Accurate scale?

[lonewolf]

I searched the site, but didn't really find anything....

I'm looking for a nice, accurate scale, that doesn't cost a fortune. I'd like a digital one, as that's just easier for me with my bad eyesight.

I have a cheap digital scale from Wal-Mart, i think I paid $20 or so for it. Unfortunately, it's not very consistent. I can get on it 5 times in a row and get a couple different weights.

Thanks

Sue

[Goat Lady]

Stand on all of the scales in the store and read which one is the lowest!!! :lol:

No, just kidding! I have a cheap one too but I just go by what the lowest number is after stepping on it 3 or 4 times and it reads the same twice!

If you find one...let me know...I'd like to know too! :)
(Sorry I wasn't much help!)

[Qmass]

I got a Taylor Lithium digital scale at Walmart for around $22. It has always given me a consistent reading. I always get on it twice in a row, every morning, and it's never given me an inconsistent reading.

[nets33]

Any scale will give you varrying readings. I usually weight twice and take the average...

But what I'd really tell you is to hide the darn thing away and only get on it every four weeks. Take the time to measure yourself instead of relying on the scale.

Just my $.02

[puddypark]

I have an ancient dial scale --the dial never does sit straight on the zero! I guess I will try the Taylor Lithium!
THANKS!

[adkpam]

I'm sure you are going to buy the scale....

But I just have to back up nets33! Throw the old one out and DON'T BOTHER.

Just go by pant or belt or whatever piece of non-stretchy clothing works for your trouble spots. That's how I did it, and here's why:

*Low carbing can have you shrinking without the scale budging. This is very discouraging unless you really keep track of just how baggy your clothes are getting.

*The scale fluctuates all the time. Especially for ladies. It can vary several pounds and mean nothing! Why trust it?

*Scales lead to cheating. Come on! Who hasn't positioned themselves near a handy towel bar, where you "balance" yourself? Or the ever popular leeean, to the right or left. There is no point, yet we all do it.

*Low carbing makes us denser. Everyone agrees. If you get fixated on the scale (that's just numbers anyway) you'll lose sight of the fact that you are actually a size X! Which is, after all, more of a goal that just a number.

I say, break the habit!

[Galadriell]

I have an ancient dial scale --the dial never does sit straight on the zero! I guess I will try the Taylor Lithium!
THANKS!I have lost 50 lbs, and maintaining weight easily (means stress free) stepping ONCE a month on a $4.99 DIAL scale from Target.....

[lonewolf]

Well, i do measure - i do that weekly, and i know my clothes are fitting better (some are falling off now), but i weigh myself every morning. It's just what i'm comfortable with as far as my diet. I just need a more consistent scale.

Sue

[kimberlyw]

Accurate scale: No such animal. Track inches! It's better and you can SEE the results consistently and they don't change GO UP unless you REALLY gain.

What I do: I add up all the inches from ONE arm, ONE leg, waist, hips, chest together. Then I determine what I would like those areas to measure (my arm and leg are just guestimates, which may be adjusted later) and then I subtract the lower sum (goal) from the higher sum and then I track THOSE inches.

If you need help setting up an INCHES tracker, PM me and I will write out how I did mine.

I just didn't want to write it all out here if no one's interested. :D

~Kimberly

[Ptrcmcc6]

One person that posts here told me she bought a Tanita scale from Amazon.com for $29.00 she believed it cost. I think I am going to look into that one and probably purchase it myself. She says it its pretty accurate. I need a scale to step on to show me my progress.

Patty

[puddypark]

Well I bought the taylor lithium yesterday despite the naysayers...I am warning anyone think of purchasing a new scale----YOU WEIGH MORE ON THE NEW SCALE---DOGNABIT!!!
Tho the only thing I can say is--maybe now I won't weigh more at the doctors office???? URGH!

[Ptrcmcc6]

I heard the same thing about the Tanita scale. The person who had bought it said it showed 2 lbs more than she had thought she weighed. Oh well........gonna get one anyway. Tired of playing with that little dial on mine to get it to "0" all the time.

[puddypark]

Patty--you are funny--I was sick of the dially thingy too! Another reason I bought the new scale --trying to update and be with a bit more modern than I sometimes have the tendency to be!

[lonewolf]

I do have a little table/chart thingy I made to track my measurements. I just like keeping track of both.

Thanks

Sue

[Athena123]

I bought a new scale last week from kmart. They had a big selection of scales 10% off. The brand is healthometer and it's a digital lithium scale. I don't see a model number, but it must be their version that's endorsed by Denise Austin because she's on the box and so i her signiture. It measures weights up to 350lbs. I paid $31.49 for it on sale and it's normally $34.99. I love it! It's accurate giving me the same results even if I step on it 3 times in a row. It also measures by .2lb increments and I like that because I don't always lose or gain a whole pound at a time and seeing or not seeing any change is SO frustrating to me so the small fluctuations are nice. I like seeing that I've lost each day even if it's only .2lbs.

[LoriAnnie]

----YOU WEIGH MORE ON THE NEW SCALE---DOGNABIT!!![/QUOTE]
lol!!!! I bought a new scale yesterday before I read this thread, and that is so true!
Lori

[liz175]

I bought the cheapest digital scale they have at Target. It is much more consistent than any analog scale I ever had, although far from perfect -- I can get different readings within a pounds of each other if I try. However, if you are going to obsess over a pound, one way or the other, your going to get into trouble using a scale (as some people have already suggested). Whenever I go to the doctor I am within a pound or two of what my home scale says.

