The Scale

[ArcadiaX]

So. I bought a new scale this past evening. You see, a few years ago I had bought a digital scale that you have to tap with your foot before you climb on. It doesn't do anything fancy like tell you your bodyfat in five different languages, but it DID have the bonus of showing you your weight in bright red glowing letters that let you know that your fat truly does come from one of the lower rungs of **** that Dante just never discovered.

Now, I've known this scale wasn't exactly the most accurate. For ages it weighed me in around 235 to 240 pounds. I remember that when I went to the doctor, somehow I had ballooned up to about 250 pounds. So...for all I know, the darned thing is about 5 pounds off. And there's no way to adjust it, of course, because it's this new-fangled high-technology. The same kind they use in digital watches, I suspect :sarcasm

At any rate, they were having a sale on scales at our local Co-Op store. Nice big surface to stand on that my size-9.5 feet won't hang off. Big numbers on the nice large dial. And a bonus....those little plastic doohickies that you can move around to mark your current and/or starting weight. Nice!

We let it warm up to room temperature, per the directions...then I started the cycle of "get on/get off" that it suggests while adjusting the scale to "0".

Imagine my shock and alarm to find that this thing is weighing me in over 250 again. Granted, this wasn't first thing in the morning, nekkid, without food in my tummy...but even when I checked the old scale, it showed that I was only 5 pounds heavier than when I had weighed after waking. This, I figure, is normal due to the fact that I'd been awake for a few hours and had eaten dinner and consumed boodles of water.

But over 250??? If this thing is correct, and it's weighing me at 252 like I think it is...just how far out of whack was that old scale? It's been weighing me consistently (if I step on it enough times) to know that I've definitely lost 18 pounds (I'm now down to 242 according to the old bazoo).

So....I figure that today will call for calibration of the scale and a re-estimate of what my starting weight was. If my original scale was 5 pounds off...or 10 pounds off....I will be a very unhappy camper. But at least I'll know that I'm getting that weight OFF. It's not going to force me into some kind of sugary binge! I WILL win the battle of the Bulge!

Anyone else had this experience? Can you empathize with my wanting to toss the dratted contraptions off our 9th floor balcony, despite the bylaws forbidding such an action? (sigh)...

[Laurenfra]

18 pounds lost is 18 pounds lost. Lost from 250 or from 450 you still lost the weight. Don't let it get you down.

[thinthing]

I also bought a new digital scale after 4 weeks on induction and my new scale weighed me 4 lbs heavier! Yes it was dissapointing, but hey, that is how it is and I went on. I always would weigh heavier at the doctors office too (but just couldn't believe my scale was off) Just hand in there and make a note in your weight journal when you purchased the scale. Don't lament over the numbers - its not worth it - just continue on! :nod

[sillyann]

What is it with buying that scale just a month after starting? Everybody who has done this raise your hand! :wave I thought so! I gained 5lbs too with the new scale. It made me more motivated to chunk off that weight (again?) and I adjusted my start weight too. I'm with Laurenfra, 18lbs is 18lbs...or it could even be 23lbs when you think about it. No one notices the 1st 5lbs you lose, except for maybe the DH WHEN YOU PRESS HIM! If you really want to be accurate, take the scale to the doctor's office and compare there, following the warm up instructions. But after the initial shock, who cares, as long as it is moving down and your clothes get loose.

[MotherNature]

My old scale that I have been using since I started this diet was 4 pounds lighter than my doctor's scales, so I would add 4 pounds to whatever it showed to get my correct weight. It was, however, not a digital scale, so my DH got the bright idea that we needed a new scale. Target had theirs on sale 2 weeks ago so I bought a digital scale with nice big numbers. I was afraid to step on the darn thing because I had read so many posts about people buying new scales and they were a lot heavier than they had thought. I finally closed my eyes and stepped on. Whew! It showed my weight to be exactly the same as the old scale. What a relief! LOL

Cathy

[penelope]

I have gone through 3 scales in the past month trying to find an accurate one! I finally found one that also calculates BMI and tells you how much you're up or down. You should put a dumbell on your scale (or a gallon of water, 7lbs i think???) to make sure yours is accurate.

