If every day were like today. You'd weigh X lbs in 5 weeks

SheridanLT

Don't think it's completely accurate, but it motivates me, that's for sure.

Me too!! Love seeing the number!

LINIA

I love it---it is Motivation ...and i really believe it is 100% correct with.........in 5 weeks.

The error is that we ( almost all of us) do not log correctly, either we forget something we ate, we don't weigh and measure each drop of olive oil or buttet ( hey, this looks like a teaspoon) or ( of the Horror) the Database has inaccurate entries!


So yes, that message is prone to reflect my own errors!

( oops forgot to even mention the " biggie" Overestimating ' calories burned'.)

Confuzzled4ever

I love it---it is Motivation ...and i really believe it is 100% correct with.........in 5 weeks.

Well then why don't I weigh 163.8 as it's been telling me?? lol.. and I do log *everything* and if I eat at a pot luck.. i over estimate.

I don't think it's correct at all. It used to motivate me, now I barely look at it, because it's a downer when 5 weeks pass and I'm not at the weight it states.

I don't expect to lose anything this month, despite what this site says. I'll be happy to not gain this month.

Broderick50

Since I only weigh in once a month mine isn't too accurate what I try to do is see what it says on the first when I weigh in then check it the next time. It's not spot on, but it's within a few pounds.

skypies

I've been on the Atkins diet for ~3 weeks and its not even close to correct for me. Its been telling me that I would be a certain weight in 5 weeks and I'd hit in ~1.5 weeks. I try to be completely honest with what I eat and log accurately (though there have been a couple days I haven't log a whole day). I don't exercise at all (I know I'm lazy). So far I LOVE the diet I'm on!! I don' t feel deprived at all, not like I did when I was on a low cal/ med exercise. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone and the best thing about it is that its something I can easily do a maintenance on for the rest of my life once I get to my goal.

smc864

I like seeing the little prediction, although I usually end up losing more than it says.

TheFangsKittie

Personally I love the laugh it gives me on my cheat days if every day were like today "you would be one heck of a heffer - keep up the good work" is how I read it... some people might not like to see the gain, but it reminds me that cheat days are just that, and motivates me to stick to my plan the next day. Instead of nomming aaaaaaaall the caaaaake :devil:

TheSwollMinister

When I'm actually sticking to my diet (only march thru august) it's pretty much spot on. I do use all custom adjustments tho..

Mitzigan94

I think I'm starting to believe this 'if every day were like this..'

Because last month I cycle my calories and all it said is I'm gonna weigh like this in a month and then after a month..i was surprised Iost 5 pounds. almost closer to what the mfp predicted.. lol

Mitzigan94

I like seeing the little prediction, although I usually end up losing more than it says.

^^this happened to me

doctorsookie

all it does is take your calorie defecit, assume you will eat at that deficet everyday for 5 weeks. 3500 calorie is a pound, so if you eat at a 500 caloire defiecent every 7 days you will lose a pound.. viola.. you will weigh 5 pounds less in 5 weeks. Easy caculation.

They probably say 5 weeks because it's give us an idea of where we will be next month if we continue to eat the way we did on this day. the effects our food choices wil have on weight.

Of course it's only right if you are eating the correct number of caloreis to start with.

Hey I was going to say that...:-P But yeah he is exactly tight. Simple math. I wish I could be more consistent but let's face it, not happening. Maybe some day....
Any way, well said.

greenhudler

I'm in the "not very accurate, but motivates me" camp. In fact, it was me going over about 1200 calories one day and seeing that number pop up (as four more pounds than I already weighed) that motivated me to really buckle down and keep track of everything and start pushing myself.

RoseBred

Mine underestimates pounds lost...

mbbseb

Never been right. So I'm on my 2nd week of weighting and measuring everything. So we shall see in 3 more weeks.

malibu927

If it were accurate for me, I would have hit onederland three weeks ago.

RebelDiamond

One of my new goals is to "get under 60kgs"... mainly as a way to push me past another boundary... I don't even remember the last time I weighed that much...

For me, the number on the scale isn't as important as how I look/feel, but seeing something like, "if every day were like today, you'd weigh 59.5kg in 5 weeks" or something similar really helps motivate me to keep trying and stay focused.
I know it might take a little longer than that, but seeing that number drives me forward and I think, "hmmm, that extra snack really isn't worth sacrificing my goals"

And I think 5 weeks is a good amount of time to see results, whether you have a lot or a little to lose. 12 weeks can see a lot of changes but that can seem overwhelming to people just starting out... and I guess a longer time-frame can also give unrealistic expectations if it's a major drop.

