Are there any weight trending apps that take TOM into account?
ceiswyn
Posts: 2,256 Member
I’ve been trying to avoid getting spooked by what my thinking brain knows is TOM-related water weight gain by using weight trending apps to smooth out fluctuations.
The problem is that if my period is late, the water retention goes on so long that the weight trending app takes it into account rather than ignoring it as a fluctuation, then fails to keep up with my ‘true’ weight once it all comes off... Basically, I end up worse spooked than before!
Are there any trending weight apps that can take TOM information into account in their estimates? Something that integrates with Glow or similar fertility management apps, for preference? Or is a standard factor of biology that causes large medium-term fluctuations in menstruating people’s weight just ignored by pretty much every weight management tool out there?
The problem is that if my period is late, the water retention goes on so long that the weight trending app takes it into account rather than ignoring it as a fluctuation, then fails to keep up with my ‘true’ weight once it all comes off... Basically, I end up worse spooked than before!
Are there any trending weight apps that can take TOM information into account in their estimates? Something that integrates with Glow or similar fertility management apps, for preference? Or is a standard factor of biology that causes large medium-term fluctuations in menstruating people’s weight just ignored by pretty much every weight management tool out there?
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The trend will still be down? I don't really see the issue?7
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The trend will still be down? I don't really see the issue?
No, the trend isn’t still down. That is the issue.
If I put on 5lb of water weight for one week, then the trending app ignores it as a fluctuation and shows my ‘real’ weight as being lower. But if I put on 5lb of water weight for two weeks, then the trending app thinks it’s a genuine gain and shows my weight as going up over that time. And then when I lose that 5lb again in the space of two days, the trending app thinks the loss is the fluctuation, so continues to show the false higher weight, and take it into account in its calculations, for the next week.
All of which makes the trending app useless to me in any month where my period is late.
So, since TOM water weight gain is an issue for me, do you actually know of any weight tracking/management apps that can account for it?9 -
I am perimenopausal and my periods are all over the place. I haven't found Libra useless, in fact the opposite. Looking at trends over ,months rather than weeks showed a gradual loss and now, although up and down like a yoyo, a maintenance trend. I can also look back over it and see exactly when I got my last period.1
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That’s nice that it works for you, but unless it can discount TOM-related water weight gain it doesn’t work for me.
Can Libra take TOM information into account with its weight estimates as per my original question? As this is literally the only thing I would want it for?4 -
(As for seeing when I got my last period - yeah, that’s kind of what Glow is for...)4
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No it can't but I think you are worrying unnecessarily. Look for trends over months rather than weeks and those fluctuations become less significant. Play around with settings so fluctuations can be over a greater period of time (choose a fortnight or month, rather than a week) or just don't use a trending app at all because what you want won't exist as no two females are the same. I only start to retain water in the period from ovulation until TOM and that time will always be consistent, despite the length of time between periods.7
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I use FLO—It’s not a trend app but more of a TOM tracker that includes weigh ins. It actually helped me learn that I retain water during ovulation too. I track my weight trends with Happy Scale, but now that I know when I retain water I don’t enter those weigh ins in Happy Scale. I do enter them in the Flo Ap and it’s helped a lot with accepting the 3# water fluctuations during ovulation and before TOM.5
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That’s nice that it works for you, but unless it can discount TOM-related water weight gain it doesn’t work for me.
Can Libra take TOM information into account with its weight estimates as per my original question? As this is literally the only thing I would want it for?
Don't weigh yourself for that week or 2 weeks?2 -
Lillymoo01 wrote: »No it can't but I think you are worrying unnecessarily.
Err, yes?
I know I am. That’s kind of the entire point. I’m looking for an app that will help to reassure me when I get spooked....what you want won't exist as no two females are the same.
That is why fertility tracking apps ‘learn’ from the information you provide about past cycles and symptoms. There’s no reason a weight management app couldn’t do the same thing. But I’m aware that what I want may not exist - even stated that up front - in which case yes, obviously I’ll just continue managing without and getting twitchy for a week or two every month.
Still, thanks for deliberately suggesting something that isn’t what I asked for, on the basis that you know better than I do how I think and what I need. I appreciate that.18 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Don't weigh yourself for that week or 2 weeks?
Great idea. Now, how do you suggest I tell exactly which week or two weeks I shouldn’t weigh myself for?11 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Don't weigh yourself for that week or 2 weeks?
Great idea. Now, how do you suggest I tell exactly which week or two weeks I shouldn’t weigh myself for?
You say upthread that you use a tracker for your period, so...4 -
Not sure why you're getting so angry at people who are only trying to help....26
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Urbancowbarn wrote: »I use FLO—It’s not a trend app but more of a TOM tracker that includes weigh ins. It actually helped me learn that I retain water during ovulation too. I track my weight trends with Happy Scale, but now that I know when I retain water I don’t enter those weigh ins in Happy Scale. I do enter them in the Flo Ap and it’s helped a lot with accepting the 3# water fluctuations during ovulation and before TOM.
