Iffy about Scale

[oxstardust421xo]

Hello Everyone!!

    I have a digital weight watchers scale at home that I've been using.. Well the thing about this scale is if you pick it up and put it down it flashes and then goes to 00 and if you step on the scale it will give you a weight. Then if you step off the scale and have it clear and then tap the scale with your foot and have it come back on to 00 and step on it again it will give you another weight, which is usually lower then the first weight it gives you.

      My Mother in-law has this big fancy doctors scale that has the big dial head and the scale is callibrated to exactly 0. I stepped on that like 4 times and that scale gave me the same weight every single time.

So I guess what I'm getting at is which scale should I go with?

[squaid]

as long as you do the same thing with the same scale every time it will serve its purpose: telling you fluctuations in weight from day to day

I think your digital scale is fine, do the foot-tap method. when the digital scale flashes it is setting itself to zero, so it will be more innacurate if you have it picked up or are moving around

[SunsetRunner]

Use your home scales, and take the first weight it gives you and then be done with it!

[RRainman]

The difference is in the technology used to measure your weight.  On the electronic scales, there is likely what is called a stress-strain gauge.  After your first measurement, that stress-strain gauge may take a little bit of time to return to it's static state.  If you step on again too soon, it hasn't had a chance to "zero" back out and your subsequent weight measure is lower.  In addition, they are also very sensitive to where you stand and your movement.  Your first measurement is going to likely be your most accurate.

The other scale works by displacement of a rotary spring.  These are very consistent providing you've never overloaded the spring.  They may be impacted by temperature, but in your bathroom there is likely never enough temperature variation to make a difference.  Once you step off the scale, it goes back to the zero consistenetly, with only minor adjustments needed since it is still a mechanical system.

[Dominique]

---

@SunsetRunner wrote:
take the first weight it gives you and then be done with it!

---

That would also be my advice, as I mentioned recently here.