I think if you're honest with the counter/get detailed about what you're putting in, it'll be about right.

tony56pr

Well I can say this. When I had mine set to lose .5 pounds a week if I was say 20 calories under goal it basically say I'd lose 1 pounds each week, now that I'm set to maintain it still shows same lose even though calories are higher now. (Then was 2170 now 2720) so not accurate I'd say.

JoRocka

RunBrew wrote: »

It seems like people are missing the point of the statement.

Look at it like this: You're on a 2000 cal plan, you eat 2158 calories one day....that statements gives you an idea what your journey **COULD** look like if you ate 2158 calories every day....Hmmm...do YOU want to do that math every night? 160 calories, times 7 days/week times 5 weeks...thats 5600 calories, divided by 3500 calories/pound... that'd be 1.5-ish pounds UP in 5 weeks....

Or, you touch the button, and it does the math for you.

it goes both ways....2k cal plan, eat 1810....how much weight would I lose eating an additional 190 cal deficit each day?

FWIW, I set my loss at 1 lb/week and according to the line graph, I lost 44 lbs in 42 weeks....Seems accurate to me.

yeah I don't understand what the fuss is about.

you set it to lose either 1/2 pound- 1 pound, 1.5 or 2 pounds a week gives you numbers based on that and at the end of the day does the math- not so serious.

It's a thing- I like it sometimes and not others. I haven't it found to be working well for me- which either means I'm doing something completely wrong- or I've got a base line wrong somewhere. not sure. Whatever- It's a slow process. I use the site to count calories and that's it.

brightsideofpink

As others have said, it can be accurate if you eat the exact same number of calories every day for 35 days. Exact. Play around with it and you will see just how much of a difference a few calories can make. Have you ever hit enter and then gone back and added a food? Last night, I added an 80 calorie glass of milk after I had closed the food diary. It went up a pound. Did one glass of skim milk make my future self gain a pound? No. Its important to remember the 'every day' part. It is a calculator. If you have 35 days of an extra 80 calories, they will make a difference.

So I don't watch it for accuracy. There are days I'm 400 calories under my goal. I like to click complete on those days for the laugh. I have no plans to go 400 calories under my goal 35 straight days.

There are days I'm over. I like the reminder that, hey girl- keep this up and you'll not lose weight.

Mostly, I like to use it because its an advance thrill on certain goals. Have you been looking to cross into Onederland? The estimate will tease you and show you the 190s early. And show you that it is indeed possible, and not all that far away.

alska

never close for me

DarkmarkStar

Ok this will be my test. I will log in my food from today for the next 5 weeks.Making sure The If every day were like today... You'd weigh 170 lbs.. Who's with me? every day's food will be for 170 lbs in 5 weeks wish me luck.

ericatoday

It shows you the 5 weeks because most people probably put 2 lbs per week so its showing you if everyday were like today youd be x amount if you lose 2lbs a week it would be 10lbs down. Thats just my guess. But if mine was accurate i would be below my goal by now

CharlieBeansmomTracey

if it were true I would have lost the remainder of the weight by now. I havent. so yeah its not accurate. if you keep track you will see that day to day its usually different too. what it means that if you ate those same foods(macro amounts,etc) then you should weigh that amount. but I found if you vary even a little with food or exercise it will give you different numbers.

zalmann919

Confuzzled4ever wrote: »

all it does is take your calorie deficit, assume you will eat at that deficit everyday for 5 weeks. 3500 calorie is a pound, so if you eat at a 500 calorie deficit every 7 days you will lose a pound.. viola.. you will weigh 5 pounds less in 5 weeks. Easy calculation.

They probably say 5 weeks because it's give us an idea of where we will be next month if we continue to eat the way we did on this day. the effects our food choices will have on weight.

Of course it's only right if you are eating the correct number of calories to start with.

Don't forget to factor in exercise "calories." It's debatable how accurate these are to begin with, but in any case they will change your "net" calorie deficit. Not only do you have to eat the same number of calories, you have to exercise the same amount, too. So much for rest days...

The bottom line for me is that I consider the number entertainment, nothing more. I certainly won't change anything because of it. For that, I have my weekly weigh-in.