Weight Loss (or Gain) goals

Weight Loss and Weight Gain goals are incredibly simple in theory: enter your weight every day, which should be going down (or going up) over time. If you have a Fitbit or Withings scale, you can even have Beeminder update a weight goal automatically!

What do you mean by "what is the most your weight can change in one day"?

A lot of people find that their weight fluctuates in small ways from weigh-in to weigh-in. Up 0.5lbs here, down 1lb there. It eventually balances out, because it's the matter of having missed a single meal or drinking a lot of water on a hot day... but a single straight slope up or down towards your goal can't take that into account. Instead, when you create your goal, you let us know how great that fluctuation can be. If you never see odd differences of more than 0.5lbs in a day, then 0.5lbs is the most your weight can change in one day.

We call that amount "fluctuation buffer" or "flux", and it just gets added on top of your current weight when the goal starts. If you find yourself losing buffer, that means you're not keeping up with the rate you set, and you'll run out of buffer for those daily fluctuations.

How can I set the rate or add my target?

Once your goal is all set up, you'll start with a default low slope. Then you can use the commitment dial to set your own rate, or even configure a target weight.

If the default slope is too much (e.g. you want to just maintain your current weight), then contact us and let us know! It'd be really useful feedback to hear, and we'll be able to help you get things set up the way you want.

How do I enter data?

You literally enter your scale weight! The lowest weight you enter within the day will count, so you can weigh in at (for example) 180lbs in the morning, and then work out and scrape in at 179.5lbs later to save yourself from derailing.

I was safe for several days, but when I entered data, I derailed!

"Safe for five days" (as an example) means that you have five days to enter a datapoint that's higher/lower than your last datapoint. If you draw a straight line from your datapoint to the edge of the graph, and then down to the x-axis, you'll see that same date is the last day you'll be safely on track with that amount.

As a consequence, your number of safe days can fluctuate a lot. If you're safe for five days, and then you enter a much lower number, on a weight loss graph you'll be safe for much longer. If the next day you enter the same number you originally had, you'll be back to just a few days of buffer.

I reached my goal weight! Can I keep the goal going, but switch to maintaining?

Awesome, and absolutely! Set a goal date and the goal rate to 0 to flatten out the bright red line until the goal reaches its end date, which you should push years into the future (we don't yet have a way to commit to doing something literally forever, but we should!).

Can I set a goal that keeps me within a certain range?

No. The Weight Loss goal sets a daily maximum; the Weight Gain goal sets a daily minimum. If you want to stay within a range of values, you could use one of each goal to enforce both limits. But realistically, that's unnecessary (or if it's necessary for you, we suggest you use two different graphs). One side of the bright red line (probably losing or not gaining weight) is difficult and the other side (probably gaining) is easy, so in general, just beemind what's hard and stay in range on the other end by just keeping an eye on the graph.

Can I hide the numbers on my graph? I want to show it off, but I want to hide my true weight value.

We built a feature just for this use case! In the graph settings, tick the Hide the numbers on the y-axis of the graph box, then click Update Graph to save changes. This will remove all datapoint values from your publicly-accessible goal page, so you can share your progress without sharing your weight.

Your datapoints are already hidden by default, so people can't see those unless you check an extra button in settings to make them available. Here's how it looks:

An example weight graph, showing no numbers on the y-axis


Keywords: weight loss, weight gain, fitness, goal types, example goals, case studies, hiding the y-axis values

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