Why consistency matters more than accuracy (to me)
pinuplove
Posts: 12,874 Member
I recently did a fun little exercise with numbers based on the past 16 weeks of logging my food and weight. I've been fairly diligent with my food log (only a couple of quick adds 
) and weigh daily, using Libra for a trended weight. A post by a friend prompted me to see what my maintenance calories looked like and how that compared to MFP's activity levels. (My total loss in the chart below is based on trended weights to smooth out any fluctuations near the beginning and end of the 16 weeks.)
Neat. Now I know I can set my activity level to lightly active on MFP and be somewhere in the ballpark (it's just a bit low for me but not significantly so). What are the chances I'm actually eating an average of exactly 1511 calories per day? Doubtful. I'm probably close, but even with the most meticulous logging and weighing (which I won't claim to be doing all the time) there will be errors. The beauty of this is, it doesn't matter! 1511 is representative of how I logged over a significant period of time. So what if my 1511 was actually 1650 or 1445?
I often see people who are struggling jump from one thing to another, with barely any time to register the effects of one strategy before they're off to the next because 'it just isn't working.' Too many changes too fast or changing too many variables at once obscure the results and create a cloud of dust and frustration. People often don't like to hear it, but patience and consistency are key in making any weight loss effort successful long-term. I'm not saying you should throw out your food scale (I have a couple of friends who might disown me for that
) But you don't have to agonize over every calorie burned or try to sift your way through 12 different BMR, TDEE, and NEAT calculators hoping to find one that fits you. Your own data will do the work for you with time and consistency.
) and weigh daily, using Libra for a trended weight. A post by a friend prompted me to see what my maintenance calories looked like and how that compared to MFP's activity levels. (My total loss in the chart below is based on trended weights to smooth out any fluctuations near the beginning and end of the 16 weeks.)Neat. Now I know I can set my activity level to lightly active on MFP and be somewhere in the ballpark (it's just a bit low for me but not significantly so). What are the chances I'm actually eating an average of exactly 1511 calories per day? Doubtful. I'm probably close, but even with the most meticulous logging and weighing (which I won't claim to be doing all the time) there will be errors. The beauty of this is, it doesn't matter! 1511 is representative of how I logged over a significant period of time. So what if my 1511 was actually 1650 or 1445?
I often see people who are struggling jump from one thing to another, with barely any time to register the effects of one strategy before they're off to the next because 'it just isn't working.' Too many changes too fast or changing too many variables at once obscure the results and create a cloud of dust and frustration. People often don't like to hear it, but patience and consistency are key in making any weight loss effort successful long-term. I'm not saying you should throw out your food scale (I have a couple of friends who might disown me for that
) But you don't have to agonize over every calorie burned or try to sift your way through 12 different BMR, TDEE, and NEAT calculators hoping to find one that fits you. Your own data will do the work for you with time and consistency. 109
Replies
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Excellent post thanks3
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Great post.
And you're exactly right - the accuracy of the numbers matters very little. The consistency matters a great deal.9 -
This is what I always say. Make one change at a time and wait to see how it plays out. Don't "eat 50% of exercise cals" one week and then 100% of them the next week without taking into account all the variables. Get good data over TIME.
Funny, I do weight/exercise/net cals calculations every 16 weeks, too. I also fall pretty close to MFP's numbers...now that my thyroid meds are straightened out. Again. *Sigh* I kinda liked it when they were too high and I could eat a lot more. Except that leads to other problems.
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this is a fantastic reminder for people who are being a little too caught up in it and then failing as it's too hard to be insanely precise, it's a ballpark fig. The fact is mindful eating this way means that you will lose, over time. you will still make a deficit, and as long as it happens every day then it all pays off!8
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cmriverside wrote: »This is what I always say. Make one change at a time and wait to see how it plays out. Don't "eat 50% of exercise cals" one week and then 100% of them the next week without taking into account all the variables. Get good data over TIME.
Funny, I do weight/exercise/net cals calculations every 16 weeks, too. I also fall pretty close to MFP's numbers...now that my thyroid meds are straightened out. Again. *Sigh* I kinda liked it when they were too high and I could eat a lot more. Except that leads to other problems.
I don't know why I chose 16 weeks, other than I wanted a decent amount of time to average but didn't want to enter a million numbers. This is the first time I've done this exercise. I'll probably continue, at least periodically
I was under no illusions that I might be an outlier (my results have been too predictable) but it's good to know I'm not as sedentary as I thought I was, either!
Glad your meds are straightened out. That can be a mess.3 -
Glad you posted this. I have also seen a lot of posts lately from people not losing over a week or two so they're trying to change everything when they probably would lose if they wait it out or, at least, refined what they're already doing slowly.
