Blog #2: Driver Analysis
Question: How can weight loss be optimized using your own data?
Method: Driver Analysis
Explanation: If you want to lose weight, we first agree on a realistic goal and time frame. You then record your weight (=target variable) and control variables such as your daily calories and carbohydrates in your online diary. The latter are called control variables because they have a direct impact on your target variable «weight». In other words, we can control your goal achievement with these variables.
Driver analyses (see picture) are now helping us to find out which control variable is the most effective in terms of reducing your weight. In the picture below you can see a driver analysis based on data from my contest preparation in 2021. As you can see, the impact of carbohydrates (orange) on my weight was greater than the impact of daily calories (blue). Given this evidence, I knew that in order to further reduce my body fat, I primarily had to cut carbs. However, I was allowed to be bit more careful with total calories and not reduce them too much. Carbohydrates were thus further reduced from week to week, but at the same time protein and fats were slightly increased to partially compensate for the decrease in carbs. As a result, the daily calorie intake was not cut aggressively and stayed between 2900 and 2200 kcal throughout the whole diet.
Conclusion: You can benefit from driver analyses in order to achieve your goal as efficiently as possible. Can you also control your weight well with carbohydrates or are you more the calorie type of person? Let's find out!