Weight trend app and flying

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Amerek412
Amerek412 Posts: 74 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I weight daily and use a weight trend app. I'm flying to San Diego today, and will be returning Wednesday. I know flying can cause you to retain water for a few days due to the pressure change, so I know my weight will be off for a little bit after I get back. My question is whether I should skip logging my weight all together for this week, since I'm worried if I do, it'll cause my trend line to be inaccurate. I've only been logging for 2 months, so I do feel like a week of "incorrect" weight is significant enough to skew the data. I also don't exactly like the idea of just not logging for a week because, well I don't know...habit, OCD about there being a gap, or maybe that could skew the data as well?

For those of you who use a weight trending app, do you log everyday (or as frequently as what's normal for you) no matter what, or do you skip days you know your weight is off for a specific reason?

Replies

  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
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    I still log them.... the trend line levels out after around 14 days (I use Happy Scale). I know that it is fluid retention but it is still reality just like when I eat sodium heavy meals I still log.
  • allyphoe
    allyphoe Posts: 618 Member
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    I don't weigh on vacation, but go back to my normal every morning weigh-in as soon as I get back.
  • Meelisv
    Meelisv Posts: 235 Member
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    Most important thing - don't worry about it or overthink it.

    For example:
    I just started weighing daily and using trend app bit over a month ago just out of interest. Surprisingly, i find it helps to keep me better accountable.

    However, i will fly abroad for a week next month for a work thing. And while there, everything will be total mess.
    First - there will be no scale there, so no weighing.
    Second - i know that while there i will probably move more than at home, but i will very likely also eat lot more, and i will eat mostly stuff i can only eyeball and guess the caloric content. Still, i won't worry about it, since it is only a week.
    When i'm back i will weigh daily again, trend will smooth over after some time.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I'd log every day.

    I don't view the trend line on the app I use to be anything other than casually informational. I don't even pay attention to any future prediction lines. I just like to see the overall trend from past weights.
  • Cheesy567
    Cheesy567 Posts: 1,186 Member
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    Go ahead and log it-- it won't skew the trend that much. Look at it with curiosity... "hmm, I wonder what flying does to my weight trend" rather than worry of "this is going to ruin the trend"
  • eyer0ll
    eyer0ll Posts: 313 Member
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    Cheesy567 wrote: »
    Go ahead and log it-- it won't skew the trend that much. Look at it with curiosity... "hmm, I wonder what flying does to my weight trend" rather than worry of "this is going to ruin the trend"

    This. That's why it's a trend.
    I log my weight every day. It's just a data point.

  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,172 Member
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    I think the thing that will skew your results is weighing on a different scale while you're away from home.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,154 Member
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    I'd log it. It's just data, and you know what's going on.

    It sounds like you're thinking if the trend line as somehow your true weight. It's not. It's a statistical artifact. I suspect that what you really care about is fat vs. lean. The water weight is neither. And all of them fluctuate constantly, anyway. Literally, constantly. IMO, we don't even have a "true weight", just a general current range, and a longer-term trend.

    Don't give data or statistical artifacts any more importance than they deserve. Log it, learn from it, go on with life.

    (I use Libra. I weigh every day, if I have access to a scale. I log it. Before Libra, for many years, even before trying to lose weight, I weighed myself daily and made a dot on graph paper for that date/weight. At this point, I have years (10? 15?) of data, an extremely thorough understanding of how my weight fluctuates and why, and no particular stress about any of that. ;) )
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    It will be fun to see how fast the line goes back down to normal. Some apps allow you to change the #days reflected in the trend line.
  • calliefleece
    calliefleece Posts: 1 Member
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    Ugh. Please don't be disrespectful to people who actually have OCD by saying "OCD about there being a gap"...that's not OCD and you're on a health/wellness website. That's a doubt, anal retentiveness, peculiarly, etc.

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