Yes, I’m here.  I’ve been in full-on lurk mode.

I decided to post here, rather than the other thread lest I hijack it.  Plus I figured I should probably introduce myself, anyway.

I have been listening to the podcast since right after the first hour long show.  I just haven’t been as frequent with the emails, Scott.

In the before time, long, long ago I dropped about 90 pounds.  I’ve gone up a bit since then, but truly not that much.  I’m on my way back down now.  See see my website for the crunchy details.

Unfortunately for me, the common cold took me out last week.  I gained a couple pounds, and didn’t work out at all.  It sucks.  I didn’t go super-overboard, it was closer to what life would look like maintaining my weight rather than losing.  I’m back at the downward trend today, plus working out.  I can hardly breath right now because of my last workout.

Hi, all!

Hi Otto,

Welcome to MTM!  And congrats on the 90 lbs.  That’s quite and accomplishment!  I wouldn’t worry too much about one week of stagnation, especially if you’re sick.  Take your time to get better, and then get back on track.  If you’ve only gained a few pounds, they’ll come off in a week or two and then you’ll be right back where you started before you were sick!

TTFN,
Julie

Julie - 01 March 2006 09:53 AM

If you’ve only gained a few pounds, they’ll come off in a week or two and then you’ll be right back where you started before you were sick!

Yep.  It was more like 3 pounds, and they’re gone now.

Now I’m off to the gym, so I get back below where I started.

Thanks.

Hi Otto -

I checked out your web site. I work with investment bankers who would highly approve of your charts. They’re big on reducing volatility too.

While I don’t keep quite the charts that you do, I can appreciate your level of detail. I’m currently coveting a $60 dollar kitchen scale that can measure to 1/8 of an ounce.

Good luck keeping that trend line headed down, and keep checking in.

Laura

Otto, I also checked out your web site.

How do you calculate the “trend” line on your graphs?  It’s really nifty and I’d like to do something similar.

Thanks,
Julie

Julie - 03 March 2006 09:56 AM

How do you calculate the “trend” line on your graphs?  It’s really nifty and I’d like to do something similar.

I totally stole the idea from the Hacker’s Diet. He has some excel spreadsheets, but I do my own.  The formula is pretty straight-forward.  At the most basic level it’s this:

=yesterday’s trend + 0.1 * (today’s weight - yesterday’s trend)

I have some other magic around that forumla to deal with days that haven’t been recorded yet, and days that I skip a weigh-in, etc, etc.

I can post the detials of how to turn that table of data into a chart that looks like mine, later, if you are interested.  Since someone else (in real life) asked me for a copy, I’ll probably work up a template and add it to that page.  I’ll post if I get around to that.

Nifty, thanks for the formula.  I don’t actually use Excel, so a template probably won’t do me much good, but I’m sure I’ll be able to figure something out. 

Thanks,
Julie