"If every day were like today"

Gwenski

Hi there...
Have you ever wondered how correct the motivator at the end of your day is?

Well, I'm quite the 'numbers' gal and was just sooo darn curious as to how correct it is.. and you know what? If you are very consistent and track your food and exercise very carefully, it really is correct.

For the past five weeks I have intentionally stayed very close to my target calories and exercise goals each and every day. My exercise was more than I set my goals because folks say that mfp is pretty generous on the number of calories burned. Each day I wrote down the number that mfp said I would weigh in 5 weeks and then AVERAGED the number over the 35 days.
The average of mfp's estimate, and my actual weight after five weeks were within 1 pound (eight tenths of a pound to be exact).

To me, this just shows how accurate the programming is; but it means you must be consistent and log everything accurately.. but, it can be done.pretty closely.
Have a happy, healthy day!

webenic

Glad to know I'm not the only "numbers freak" out there

Julzanne72

Love it, I wondered, and now I know! thanks so much for info....I am excited to see where I am 5 weeks from now, so far mfp has been an amazing tool for me! Love it!

jatiger83

I always wondered about this too! Thanks for testing it out!

amoffatt

I need to start doing this, gives me a goal to reach, thanks for the input!

Chagama

Glad to know I'm not the only "numbers freak" out there

Me too!

Nikkei24

I am literally on week 3 of doing the same thing!!

sparkie51

Thank you for checking those numbers. I am glad it is close to correct. I have found it to be so with my journey of 6 months on here but I was only estimating cos I am not a numbers girl lol.

winonajosephine

thanks for posting! thats good to know!

DaniellePF

I'm glad that is correct....I always figured it was wishful thinking, lol!

freezerburn2012

That's a very interesting point and this gives me an idea for yet another spreadsheet in which to gather and analyze data!

Date column, 'if every day...' column, actuals, difference amount, difference %, conditional formatting... Anything else?

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Bohemian_Rainbow_Girl

Oh my gosh! I did the exact same thing! :laugh:

Victoria2448

I don't pay attention to any of that...according to MFP I should be gaining weight at an alarming rate:laugh:

I'm not...

Nikki_42

I always wondered about this too! Thanks for testing it out!

Ditto! Thanks!

Helenatrandom

Good to know! Even my "bad" days have shown I would weigh less than I did at that moment, so it made forgiving myself and moving on easier.

Dayna154

I have been tracking daily my weight and my 5 weeks weight to see how close they will come out. I have only been doing it for a couple of weeks tho.. Glad to hear this since I am liking what my 5 week out numbers say!!

Sweetncgal78

Makes me want to try it myself

KristalDawnO

awesomeness!

treehugginpam

Unfortunately it doesn't take in to account other factors -- eating too little and your metabolism slowing down, eating too much salt and retaining water, your body just being stubborn, etc. -- so you can't count on it. I've been doing everything I'm supposed to be doing, eating within my calories but not too low, and working out consistently (6 days a week), but have only lost 30 pounds since June. According to MFP I should be close to my goal weight already, but apparently my body doesn't understand that the "calories in vs. calories out" is supposed to make me lose weight consistently. :laugh:

Kell_Smurthwaite

I've been keeping a note of the "if every day wre like today" thing - it definitely helps keep me on track.

jcpmoore

I love you, Gwenski! I work in statistics, so any and all math geeks make me happy. Folks in my company love to run simulations for everything from traffic lights to March Madness basketball. Thanks for running this experiment and sharing your results. I really appreciate you taking the time and sharing.

Have a blessed day!