[Nofliesonme]

Hi all I'm confused. I have both scales and have weighed myself elsewhere I come up with different weight. Digital at home say I am 113kg, analog say I'm 140kg, digital up town say I'm 118kg. I was 155kg at giving birth to my youngest. I have lost weight. But don't see a huge drop yet everyone else said its soooo obvious which do I believe...I'd like to think I'm the lesser

[dadathome]

I'd say that accurate scales are more accurate and that, given two (which happen to be digital) are pretty close, your analog ones have problems.

Commercial scales (ie. ones you pay money to use) used to need a checks and certification for accuracy on a regular basis - don't know whether this applies now....

[Oriental lily]

My digital scales, no matter how expensive they are,are really inconsistent.

They have variations of up to 3kg in one day.

In my experience analogue is more consistent but harder to read and less specific.

Regarding your issue op, I would use a third scale. Obviously one set is really really wrong!

[Sassy Dingo]

Well digital scales are more precise (being usually that you can weigh 55.5 or something), but accuracy can only be worked out if you get them calibrated.

Have you got some flour or something? Like a 1kg bag? You could put that on and perhaps one will be obviously inaccurate.

But in the absence of anything else, I would go with the commercial scales, as a PP said, they need to have checks for accuracy. Certainly the analogue seems so far different from the other 2 that I think that one needs to be thrown out. So I would estimate somewhere around the 2 lower figures.

But remember to weigh yourself at the same time and under the same conditions every time - I can vary 3kg in a day easily. I weigh myself naked in the morning, before I eat breakfast and after I have gone to the toilet.

[Sofia*]

Wow, that's a big variation!
Seeing as your analogue is so far off the other two, I'd guess that maybe it's faulty.
A few things to try
- weigh something with a known weight (try for 10kg or something, if it's only 1kg it will be too hard to tell)
- make sure you have it on a level, firm surface. Bathrooms often slope, carpet can cause inaccuracies.
- put new batteries in your digital scale.

Really though, scale weight is a pretty fluid number.
If you want to see if your weight is going down (or up!) then just pick one scale and use it in a consistent location at and the same time very day/week.
Remember that your hormones, monthly cycle, level of hydration, whether you've just been to the loo etc will all change the number on the scale and that doesn't necessarily mean that you've "gained or lost weight" in the bigger picture.

I think using clothes (how they fit) or a tape measure is often a better guide than the scales.

[mollybot]

I have just been having this very fight with my digital scales. They vary by up to 2 kilos if I move them an inch to the right or left. Grrrr.

Am using a tape measure - particulalrly as it more accurately reflects how you *look*.

....and I've lost 4cm off my tunny in two weeks ! YAY !

[strawberry blond...]

I would stick with the home digital ones and remember to weigh yourself first thing in the morning after your morning wee.

[GenWhy]

My expensive digital scales vary depending on where they are - if I move them to a different spot they can be 3kg hhigher or lower. My old analogue ones were spot on every time BUT always said I was 2kg lighter than the Drs office ones.

[mollybot]

My expensive digital scales vary depending on where they are - if I move them to a different spot they can be 3kg hhigher or lower. My old analogue ones were spot on every time BUT always said I was 2kg lighter than the Drs office ones.

Well the clearly the Doctor's were out

[Phascogale]

I'd also have a look at where your scales are located. A hard floor will be more accurate than carpet and the floor can't slope.

Agree with using a known weight and comparing and agree that it needs to be a higher weight ie 5-10kg rather than just a one kg. Moreso when you are looking at the analogue scales - digital have smaller increments (that are readable) so you could use a smaller weight for these.

I've always said that my analogue scales were more accurate because my digital ones were all over the place. The heavier you were the more they were out. Which will be another reason why using a higher known weight is relevant.

My husband reckons that my analogue ones are out at the moment (and have been for a while). Realistically if you use the same set of scales (in the same place) that you should see a pattern... even if they aren't truely accurate.

Also unless they are calibrated regularly you are never really sure if they are actually accurate.