Proof that weighing daily is confusing unless you look at the big picture. (Spreadsheet!)

2»

Replies

  • LeslieB042812
    LeslieB042812 Posts: 1,799 Member
    Thank you so much for sharing your spreadsheet--it's fabulous! I had made one a long time ago, but yours is much better. LOL

    As another option, there is a free app called "Libra" that serves a similar sort of function. I like it because it shows your trend line along with predictions for meeting goals, assuming the current trend holds. It also gives a summary of the history (date of highest weight, date of lowest weight, date of lowest trend, etc.). Just another option! :smile:
  • Lottiotta
    Lottiotta Posts: 162 Member
    edited July 2015
    fraserkr wrote: »
    I like your spreadsheet graphing calories to weight. I've wanted to see this myself. But I wonder why you note 'red line is my calorie "balance" and you can pretty much ignore that'. Where are the calories that you are not ignoring shown on your graph?

    @fraserkr This is where it gets a bit weird. According to MFP and Fitbit, my calorie intake and burn have been around the same since I started counting everything a couple of months ago. And yet I'm losing about a quarter of a kilogram per week. TrendWeight says I'm burning ~240 kcals more than I'm eating per day, which means MFP and Fitbit must be underestimating my daily resting calorie burn (is that TDEE?), but I have no idea how to change my settings to take that into account. So until I can do that, the calorie line on my graph is pretty useless.

    However, I do like that the calorie line is on there. It clearly shows that Fitbit is underestimating my calories burned (or I'm overestimating calories consumed), and that is useful information. :)
  • Lottiotta
    Lottiotta Posts: 162 Member
    edited July 2015
    LeslieB042812 wrote: »
    Thank you so much for sharing your spreadsheet--it's fabulous! I had made one a long time ago, but yours is much better. LOL

    As another option, there is a free app called "Libra" that serves a similar sort of function. I like it because it shows your trend line along with predictions for meeting goals, assuming the current trend holds. It also gives a summary of the history (date of highest weight, date of lowest weight, date of lowest trend, etc.). Just another option! :smile:

    I'm glad so many people are finding the spreadsheet helpful!

    Thanks for the recommendation of Libra, @LeslieB042812. :)

    Edit: I just went and found this article about Libra, if anyone is curious. It appears to be an app on Android only.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Lottiotta wrote: »
    fraserkr wrote: »
    I like your spreadsheet graphing calories to weight. I've wanted to see this myself. But I wonder why you note 'red line is my calorie "balance" and you can pretty much ignore that'. Where are the calories that you are not ignoring shown on your graph?

    @fraserkr This is where it gets a bit weird. According to MFP and Fitbit, my calorie intake and burn have been around the same since I started counting everything a couple of months ago. And yet I'm losing about a quarter of a kilogram per week. TrendWeight says I'm burning ~240 kcals more than I'm eating per day, which means MFP and Fitbit must be underestimating my daily resting calorie burn (is that TDEE?), but I have no idea how to change my settings to take that into account. So until I can do that, the calorie line on my graph is pretty useless.

    However, I do like that the calorie line is on there. It clearly shows that Fitbit is underestimating my calories burned (or I'm overestimating calories consumed), and that is useful information. :)


    That sounds right .. 250 calories a day is roughly 0.5lb a week, which is roughly 0.25kg isn't it?

    .. how many calories do you think you're in defecit in a day roughly? Might that be a logging issue?
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
    AJ_G wrote: »
    Or you can be consistent with calorie intake on a daily basis, as well as water intake, and you won't have the problem of your weight fluctuating from day to day.

    It doesn't matter what you do or how accurate you are your weight will still naturally fluctuate from day to day.

  • Lottiotta
    Lottiotta Posts: 162 Member
    edited July 2015
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Lottiotta wrote: »
    fraserkr wrote: »
    I like your spreadsheet graphing calories to weight. I've wanted to see this myself. But I wonder why you note 'red line is my calorie "balance" and you can pretty much ignore that'. Where are the calories that you are not ignoring shown on your graph?

    @fraserkr This is where it gets a bit weird. According to MFP and Fitbit, my calorie intake and burn have been around the same since I started counting everything a couple of months ago. And yet I'm losing about a quarter of a kilogram per week. TrendWeight says I'm burning ~240 kcals more than I'm eating per day, which means MFP and Fitbit must be underestimating my daily resting calorie burn (is that TDEE?), but I have no idea how to change my settings to take that into account. So until I can do that, the calorie line on my graph is pretty useless.

    However, I do like that the calorie line is on there. It clearly shows that Fitbit is underestimating my calories burned (or I'm overestimating calories consumed), and that is useful information. :)


    That sounds right .. 250 calories a day is roughly 0.5lb a week, which is roughly 0.25kg isn't it?

    .. how many calories do you think you're in defecit in a day roughly? Might that be a logging issue?

    I am very careful about logging calories but I guess my scale might be inaccurate and think things are heavier than they are...?

    According to my spreadsheet, I have no calorie deficit at all. That's why I'm wondering whether Fitbit/MFP are underestimating my TDEE. Which is entirely possible! I think I trust TrendWeight more, because if I am losing about .25 kg per week and that means my deficit must be ~250 kcals per day AND I'm pretty sure I'm logging food accurately, that means the TDEE must be off... right?

    My instinct would be to tell Fitbit that my TDEE is higher and put in a custom value, but I don't think that's possible.

    Edit: Oops! Tagging @rabbitjb :)
This discussion has been closed.

Categories