Diary complete

flaurier

For all of you who have been successful- just wondering how accurate the number is when you complete diary (i.e “if every day were like today you would weigh—-)
Of course with no cheating and logging accurately.

TonyB0588

The operative word there is "if". Since I never have days exactly the same for 5 weeks, I can never prove if the projection was right or wrong.

kimny72

I wouldn't put much stock in it. It's a gimmick, and it's impossible to do the exact same thing every day anyway.

nutmegoreo

I'll look at it with amusement, but that's the extent of it. My food intake and activity levels are different every single day.

phoebe112476

My calorie intake is nearly the same (goal) most days. I think it has been fairly accurate for me, but only because I am consistent. No magic in it.

MarieRosekenji85

I don't stress that little number when you complete the diary. I would have to eat the exact same way everyday for 5 weeks plus the exercise. The most important thing is the weight goes down and stays off. I've lost 6 pounds this month.

Panini911

i have never "completed" a day. i used MFP for a year to lose 100lb, then again from March to today to lose 42 and have never completed a day. I don't really see the point.

Danp

I haven't 'completed' my diary in over 12 months.

I'd describe the prediction as somewhere between wildly inaccurate and plain lunacy

ceiswyn

I find it pretty accurate, on average days. Though it's a little difficult to tell, as my weight is significantly affected by my menstrual cycle and I can't guarantee being at the same phase in five weeks' time!

OneRatGirl

If you have it set to lose 1lb a week, you eat at goal, it'll show that in 5 weeks you'll be down 5lbs. If you're accurate it shows what you'd be at if you ate that exact amount daily (of course ignoring water weight and other fluctuations).

I think it's encouragement based really, so you stay at the right calories and it reminds you you'll lose x amount. If you have a bad day it'll remind what happens if you don't control your intake. I quite like it. It's like a daily little "congratulations" for staying on track to me.

Aint2Proud2Meg

I agree with the above posters. It's just a fun little add on. However, while I know intellectually how it works is very simple, on the very short term I find it very encouraging. When I close it and see the projection I get jazzed about it on great days and I feel better about days I go a little over because it helps remind me that I didn't undo several months of work in one day. Since I am fairly consistent I do find that it's pretty accurate, but I really pay more attention to the predictions on Happy Scale (and Libra when I had an Android).

Fredrik1946

The first 10 kilos I lost were according to the estimation after diary complete but now I do not loose any weight at all and the estimation, according to my opinion, shows breat weight loss the coming weeks. Many tslks about lower metabolism but is that considered in the estimatin?

Caecile84

I don't have a clue how accurate it is, because the same day for 5 weeks never happens. I use it for 2 things:
1. As an encouragement "you are on the right track"
2. As a warning "don't have a day like this too often..."

BarbaraHelen2013

I probably close out my diary one day in every month, on a whim. What’s interesting though is that when you close it significantly under calories the message you receive has changed very slightly.

It used to say something along the lines of...
Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are likely not eating enough Then it goes on to state the NIH guidance for calorie levels. It used to say 1200 for women and 1500 for men.

It now says 1000 - 1200 for women and 1200 - 1500 for men.

So maybe forum posts mentioning sub 1200 calorie goals should not be removed as ‘promoting VLCD’ as currently happens? Seems a bit hypocritical to me!

kimny72

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

I probably close out my diary one day in every month, on a whim. What’s interesting though is that when you close it significantly under calories the message you receive has changed very slightly.

It used to say something along the lines of...
Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are likely not eating enough Then it goes on to state the NIH guidance for calorie levels. It used to say 1200 for women and 1500 for men.

It now says 1000 - 1200 for women and 1200 - 1500 for men.

So maybe forum posts mentioning sub 1200 calorie goals should not be removed as ‘promoting VLCD’ as currently happens? Seems a bit hypocritical to me!

I don't think posts talking about those gray area ranges are currently removed as promoting VLCD (or ever were), as there is general acknowledgement here that for those very short, sedentary, and older, it may be necessary to dip slightly below the MFP minimum goal to lose weight, if it is impossible to increase activity. Most of the posts I see closed and/or removed are talking about eating below 1000 calories.

geauxtigerlily

I like it, for the reasons @Aint2Proud2Meg and @Caecile84 mentioned: it's a way to keep today in perspective with the big picture.

I calculate and track this myself on a spreadsheet, but I look at the min and max of each week and plot it as a range. For the last 6 months that I've been tracking this way, my actual weight loss has fallen into that prediction range ~60% of the time (88% in range for the last two months when I've been really focused and tracking every day). The times when I fall a little below the range, it's due to TOM or a vacation, so I'd say it's pretty accurate for me, if you look at it as an average over a period of time, not a single data point.