If every day were like today... you would weigh...

mystinamarie

Similarly, if I don't do so well, I immediately see an estimate of how much slower my progress will be if I have many more days like that. That's helpful to me and I strongly suspect that's exactly what they want it to do, no more, no less.

^^^^ Agree 100%
I had a pig out day over Memorial Day weekend and it had me at 2 pounds heavier than my weight at that time. It was an eye opener to see how you can slow, stall, or erase your hard work if you're not careful and make wise choices.

Pimpmonkey

It simply is a calculation of how much you would weigh in 5 weeks if on every day during that period you had the same calorie deficit. It's the same basic calculation that they use to tell you that if you want to lose 2 pounds per week you need a calorie deficit of 1000 cals per day, which they calculate for you given their estimate of your BMR and then they set a calorie target designed to give you that level of calorie deficit.

When you finalize your day and it tells you that you would lose a certain amount of weight in 5 weeks, I have no doubt that it would be roughly accurate over time if you generally maintained the same calorie deficit every day. You could have the same calorie deficit even if you eat eat more or fewer calories each day so long as your total calorie deficit from your food intake and physical activity is the same.

In short, I don't think they intend it to be a prediction of what you actually will do every day for 5 weeks. But it is very helpful and encouraging to me because it shows me in a very understandable way what the impact would be if I have days similar to the one I just had in terms of total calorie deficit. If I have a good day I can immediately see that repeating that level of calorie deficit generally will have the kind of weight loss effect I want, and so it encourages me to repeat that behavior. Similarly, if I don't do so well, I immediately see an estimate of how much slower my progress will be if I have many more days like that. That's helpful to me and I strongly suspect that's exactly what they want it to do, no more, no less.

Watch out! Someone has some common sense!:noway:

chonji4ever

I think that it could be pretty close. It would depend on how accurately you answered the questions about your daily activity, and if you are accurately logging your deviation via the exercise logging. However, I think the calculator is just a close ballpark figure, and cannot account for your personal metabolism.

fabafter5

There are a lot of other things that can go into weightloss like sleep, stress levels, steps per day over exercise etc. that are not accounted for in this. It's nice to dream though!

vfnmoody

It simply is a calculation of how much you would weigh in 5 weeks if on every day during that period you had the same calorie deficit. It's the same basic calculation that they use to tell you that if you want to lose 2 pounds per week you need a calorie deficit of 1000 cals per day, which they calculate for you given their estimate of your BMR and then they set a calorie target designed to give you that level of calorie deficit.

When you finalize your day and it tells you that you would lose a certain amount of weight in 5 weeks, I have no doubt that it would be roughly accurate over time if you generally maintained the same calorie deficit every day. You could have the same calorie deficit even if you eat eat more or fewer calories each day so long as your total calorie deficit from your food intake and physical activity is the same.

In short, I don't think they intend it to be a prediction of what you actually will do every day for 5 weeks. But it is very helpful and encouraging to me because it shows me in a very understandable way what the impact would be if I have days similar to the one I just had in terms of total calorie deficit. If I have a good day I can immediately see that repeating that level of calorie deficit generally will have the kind of weight loss effect I want, and so it encourages me to repeat that behavior. Similarly, if I don't do so well, I immediately see an estimate of how much slower my progress will be if I have many more days like that. That's helpful to me and I strongly suspect that's exactly what they want it to do, no more, no less.

what he said

RebelliousRibbons

Mine's very accurate/ higher.

2 weeks ago, mine said I would be 177 in 5, and now that two weeks have passed, I only have to lose 1 pound per week over the next 3-ish weeks, and this will be true.

vade43113

I would be classified bulimia(if that is the right one), and probably only weigh 120 or under...

I ate 1474 and exercise burnt off1449, leaving me with a 25 calorie surplus.

I was just playing around with the Wii(wii tennis is very addicting when you add a two year old smiling and laughing, while he watched... forget about putting it down), with my nephew, and cleaning.... next thing I know.... net = 25. It was too late to do anything about it.

noirnatural

OMG! I have never seen that before!!! I never press the button to finish logging...lol...that is the coolest thing I have seen! Its also very motivational, because now I can pick menu that work to help stay on track for my goal!!!:bigsmile:

JAGgirl47

Absolutely not correct!

dena789

i`m not sure if it`s accurate but I think it`s a great tool! It`s encouraging to see where I could be by keeping up with what I have been doing.

