Did " in 5 weeks you would weigh..." worked for you?

Hannah_Hopes

I love seeing it, I don't really mind if it's accurate or not its just a realistic motivation for me personally.

MsPudding

Nope. Nowhere near.

richh963

it has come close, in the over all picture, Im about 3 pounds ahead of losing a pound a week, since I began in first week of January.

salladeve

Copy and paste that number into your little "notes box" every day and then you can go back and check to see if you are at that goal.

What a great idea, why didn't I think of that?

I love seeing the downward trend but I don't really know if it has been accurate or not because I didn't note what it said. It is heading in the right direction though

peacemongernc

If I average it all together, it is almost DEAD ACCURATE. Generally, it is within .1 pound, and I figure that is likely to be user error.

The totally OCD way I calculate it is I add 5 weeks of my calorie intake and average. Then I do the same with exercise (I do it this way so I can see the average of exercise on its own, instead of doing it mixed in with the calorie calculations). I go to a blank day on MFP and do a quick calorie add of what I calculated by average intake to be, and do a quick add of my average exercise, and then click the button at the bottom of the page.

It doesn't always show the weight I'm currently showing on the scales... my weight fluctuates terribly. But I use that as a reference, and without exception, when I drop the water weight I might be holding on to, my weight is within .1 of a pound of what MFP says I should weigh.

I think it is CRAZY.

Shannon

ArtemisRuns

Not working for me.

poohpoohpeapod

yes almost to the t

AngelicValkyrie

I am just 2 weeks busy with MFP, so far goes very well, I exercise a lot, eat healthy and manage good Net results.

Each day when i complete the diary I get the message with projected weight (if everyday was like that).

I really like it, makes me always smile and keeps me motivated BUT.... is that reality?

Can my older MFP colleagues share their experience?

It worked for me. It was maybe two pounds off

cmcmommy

never if so i wouldn't be stalled at my current weight for 9 months some days i just wanna punch the screen when it tells me i would weight 15 lbs less in 5 weeks .

Jmercerq

I use it in an obsessive manner which has provided me with a good amount of motivation. It all comes down to the key word:

IF

The full message is "If every day were like today." Of course, every day is not like today, because, among other things, I do not always have a deficit. I try to stay as lean as I can, but figure that as long as everything is even at the end of the week, I am good.

So, ready for the obsessive part?

I write down the magic number on my calendar on the date five weeks out. If I don't have a deficit, I don't even check the number (I don't even know if it tells you what the negative consequences are, but I've seen them, so don't need that info). Fast forward five+ weeks. My calendar is now dotted with numbers. The more numbers there are (regardless of what they are), the better because that means more days that I had a deficit five weeks ago. Obviously, I want the overall trend to be going down because that means that I am actually making progress instead of, just as a COMPLETELY RANDOM EXAMPLE, losing the same five pounds over and over again.

Next, I take today's weight and compare it to any of the dates in the current week. I check off the lowest weight in the current week that I managed to "beat." If there are more than one dates that are the same that week, I check off the earliest. No going back, no looking at different weeks. This checks two things at once 1) I was on target (because I had a deficit) and 2) I am still on target. If I start seeing too many blank places, I need to either knuckle down or lower my per week weight loss goal. If I have a lot of numbers listed, but am not hitting them, I need to increase my goal per week.

So, yeah, it's a bit obsessive, but all I care about is that the numbers continue to go down. I have a long way to go and I don't even know if I want to get all the way there (my ideal BMI is frankly ridiculous for my body shape/weight training goals). At one time, monthly setbacks were eating up all of my progress and even with trendweight, I could not really tell if I was even getting anywhere. The numbers are still all over the map, but at least I have found a way that they make sense for me.

nikamar

Nope. Though I zig-zag my calories so I really can't blame the tool for that.

Oishii

No because MFP uses a formula that grossly underestimates my metabolism. It says I will gain a pound on weeks that I lose a pound.

Ditto. I stopped pressing it, ever.

Sjenny5891

There is a post here somewhere... The OP made a chart of what it predicted everyday just to see how it turned out and he said it was right on for him.

Right now, I vary so much the exercise days I am WAY under... and others I am right at goal ( which is at maintain) and I'm staying the same so far.

suziepoo1984

Nah. It's just a little perk to let you know you're eating/exercising in the right direction. As long as my number is generally lower than my current weight, it gives me a self-satisfied vibe if nothing else.

^^This

Ninkyou

I like it because it gives me a general idea of where I'll be in 5 weeks. I did start taking not of the numbers at the beginning of July. Here's what my breakdown looks like:

Date Prediction -- Actual--
7/5 195.2 in 5 weeks (8/9) --194.0--
7/6 194.3 in 5 weeks (8/10) --193.6--
7/7 195.4 in 5 weeks (8/11) --193.2--
7/8 194.0 in 5 weeks (8/12) --193.8--
7/9 193.1 in 5 weeks (8/13) --192.0--
7/10 193.5 in 5 weeks (8/14)--192.6--
7/11 192.9 in 5 weeks (8/15)--192.0--

As you can see I weigh less than the prediction... which of course makes me happy. But I don't expect it'll always be like that. However, like I said, it does give me a general idea of where I'll be.

fleetzz

Nope. It's been telling me for 2 months that if I keep eating the way I have I will be 127 lbs in 5 weeks.

The 5 week prediction has not worked for me because I don't eat the same way everyday , some days I'm at goal and some days I'm under/over so I get different estimations every day.

But I do enjoy seeing the number , it gives me something to look forward to and it also helps me see the how I gained weigh in the first place thing.

DanielleBetzner

So far no only because I am pretty heavy, so I have dropped weight pretty fast so far but when I start to level out I will probably see it become more accurate but it has been a great motivator for me and It has really helped me stay on track because I wanna see that number go down each day :happy:

kimbim60

Great idea....typing it in the note box. I always write the vitamins I take in that area but it would be great for that purpose too!

DarksMama

Nope. But to be fair, it does say "If every day were like today..." Meaning you'd have to eat the same things, the same way daily to get that 5 week projected result. I had a bacon sandwich yesterday as a treat. I think if I ate bacon and cheese every day for 5 weeks, the only thing I'd be, is screwed. LOL

TheresaTester

Copy and paste that number into your little "notes box" every day and then you can go back and check to see if you are at that goal.

This is a great idea!