[Curveegrrl]

ArcadiaX,

This is my own personal ****. Dante has nothing to do with it. When I started Atkins last August I bought The Scale. It was a digital goodie, with a limit of 140kg. But I was too heavy for it to weigh me. That was a tad depressing, but a fair indication that my *** had to go. So I started the program and about 6 weeks later I could weigh myself. I was finally under 140kg. Go me!

I was rocking down The Scale too. By Christmas I was down to about 126kg. Happy dances all around. But I never really liked The Scale. I bought it second hand, and sometimes I had to weigh myslef a couple times before it gave me a reading. So in the New Year sales, I bought The *New* Scale. It's pink! It tells me my BMI! How much muscle I have! How much fat I have! How I look in this skirt! So I bring it home and jump right on.

And I'm too heavy for it too wiegh me.

WHAT??? I check the limit, thinking it must be something obscene, like 100kg. But no. It has a 140kg limit too. Now of course, I was weighing myself at night, after dinner, fully dressed. But. . .I don't think my jeans weigh 10kg! I was absolutely crushed. I had a sneaky feeling The Scale was weighing me light, but The *New* Scale was just being mean. How could I still be over 140kg? How could there be THAT much difference between the two scales?

The next morning I try it again. And it weighs me. I'm 138kg. And I'm devistated. I have a friend over to weigh herself. She says it's accutrate. I leave The Scale out with it, so they can talk to each other. I want The Scale to tell The *New* Scale (which I have now renamed The Scale That Shall Not Be Named) how thin I really am.

In one day I had gained 12kg. great. just great.

So since TSTSNBN has come into my life, I have lost almost 8 more kilo. Which would be a lot more exciting if that took me under the weight I thought I was at Christmas. But I'm still up 4kg. I know I just need to accept that The Scale was just relly really wrong, and that TSTSNBN is just being frank and honest with me.

But I still give it a kick sometimes.

[ArcadiaX]

The Scale That Shall Not Be Named??? (grin)...someone's a Harry Potter fan (me too, I admit it)

Thanks for the laugh...I really needed it!

Per Penelope's advice, I calculated The New Scale with a 15 lb hex bell. I also let The Old Scale have a go at it. The New Scale, being a calibrate-able spring scale, now shows consistent weight. The Old Scale consistently showed the dumbbell anywhere between 12 to 15 lbs. Mainly 12 lbs.

The difference between the two at the time of a nekkid morning weigh-in? 10 lbs. So, knowing that The New Scale is accurate, I can tell you that I actually was 10 lbs heavier when I started than I thought. Which floored me. I never thought I would see 250, let alone 270! It does explain a lot, however... :anger

At any rate, I'm feeling a lot better about it now that I've gotten the whole scale issue over and done with. I've lost 22 lbs so far, and not only have my measurements changed (important for me to know as I make a few of my own "fancy" garments), but my jeans are now getting baggy! These jeans were a snug size 24 when I started, and now they're down to the point where I can pull them down, buttoned and zipped, with very little effort.

This is what keeps me motivated in the face of temptation. Friends were over last night and made a 7-11 run for chocolate and cola. Me? I made a veggie platter when they got back & set out some dip. I've never seen veggies go so quickly!

I've also noticed that my cravings have changed. Instead of craving high-sugar foods (like the aforementioned chocolate), I now crave things on the OWL rungs...like nuts and berries. I have to keep reinforcing the phrase "Patience, Grasshopper"....because I know that 2Big would kick my bum :nod [/img]

[2big4mysize]

congrats on being an even bigger loser to all of you with those new scales.

Check the chapter 13 questions again if you are wanting OWL foods then you are answering yes to that question and show look very carefukly at is it time to move to OWL and have those nuts and berries in a few short weeks?

Happy low carbing.