stupid scale

Lilith79 said:

I've gotta revamp my siggy.

Michelle
re-started Atkins 1/4/05 (quit 3/01 due to pregnancy)
292/287/175

Might want to reset the month-start for the robochallenge then ;-)

In article <[email hidden]>, momma.of.3
@sbcglobal.net says...

Quoted message said:

We bought a new scale since our old one was screwing up. The old one
was off by 22 lbs!! It was weighing 22 lbs light. Stupid scale. So,
I've gotta revamp my siggy.

YIKES! I went through that when switching scales and found that I was
10 lbs heaver than I thought -- 22 lbs would REALLY [censored] me off! How do
you know the new one is correct? I took my new one to my doctor's
office to compare. When I was looking for a new scale I tried about 20
of them at Kmart -- and never got the same reading twice!

--
Saffire
205/145/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

Saffire said:

In article <[email hidden]>, momma.of.3
@sbcglobal.net says...

Quoted message said:

We bought a new scale since our old one was screwing up. The old one
was off by 22 lbs!! It was weighing 22 lbs light. Stupid scale. So,
I've gotta revamp my siggy.

YIKES! I went through that when switching scales and found that I was
10 lbs heaver than I thought -- 22 lbs would REALLY [censored] me off! How do
you know the new one is correct? I took my new one to my doctor's
office to compare.

Why would you do that?

Just weigh yourself before leaving for your Doctor's office, and weigh
again on the Doctor's scale. You can do the same thing using a pharmacy
scale if you don't have a Doctor's appointment scheduled. As long as you
aren't eating and drinking in between times it will show you exactly how
accurate your scales are.

When I was looking for a new scale I tried about 20

Quoted message said:

of them at Kmart -- and never got the same reading twice!

Once again, if you are buying a scale, drop into a pharmacy (they
generally have *tested* scales) weigh yourself and then go and buy a
scale that gives the same reading. Another thing to be cautious of, is
that many of the less expensive scales vary according to temperature and
humidity. Weigh yourself before showering and then after and the
increased heat and steam has altered the reading. The dearer scales are
temperature compensated and sealed against moisture/humidity.

Be careful also of the body-fat scales that use the small lithium 3v
batteries. They are often cheaper to buy, but need the batteries
replacing at very regular intervals. A couple of lithium batteries every
week or so is both an expense and a nuisance to replace. The scales with
larger, rechargeable batteries or power supplies are a better bet.

Regards

David

--

To email me, please include the letters DNF anywhere in the subject line.

All other mail is automatically deleted.

Saffire said:

In article <[email hidden]>, momma.of.3
@sbcglobal.net says...

Quoted message said:

We bought a new scale since our old one was screwing up. The old one
was off by 22 lbs!! It was weighing 22 lbs light. Stupid scale. So,
I've gotta revamp my siggy.

YIKES! I went through that when switching scales and found that I was
10 lbs heaver than I thought -- 22 lbs would REALLY [censored] me off! How do
you know the new one is correct? I took my new one to my doctor's
office to compare. When I was looking for a new scale I tried about 20
of them at Kmart -- and never got the same reading twice!

I know the new one is correct for a few reasons. The old one my ds had
removed the face off of it. The dial face was shifting. It would take
3 tries to get it to read abov 60lbs.

We had weighed ourselves about a month ago on a professional scale at
the mall (the kind you pay to be weighed on and it gives a print out).
The difference between the readings was minimal-and since we only
started LC a few days ago, that makes sense. There was also a weight
watchers digital scale in the store, out of the box. The reading I got
on it was about the same as the reading I got on the scale I did buy
once I weighed myself at home.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Saffire said:

YIKES! I went through that when switching scales and found that I was
10 lbs heaver than I thought -- 22 lbs would REALLY [censored] me off! How do
you know the new one is correct? I took my new one to my doctor's
office to compare.

Why would you do that?