Pebble321

I've been wondering for a while now so I've started to record what it says everyday and then in 5 weeks (from last Monday) I'll see where I end up

I did this for a while last year - and found that if I ate pretty much what MFP recommended (not way under or way over) and I was pretty consistent - then, yes it was reasonably accurate.
If I looked at it on a day when I ate a lot or a little, then the prediction was way high or way low.

airangel59

I enjoy seeing it, gives me motivation, regardless if it's accurate or not. Like another poster said, I might mark the pounds off on my calendar and see where I am in 5 weeks. (Actually I'm copying/pasting it into the note box)

reyopo

Nope. No no no...not even CLOSE! From day 1 it that number was consistantly accelerated over my actual weight loss. I have been stalled for about 5 weeks and it's still predicting super low numbers, every single day. I'm VERY consistent, very diligent. It's not happening...but it's ok...my body fat % has improved, my muscle mass has increased, I feel good, i look pretty damn good...I'm ok with it.

guiltypleasure00

I've found mine to be a pretty good indication of where I'll be. It's always been true within about a 1/2 a kilo or so.

ShellyShuey

I guess it could be... but who eats the same thing every day for 5 weeks? Maybe some people.. I am always a good 200-300 cal difference each day.

^^ this ^^

raeraeti

I tend to loose more than it predicts- but you should take into account your activity level that it is set at. It thinks i am sedentary

BarbWhite09

It's probably correct....but there arent many people who eat the exact same amount every single day...Lol...

neverstray

I wish it would trend, rather than just be a one day calculation. I mean it has a lot of your history there. Why not trend the data too?

Kathy53925

It's just a guideline to give you an idea of where you are headed if you eat too much or too little.

Yea...what she said!

obeserat

I'm about 10lb lighter than predicted but have been losing weight rapidly since the doctor reduced my calories to 1200 and told me not to eat back exercise calories

Robin_Bin

It's roughly correct for me. I don't eat exactly the same each day, but most days I keep pretty near the MFP, and that's about what the 5 weeks from today calculates. When I've set my goal at different amounts and eaten what's recommended, MFP says I'll lose about what I selected in 5 weeks, and that's pretty much what's happened. It's not exact, some weeks have been a bit higher, some lower, but it pretty much averaged out.

kateblue72

I do like the motivation it gives me .... and I do think there is some truth to it .... it IS doing the 'math' based on your activity and food. And I am quite certain on some days if I did manage to be repetitive ... which we all know is boring, and highly unlikely, that the probability of it would be true. ie especially on low food/high exercise days ... one could seem to 'melt' away - LOL!!

Justkeepswimmin

I have found it to be generally true. Sometimes I lose more than it says, sometimes less, but its a decent ballpark.

slimmingdownsteph

It's an estimate. MFP doesn't know how each individual body works. Don't take it to be the absolute truth.

Exactly!

jenmfpal

I think you have to take into account your activity level setting and how much of your calories you eat back from exercising. But overall, I think it's pretty accurate.

I complete my day, and if I remember, I copy the message into my food note and save it into my daily diary. But I don't really make every day the same (except that I try to make every day close to my goal), and I find it is pretty accurate.

dirty_blonde

I love seeing this at the end of the day because I want to prove it WRONG. I want to do better and lose more weight then it says I will. hahaha. Will see if in 5 weeks I can lose more then it says I will.

ZugTheMegasaurus

It's never been even close to accurate for me; usually I lose in one week what it says I'll lose in five. I have absolutely no idea why it's so far off.

jenmfpal

I went back 5 weeks ago and checked, and this was accurate for the most part, except I've actually lost one more pound then MFP calculated. Recently I started eating back most of my exercise calories, because I was on a plateau and have come around to the eat more to weigh less philosophy.

I have my weight loss goal set to two pounds a week. I noticed the other night, when I went over by about 300 calories, that I would loose only 1 pound a week for 5 weeks. So MFP must give me a daily deficit of about 600 calories. Seems good to know, and seems good to remember that even if we are over, we aren't really over...

I went back earlier in my food dairy and estimates were way off when I wasn't eating back my calories- and I wasn't loosing weight even though the estimates looked good.