Wieght-Loss Features (Read 913 times)

Hi Eric : As you know, many people run to lose weight. The RA user group, the Jiggly Joggers, is getting quite popular, with nearly 100 members. I think if there were some additional capabilities related to weight-loss, you could attract a lot of new people to the site and to running. Many of these capabilities would parallel existing RA capabilities (weight is really just another statistic, like miles or pace). One needed capability, is the ability to enter a weight entry, on a non running day. For example, the Jiggly Joggers have a weigh-in every Monday, but many people take Monday as a rest day. This would allow graphs to be created based on weekly weigh-in data. Also, we started a 5% Spring Challenge to see who could lose 5% of their weight in the Spring. I have been manually keeping track of people’s weekly weigh-in numbers and challenge targets. See http://www.freewebs.com/run4life/RA/springChallenge.htm. Note that this is very similar to the mileage groups, but the focus is on pounds lost, not miles accumulated. Also, the interval here, is a season (i.e., Spring), rather than an entire year. Also, note, I have the concept of a “Pace Jiggler” which will lose exactly the challenge weight over the challenge interval, so you can see how you’re doing relative to him. This brings up the notion of generic challenge groups or clubs (like the existing mileage clubs), with user defined durations (e.g., a year, a season, a month, …), and user defined tracking statistics (e.g., miles accumulated, pounds lost, …), and user defined logging intervals (e.g., day, week, …). Note that since weight varies from day to day, we weigh in every week, rather than every day. Which brings me to another idea – that is, the ability to apply mathematical operations to the data, like trend lines, or moving averages… These are just some ideas. I'm sure there are plenty others... Thanks for listening,

Eric, yes, I can help with the requirements and design. I 'll get back to you when I have something...

Hi Michael, Are you referring to the Running Weight-Loss calculator? I'm confused because this thread is not about the calculator, but other weight-loss related capabilities I was suggesting.

OK, I understand. I did give Eric some input on a generic challenge capability, but this has been the extent of my contribution in this area. I'll let Eric comment on whether calories can be introduced as a attribute on non running entries.