rwaller7483's Journal, 09 May 2016

I feel the same way about scales. As long as they're consistent, I'm happy. I do occasionally check mine by weighing myself with known weights to check they're linear and not throwing some wobbles into the mix. This also helps me work out where in the bathroom they need to sit to be the most accurate. As long as the weights are the same from zero (ie on their own) and from my weight (ie weighing me and the weights) all is good. Congratulations on hitting "BMI Overweight" from "BMI Obese" It's a milestone to tick off x 

That's a great milestone! (I want a new scale as well, kind of want that Fitbit Aria, but I'm just going to hold out until my final goal then get it as a "treat/upgrade", since the bf would like one as well.) I get that BMI isn't perfect, but for most of the population it's a reasonably good gauge, a general guideline, and just as you say - it really does help when you're seeking to get a sense of where you are....because numbers can seem, and feel, kind of arbitrary, especially if you battle some self-image issues!) For some populations, it goes off the rails a bit - for instance, East Asian peoples tend to have a stricter BMI scale than we do; (in other words, it takes less weight for them to be a higher BMI) - a combination, as I recall, of smaller frames and their predisposition for obesity-related diseases at a lower weight than Western populations. Then you have guys like The Rock, who are obese BMI because of muscle weight - but he is an outlier, a true extreme. For most of us regular people, it's helpfully accurate, and one thing that's good about it isn't just that general idea of "could I stand to lose weight" but for underweight people, helps them see that indeed, they could stand to gain a bit. There's my unsolicited trivia for the day!