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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To expect a new set of scales to actually tell me how much I weigh <sob>

23 replies

Selks · 10/05/2011 14:20

Ok so I am very much overweight. For the last two months I have been seriously tackling this and bought some new (digital, Salter) weighing scales to keep track of progress.
First time I weighed myself on these I was delighted to find that mysteriously over the course of the last year I (since the last time that I had weighed myself) I had somehow lost two stone despite overeating. I should have been suspicious of the scales then.
Over the last two weeks I have been weighing myself and they have been showing dramatic weight loss - brilliant, I thought, proof that the stringent diet is working - but worryingly kept showing slight variations in readings if I stepped on and off. Got serious doubts about the scales then, obviously.
So today I weigh myself at work in our client health room. Gutted is not the word for it. I'm only a few kilos lower than my original heaviest weight.
I feel sick with disappointment. I knew I couldn't have lost as much as the scales were saying but was hoping to have lost more.
Bloody scales. Brand new, too, and not cheap ones. How can they be so bloody wrong? So pissed off.
Could I have set them up wrong somehow? Need to figure that out before I take them back to the shop (no reciept now, as well). They are digital ones and a fiddle to set up, but they seemed to be set up right.
Anyone else had similar problems with digital scales?

OP posts:

Lainey1981 · 10/05/2011 14:22

Yanbu.
Do you have them on a flat even hard surface? Don't think they will work correctly on carpet. My digital ones only seem to work correctly on my tiled bathroom floor

Chil1234 · 10/05/2011 14:23

The first rule of scales is that they are the invention of Beelzebub. :) The second rule is not to weigh yourself on a second set because no two sets of scales will show the same number. Are the Salter scales at home on a solid surface and do they have a fresh battery? If the answer to either is 'no' then fix that. If 'yes' then maybe take them back and get a replacement.

Original poster

Selks · 10/05/2011 14:25

Oh, was using them on carpet...could that be the problem?

Still gutted that I am stil such a mammoth.

OP posts:

slowshow · 10/05/2011 14:27

Yeah, it's the carpet. I can weigh myself twice in quick succession, and be given vastly different readings.

Chil1234 · 10/05/2011 14:27

You have lost a few kilos so you're obviously doing all the right things. A few kilos is a heck of a lot of weight in two months. Do not be disheartened!!! Carpet will throw the reading on digital scales out every time. Put them on a hard surface, weigh yourself at the usual time of the week and resist the temptation to weigh elsewhere in the meantime.

LindyHemming · 10/05/2011 14:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 10/05/2011 14:30

Never weigh yourself on carpet, you can gain and lost stones in seconds!!

Butt naked, scales on a hard floor and first thing in the morning after a poo - thats how I weigh myself

Dont put yourself down Selks -you are addressing the issue, thats the main thing xx

Original poster

Selks · 10/05/2011 14:32

Oh thank you for the well-dones. A few kilos is better than no kilos I suppose.

So embarrassed about the carpet thing and for being a silly arse and believing what the scales were saying...wishful thinking or what!

Still, I know that I have lost some - my belt is four notches tighter than two months ago.

Such a loooong way to go though.....

OP posts:

YusMilady · 10/05/2011 14:33

I feel for you OP. But honestly - how could you have thought you had lost 2 stone (a good 2 dress sizes) when you hadn't? Scales are useless - the mirror (and your waistbands!) will tell you all you need to know...

Good luck with the weight loss.

tallulahxhunny · 10/05/2011 14:33

aww poor you! i would be gutted too :-(

go to b&q and ask them for a sample tile put this under your scales before you weigh yourself, it should then give you a true reading as it is on a hard even surface :-) good luck x

YusMilady · 10/05/2011 14:34

X-post. Four notches, eh? Good for you. It's a fantastic feeling when everything starts feeling looser and more comfy.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 10/05/2011 14:34

There you go...4 notches, thats brilliant!!!! Actually, you are far better off taking your measurements than you are obsessing about weight (says she who weighs herself every flippin day) - a much healthier way to go about it!!

Original poster

Selks · 10/05/2011 14:35

YusMilady...when you have the body issues that I do and are the size that I am it's easy to have a distorted idea of your real size. But yes, it was foolish of me.

OP posts:

foreverondiet · 10/05/2011 14:35

Scales need to be on hard surface and do not work on carpet.

I have tanita scales and they are on a hard surface and even if I step on and off the reading is the same.

Original poster

Selks · 10/05/2011 14:37

Anyway, mystery solved thanks to you all. It was the carpet. I shall give the scales a second chance now.

OP posts:

AKissIsNotAContract · 10/05/2011 17:12

Take the cheats option, have laser lipo. I lost 5 inches in 3 sessions.

minipie · 10/05/2011 17:22

Oooh - AKiss can I ask a few questions? What did it cost? Has it come back? And does it work on cellulite....?

Niecie · 10/05/2011 17:33

I used to have the same problem re the carpets. And then my digital ones came out of the box reading 4lbs too so I never know whether they are right or not! Annoying and strange because a lot of the time they behave normally now.

I put mine on exactly the same spot every time too because it will give a consistent reading. I get different reading on different parts of the bathroom floor despite it being vinyl so I chose the middle weight (don't want to 'cheat' and use the spot that gives a low reading nor be disheartened using the spot that gives the highest reading).

Well done on your few kilos of loss. That is a great start especially with the 4 notches on your belt.

at the idea that 2 stone = 2 dress sizes. I wish!! I lost 2 stone last year and bearly changed dress size at all.

tallulahxhunny · 10/05/2011 17:35

flabelos !!

a vibrating machine thing £25 for 28 x 10mins sessions and you will drop a dress size in 3 weeks apparently :-) you could try that x

Original poster

Selks · 10/05/2011 18:16

Well, just tried my scales on the kitchen floor tiles and.... ......it was the carpet! They gave the same reading as the work ones.

Oh well. I will not be discouraged (much). Onwards.

OP posts:

CFAW · 10/05/2011 18:23

For now, why not use inches rather than weight loss. Measure your arms, tummy and thighs. And go off inch loss.

I think this may be better for you for the time being as you seem very disheartened by the amount you weigh, even if you have lost some.

Just a suggestion. This is what my mum did, as she couldn't bring herself to look at the amount she weighed.

squeakytoy · 10/05/2011 18:39

A few kilos is quite a lot you know! Well done for losing that and congratulate yourself instead of getting disheartened. :)

AKissIsNotAContract · 12/05/2011 18:28

Minipie:
It cost me £50 a session. I had 3 sessions and lost 5 inches in total. It hasn't come back but it has given me a boost to eat healthier. I had mine on my tummy so not sure about celulite, although my friend had her thighs done and said it did improve hers. If you are in the south east I can recommend the lady I saw.

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