The 5-Week Prediction

Weigh in tonight was 317. That's 64 pounds down.

Also, as I've mentioned, I use My Fitness Pal to help me count calories. Every day, once I've completed all my entries for the day as far as food, exercise, and water, I hit this little button that says "complete entry." It will then give me a 5 week prediction of my weight based on my calorie intake/output of that day…

It reads If every day were like today… You'd weigh XXX in 5 weeks.

Then it gives a little disclaimer stating…"your projected weight loss is an estimate based on your total net calories for today. Actual results may vary." Which is an important disclaimer. Basically it's saying that theoretically, in order for that prediction to be accurate… you would have to eat the EXACT same amount of calories and burn the exact same amount of calories every day. Which is not realistic at all. But some people miss that little disclaimer. And they get upset with MFP for not giving them an accurate assessment. Or they somehow feel like a failure because they are not hitting that weight in the estimated time period. Personally, I love seeing that little prediction. It's highly motivating to me. However… once I've looked at it… I'm done. I forget it about it. It's not like I'm keeping track of those numbers every day and then comparing them to my actual weight at the designated 5 week mark. To be honest… I have no flipping clue whether or not their predictions have been accurate for me or not.

But all that being said… I got particularly excited by tonight's prediction. Tonight's prediction said that I would weigh 297 in 5 weeks. Like I said… I don't put great stock in it…. but this was the first time that my weight has been low enough that the 5 week projection put me at below 300. And that's pretty thrilling. There is something about having a 2 as the first number that feels SOOO much smaller. That feels kinda "normal" overweight rather than "freaking huge." It is a little frustrating that I've lost almost 65 pounds and I'm still well over 300. Not that I'm letting it get me down. I'm plenty happy with how things have gone so far… but it is something that's a little demoralizing. So, it feels very good to see that number as the 5 week prediction… whether it's going to end up being accurate or not.