Projected Weight in Five Weeks

jlubert1

Although I have a calorie deficit every day (even from my goal of reduced calories), and I am working out 4 times a week, MFP keeps saying the same thing, that I will weigh 205 in five weeks. Shouldn't either the time frame be shrinking (ie "You will weigh 205 pounds in four weeks"), or the weight be going down ("You will weigh 204 pounds in five weeks") if I am making any progress?

Valrotha

Seems to work that way for me. How long have you been logging?

cwolfman13

That is the most useless aspect of this app...I stopped looking at it after a few weeks. It's a useless projection, pay it no mind.

279270

Yes it's most odd that why I use MyNetDiary sometimes as it give a different weight adjustment but I hear you let's see what others have to say

MrsDan1667

From my experience it's just based on how many calories you have left that changes that number. I.e. If you close out with 300 calories remaining then decide to go eat 200 more calories, log them then close it again the 5week number changes. And in all honesty how often are you going to net the same number of calories every.single.day for five weeks?

jlubert1

Hi Valrotha. I have only been logging for one week, but the projections don't seem to make sense.

RenaPink11

I use an app called "myhappyscale" and it does projections and a "moving weight" I like it just because I like charts and numbers lol

TarahByte

Unless you've changed your weight in MFP, it's going to assume you're still at the same weight and give you the same metrics.

jlubert1

Cwolfman13, I agree that it is useless, but worse than that, it is counter-productive in that it does not positively reinforce what you are doing. If, in three months it is still saying that I will weigh 205 in five weeks, what's the point??

tinkerbellang83

The projections are based only on if you ate every day the same as that day. So it won't necessarily go down from day-to-day it's not really a useful tool at all. Why would it say anything majorly different in one week though?

The calculation is basically Current Weight - Your deficit for the day x 35 (5 Weeks)/3500 (equivalent calories for 1lb of fat)

If you want an actual projection for your weight loss, as @RenaPink11 suggests use a trend weight app such as Happy Scale (for iOS) or Libra (for Android)

jlubert1

TarahByte, I did change my weight in MFP, it was down one pound.

cwolfman13

jlubert1 wrote: »

Cwolfman13, I agree that it is useless, but worse than that, it is counter-productive in that it does not positively reinforce what you are doing. If, in three months it is still saying that I will weigh 205 in five weeks, what's the point??

Your actual results...who the *kitten* cares what an overly simplistic algorithm spits out.

When I was losing weight, I customized my calorie targets as to include my exercise in my activity level and then customized them more as per my actual results. That algorithm said I would get heavier and fatter the entire 9 months, but I lost 40 Lbs at a pretty steady 1 Lb per week on average.

You don't need some stupid overly simplistic algorithm to reinforce what you're doing...

aeloine

Okay so:

The time frame will NEVER shrink. 5 weeks is all that you will get because that's the easiest math. It's taking your daily deficit and multiplying it by 35 (7 days x 5 weeks) and dividing by 3,500 (calories in a pound) and subtracting that from the current weight you've entered.

IF you don't lower your weight in the app (current weight), it won't have anything different to subtract from. The only OTHER thing you can change is the deficit. So either eat less or work out more to move the number.

Otherwise, it's an ESTIMATE based on DAILY CICO. It will move with time as you log your weight. Unless you weigh daily, your 5 week won't change daily.

That is all.

jlubert1

cwolfman, you are right that it is just a simple algorhythm, but my point was - why bother having this function if it is counter-productive?

aeloine

For you it may be.

I weigh daily, and it keeps me motivated and focused on the big picture. There are days that I go up in weight naturally, but the 5 week outlook means that I don't get discouraged.

SueSueDio

I've never taken a whole lot of notice of the prediction, since it would be rare for me to have many days exactly alike calorie-wise!

The one thing I have found it useful for is when I eat over my calorie goal on a maintenance break. That little reminder - that if I do that sort of thing regularly, it won't take very long at all to put on a few pounds - keeps me on the straight and narrow when I'm tempted to overeat too often.

(I do wish that I could go back and see what my historical predictions were so I could compare it to my actual weigh ins, but they're not saved. Even if I go back in my diary to sometime last year, the prediction is based on my current weight rather than what it was a year ago.)

cwolfman13

jlubert1 wrote: »

cwolfman, you are right that it is just a simple algorhythm, but my point was - why bother having this function if it is counter-productive?

Counterproductive how...I never paid any attention to it...

Pretty much useless? Sure...but I don't see how it's counterproductive...

Ready2Rock206

There's absolutely ZERO reason to press the complete button EXCEPT to see the prediction. So if you don't like seeing the prediction then don't press the button that gives it. Problem solved.

misnomer1

aeloine wrote: »

Okay so:

The time frame will NEVER shrink. 5 weeks is all that you will get because that's the easiest math. It's taking your daily deficit and multiplying it by 35 (7 days x 5 weeks) and dividing by 3,500 (calories in a pound) and subtracting that from the current weight you've entered.

IF you don't lower your weight in the app (current weight), it won't have anything different to subtract from. The only OTHER thing you can change is the deficit. So either eat less or work out more to move the number.

Otherwise, it's an ESTIMATE based on DAILY CICO. It will move with time as you log your weight. Unless you weigh daily, your 5 week won't change daily.

That is all.

This

misnomer1

jlubert1 wrote: »

cwolfman, you are right that it is just a simple algorhythm, but my point was - why bother having this function if it is counter-productive?

It is not counterproductive. It helps me a lot because I log my weight into mfp daily. If anything, it rewards me to stick to my calorie goal and see a lower weight in the future rather than eating a lot and a weight gain.