I bought a fifty dollar scale, which for a poor college student is quite a lot of money. It is a dial scale that is supposed to be accurate to 400 lbs. When I lean a little to the right, it adds 5 lbs, when I lean a little to the left, it subtracts them. How accurate can it be if its doing that? Does anyone have any recommendations for scales that weigh you correctly to 310? Thanks in advance

I think the digital scales are much more accurate than the dial scales. I bought my current digital scale for less than 20 dollars at Target. It weighs me consistently no matter how I step on it or lean. It's not accurate to fractions of a pound, but at my weight worrying about fractions of a pound seems silly anyway. I'm satisifed to get whole pounds.

I'd say go to Target or WalMart or someplace like that and buy the cheapest digital scale you can find that goes above your current weight. That's what is going to be tricky; I think that most of them only go up to 270 or 300 pounds. You want one that goes a good 20 pounds higher than you are because they aren't as accurate at their highest reaches.

I don't think the brand matters. This is my second cheap digital scale (the first one broke after about a year and a half) and they were different brands, but both accurate. I have never found a dial scale that measured me consistently.

If you don't want to send money, and you are a college student, you could also consider just weighing yourself in the college gym or student health center. When I was a student, I never owned a scale, but I did frequent the gym and I weighed myself there on a regular basis. If they have a balance beam scale, that is the most accurate and consistent weight you can get. Just make sure it is balanced at zero when you start. If it is balanced above zero, subtract whatever weight it is balanced at from whatever weight it gives you for yourself.

I have a Tanita. They might be out of your price range, but I thought I'd let you know that I am totally satisfied with it. It goes up to 440 lbs.

I agree with Liz, there is probably one somewhere on campus that you can take advantage of. Even doctor's offices will let you weigh for free. I know it's not as convenient though as having one at home.

I bought one of the cheaper ones at Walmart and it just didn't last long at all. At my weight, I needed a good one.

I've had my Tanita since about '97. Very accurate for both weight & body fat. Only problem is that if you like to try to weigh again and again to get a lower weight, it won't happen on this scale!

Tanita prices have dropped a lot since I got mine. If you plan on working on exercise as you lose weight, the body fat read out is nice - lets you know when a stall isn't really a stall. (Lean measures both muscles and water, but after getting used to your normal patterns you can make good judgments about what the data is telling you.

One more thing in favor of body fat models: In the last 10 lbs lost I have actually lost 15 lbs of fat and gained 5 lbs of muscle. Knowing BF % lets me be more objective about my weight loss rate, and also lets me know that I will probably need to adjust my goal upwards again if I keep building muscle at this rate. In hindsight, I'm sure that I've lost weight before to "normal" scale weights that were actually too lean for me to sustain if I wasn't exercising like an athlete in maint. Body fat reading help prevent making that mistake.

Lynda

I bought a digital scale from walmart for like... 25 dollars and it's completely accurate with the big doctor's office scales. Occasionally it's off by half a pound, so you just weigh yourself 3 times and take the best of 3. It's really nice.

Great advice, as always! I thought about weighing at school but the scale in the gym is out in the open against a mirror so everyone can see. I will probably go buy another, since I like to weigh in private. I'll wait til I lose some more, then I can get a cheaper one. Thanks for all your help!!