To those with Success, was MFP right?

chantihayes

You know how when you log all your food and exercise for the day, you get " in 5 weeks you would weigh ____ " ? Well, for how many of you with success, was MFP correct for? I LIKE what MFP tells me I will weigh in 5 weeks with how I am eating and exercising, but I am curious as to how on-track MFP is... TIA


Edit: Was MFP over or under in the prediction, and did you eat pretty much the same daily for those 5 weeks (as it says "if you eat like this every day" or something... ?

yanicka

Nowhere close.

chantihayes

yanicka, did you lose more or less than mfp's predictions?

heathersmilez

It's not very accurate b/c it doesn't take into account how each macronutrient is affecting you (i.e. too many carbs keeping on the weight) and only functions based on calories. If you are under eating most days and not netting 1200 cals you will most likely plateau soon and this can last for weeks, even months and therefore not keep losing as it suggests. Plus just one cheat day or meal will throw off the entire calculation.

That being said, I still like it as motivation since it always says I’ll lose 10 lbs in 5 weeks, waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy to much for someone who is already a healthy weight.

NovemberJune

I lose quite a bit less than MFP predicts. i eat around my BMR, exercise 45-60 minutes per day. MFP says i should lose about 1.8-2 lbs per week and i lose 1 lb per week.

Qarol

Nope. My body does not understand basic math.

h3h8m3

So far I've lost a lot more than it predicts. I expect that as I near the end of my weight-loss I will lose less than it predicts.

themyriadthings

I lost what it said or more. I logged religiously and measured meticulously.

tbhoover

Im going to start keeping a log of what MFP says cuz im curious

lucythinmint

Not at all.

I didn't loose anything for a while because I had lost so much already and I was just toning up. Things still changed and I got smaller. (I keep track with a tape measure) I dropped 2 pant sizes but the number did not change.

Andee08

When I stick to it, I tend to lose more than MFP estimates. If I have a bad weekend or few days, then I lose less. For me, its a good estimation.

montana_girl

I don't really pay attention... as long as it says I will weigh less in 5 weeks than I do now, then I'm happy!

blumuse

I lose less then it predicts in a 5 week period for various factors. It's not that MFP is WRONG, it just isn't sophisticated enough to take in all the factors that can affect your weight; PLUS, every person is different. I don't know about all women, but I lose at least one week out of the month to PMS weight gain/retention. My weight simply doesn't move (or goes up a bit) during that week. After it, I'm right back to where I was before but I've never LOST weight that week no matter what I eat or how hard I exercise. Also, I hit platueas about every 20 lbs down. Those can last sometimes a whole month. I won't lose anything - no matter what I eat or how hard I exercise. I used to get frustrated trying to live up to the predictions. I used to get frustrated comparing my weight loss to other people. In the end - I've realized that my body will lose at its own rate. This is a LIFESTYLE change and I'll get to my goals in my own time. It's working -- just slower than I had originally hoped.

lizzybethclaire

Me too. I always gain and lose 3 pounds.

I lose less then it predicts in a 5 week period for various factors. It's not that MFP is WRONG, it just isn't sophisticated enough to take in all the factors that can affect your weight; PLUS, every person is different. I don't know about all women, but I lose at least one week out of the month to PMS weight gain/retention. My weight simply doesn't move (or goes up a bit) during that week. After it, I'm right back to where I was before but I've never LOST weight that week no matter what I eat or how hard I exercise. Also, I hit platueas about every 20 lbs down. Those can last sometimes a whole month. I won't lose anything - no matter what I eat or how hard I exercise. I used to get frustrated trying to live up to the predictions. I used to get frustrated comparing my weight loss to other people. In the end - I've realized that my body will lose at its own rate. This is a LIFESTYLE change and I'll get to my goals in my own time. It's working -- just slower than I had originally hoped.

zoombie_bear

not close at all, I think it's just a trick to get you motivated, I like it and it's a goal to try, lol

hippymamax6

My doctor told me I could safely lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. MFP has me losing .6 lbs. per week. Not sure how accurate it is but it's keeping me accountable for what I am eating.

yanicka

yanicka, did you lose more or less than mfp's predictions?

Way less. I lost 17 pounds in 9 months. Went from a size 10-12 to a size 4.

Brent686

What I did was I created a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel: See Link Below:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22527300/Weight Loss Program Template.xls

On the first tab titled "detail" you can input your goal calories to consume each day, the number of calories you burn daily (this would be what MFP tells you or maybe an average across several websites that have calculators for this), the calories required to burn one lb (3500ish) and your beginning weight.

Then in the following chart you can input your actual calories consumed (first column in grey), and your calories burned from fitness (second column in grey) each day.

It will perform the rest of the calculations for you..

On the second tab titled "summary" it will summarize each week for you as they pass. you can log your actual weigh in for that week (first column in grey), and you can also input your personal goal weight for each week.

It will then calculate your actual weight loss each week and compare to your goal weight loss as well as what I call "the mathematical weight loss"; the weight that you should have realized based on your caloric intake, calories burned daily and calories burned from fitness.

The very last column on the this sheet gives you what I call a "Mathematical Variance" or the difference as a percentage, from what you should have lost mathematically and what you actually lost.

So what do you do with this number?

Because this number is directly linked to your "Calories Burned Daily Average" on the first tab "Detail" (this would be the calories you burn not including fitness, but just from normal every day activities that you calculated earlier), you can then adjust this number on the "Detail tab" until your mathematical variance shows as 0% for the week.