For whatever it is worth, I strongly disagree with the advice to throw the scale out and not get a new one. I didn't have a scale for years and I steadily gained weight. A scale makes us face up to reality. On the other hand, I think we all need to learn not to obsess over a couple of pounds on the scale. We need to learn what is a normal weight fluctuation for our bodies. If the scale goes up two or three pounds, I figure that is just water and it will come down again, because I know that is a normal fluctuation for me. More than that and I know I need to closely examine what I am eating and get back on track before my weight starts to really balloon up.

[wbahn]

I like seeing that I've lost each day even if it's only .2lbs.

You might be setting yourself up for problems if you aren't careful. What happens when it shows that you've gained 0.2lb a day - or more. Remember that a single cup of water is 0.5lb! The shifting water balance due to exactly how much salt you consumed the day before can easily account for more than 0.2lb.

Scales are very useful devices but they have to be used within a rational perspective. For most people, variations of a few pounds - up or down - is meaningless. For someone at my weight five pounds and even as much as ten pounds doesn't hold much meaning.

Any measure - especially one that we take every day - is going to give us misleads on a fairly regular basis. Despite what someone else said, measuring inches (which, in almost all ways, is far better than measuring pounds) can give false increases (and decreases) for the same reasons that the scale can. If you retain water for any reason, that water takes up volume and can show up in your tape measurements. Likewise if you get dehydrated for whatever reason. Like your weight, your results will vary depending on how you take them on a particular day, just as standing differently on your scale can produce different readings. Also you measurements, like your weight, will vary some over the course of the day.

Getting back to scales - the best are, bar none, a beam balance. They range in price from about $60 to $150 and occasionally you can find one for the $40 price range. Digital scales exhibit the greatest range of quality from quite decent to absolutely horrid and there is very little correlation between price and quality. The best indicator is to go to a store where you can try them out and try standing on them in a number of different ways (feet together, feet apart, more to the front, more to the back, sideways, diagonally, etc) about ten times and focus on the ones that give you the least variation. Then on those take five to ten readings while trying to stand on them exactly the same way you would normally and again look for the ones with the lowest variation. If you really want to cover the bases, take a brand new and a used, half dead battery with you (most of the scales use a single 9V battery, but that's not universal) and swap out their battery (which may be new or may be nearly dead) with yours and see if the readings shift by much.

Do as much, or as little, of the above as you find reasonable.

If you go to the first page of my journal, you'll find a link to an article I wrote a long time ago addressing this issue. There are some other links there that you might find useful as well.

HTH.

[AmandaLynn]

i dont know that any scale is accurate. i thinks its bad to set them to a standard. every scale i weigh on is different i.e. the one at home and one at each of my dr.s offices. pick one and stick with it...... thats all i know i go by the one at home and track weight loss on it

[Athena123]

You might be setting yourself up for problems if you aren't careful. What happens when it shows that you've gained 0.2lb a day - or more. Remember that a single cup of water is 0.5lb! The shifting water balance due to exactly how much salt you consumed the day before can easily account for more than 0.2lb.



I actually meant it both ways. I definitely go up and down a couple pounds day to day. I know that the scale's not going to consistently show a loss every morning. If I didn't accept that I wouldn't still be trying to change my eating habits and WOL. I just meant that if say the scale said 15lbs one day and 15.6 the next it would be easier for me to accept than 16lbs. I know it's only a small amount, but 16 is a one whole number up and .6 just seems a lot smaller. I definitely know the body's weight fluctuates all the time. I've tested it on numerous occasions- before I use the bathroom and after, before I exercise and after, before I eat or drink and after, etc. I've been at this weight loss thing for a long, long time (at least it seems that way). I know nearly all the dissapointments and frustations the body can produce for one determined to change her ways.

[wbahn]

That's good to hear. There are a lot of people that pass through here that really obsess over any gain at all, hence my concern. And, truth be told, it's easy to obsess over the gains and lack of losses even when you know how the game is played - been there and done that.

[puddypark]

I only weigh once a week for weigh in other than that I hate even seeing the scale!!!

[AmandaLynn]

i weigh every day. i dont know why i just do. its pretty much my only addiction now. i dont obsess over weight changes i just write it all down in my book for observation later on if needed. plus if i lose even a pound it ups my motivation SO much and makes me feel so good. like when i woke up yesterday and lost a pound and woke up today and lost 2 pounds.... now i am on cloud nine and ready to go

[Ptrcmcc6]

Way to go Amanda!! I like to weigh myself everyday also but I only record it on Tuesday after I wake up. It's a great motivater for me also when I see the scale going down. When I see it going up.....I know I have to pull the reigns in tighter.

Patty

[treefrog]

I started another thread asking about scales with body fat capabilities, and someone posted a link with a review/comparison of some scales by Prevention magazine. I found it very helpful, even though only 3 of the scales they recommend do body fat.

Just thought I would link to my thread, for anyone interested. The third post down is the one with the link to Prevention.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=234155

[wbahn]

There's also a link to a discussion about body fat scales and body fat measurement in general on the first page of my journal. You might find some useful, or at least interesting, information there as well.

[AmandaLynn]

my scales are alllllll wacky. weighed this morn and it said 234.5 wanted to show my gma so got back on and it said 236 then got back on and it said 234.5 again.... so i weighed 5 times and took the one it said the most... the 234.5 ......... who knows

[wbahn]

Not surprising - and you did the most rational thing. One thing to consider is that (for the three measurements you gave), the min and max are only 0.5% apart. That's not bad at all.

[lonewolf]

well, I had a doctor's appointment today since I've come down with the flu. The doctors office scale said i was 165, in jeans/shoes/shirt, and my scale at home says i'm 162 in my undies in the morning, so i guess my scale really isn't too far off. It still doesn't give me the same reading every time I step of it, but at least I know it's not horribly innaccurate.

Sue