Graphing Weight loss - a bit over the top

Hi all,

I've been frustrated by my scale varying from day to day, making it hard to see the progress in weight loss.  I was complaining to my engineer husband, who said. "Its a noisy signal problem."  and suggested a solution:  to take a 5 day average and a 5 day median, and plot all three.

The blue plot below is my daily weight, the orange is the average and the yellow is the median.  You can see that the scale number varies quite a bit, but the mean and median really settle down and give a better idea of weight loss. 

I know this is a bit over the top, but I found it interesting.  I don't know if most people see their weight jumping around like I do, but I found it helpful to see the real picture rather than get freaked out every time the scale jumps around.

This was my post-vacation weight gain, and my slow loss getting back to goal. 

There's a program that Gwen recommends called TrendWeight that basically does that same thing for you.  I found it most encouraging as I "bounced" all over the place during my weight loss phase.  Best part...it's free!!  And very accurate!!

I also like TrendWeight.

You chart of daily, mean and medium made me smile.  It shifts a frustrating experience into a beautiful representation.  I am not an engineer but do have an appreciation for terrific data presentation.   Your husband nailed it when he called it a noisy signal problem.  

Yes, my daily weight jumps around a bit.  If I ever get to the point where it is messing with my brain, I'll remember this graph.  Or, as others suggest, use trendweight but I am pretty sure your graph is prettier.  

It does look like your weight is on its way back to where you want it.  Thanks for sharing what it looks like to live in maintenance!