Mr Scorpio]

Your balance and the position of your feet can cause some scales to provide different measurements.

 

You already mentioned the part about weighing yourself on an empty stomach. As a follow-up to that, your best bet is to weigh yourself in the morning before showering and eating/drinking anything and after do-do's.

 

Beyond that, you could also weigh yourself three times throughout the day and then record the average of those figures.

[Art_Critic]

air... breath out when standing on scale

 

I would guess the scale you have is subject to the weight change from leaning.. try leaning to the left or right once and see if it changes.. a new scale might be the fix if it bothers you too much

[Imported]

That's off by a lot. Is it not a digital scale? I think most digital scales now read back the same weight from the last reading unless it's off by X amount......to give the illusion that it reads the same everytime you step on/off.

 

If you're looking to buy a new scale, I really like the fitbit Aria

 

Amazon.com: Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale, Black: Health & Personal Care

 

I am all about tracking my weight and now "bodyfat". I use to weigh myself and then manually enter the info for tracking purposes, now the scale just does it automatically for me through wifi. It's linked to my home network and uploads weight, bodyfat and BMI to fitbit's servers and I can use fitbits app or webpage to view it in a nice graphical representation or a number of other popular apps that can access fitbit's servers.

 

 

I don't think the "bodyfat" reading it gives is accurate for what your bodyfat actually is, but the flucuations I see from it is very inline with how my body feels, so I think it is actually very consistent, which is actually useful info.

[FitChick]

My scale does that. I don't take anything it tells me as gospel. Tape measure is more accurate. Scale is more for tracking trends, not exact weight. Grab the flab around your waist and you will know if you need to diet.

[Darren2013]

Interestingly enough this morning the scale read 229.2 pounds. Now under normal circumstances I would find it hard to believe I have lost that much weight in a week's time especially after eating all that rich thanksgiving food yesterday. But that reading may not be inaccurate because I also judge how my pants feel each day. Believe it or not they don't feel any tighter today than yesterday.

 

I would expect my weight to at least be going up a little after yesterday but it didn't. The only reason I am able to keep my weight steady or even slowly lose the weight in spite of eating a big meal is because the cancer is still in my system. So I guess one benefit of having this cancer if you can call it that is that it has done the job over the past 8 months of shedding some weight that I can afford to lose. That's fine as long as I don't get too skinny down the road.

 

I have added high iodine foods to my diet in an attempt to slow it down. I am still young and at 34 years of age I have a robust immune system that can hopefully slow down the progression of it for awhile. I'm still able to live a fairly normal life and the symptoms are mild.

[Darren2013]

This morning I weighed 228.6 pounds. 228-229 pounds has been consistent reading the last 4 days.

 

But yeah it does make a difference how I lean on the scale and I made sure to keep the same posture. When I went to my doctor last Thursday I was 230.0 pounds so it seems to be accurate with the weight at home. Only reason it was a little more at my doctor visit was because it was afternoon and I was not on an empty stomach.

 

But even if I don't get it down to an exact weight I can still tell over time what is basically happening with my weight as the range changes.

[deathandtaxes]

This morning I weighed 228.6 pounds. 228-229 pounds has been consistent reading the last 4 days.

 

But yeah it does make a difference how I lean on the scale and I made sure to keep the same posture. When I went to my doctor last Thursday I was 230.0 pounds so it seems to be accurate with the weight at home. Only reason it was a little more at my doctor visit was because it was afternoon and I was not on an empty stomach.

 

But even if I don't get it down to an exact weight I can still tell over time what is basically happening with my weight as the range changes.

 

Doctor's scales meh. If you want decent readings at home, get a good scale.

[thefooloftheyear]

Nothing you can buy at the local drug store or Wal Mart is going to be all that accurate...Just like just about everything else made today, its overseas sourced throw away junk...

 

Best you can do is several repeated tries to see if there is repeatability...Or just use the mirror and your pants to determine whether you are losing weight or not...I can usually tell by looking at my definition how much bf I am carrying and my weight within 1-2 lbs anyway...

 

TFY