Just weigh yourself before leaving for your Doctor's office, and weigh
again on the Doctor's scale. You can do the same thing using a pharmacy
scale if you don't have a Doctor's appointment scheduled. As long as you
aren't eating and drinking in between times it will show you exactly how
accurate your scales are.

Because I was going out on errands for several hours and the doctor's
office was in the vicinity of some of those errands (I didn't NEED an
appointment just to step on the scale -- if your doctor's office is THAT
snarky, you need to find a different doctor). Why NOT? That way, you
don't have to wonder if anything DID change in between times. It
doesn't even matter what you actually weigh at that point, just that
they weigh the same or that you know what the difference IS if they are
not. I also found that, even with different scales giving different
weights, just putting a 10 lb weight on it usually WAS accurate for that
10 lbs, but with the much higher weight of a PERSON on it, it would
differ.

Quoted message said:

Be careful also of the body-fat scales that use the small lithium 3v
batteries. They are often cheaper to buy, but need the batteries
replacing at very regular intervals. A couple of lithium batteries every
week or so is both an expense and a nuisance to replace. The scales with
larger, rechargeable batteries or power supplies are a better bet.

I have a Tanita that is solar powered -- all I need is a light source
(the bathroom light works just fine in that regard). It doesn't do a
body fat measurement, but I wasn't interested in that anyway -- I'll
have as much body fat as I have when my body gets to a point where I'll
decide to go into maintenance. I'm doing my best not to lose lean body
mass and that's enough for me to know.

--
Saffire
205/145/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

"Perdu Conundrum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 12:24:55 -0800, Saffire
<[email hidden]> Cried out loud... :

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, momma.of.3
@sbcglobal.net says...

Quoted message said:

[snipped]

I've just read up on a lot of consumer reports and comparisons. There is

a

Quoted message said:

scale on Amazon that is consistently in the new as being incredibly
accurate and it also does the Fat% for you. I'm going to cough up the

bucks

Quoted message said:

for it.

All my life I had been [censored] at scales that would not repeat, defeating
the whole purpose. I'll report on it. It's the "Tanita BF679 Duo Scale

Plus

Quoted message said:

Body Fat Monitor." It's like 45 bucks on sale. Plus shipping. Oh well.

[snipped]

The current Prevention Magazine has an article/comparison on a number of
scales. Almost made me want to go out and buy a new one.

Perdu Conundrum said:

I've just read up on a lot of consumer reports and
comparisons. There is a scale on Amazon that is consistently in the
new as being incredibly accurate and it also does the Fat% for
you. I'm going to cough up the bucks for it.

If you want accurate and dependable, and you're willing to pay for
what you get, get a beam balance scale - the type your doctor's office
uses. We got one a long time ago, and I can't imagine why anyone
serious about their weight would buy anything less. I mean, how often
does GRAVITY change? Yes, $150 is a lot for a scale, but you'll never
regret it, and you'll never have to buy another one.

As for %bf, spend $30 and buy a set of slimguide calipers. They're
nearly as accurate as the gold standard calipers, and far more
reliable than the expensive bioimpedance devices. And they directly
measure the thing you're interested in - how much sub-q fat you have
(rather than measuring the resistance of your body, and deducing how
much fat you have).

When I was shopping for a decent scale at Fry's electronics, I jumped
on about 20 scales. My weight fluctuated as high as 16 LBs.

I bought the scale that read the same weight as my doctor's and the one
at the gym.

Home scales are all stupid and never accurate anyway. On a home scale,
weigh yourself, get off and on by holding a heavy book, get off and
on a gain by hanging onto something to appear lighter. Then jump on again
you'd get a totally different reading from the original MOST of the time.

Also, scales that are digital have computer programs in them that
do reading optimization. Supposedly they are accurate down to 0.5LB.
[censored]. Weigh yourself with clothes that weigh about 1.5 LB, take
off the clothes and jump on again. It reads the exact weight.

What happened to the 0.5LB accuracy? It's a bunch of BULL.
The software remembers your 1st weight, and the 2nd time you
jump on , it recognizes the closeness in weight. To less embaress
the company, it gives the same weight.

