Why is my goal ALWAYS 5 weeks away?

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kitinboots
kitinboots Posts: 589 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
as far as I can see, I'm doing MFP as intended. I eat well, I exercise, and I make sure I always net pretty darn close to 1200 per day. But I always get "if every day were like today, you would weigh [x amount] in 5 weeks"
Now [x amount] fluctuates by a small amount, which I find odd to begin with, but I guess I can attribute that to whether I was bang on target or a few calories off. But why is it always 5 weeks away? Surely if it said my goal was 5 weeks away LAST weekend, it should be four weeks away THIS weekend.

Or will it only change if I weigh in and say I've lost something already? I dont in weighing myself, and so the final number isn't really all that important to me, I just find it odd that it never changes.

Replies

  • PegasusDeb
    PegasusDeb Posts: 665 Member
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    I look at it as motivation.
  • unsuspectingfish
    unsuspectingfish Posts: 1,176 Member
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    It does fluctuate based upon your numbers for the day. It also will only keep going down if you keep weighing in. It's only a guess based upon what you enter, amyway. I generally ignore it, as long as it goes down and not up.
  • geicko
    geicko Posts: 151
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    This is calculated based on your actual weight. It's the "you'd weight X" that change, not the duration, which is always 5 weeks.
  • DBabbit
    DBabbit Posts: 173 Member
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    The goal to reach XX is always 5 weeks, even if you've lost weight. I think if we could set a date to reach XX weight on a certain day, we might be more motivated to reach it if we can see it daily. At the moment, the only way you can see your weight loss is when you comment and then check your ticker - provided you have one set up.
  • sharonuk10
    sharonuk10 Posts: 277
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    That message has nothing to do with your goal. It is just little message to keep you motivated. It does change as you weigh in. The reason why it fluctuates is down to how many cals you consume and if you exercise or not on that given day. I never pay attention to that message as it is never right.
  • trapitt
    trapitt Posts: 93 Member
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    MFP always tells you what your weight will be in 5 weeks if every day was like the current. It is not related to you goal weight. Just a motivational tool. When you update your weight, you will see it go down because the calculation is based on your calorie deficit and current weight. I have about 14 weeks to reach my goal, but I like seeing what progress I can expect in 5 weeks time. Good luck.
  • leslturn8
    leslturn8 Posts: 505 Member
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    it says that because it cant say youll b x in 2 days....it give you a rough idea what you can weigh in 5 weeks if you stick to the plan as you get closer in 5 weeks it will be lower and lower as you progress.
  • claire_xox
    claire_xox Posts: 282 Member
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    yeah its a calculation based on how much you weigh on that day and how many calories you have.
    So if you're the same weight for 10 days in a row, and eat similar calories you'll always have a similar goal.

    i.e
    If you weight the same and eat 3000 calories in one day, it'll probably say in 5 weeks time you'll weigh more
    then if the day after you ate 1 calorie it'd say in 5 weeks you'll be skinny as!

    It will always say 5 weeks no matter what.
  • claire_xox
    claire_xox Posts: 282 Member
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    whoa like a million people replied whilst I was typing. Didn't mean to repeat what everyone else said!
  • em80
    em80 Posts: 91
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    I don't follow that tbh. I lose my weight slowly so i'm always behind that goal.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    That always ticks me off actually, as I am getting NO results. I've been doing MFP for a couple of months religiously...and it's not budging. Not one bit. The 5 week goal makes me furious. :explode:
  • milaxx
    milaxx Posts: 1,122 Member
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    Oddly enough I have noticed that whatever my short term goal is, if the note says 10 pounds less than that I am losing. LOL Now I just look to see if my goals are withing that 10lb range and I know I'm eating right. I only weigh myself monthly so it's a nice way to ballpark my progress.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
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    What bugs me is it takes no account of how you REALLY lose weight, even though it has all the necessary info (calories in/out and weight gain/loss) to do so.

    I had to manually set my maintenance calories or I kept shrinking, but apparently, with my maintenance calories I'd be over 3 lb heavier in 5 weeks time! I actually find that reassuring because I could lose that in no time, but it doesn't reflect reality at all!
  • kitinboots
    kitinboots Posts: 589 Member
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    Wow, I don't find that motivating at all! I'd like to turn it off if I could!

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