well that makes no sense...

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spm2010
spm2010 Posts: 197 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
According to MFP with my calorie intake I will lose 10lbs in 5 weeks. I overate by 67cals today (fruit) and now it says I will only lose 7, so by over eating 67cals I wont lose those 3lbs? Since when does 67 cals equal 3lbs. Im confused.

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  • dynamitegalxo
    dynamitegalxo Posts: 299 Member
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    the message you see when you close out your diary says "if every day was like TODAY.. you would weight x pounds in 5 weeks."

    meaning, if you overate every day for the next 5 weeks by eating the exact same foods as today's diary entry, that would turn into 7 pounds lost instead of 10.

    it's an estimate, it's almost never true. just a guide.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    Nobody ever eats exactly the same everyday and that statement is never right. There is no way to know what your body is going to do from minute to minute without trying to predict what will happen weeks from now.
  • spm2010
    spm2010 Posts: 197 Member
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    They should just get rid of that because if someone doesn't lose that weight that they say they should they may get discouraged
  • Lrdoflamancha
    Lrdoflamancha Posts: 1,280 Member
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    the message you see when you close out your diary says "if every day was like TODAY.. you would weight x pounds in 5 weeks."

    meaning, if you overate every day for the next 5 weeks by eating the exact same foods as today's diary entry, that would turn into 7 pounds lost instead of 10.

    it's an estimate, it's almost never true. just a guide.

    QFT
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    They should just get rid of that because if someone doesn't lose that weight that they say they should they may get discouraged

    Gosh, I disagree, it's encouraging for me to see that, for example, if I overeat and still stay under maintenance I'm losing, just not that fast.

    ETA: If you don't want to see it, don't close out your diary and it won't show you.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
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    Edit for double post.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
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    I think it makes sense and is motivational as well. If you go over your goal by a lot, it warns you that a little slip up today could snowball and cost you a lot of lbs. Conversely, enough good days over a 5 week period really add up to a great deficit.
  • TravelDog14
    TravelDog14 Posts: 317 Member
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    They should just get rid of that because if someone doesn't lose that weight that they say they should they may get discouraged

    Disagree! I like seeing it change based on how I ate and exercised for the day.
    But then again I don't tend to look at it as discouraging if it says I will weigh more in 5 weeks than it did yesterday when I closed out my diary.

    And if you think the weight it gives you when you close out your diary each day would be the ACTUAL weight on the scale then you're misunderstanding the purpose of it.

    It's a small motivator for me, not a discouragement.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    They should just get rid of that because if someone doesn't lose that weight that they say they should they may get discouraged

    I agree, but they won't. I just don't close my food diary anymore. I don't like doing that because I'm paranoid by not closing, my food info won't be saved. :/
  • bdruggles
    bdruggles Posts: 14 Member
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    I wouldn't hold them to it (and they say there's no guarantee right there) but I like seeing the guesstimate. I find it encouraging.
  • tootoop224
    tootoop224 Posts: 281 Member
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    I just look at it as a visual indicator of how that particular day went as far as weight loss is concerned. I think they show 5 weeks out because it is a bigger number, and more likely to get your attention,either positively, of negatively. I just look at it as, "hey, I did well today and will have great results if I keep this up", or "whoa, I blew it today, better get back on track tomorrow or I'm gonna gain". If they just showed, "you lost .14 lb today, it wouldn't be as motivating as showing a 5 lb loss in 5 weeks.

    I vote it stays! :laugh:
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
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    i love seeing that note! its the carrot in front of the horse for me. Its like someone is saying to me what they see in my future. I understand what it means. To me it is encouraging. I know I might be a few pounds more or less than the number they give you, but I tried it last month, and I've been following MFP for 5 weeks and it really did hit it on target. I am now the weight it said I would be in one week.

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