You can fool it by holding onto something and holding a book.

Being a software engineer, I know where a programmer that
wrote that software is coming from: Saving the company's ass
because the 0.5 LB accuracy is false.

J.

"Lilith79" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

We bought a new scale since our old one was screwing up. The old one was
off by 22 lbs!! It was weighing 22 lbs light. Stupid scale. So, I've
gotta revamp my siggy.

Michelle
re-started Atkins 1/4/05 (quit 3/01 due to pregnancy)
292/287/175

I love the balance scale-all scales need to be calibrated to start with, and
make sure nothing is under the scale- like a penny/unleveled surface that
would throw it off. dropping a 50lb weight notch was cool! my weight is now
in the same position as when I started- minus 1 big notch and I can watch it
go to the left again.

I researched body fat scales this Christmas for my daughter- Tanita invented
the technology ( it claims) and got her the one that weighs water weight
also. She likes the BF feature- but says the water weight is confusing and
she hasn't figured that out yet.

I still will use the balance healthmatic-

--
Diane

"DJ Delorie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Perdu Conundrum said:

I've just read up on a lot of consumer reports and
comparisons. There is a scale on Amazon that is consistently in the
new as being incredibly accurate and it also does the Fat% for
you. I'm going to cough up the bucks for it.

If you want accurate and dependable, and you're willing to pay for
what you get, get a beam balance scale - the type your doctor's office
uses. We got one a long time ago, and I can't imagine why anyone
serious about their weight would buy anything less. I mean, how often
does GRAVITY change? Yes, $150 is a lot for a scale, but you'll never
regret it, and you'll never have to buy another one.

As for %bf, spend $30 and buy a set of slimguide calipers. They're
nearly as accurate as the gold standard calipers, and far more
reliable than the expensive bioimpedance devices. And they directly
measure the thing you're interested in - how much sub-q fat you have
(rather than measuring the resistance of your body, and deducing how
much fat you have).

diane said:

also. She likes the BF feature- but says the water weight is confusing and
she hasn't figured that out yet.

IMHO the bioimpedance scales are good for one thing only - monitoring
water retention! Plot %bf and weight each day for a while, and watch
for this trend - %bf changes for no obvious reason with no weight
change, and a few days later you get a whoosh. If you start seeing
this trend, you'll be more comfortable with the idea that your weight
loss is going to be cyclical due to water retention cycles.

DJ Delorie said:

diane said:

also. She likes the BF feature- but says the water weight is confusing
and
she hasn't figured that out yet.

IMHO the bioimpedance scales are good for one thing only - monitoring
water retention! Plot %bf and weight each day for a while, and watch
for this trend - %bf changes for no obvious reason with no weight
change, and a few days later you get a whoosh. If you start seeing
this trend, you'll be more comfortable with the idea that your weight
loss is going to be cyclical due to water retention cycles.

They do track weightloss/muscle gain, too, but it's long term. You can't
look at the BF% day-by-day and assume anything, as you're right -- water
gain/loss affects the BF%.

--
Bob in CT

The way I figure it- I'm aiming for the highest fiber diet I can- so guess
what-(I'm trying to keep this thread clean)

I don't think the BF takes that into consideration, does it?

--
Diane

"Bob M" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

DJ Delorie said:

diane said:

also. She likes the BF feature- but says the water weight is confusing
and
she hasn't figured that out yet.

IMHO the bioimpedance scales are good for one thing only - monitoring
water retention! Plot %bf and weight each day for a while, and watch
for this trend - %bf changes for no obvious reason with no weight
change, and a few days later you get a whoosh. If you start seeing
this trend, you'll be more comfortable with the idea that your weight
loss is going to be cyclical due to water retention cycles.

They do track weightloss/muscle gain, too, but it's long term. You can't
look at the BF% day-by-day and assume anything, as you're right -- water
gain/loss affects the BF%.

--
Bob in CT