The best smart staircase for 2025

Weigh yourself at the same time: To get a consistent reading when using any scale, it is important to weigh first thing in the morning before drinking or eating anything. “You should weigh yourself without clothes, or minimal clothes, and if you do that, try to wear the same clothes every time you weigh yourself,” said Stella Lucia Volpe, professor and head of the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at. Virginia Tech.

Volpe recommends weighing yourself no more than once a week. “If you weigh more than that, you’ll see fluctuations in your body weight, and it can be frustrating if you’re trying to lose weight,” he said.

Choose an even surface: You want to make sure your scale is on an even surface, otherwise the imbalance will throw off the reading. Be sure to weigh in the same place each time.

Keep in mind that the smart scale can be faulty: Remember that just because a smart scale can offer more data than an analog scale doesn’t always mean it’s better. “Smart scales have not been shown to have high accuracy and cannot be compared to ‘gold standard’ measures for assessing bone mineral density and body composition in terms of body fat. body and lean body mass, which is through the use of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA),” said Volpe.

Most people don’t have access to a Dexa scan, so the next best thing is a smart scale. “The smart scale can provide an estimate of body fat and total body water; but note that the ‘gold standard’ ways to measure these will provide more accurate data,” explains Volpe.

Make sure it is set to zero: As with any scale, you want to make sure it is set to zero to get an accurate reading.

Remember that your weight fluctuates: It’s easy to get caught up in a number, but remember that your weight is a range instead of an exact number and will fluctuate throughout the day. Fluctuations can be affected if you work, eat more than normal, go to the bathroom or even if your muscles are sore and retain fluid.

Note that the data are estimates: Smart scales include data on heart rate, bone mineral density, total body water, body fat and more. Keep in mind these are estimates based on your age, gender and body weight. Therefore, these scales are not completely accurate. “Knowing that these scales provide an estimate – but without the highest accuracy – is important, but it can help provide guidance to the users of these products, especially when many individuals do not have the ability to have their bone mineral density . and body composition assessed by DXA,” said Volpe.