All measurements are from the same scale. The colors represent the time of day the measurement was taken -- morning (yellow), afternoon/evening (green), night (blue). N = 374 (119 morning, 102 afternoon, 153 night).
There are so many stories in these data I do not know where to begin.
Your first reaction is probably "what's with the big jump?" It turns out to have a simple explanation:
JW fails to resist gourmet reindeer in Anchorage, AK -- August '09
I have never been overweight -- in fact, I have been borderline scrawny since toddlerhood -- but I was surprised to see how much my weight fluctuated the past year: My low was 133.5 on March 11, and my high was 151 on August 28 -- a 17.5 pound difference without any real attempt to gain or lose weight! However, this year was probably unusual for a couple of reasons...
The change in diet
I made a considerable change in my diet around the time I started tracking my weight (and other things). This change in diet undoubtedly led to the gradual decline in weight until mid April. It was this presentation by Walter Willett that that opened my eyes and got me thinking about what I was eating. I did a lot of research, and although I have come to realize there is as much disagreement between nutritionists as there is between economists (if not more), for health and to a lesser extent moral reasons, I have decided to live by the motto "eat more plants, less animals." At home, I am strictly a vegan with the exception of fermented foods or probiotics. I estimate that in an average day, about 700 of my calories come from peanuts and raisins. Besides that, my diet consists of a lot of bread and olive oil, bananas, smoothies, and whatever my darling makes. I eat out a few times a month, and will eat meat and dairy within reason.
The Indian Buffet
Then, on April 15, my birthday happened. I had my birthday lunch at Green Leaf, a new Indian restaurant in Durham. The food was amazing. I am no stranger to Indian buffets, and I do not remember eating that much more than I usually do, but the data show a jump occurring right around that exact day. (In reality, it was probably the Indian buffet combined with the other delicious food I helped myself to that day.) But that was definitely a turning point -- from there, although I kept my same diet, the weight steadily crept back up to the set point.
Alaska and Seattle trip -- 8/7 to 8/19
Free breakfasts, reimbursed lunches, amazing dinners, and the best vegetarian buffet I have ever experienced -- can you blame a guy? I knew I had eaten a lot, but I was surprised to learn that it was 7 extra pounds, especially with all the hiking we did.
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Other notes:
-Any time there is a gap in the data (easier to see in the bar chart), I was traveling.
-It is interesting to see the change in the frequency of measurements. I tend to get disinterested and take fewer measurements over time, but then I realize my weight is changing and start measuring at a higher frequency again.
-Night measurements, on average, are about a pound heavier than morning measurements.
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I recently started analyzing my other self-tracking data, and if I am not too lazy, should have a summary post before long.
