What is "trend"?

Can someone clarify what the trend line represents on the weight loss graph? 

It is meant to represent your actually loss (taking into consideration that your weight will fluctuate). Remember that 1 pint of water (16 oz) weighs approximately 1 lb.

You might want to check out these two FAQ topics that explains it further:

http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/help.ph p?id=7

http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/help.ph p?id=6

it's a way of averaging out the "ups" and "downs" of daily weighing. a mathematical formula to help us stop stressing over completely normal fluctuations in our weight. actually represents our "true" weight, i think.

Thank you

Something is wrong with my "trend" line then.  It has consistently been 3 or 4 pounds above my weight.  It's not even close, ever!

You probably had a bigger drop then.  I noticed when I have bigger losses, it takes a while for the trend line to catch up.

I have never understood this, because my trend line, too, has consistently been above my actual weight.  So the whole averaging out the ups and downs thing doesn't compute -- for the entire chart, day 1 till now (4 months) my supposed "average" is a couple of pounds more than I actually weigh -- right now my trend is actually 7.5 pounds more than I actually weigh.  What, does the computer not believe me when I put my weight in? ;-)

LOL adavidheiser!  I always find myself saying to my screen "No, REALLY! that's what I weigh"

thx for the chuckle :P

lmao, i had to giggle at that one too.. and yours tamji :)

 but i have been paying close attention to that trend line, and mine is slowly averaging out, and getting closer together, i think.. lol.. or that may just be me deluding myself, lol..

adavidheiser, i think maybe you could email erik, and ask him to check it. it doesn't sound like yours is working properly.

The "trend" moving average is great for someone who has weight spiking up and down but for a constant loss it is distorting the picture.  It is going up when my weight is going down for me.

Just when I thought I understood trend I started watching mine, and now I am more confused than ever.  I give up... it doesn't make any sense.  I have been maintaining with just a little variation and the trend keeps dropping down.  So I am just going to ignore it. 

The trend is basically your starting weight, minus your current weight, divided by how many entries. There's a bit more to it, but not enough to worry about. If you go back to the first 2 entries, you can see it clearly. Say the first entry is 150 and the second is 145 - the trend will read 147.5  - a 5 pound loss divided by 2 entries = 2.5 pound loss. That's why your actual weight can be constant while the trend still goes down -  your actual weight (the weight the scale says) hasn't stayed constant long enough for the average to catch up. Previous posts are right - it is there to offer comfort when you have a wedding to go to and that week there is a one or two pound gain. You can look at the trend line and see that you're still OK, as long as it isn't going up.

"Trend" is a moving average as explained in FAQ at http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/help.ph p?id=7

If it is a Simple Moving Average of 10 data points, it is including your last 8 higher values along with your recent 2 low ones, which makes the trend to increase while your weight actually decreases.