If every day were like today... You'd weigh xx kg in 5 weeks. Does this work for you?

TimeToReduceFat

Does the weight loss shown on completing Diary hold true for you?
Thanks.

mmnv79

It doesn't, I'd ignore that tool, as (personally) neither I exercise the same or eat the exactly number of calories every day. I have my settings to lose a pound per week. I'm not strict and some days I may eat slightly over while other days I may be under (1200-1400) and regarding exercise, some days I may be able to do 12K steps while other days I do 2K. I keep loosing weight, inconsistently, -300gr, -500gr,... but I'm getting there and I'm learning about healthy eating, portion control, etc.

LivingtheLeanDream

Nope, ignore that.

neugebauer52

It doesn't - I try not to look at that indicator because I find it somehow demotivating.

Stockholm_Andy

If it's not working for you then the data you are giving MFP is not accurate. (i.e. your not logging accurately).

Do you care? Well this depends on if your happy with your progress.

TimeToReduceFat

Stockholm_Andy wrote: »

If it's not working for you then the data you are giving MFP is not accurate. (i.e. your not logging accurately).

Do you care? Well this depends on if your happy with your progress.

Does this mean it is working for you?

Millicent3015

It only suggests what I might weigh if I ate exactly the same food and did exactly the same exercise in the exact same way as what I'd logged on that day, every day for five weeks. It's nonsense, as no one can replicate their day like that. I do use it as a bit of motivation to stay within my calories, and it stops me worrying when I go over, as even when I do overeat, the five week projection for that day only goes up two or three pounds, which isn't a big deal for me. I can lose that in a month easily. So it's useful for me psychologically, but as a weight loss predictor? Absolutely not.

Stockholm_Andy

I'm not the right person to ask TTRF. I'm not a consistent logger. I only long when I'm making changes to my goal until I get a feel for my new level.

However, the people who do use a food scale to weigh every thing they eat and diligently record everything will be able to share their experiences.

My point was that the calculation saying you'll weigh X in 5 weeks is PURELY based on what you log in MFP everyday. MFP has no idea how active you actually are or what/how much you actually ate.

So if MFP has been consistently telling you that in 5 weeks you'll have lost 4Kgs but you actually only lost 2Kgs then you weren't in a big a deficit as you told MFP you were.

If you're not seeing the results you want then tighten up your logging, use a food scale, be honest about your exercise calories.

Also I just had a look at your profile don't think of this as a diet, or you'll just gain it back again when you stop, as you did last time. Think about realigning how you eat for the long term. If you want to stay at your target weight of 75KG then you'll need to finish up at a place where your comfortable and able to maintain at that weight.

Good luck with your weight loss.

DoubleUbea

I kept track of the five week prediction for fun knowing that MFP can not predict your weight five weeks in advance.

Here are my results:

I did this for fun, there was a period where I logged my intake poorly and stopped losing weight.

Ignore the five week prediction, if you are over the predicted weight it could be discouraging.

(If you are a geek like me, want to have fun and track this information I created a Google spreadsheet http://bit.ly/MFP-Predict)

solieco1

DoubleUbea wrote: »

I kept track of the five week prediction for fun knowing that MFP can not predict your weight five weeks in advance.

Here are my results:

I did this for fun, there was a period where I logged my intake poorly and stopped losing weight.

Ignore the five week prediction, if you are over the predicted weight it could be discouraging.

(If you are a geek like me, want to have fun and track this information I created a Google spreadsheet http://bit.ly/MFP-Predict)

Cool spreadsheet! Thanks!

dailyzey

No it never works for me, I would ignore it.

Ralphone

I think it works only if all the numbers are correct and that is difficult to do. But logging your food will help you to be mindful of what and how much you are eating.

dhiammarath

Every day is rarely the exact same. I don't complete my diary because I don't like seeing a message that's more myth and fable than a work of nonfiction art. I use a trending app (Happy Scale/apple user, but I think Libra(?) is the one for android) that trends my daily weigh-ins and I get a better trajectory of where I'm headed that way.