Basically what you are doing is adjusting the amount of calories you think you burn on average per day to what you are actually burning, based on your caloric intake and actual weight loss. By changing this number until your "mathematical variance" is 0%, you are essentially truing up the math and your actual daily caloric expenditure.

You may want to "true up" these numbers weekly or every other week as your "calories burned daily average" will change as you get skinnier and it will help keep your calculations accurate on the spreadsheet through out your tracking.

calibri

It's been too high for a while. I am fairly small (from 125lb to 105lb in seven months at 4'11"), so I know a lot of stuff will be off scale for me.

kelceyjean12011

i always lose more than what mfp predicts.

ShellyMacchi

the predictions have been spot-on (correct) for me.

i do eat very consistently though.. very little fluctuation either below or above the net calories per day.
(if you check out my food diary please ignore the last 10 days though *LOL*, i was working at a theatre festival and for first time in 8 months i was consistently over in calories and sodium... but if you go back further than 10 days you will see i really am quite consistent.

ie:
2 weeks ago i weighed in at 175.. the prediction for that date 5 weeks prior was 174.5
4 weeks ago i weighed in at 177.5.. the prediction for that date 5 weeks prior was 178.6
5 weeks ago i weighed in at 179.5.. the prediction for that date 5 weeks prior was 179.3

ladybugfrenzy

I'm glad I read your post because I have only seen my number drop slightly but i'm getting smaller! I've already lost a pant size. Why doesn't the number change? UGH! At least I'm still getting smaller.

sleepytexan

ha ha well if I rode everyday like I rode last Saturday I would be 15 lbs. lighter, but if I ate everyday like I ate on Friday I'd weigh more than I do now.

I'd be surprised if anyone does the exact same thing every day.

edit: btw, do you write down these daily predictions, or is there another way to see what it said weeks ago?

blessings.

sleepytexan

What I did was I created a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel: See Link Below:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22527300/Weight Loss Program Template.xls

On the first tab titled "detail" you can input your goal calories to consume each day, the number of calories you burn daily (this would be what MFP tells you or maybe an average across several websites that have calculators for this), the calories required to burn one lb (3500ish) and your beginning weight.

Then in the following chart you can input your actual calories consumed (first column in grey), and your calories burned from fitness (second column in grey) each day.

Quant!

It will perform the rest of the calculations for you..

On the second tab titled "summary" it will summarize each week for you as they pass. you can log your actual weigh in for that week (first column in grey), and you can also input your personal goal weight for each week.

It will then calculate your actual weight loss each week and compare to your goal weight loss as well as what I call "the mathematical weight loss"; the weight that you should have realized based on your caloric intake, calories burned daily and calories burned from fitness.

The very last column on the this sheet gives you what I call a "Mathematical Variance" or the difference as a percentage, from what you should have lost mathematically and what you actually lost.

So what do you do with this number?

Because this number is directly linked to your "Calories Burned Daily Average" on the first tab "Detail" (this would be the calories you burn not including fitness, but just from normal every day activities that you calculated earlier), you can then adjust this number on the "Detail tab" until your mathematical variance shows as 0% for the week.

Basically what you are doing is adjusting the amount of calories you think you burn on average per day to what you are actually burning, based on your caloric intake and actual weight loss. By changing this number until your "mathematical variance" is 0%, you are essentially truing up the math and your actual daily caloric expenditure.

You may want to "true up" these numbers weekly or every other week as your "calories burned daily average" will change as you get skinnier and it will help keep your calculations accurate on the spreadsheet through out your tracking.

quant! excellent.

livesthere

I haven't kept track accurately of what it "predicts" (plus it's different every day depending on how much you consumed that day), but it has been pretty darn close for me. Which is extremely motivating to continue on with this! But I think it's probably different for everyone and of course depends on if you're not "cheating" on your food diary. I add pretty much everything I eat, including condiments and all of that. BEST of luck to you! :happy:

cree_d

At first I was losing a lot more than it said I would, but I have a lot to lose. I now enter my weight, calories eaten and exercise in a spreadsheet and use a formula to calculate my metabolic rate. Using that information I switched my activity level from sedentary to active and it is much more accurate now. Strange, because I really am sedentary!

ambermichon

I dont eat the same every day depending on how hard I work out or not so that # is always different. I would say though in answer to your question YES MFP was the answer for me. I already was working out and needed to focus on my diet to drop weight and it has worked.

Queen_Christine

bump

BrittaneyHG

MFP told me i would weight 155 in 5 weeks i laughed because it HAD to be a joke.
So I wrote on my calender on the 5 week mark (155?).

I weighed in at 155 a week early!!

Unlike a lot of people a lot of my weight didn't come off the first week or two. After a long month of the loosing a pound here and there i started loosing inches and then the scale would drop 2 pounds by the end of a weekend.

Stay motivated, and don't let the scale make you lose your confidence.

kristen11joy

I'm not really organized enough to keep track of this, but it seems about right. I've only been at this since the beginning of summer -- I've lost 10 pounds in about 7 weeks. MFP usually seems to guess I'll lose 5-7 pounds in 5 weeks, which is in the ballpark, anyway. Like other people have mentioned, I've had a couple of times when I got stuck for a week or so at the same weight, or went up -- it's always evened out in another week or so, though, so don't be too hooked on the scale!

greatdragon

FTP seams to be way over in its estimations, but I think it only looks at some very basic stats for that day, it is in no way a trending tool it would work alot better and be more accurate if it used your calorie intake vs known weightloss and some other funky math and after about 2-3 weeks of interactions it would be very accurate for that person. but as it would take a kick *kitten* programmer to do it ( not that the staff of MFP are not kick *kitten* programmers ).