Hmm, that sounds like it might have possibilities. I’m currently using Glow because of the MFP integration, but it just shows a chart of weight against cycle stage; it doesn’t build up a pattern over time like it does with other symptoms. And even that chart is surprisingly well hidden
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TavistockToad wrote: »Not sure why you're getting so angry at people who are only trying to help....
I'm guessing it's the OP's TOM???14 -
Hmmm... another approach would be to work on changing your mindset around the number. Practice coming at it with a sense of curiosity, rather than shame/guilt/ whatever negative associations you have now. Try to find some familiarity or even comfort in the monthly rhythm.
All of the apps use mathematical algorithms. They’re neutral, just numbers, no judgement. They’ll all be about the same.
Between menstrual cycle and weekly medical infusions, my weight can fluctuate greatly, in the past by up to 20lbs in a week. A lower-carb diet has smoothed that out to around 5 pounds. It can be frustrating, and even scary. But I’ve learned to trust that my body will release the extra water when the time is right, and that sense of trust has made it so much easier. Now it’s a familiar cycle; I worry sometimes when I’m losing very quickly and don’t gain as much as usual!8 -
Why want a 'weight app" to exclude your TOM, the water weight is part of your 'weight' regardless if you are on your period or not. These apps are not that fancy, so maybe you can setup something using excel?
I am nearing menopause, mine is late each month, rather I now have 45+ day cycles sometimes I skip one all together, a trending app cannot keep up with that kind of data point. If if I am up x number weeks what is happening 'weight' wise is more than just water weight.
eta: I use weightgrapher.com (web based) and it works well for me, the trend lines I get are on point.2 -
Is your cycle pretty consistently the same number of days? You can graph a 28 (or whatever)-day rolling average in excel. It’s not an app, but it accomplishes what you’re looking for. It will average the ups and downs of a full cycle, so you will see the downward trend, if in fact, you are lower than last month.
Note, that average includes the bloated days, so it will be higher than your lowest weight. If you want to see a graph without bloat days, you can create another plot line in the same excel chart for your 10-day lows. Or 14-day lows. You get the idea.0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »
...so when it fails to predict a late period, I’ll be skipping weighing for the wrong weeks. Won’t that be helpful.4 -
One of the users mentioned an app called "Happy Scale". It uses a moving average (as I am sure do others), but has an "advanced lag compensation" feature that uses a double-exponential moving average. While this makes progress look a little slow on the front end of a diet (while dropping initial water weight) and can show that you are losing at the beginning of plateaus; it gives a better picture once in an established routine. Best of all it is a free app.0
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TavistockToad wrote: »Not sure why you're getting so angry at people who are only trying to help....
I’m getting angry at people who are being entirely UNhelpful by telling me what I ought to do or want despite knowing nothing about me, and recommending things that are not what I asked for and are entirely useless to me for complex reasons that I have no desire to go into and shouldn’t need to, either.
You want to be helpful? Assume I know what I’m doing and answer the question I actually asked, even if it’s with a negative. Anything else is just wasting my time, and half the time patronising me into the bargain. And that’s not something you can expect me to waste more of my time being nice about.23 -
Is there any reason you can't just weigh yourself and then not enter the weight on your app?
If you only use a scale that automatically tracks, consider getting an old school one for when you're ovulating and having your period. Problem solved.0 -
Why want a 'weight app" to exclude your TOM, the water weight is part of your 'weight' regardless if you are on your period or not.
Yes, but it’s guaranteed to go away again in another week or two. Which would not be true if it were fat weight; that, I would have to lower my calories and work to lose. I’m basically looking for something that I can point the paranoid bits of my hindbrain to and say ‘there there, this is the real figure, don’t worry, you’re still on track’These apps are not that fancy, so maybe you can setup something using excel?
Probably, and that’s what I thought of doing first. And then I thought, ‘wait, maybe something like that already exists, if anyone’s likely to know it’s the guys on MFP’. You’d think I’d have learned better than to hope for a simple answer to a simple question on here by now!
Last time I tried that was when I wanted to check a ballpark estimate for calories burned in uphill hiking; I got about ten ‘answers’ that ranged from disbelief that I’d done the hike at all to recommending that I spend money I don’t have on a Fitbit. It’s so weird, and I’ve never seen this level of ‘helpiness’ on any other forum!
But thanks, it looks like the short answer I was looking for is basically that nothing of that nature exists already, so I should either do it myself or continue living without it. So it goes 7 -
bigpapawes wrote: »One of the users mentioned an app called "Happy Scale". It uses a moving average (as I am sure do others), but has an "advanced lag compensation" feature that uses a double-exponential moving average. While this makes progress look a little slow on the front end of a diet (while dropping initial water weight) and can show that you are losing at the beginning of plateaus; it gives a better picture once in an established routine. Best of all it is a free app.
