How Accurate are Supermarket Weight Machines?

[mikahutton]

Hello, all! 

Lost my fitbit ages ago, but I'm back to wanting to track, and I'm finally breaking down and buying a new one (oh well...) anyway, In preperation to buy the new one, I logged back on, and found that it had saved my last weight measurement from about 8 months ago. As I was at the supermarket this morning, and walked past one of those free blood pressure / BMI / weight / vision test stations, I thought I'd plonk on and see what it said. I was stunned by the results! I knew that I had lost weight, but it's reading 65 pounds lower than what I was 8 months ago. With that much loss, I have to doubt the accuracy of the machine, but do you think that it's safe to assume that it's accurate to within 10 or 15 pounds? Even then, I'm surprised at how much weight I've lost without measuring 🙂

I'd just love to hear anyone else's experiences with those machines.

Thanks,

Mika

[Odyssey13]

@mikahutton  Your account is still here and when you get your new device, you can set it up as a replacement and keep your history. Which device are you considering?

As for those scales, I think you're probably right with the ten to fifteen pound estimate. I had a niece get on one at an arcade (figure they get a lot of abuse) and it showed her within nine pounds of her weight - it was over. Most of the time, when playing with those things, it seems they always run more than the true weight. Rarely have we seen one that was under the real weight of the person hopping on it.

So, it would seem you've lost some weight! Good for you. So once you get your Fitbit, you can start counting those steps again.

Look forward to an update from you.

Welcome to the forums.

[yldthng]

My doctor has always said to never trust the readings from scales or high blood pressure machines in public places like that because they are not calibrated on a regular basis.

[mikahutton]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I think I'm leaning toward the Flex, as it's pretty budget friendly, and it says they can be worn in the shower. I figure the less I have to take it off, the less chance I stand of losing it. I like some of the style options for it too. Does anyone know if there's an accessory for attaching it anywhere other than the wrist? (Other than the super expensive gold pendants?) It's rare that I'm in formal wear, but when I am, I'll want something a little more discreet.

Thanks,

[Odyssey13]

@mikahutton  The devices are water resistant, but since you don't get steps in the shower, use that time to charge it.

I never unclasp my Flex or Charge, so that way I don't lose it. It's on my wrist, being charged or waiting on the desk for me to return after a shower.

You can always slip the tracker into the pocket when you don't want to wear it on the wrist.

They are made to work best on the wrist, unless it's the Zip or One device.

[gerrymcd]

Such weight machines can be really accurate or wildly inaccurate.  I can't image the recieve much attention once they have been installed.  I mean, I really doubt they are regularly calibrated or tested.   So, yeah, ballpark they might be accurate to plus/minus 10lbs, but then again it could better or much worse.  Best try another scale for comparison.