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

Cynnie20012
Cynnie20012 Posts: 33 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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?
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Replies

  • Tiffa0909
    Tiffa0909 Posts: 191 Member
    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.
  • elaanne
    elaanne Posts: 35
    I have been kicking myself for not jotting that number down once a week and seeing if it was accurate or not! I'm looking forward to hearing if anyone has found it at all accurate over the long-term.
  • marooned
    marooned Posts: 106 Member
    did not match mine... I too am over and under daily; it is a great motivator though!!
  • hudson5473
    hudson5473 Posts: 4 Member
    Really hasnt worked for me recently. Its been saying I should be losing weight but the scale says otherwise. I still do feel better and the scale isnt always the greatest tool.
  • ren_ascent
    ren_ascent Posts: 432 Member
    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.
  • PunkinSpice79
    PunkinSpice79 Posts: 309 Member
    Nope. It's a nice thought, but not accurate.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    for the first year, it did, almost every single time.
  • nikki2001
    nikki2001 Posts: 98 Member
    I am testing this theory now I will check back on 8/26/13 when my 5 weeks is up :)
  • ardisia32
    ardisia32 Posts: 26 Member
    As others have said, I vary too much from day to day for this feature to be accurate enough to motivate me. I get more motivation from the days-in-a-row counter. Nothing more annoying than missing one day for a reason you can't control (e.g. my internet router went down, and even though I logged in the app, I couldn't sync with the website until the router was replaced) and having that reset to zero.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    Requires calibration
  • womanlady
    womanlady Posts: 33 Member
    It has previously worked for me :) it's a great motivator
  • nena49659
    nena49659 Posts: 260 Member
    Hasn't worked a bit for me.
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    It has been pretty accurate for me, at least now that I am in maintenance mode. My net calories are mostly even thru the week, as the graph in the report shows, even if my total and daily amounts fluctuate some.

    It is a nice comment to see, it gives you and idea if you are heading in the right direction or not, but I don't take it very seriously.
  • MorningWhispers
    MorningWhispers Posts: 182
    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.
  • samuelsson
    samuelsson Posts: 74 Member
    Nope. It said I would be 7 pounds lower than I actually am, 5 weeks later. Boo. But I'm aiming now for NSVs to take my mind off the scale numbers, because I know I'm gaining muscle mass with lifting and exercising, and I'm feeling better overall.

    I did jot down my number when I started 6 weeks ago, and last week those numbers did not match up. =( As others said, though, it's still a motivator!
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    Actually, it has worked with me almost perfectly...over the long term. I have lost about 31-32 lbs since the beginning of the year. That is almost exactly 1 lb per week which would correlate with the deficit I've been maintaining (500 Cals per day or 3500 Cals per week). The thing is, weight loss is not linear. You lose a bunch on weight, and then you hit a plateau. You lose some more weight, another plateau, and so on.

    This is why I alway stress persistence. People get so frustrated when they hit a plateau. Keep going!
  • PlayboyMickey81
    PlayboyMickey81 Posts: 10
    Hahaha I know the feeling. It does make you feel good, doesn't it? I'm barely in it for a month now that I exercise and eat healthy everyday for about 35 days straight, eventhough I joined way back when. I did lose a lot of weight with this app :) but of course when I weight myself, only lost like 10 lbs so far but thats because I'm also lifting weights. I think if I just do cardio straight for a month, would probably lost another 10 lbs :) but it's ok because as long as you see the results in the mirror and the clothes you're wearing.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    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.
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    Actually, it has worked with me almost perfectly...over the long term. I have lost about 31-32 lbs since the beginning of the year. That is almost exactly 1 lb per week which would correlate with the deficit I've been maintaining (500 Cals per day or 3500 Cals per week). The thing is, weight loss is not linear. You lose a bunch on weight, and then you hit a plateau. You lose some more weight, another plateau, and so on.

    This is why I alway stress persistence. People get so frustrated when they hit a plateau. Keep going!

    Also, forgot to add that you have to lower your calorie goal as you lose weight. TDEE decreases as you lose weight. This is what's partially behind plateau frustrations and starvation mode myths.
  • bannedword
    bannedword Posts: 299 Member
    Hell no.
  • Hannah_Hopes
    Hannah_Hopes Posts: 273 Member
    I love seeing it, I don't really mind if it's accurate or not its just a realistic motivation for me personally.
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
    Nope. Nowhere near.
  • richh963
    richh963 Posts: 78 Member
    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
    salladeve Posts: 1,053 Member
    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
    peacemongernc Posts: 253 Member
    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
    ArtemisRuns Posts: 251 Member
    Not working for me.
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
    yes almost to the t
  • AngelicValkyrie
    AngelicValkyrie Posts: 43
    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
    cmcmommy Posts: 197 Member
    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
    Jmercerq Posts: 10 Member
    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.

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