Recommended "smoothing" on trend app(s)?

HoneyBadger302

How many days do you use for "smoothing" on your trend app? I'm personally using Libra. Just seeing how others set it up to get the most accurate trend that also is UTD.

sardelsa

I also use Libra. Mine is set to the default I believe, 10 days for both smoothing and forecast.

lorrpb

It depends on your device. LIbra for Android. Happy Scale for iOS. Trendweight for Windows. I actually use both Libra and Happy Scale on different devices.
There really isn't a "most accurate trend". The trend is based on different formulas for each of these apps and in general they are set to lag a bit behind what your past weight loss has been. You also can tweak the trend a little bit based on the settings you choose, such as the number of days to be factored in.
There are people on here who can explain the math variations in detail if that's what you're after.

kiela64

I use happy scale and I haven't figured it out yet. I sorta just hop back and forth between the different settings to see what they all say. For the life of me I don't know how they work. But there doesn't seem to be a massive difference between them.

AnnPT77

I'm a Libra user. I've messed around with the smoothing value, and generally understand what it does, but I can see pros/cons in any setting (probably because the app isn't magically insightful, which is what I'd really prefer ). These days, I just leave it on the default, mostly.

The app was more helpful to me when losing, as the trend line usually reflected what was going on (i.e., it matched what I hoped was going on ). Nowadays (maintenance, eating very unevenly from day to day 'cos that's what I like) it pretty much just gives me slower-cycle fluctuations than the daily scale weight fluctuations. (I think it would be more useful in maintenance to someone with less wacky eating habits.)

Have you tried messing with smothing to see if you like the results better if you use a different value? Is there something specific you're seeing that makes you consider it less-than-accurate or not UTD? I could sort of see the forecast setting as potentially being something that would make it "seem more accurate" (it wouldn't be), but I'm less clear about what you might be hoping for smoothing to achieve?

PAV8888

I use trendweight at the default setting.

I am well aware that it lags a little both going up and going down and do keep that in mind as in maintenance there is no continuous push in a single direction.

It still remains useful in putting the past week or 15 days or month into a broader three or six or twelve month context.

HoneyBadger302

I'm just curious how many days people use for prediction and smoothing. I've been using the app for several months, I have some decent data, just wondering what others find to be the best settings.

Basically, I don't want it trending up and down with daily fluctuations, or because I had a "fat" day, but on the flip side, I do want to catch an upward trend quickly - spending weeks only to find I'm overall heading the wrong direction is not something I'm really willing to accept.

I tried a few different settings, and have played around with them, but thinking some other longer term users may have found setting that worked well for them.

jjpptt2

I'm still a bit more emotional about the number on the scale than I'd like to be, so I keep the number of days longer/greater to, I think, slow the reaction of the trendline. Depending on how often I'm weighing in, I typically go with 10ish days.

AnnPT77

HoneyBadger155 wrote: »

I'm just curious how many days people use for prediction and smoothing. I've been using the app for several months, I have some decent data, just wondering what others find to be the best settings.

Basically, I don't want it trending up and down with daily fluctuations, or because I had a "fat" day, but on the flip side, I do want to catch an upward trend quickly - spending weeks only to find I'm overall heading the wrong direction is not something I'm really willing to accept.

I tried a few different settings, and have played around with them, but thinking some other longer term users may have found setting that worked well for them.

Then nope, not me. I left it on the defaults (which I believe are both 7) after messing with it, though I sometimes switch it temporarily to estimate an answer to some question that's in my head. I just try to keep in mind what it's doing/telling me, and what it isn't/can't. I do tend to be super unemotional - maybe too unemotional - about scale fluctuations, though.

Sorry.