How to Calculate Weight Loss Percentages in Excel

Microsoft Excel is spreadsheet software for organizing or calculating data of any kind. You can use Excel for many purposes as it is easy to create a formula-based spreadsheet that manipulates numbers for a clear result. If you wish to calculate weight loss percentages in Excel, this is easy to do and can be set up in a few minutes. This basic use of the program is also a suitable way to learn how to use Excel so you can develop more complex applications to track your fitness progress if desired.

A woman eating a healthy lunch while working on her computer. (Image: amanaimagesRF/amana images/Getty Images)

Step 1

Open Excel. The program should automatically create a new blank spreadsheet. If it does not, click the "New" button on the Excel toolbar, or select "New" from the "File" menu.

Step 2

Click in cell A1. Type "Start Weight:" and press "Enter."

Step 3

Click in cell A2. Type "Current Weight:" and press "Enter."

Step 4

Type your starting weight and current weight into cells B1 and B2, respectively, so that they correspond to the cell labels typed into cells A1 and A2.

Step 5

Click in cell A3. Type "Weight Loss Percentage:" and press "Enter."

Step 6

Click in cell B3. Type an equal sign ("=") followed by the formula "(B1-B2)/B1" and press "Enter." Note, you should not include the quotes when you type the formula.

Step 7

Click in cell B3. Click the percentage button on the Excel toolbar ("%"). This will format the result as a percentage. This is your calculated weight loss percentage. As you type a new weight into cell B2, the weight loss percentage will update, so you can see your cumulative progress.

Step 8

Click the "File" menu and choose the "Save" command to save your work to a new file. As this is a new spreadsheet, you will see a pop-up window requesting the name of the file and the disk location for storage. Enter the information and press the "Save" button to complete the save process.

Tip

You can label the cells in column A anything you choose, so long as they make sense and clearly express what kind of data you should type into cells B1 and B2.

If you do not see the percentage button on the toolbar, you can also format the result of the formula by right-clicking the cell and choosing "Format Cells." Then, select "percentage" and press the "OK" button.

Warning

This is a basic calculation that finds the overall percentage difference in your weight loss. Remember that many factors affect health, and sometimes it is more useful to analyze your body fat, rather than your weight.