Losing weight by numbers... one for the geeks...

ElPatoLoco

Wasn't entirely sure where to post this and couldn't really see a thread that was suitable but I thought some of you might find this interesting.

I record my weight every day, roughly around the same time, not because I'm an obsessive neurotic about my weight but because I like numbers. For some people it's photo's.. for me it's graphs

The graph below shows three things. The line of red dots is MFP's projected weight loss of 2 lbs per week, the blue is my actual weight day by day and the black line is the trend of actual weight loss.



At the beginning I stuck rigidly to MFP's recommended calorific intake and you can see how I rapidly I overtook the projected figures, however as I got closer to my initial goal the two lines begin to converge. Once I reached my goal of 168lbs I eased up considerably and now eat a maintenance diet of around 1800-1900 calories a day

What's interesting for me is looking back at periods where I had "woohoo" moments, or plateaus where I felt I was never going to lose another pound. Christmas 2012 I actually maintained my weight whilst having what at the time felt like the pig-out of the century.

What I also find interesting is this was accomplished without depriving myself of a Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum & (diet) Coke in the evening or undertaking hours of strenuous exercise. In fact apart from walking more regularly, 30-40 minutes, 2 or 3 times a week in the first 3 months this included no more regular activity than I normally do.

Just thought I'd share as for me this has been a useful tool that's helped keep me motivated... a journal by numbers if you like

CristinaL1983

Awesome!! Congratulations on your loss, the graph is cool!

GauchoMark

And THAT... is why you should weigh daily!

Awesome. Good job on the loss and tracking. It makes it so much easier to deal with things when you have data that you can go back to look at and really see what is happening instead of letting emotions take charge!

GiGiBeans

I record my weight in the app Libra. Has neat trending graphs, predictions, reports. Love it :-)

JerseyGirlinTN

The visual definitely helps!

I record my weight in the app Libra. Has neat trending graphs, predictions, reports. Love it :-)

Thanks for this! I just downloaded it!

wikitbikit

Nice graph and nice app! I like to look at numbers.

JUDDDing

Very cool - thanks for sharing this!

+1 on Libra.

TotallyNotBillNye

Do you have razor sharp talons?

SRH7

Graphs! Drinking alcohol while losing weight! Not starving yourself!

Love your attitude and approach.

RumpusP

I still use my fitday software for the graphs even though I've changed to here to log my foods as it has a better database.

I love my graphs.

pjwcampbell

I'm a numbers/graphs geek, too. I religiously record my mileage on bike rides and calories burned during other exercise. It motivates me to be able to look back and see how many miles I rode in a year.

WTF7

NIce!!!