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Glad you posted this. I have also seen a lot of posts lately from people not losing over a week or two so they're trying to change everything when they probably would lose if they wait it out or, at least, refined what they're already doing slowly.
It doesn't fit our need for instant gratification. I'll admit I'm much more patient this time around, vs when I lost weight in 2012. Older and wiser I guess 10 -
Preach it!
Both for weight loss and maintaining, I've found that being consistent is way more important than any particular day. I've had days when I've made my best possible estimate for what I ate, knowing there was a high chance I was significantly off. I've had days when I've been way over and days when I've been way under because . . . life. Managing your weight is truly a day-in, day-out thing and what you do regularly over time is much more important than any individual day.10 -
Excellent post - thanks!
One's own results over a period of many weeks are the important, authoritative guide. I'd add that if those results don't match one's self-perceived MFP activity category, one should still believe the results. Facts are facts, and estimates are estimates: Don't confuse the two.12 -
I also think that bouncing around is where a lot of misinformation comes from. A person is doing well but the scale doesn't move for a week so they change up their exercise and the scale moves. Then they're telling everyone that they beat a plateau by keeping their body guessing...and so it goes...14
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Very enlightening, thank you!1
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I also think that bouncing around is where a lot of misinformation comes from. A person is doing well but the scale doesn't move for a week so they change up their exercise and the scale moves. Then they're telling everyone that they beat a plateau by keeping their body guessing...and so it goes...
I've had weeks where I had a whole pizza and half a bottle of wine (or was it half a pizza and a whole bottle of wine...maybe both
) in one night and lost 2 pounds. Obviously the pizza and wine diet is magic! 29 -
I also think that bouncing around is where a lot of misinformation comes from. A person is doing well but the scale doesn't move for a week so they change up their exercise and the scale moves. Then they're telling everyone that they beat a plateau by keeping their body guessing...and so it goes...
I've had weeks where I had a whole pizza and half a bottle of wine (or was it half a pizza and a whole bottle of wine...maybe both ) in one night and lost 2 pounds. Obviously the pizza and wine diet is magic!
Exactly.
It's what happens over time. Not two weeks.
My data has always been my guide.
I take it your calories in the above table are Net Calories? I track my exercise too...but I don't have a fitbit or anything.
My Excel sheet has become so messy and complicated that I just decided I'll start a brand new one at the first of the year. I've used the same sheet for years...but I can't mine the data anymore due to my own little changes. 4 -
I need to revisit the table I did. I used to track in FitDay and when I joined WW I made a table of what I weighed and the week number. I need to do that again (I think the computer crashed before I could save the table).1
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@cmriverside They are net, but most activity outside my normal daily stuff was so limited in this time frame I didn't bother inputting it for activity calories. There are a few days in there where I added some back for heavy duty yardwork and the like, but that's about it.0
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"Patience and consistency"... everyone's two favorite words
Nice post 4 -
I was good about consistency on the way down and successfully lost 65 pounds. I did not worry nearly as much about accuracy, although I tried to err on the conservative side when I wasn't sure (more likely to increase deficit than decrease). I have successfully maintained for almost 8 months, but have been making myself crazy worrying about accuracy. The weird thing is that I want to be extremely accurate so I can be consistent. But there is just no way I can be accurate enough to try to keep a running average at an exact number. TBH, I don't actually know what that exact number actually is anyway. I need to accept the reality that I am going to rise and fall within my range. I am never going to know the exact number of calories I burn exercising. I am never going to get the consumed calories all that accurate if I eat anything I didn't prepare and even then I won't always be right.8
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And when you accept that and come to grips with it, your stress levels about it will fall exponentially.CarvedTones wrote: »I need to accept the reality that I am going to rise and fall within my range. I am never going to know the exact number of calories I burn exercising. I am never going to get the consumed calories all that accurate if I eat anything I didn't prepare and even then I won't always be right.
"Maintenance" isn't the scale number staying at the exact same weight - it's continually and randomly fluctuating up and down within an acceptable, reasonable weight range.
[ETA:] This is me in maintenance mode (set at a goal weight of 200 lbs.) for the last 6 months. Gray line is daily scale weights, red line is overall weight trend:
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I really need to do this math! Thanks for the post 😊0
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Thanks for that. I just did my maths for the last 12 weeks and worked out I have gained an average of 0.24 pounds a week (I am slowly trying to gain) eating around 1628 net calories and maintenance would be 1508 net calories. Not bad when MFP gives me 1205 maintenance calories instead.7
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