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I Hate Our Scales!

FatBadger

Member
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12
I hate our scales.
I know that sounds like the setup for a jokey poke at not liking what they keep telling me and that they are in league with the mirror at the top of the stairs which has someone else living inside it, who keeps stepping into view at the same time I arrive, but clearly isn’t me. (I will catch him out one day. I’ll sidle up to that mirror all sneaky like and he won’t be there and I’ll have been right, yes right all along.)

But despite how it sounds, this isn’t a setup for some witty rant about those two, liars though they are. But actually to ask you folks if you use scales that you swear by and would highly recommend as I’m honestly not so happy with the ones we’ve had over the years.

We’ve had our current ones for about five years now I suppose. They’re digital, which was supposedly to avoid the difficulty of reading the result on the old fashioned type and were a replacement for another digital set I’d fallen out with. But not to digress… if I step on them now, I’ll get a weight. But if I weight a few moments and try again, I’ll get a different weight! And depending on what mood the thing is in, these might be wildly different! Leading to a frustrating third attempt, to see which of the other two it might be most similar to!

If I weigh a two pound bag of flour on our kitchen scales, it’ll say two pounds. (Not that we have a two pound bag of flour in the house anymore.) And if I then weigh it again, it’ll say two pounds! Because of course it bleedin will, because it’s a two pound bag of flour! This apparently is too much to ask from bathroom scales!

Since my diagnosis four weeks ago now, I’ve vowed to be kinder to my mental health, by stepping on the scales once and once only and I’ve stuck to that, I have. But then this morning it all went a bit pear shaped! First I forgot to have the light on. So it was dim and I couldn’t make out where the reading was going. So I lent forward to better see, which of course upset the scales and skewed the result.

Cursing, I turned the light on, waited a few moments and started again and this time it told me that since last Saturday I’ve lost A STONE!! For goodness sake. I walked away and tried again five minutes later, this time I’d lost six pounds. Tempted as I was to believe that one, I waited again and on the next try it said I’d lost two pounds. I can believe that, it sounds about right so that’s what I’ve settled on.

Anyway… my question is, what do you folks use? Does anyone have a (hopefully not expensive) recommendation for a make of scales that might just reliably offer me the curtesy of an accurate measurement. You know….. the same way our £3.50 kitchen scales would do for, a potato? Not that we have potatoes in the house anymore either…… Ah, chips.

Badger
 
if I step on them now, I’ll get a weight. But if I weight a few moments and try again, I’ll get a different weight! And depending on what mood the thing is in, these might be wildly different! Leading to a frustrating third attempt, to see which of the other two it might be most similar to!

I know exactly how you feel.

Mine are like that too. The different readings can be out by several hundred g. The worse thing is when I take off some clothing and I then weigh more. :bigtears:

Honestly, I'd suspect that the only way to get a correct reading would be to use a balance scale where you add weights on one side to match your own. However, in the absence of that, I'll eagerly await to see any suggestions from others as to how to find a decent digital set of scales with a reproducable result....
 
Nothing helpful from me I'm afraid. But both your experiences make me happy that the only scales I use are the hospital ones once a year, because apparently my endo likes to know exactly how fat I am. Fine with me, but not really necessary, I can see I'm fat just fine without scales. And while I'm surprisingly good at adjusting my eating to keep my diabetes happy, I have no self control at all when it comes to adjusting my diet to see if I can lose weight, so no need for scales.

I'm a bit worried about your golfer though. He must have been growing and shrinking like crazy this morning!
 
Your experience with digital scales sounds the same as mine. At the time, a family member had to weigh themselves every morning and evening and record their weight for the nurse, as medication would be changed every few days based on this, so it was very important to get accurate readings. We had a set of the old fashioned scales, but my relative couldn't see the dial accurately enough, so we got some digital ones, and had to return them for the same issues you've got. Tried a second set, with the same results!! Returned to using the good old fashioned set with someone else taking the readings.
 
Hi, I've found with digital scales it is important that they are on a solid level surface, if they are on carpet, cushion floor etc you are almost always guaranteed that no two readings are alike. We have ours stood on a wooden board which seems to have resolved this problem and they now give consistent readings.
 
Our digital scales also need a flat, hard, level surface, also you have to stand in exactly the same spot to get consistent readings. I line my big toes up about an inch away from the display.
I have no idea if they are accurate though, maybe next time I get weighed by the nurse I'll compare results. If the results are way out, I'll go with the lower result!
 
Thank’s all
The bathroom floor is “technically” cushioned I suppose…. If it is though, it’s so very thin I can’t see it counting. I’ll give putting a board under it a go though. Great idea and can’t hurt eh?

Mine are like that too. The different readings can be out by several hundred g. The worse thing is when I take off some clothing and I then weigh more
Lol

I'm a bit worried about your golfer though. He must have been growing and shrinking like crazy this morning!
Gawd bless elastic waisted trousers guv!

Badger
 
I don't use scales at all. Too much bad vibe from the long years of calorie-counting and stressing about every pound (lb). My clothes tell me how much weight I've lost. I do empathise about the (insert swearies of choice) mirror. I have one of those too. But the clothes - and especially the belts - don't lie.

We are all beautiful. A murrain on shifty scales and dodgy mirrors.
 
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