[tdicola]

Just use a Google Sheets or other online doc and a normal scale. It's so much faster in my experience to use a normal scale, read the number, then pop open the sheet (it can be a direct link on your homescreen) and type in the weight on a new line vs. fumbling with bluetooth connections, horrible apps, etc. Your data is never locked in to a service and you can graph, chart, analyze, etc. as much as you want too.

[chrisseaton]

I can't understand how it could possibly be faster to stand on a scale, remember a number, go to your phone, open a spreadsheet and input it... than to just stand on the scale.

I mean the manual approach starts with the only step of the automatic approach.

You don't have to fumble with bluetooth or apps. It takes the measurement and uploads it to the internet with no help over WiFi after you have configured it once in its lifetime. It tells me my weight and my trend on the screen, so I don't need to open the app.

Once a month or so I look online or on the app and get the effect of the spreadsheet.

[wwweston]

"The only step" presumes that the automatic approach Just Works™ at a price you're willing to pay (including having someone else own your data).

A $20 scale in the bathroom with a 3x5 card and a pen nearby has worked out pretty well for me over the last 3 years. There's two whole steps, but they're entirely transparent and quick, the equipment involved is affordable, I haven't had to spend time on setup or troubleshooting beyond occasionally retrieving a new 3x5 card or pen from my office supply box. The privacy is pretty good too.

Once every week or two I look at the 3x5 cards and can see what the trend looks like.

[icebraining]

The privacy is pretty good too.

As always, that depends on your threat model. There are potential attackers (read: snooping family members) with physical access to my bathroom.

[wwweston]

So true. Even the best security measures can be rendered useless by physical access. :)

[Spooky23]

Pencils (not the Apple one) that let you etch things on a pad of paper.

End of the day, your weight doesn't fluctuate that much... that level of precision doesn't add much value and can make weight loss harder.

[CharlesW]

> End of the day, your weight doesn't fluctuate that much...

It does if that's a focus of your health efforts.

> ...that level of precision doesn't add much value and can make weight loss harder.

In fact, that daily feedback is immensely helpful. Very quickly, you begin to understand the connection between your actions of the last day or two and your weight.

[semi-extrinsic]

> Very quickly, you begin to understand the connection between your actions of the last day or two and your weight.

Really? According to e.g. the Mayo Clinic, a healthy weight loss programme is aiming for no more than 2 lbs lost per week. That's 4.5 oz per day.

Edit: If you go any faster, you're mainly just dehydrating yourself and you'll bounce right back up (maybe even higher).

Meanwhile, your body weight fluctuates by up to 64 oz in 24 hours as you eat, drink and go to the toilet. There's a whole forest of confounding variables, and what you're doing is looking at twigs and going "Significant!"

E.g. eating salty food the night before will easily retain an extra 20 oz of water in your body the next morning. That's got nothing to do with weight loss. But salty food often has a lot of fat, so you go "Correlation! Causation!"

Really, if you're looking at weight changes on time scales less than two weeks, you're only chasing patterns in randomness and fooling yourself.

[kernelbandwidth]

This is my neo-Luddite response to a lot of "there should be an app for that" kind of comments: "Have you tried using a pencil?"

There's lot of reasons to use computers, but there's also a large problem space where it's really hard to beat pencil and paper. They even usually come pre-installed in most offices and homes.

[chrisseaton]

Even if you use a pencil you still have one more step that on a smart scale! You said the advantage was it's faster and it isn't.

[kaybe]

You'd think, but the setup and configuration on these things can take forever. And nevermind the things that can and occasionally do go wrong and need fixing.

[abritinthebay]

It took literally 5 minutes to set up my scale to connect to Wifi and I've had to change the battery once in 3 years.

You're vastly overestimating the friction here.

[chrisseaton]

Yes I don't think connected devices are always the best, but the person I was replying to was doing the classic informercial black-and-white video impression of someone pretending something is more difficult than it actually is.

[robotresearcher]

And my Withings scale needs its 4xAA batteries replaced a couple of times a year. Wifi power, I guess.