When I first started, I'd get very excited about the "In 5 weeks..." message, until I realized that it never seemed to work, especially not as I'm getting closer to the normal BMI range.

mmnv79

Does this mean it is working for you?

It doesn't work for anyone, it's impossible to ingest + burn the same amount of calories every single day.

joann23456

It definitely works for me, within a small margin of error. I write down the prediction every Friday and check.

Jackie9003

Nope, mainly because if every day were like today I would be bored stupid and give up.

cbs1974

I use it as a guide and if I have no bad days its not far off , make sure you update you goals when you loose weight or it will be calculating on your original goal.
It's not an exact science but its not a million miles away - it does discourage you if you god mad and it says "if every day was like today you will weight 500 tons" : )

emilyrocks_123

I love it! I know it’s only true ‘if every day were like today’ but I find it really motivating to think wow! I really could smash my targets if I kept this up!

pinuplove

I find the trend line on my Libra app much more useful. I never close my diary here, and thus don't see that message anyway.

Fflpnari

I don't hit the complete button just so I don't have to see this

FrostysHouse

I like it as a motivator, but have never tracked it for accuracy.

dsboohead

Jackie9003 wrote: »

Nope, mainly because if every day were like today I would be bored stupid and give up.

Amen!!!

deputy_randolph

When I am cutting weight and as accurate as possible with calorie intake/weighing food/logging (and ZERO cheating); yes, the button has been accurate.

When I'm not cutting, I don't hit the button; so I don't know if it would be accurate or not.

I've also been at this nearly 1000 days.

ETA: I only cut for 6-10 weeks at a time (so not sure how accurate the prediction would be over longer periods).

Unknown

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VUA21

Nope. Ignore that.

tbright1965

I'm 215# right now. I biked 53 miles yesterday. Here is what it told me when I closed yesterday's log...



Perhaps some programming when it suggests someone is going to lose more than 1/4 of their mass in 5 weeks.

And no, I won't be losing 11 pounds/week over the next 5 weeks.

corysmithsmail

The only way for that to be correct, is by exactly how it states. If every day was like today. The chances that someone eats exactly the same thing, works out the exact same way is....slim. I close my diary just for a fake sense of instant gratification before I come back to reality lol.

dawnvt043

No. I try to ignore it. If I dont, I get super frustrated if I'm not at that goal and end up stuffing things in my face I shouldn't.
Like today, it said I'd be 20 pounds lighter in 5 weeks. As awesome as that would be, I don't see it happening any time soon .

AnnPT77

No. MFP underestimates my calorie needs, so it thinks I'll gain when I'll actually lose slowly, or maintain . . . but that's unusual - MFP is more accurate for most people.

For anyone, it's only potentially true if every day is exactly like today. Unlikely.

lynn_glenmont

Stockholm_Andy wrote: »

If it's not working for you then the data you are giving MFP is not accurate. (i.e. your not logging accurately).

Do you care? Well this depends on if your happy with your progress.

This is not true. You could give MFP perfectly accurate information every day, but if you don't live out the assumption that you will live every day exactly the same for 35 days in a row, the prediction will not be accurate. No user told MFP to make that assumption, so the error is not in the information the user is providing.

Personally, I find the prediction helpful in realistically assessing the damage from days that I indulge and eat above goal or even above maintenance ("even if I did that every day for more than a month, I'd still lose a few ounces, not gain") and the minimal gain from eating significantly below goal ("that was fine today because I was exhausted or sick and spent a big chunk of the day in bed, but I know I'd be gnawing my arm off if I tried to eat like that on normal days, and look, it would get me an extra three pounds of loss for over a month of misery and deprivation.")

DoubleUbea

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

...Personally, I find the prediction helpful in realistically assessing the damage from days that I indulge and eat above goal...

I think that is a good point, if you see a constant lower number and then have a day where the predicted weight rises it is a good reminder not to eat the same way again.