Happy Scale is the app I’m currently using. And that ‘advanced lag compensation’ is part of the problem, given that I’m dropping water weight quickly on a monthly basis.0 -
Why want a 'weight app" to exclude your TOM, the water weight is part of your 'weight' regardless if you are on your period or not.
Yes, but it’s guaranteed to go away again in another week or two. Which would not be true if it were fat weight; that, I would have to lower my calories and work to lose. I’m basically looking for something that I can point the paranoid bits of my hindbrain to and say ‘there there, this is the real figure, don’t worry, you’re still on track’These apps are not that fancy, so maybe you can setup something using excel?
Probably, and that’s what I thought of doing first. And then I thought, ‘wait, maybe something like that already exists, if anyone’s likely to know it’s the guys on MFP’. You’d think I’d have learned better than to hope for a simple answer to a simple question on here by now!
Last time I tried that was when I wanted to check a ballpark estimate for calories burned in uphill hiking; I got about ten ‘answers’ that ranged from disbelief that I’d done the hike at all to recommending that I spend money I don’t have on a Fitbit. It’s so weird, and I’ve never seen this level of ‘helpiness’ on any other forum!
But thanks, it looks like the short answer I was looking for is basically that nothing of that nature exists already, so I should either do it myself or continue living without it. So it goes
I completely understand the frustration, my periods have been wonky for several years and I know its due to the 'change'. I have had to let nature and what is happening to me just be part of my process. I have seen some crazy swings from ovulation, lack there of, late periods and so on and so.
I am not here to be snarky, so please do not put me in the list of trolls mentioned above, that said there has to be a point when you trust your calorie intake, exercise cals eaten back if you do eat them back as your point of reference to know you are on point and on track. We will never get an exact figure but we can get close. I have had to trust my logging efforts, having confidence in this aspect and let this be my guide, one of the reasons I log so religiously for the past 4 years.
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I do not know of a trending app or any app that does what you want.
My period has been irregular for awhile. I don't think an app can help me with my feelings about that. I stopped using the period tracking app I had because it was too frustrating since I would like to be able to predict my period and it could just tell me my period was late. I know there are many other apps and maybe one handles irregular menstruation better but I chose to just keep track of stuff on paper and feel less frustrated about it. Maybe you would be better off just using a spreadsheet or paper instead of an app since you know why your weight is up or down that much.
I handle not getting spooked by my weight by weighing only once a week, not using a trending app at all, not focusing so much on the number as my measure of progress, looking at longer time periods for change.0 -
OP if you are regular, you can always choose not to WI near TOM or whenever you know hormones get you bloated = heavier,I’m sure that by know you now exactly when and how much you gain, so wait a few days and keep tracking, although the whole point of daily tracking your weight is to understand and accept fluctuations that are not in your control and obviously fix the ones that are...I think you are over stressing for no reason
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It doesn't seem like what you need exists, but every weight tracker I've ever used has the option to remove logged days. Your best bet might be to go back and remove the higher weights that you know are just retained water so they don't mess with your trend.4
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Whether it's water or a donut, it's what you weigh that day. Also how is software supposed to predict a late period?12
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TavistockToad wrote: »Not sure why you're getting so angry at people who are only trying to help....
You want to be helpful? Assume I know what I’m doing and answer the question I actually asked, even if it’s with a negative. Anything else is just wasting my time, and half the time patronising me into the bargain. And that’s not something you can expect me to waste more of my time being nice about.
Wow.
But here is your exact answer: NO11 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »2- what you want doesnt exist. we can not MAKE it exist.
And had the first couple of responses to my post been ‘what you want doesn’t exist’, I wouldn’t be frustrated.
But they weren’t, were they? They weren’t anything nearly so helpful. Because telling a person “You don’t have the problem you say you do” and “You need something completely different from what you say you need” is not helpful, it’s actually patronising and insulting.
Why do you expect me to be pleasant about being patronised and insulted?3- A scale, ANY scale does not know if it is up 5 pounds because you pigged out for 5 days straight and ate everything in sight, or if its fluid retention.
And that is why it would be nice if there were an app that could recognise the monthly pattern of weight gain just before the period that is common in menstruating people. It wouldn’t require a particularly complex algorithm. But if it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t exist.5- none of it matters. If its TOM of month, you probably know that, and as (I will assume) a fully functioning adult with the ability to detect basic patterns regarding your body, YOU should know if the scale jumps up for seemingly no reason (no change in diet, no over eating, no new workouts or workout intensity changes) that, chances are, Aunt Flo is popping in soon to say hi, and to disregard the little numbers on the scale for the next 2 weeks.
Yes, I do know that. I know spiders are harmless, too. Doesn’t prevent me getting twitchy about either thing, though, because that’s not how the human mind works.
But thanks for taking the time to actually answer my question, in amongst the rest. If only more people tried that as a first resort, rather than a last one!4
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