Any free tools for charting weight loss?

[JudyS]

I've been keeping track of my weight in a journal, but my weight bounces around so much that it's hard to tell how I'm doing. I think it might work better to use a simple graph, with dates written along the bottom (x-axis) and weight up the side (y-axis.)

Of couse, I could just buy some graph paper to do this, but it would be nice to be able to store this on my computer. Are there any free programs out there that will draw a simple graph like this? (I do have MS-Office, but I don't know if it has any way to draw a graph.) Maybe Fitday or something offers a way to chart your weight?

Thanks!
Judy

 

[VernRDH]

I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but the Tickery Factory tickers give you a graph when you update your info. Mine shows the graph of my loss and goal on the same graph. Also, I didn't know how often you would be updating (daily, weekly etc). You can edit your weight loss ticker at any time, its pretty easy and best of all FREE!!!

I keep a log of my weight loss in Excel, I think there is a way to convert it to a graph, I will ask DH when he gets home and let you know.

Good luck!!

ETA: I asked DH, and I even tried it. If you use Excel, you can highlight your data then Insert a line chart. It will chart out your loss. There are lots of different options. Let me know if I can help anymore!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

The online ones you can try are also free at sparkpeople.com or fitday.com. I think fitday sells a program that you can use on your computer if you don't mind paying for that one.

If you've got Excel that would be something you could actually graph yourself.

 

[JudyS]

Thank you, Vern and Tiger Lily, for the suggestions! I will check them out!

 

[Geekerbell]

I second the suggestions above. I personally use fitday.com to track all of my food intake and set weight goals for myself, It will also track weight lost over certain time frames (week, month, etc.).
Then I use the ticker factory ticker as to track weight loss and BMI.

I'm not savvy enough with excel yet to use that for graphs, but the other two online options work well for me.

 

[allyphoe]

I like the Hacker's Diet tracker; it smooths out the water-weight fluctuations.

You can see my chart here (https://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Ha...530K9FG486FJF8&q=log&m=now&HDiet_tzoffset=360).

 

[mom2alix]

If you have Excel, there is a great free template you can download.

In Excel, click on Help at the top of the screen and Excel Help should pop up on the right side of the screen.
In the white box under where it says Search for: type Fitness Chart and hit Enter.
In the results you'll see "Fitness Chart for Women". Click on that and download it.

All you have to do is fill in your wieght and measurements and it will do all the calculations and charts for you.

 

[LK03]

I use my ticker factory one as well as Excel.

In Excel I wrote down every date I weighed in on (every Monday since March 12) and then dragged it all the way down. I then typed in all my weights for the weeks and then I took the average to see what my average per week was (1.5 lbs).

From there I made a chart based on every Monday up until May 2009 and if I only lost 0.5 lbs, 1.0, 1.5 and 2 lbs per week at what week would I make my goal. I'd make my goal weight May 2009 if only losing 0.5 lbs the rest of the time.

I then graphed my actual weight loss, and then graphed the gain/loss per week. The gain/loss graph is the best tool. I have a very steady trend of very huge losses, and then a large gain that continues to get bigger as the losses get bigger. I was able to predict that I would gain this week by looking at that chart. Granted I've been doing this for 35 weeks so I have a very steady trend going.

If you want a copy of my actual sheet to understand better, just let me know and I can email it to you

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

great Excel ideas too!

 

[JudyS]

Thanks again for all of the suggestions!

The reason I want a graph is that my weight fluctuates so much (down 7 pounds one week, up 5 the next, that sort of thing). So, I don't think the the Ticker Factory tickers would help much; I'd be moving the ticker back and forth all the time.

I went to FitDay and entered my weight data there. It does give me a better idea of how I'm doing, although FitDay draws a flat line between data points, which I don't like. (In other words, if I was 229 pounds on October 15th and then weighed myself again on October 22nd and was 224 pounds, FitDay assumes I was 229 pounds on October 16th through the 21st and then lost 4 pounds on October 22nd. I'd rather have a graph that draws a diagonal line between the two points. Still, FitDay's graph is better than nothing.)

I also plan to try some of the other suggestions when I get time. The Excel suggestions sounded very useful; if I can't figure out how to do it, I'll post here again. I'll check out SparkPeople, too. I couldn't quite understand how to read to HackerDiet graph, but I'll try to take another look at it.

Thanks to everyone who responded!

 

[allyphoe]

I couldn't quite understand how to read to HackerDiet graph, but I'll try to take another look at it.

Ah, sorry. Yellow dotted line is the projection for a 900-calorie per day deficit, which I set for my own reference. Red line is the calculated trend line, which is based on a weighted 20-day rolling average. If you're maintaining or gaining / losing slowly, it's pretty close to "true" weight - what you'd be without the water weight fluctuations. I'm losing fast, so it lags significantly, but I like that it shows a steady decline rather than the up and down of the scale. White diamonds are scale weight. Blue line is amount of exercise using their program.

So my scale weight was 155 on 11/8, and 155 on 11/15 (darn hormones), but my trendline weight was 158 on 11/8 and 156.5 on 11/15. Going by the scale, I've hit a week-long plateau, but I still get a 1.5 pound loss by the trendline. I know I've been good with my diet, and that this is a water-retention week, so the trendline loss helps keep me motivated when the scale would make me grumble.

 

[JudyS]

... Going by the scale, I've hit a week-long plateau, but I still get a 1.5 pound loss by the trendline. I know I've been good with my diet, and that this is a water-retention week, so the trendline loss helps keep me motivated when the scale would make me grumble.

Ah, that sounds like exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for! Something that helps me look at the lower-term trends, rather than the day-to-day (or even week-to-week) ups & downs. Thanks very much! I will take another look at your graph.