Can fitbit "take back" calories?

AvriAnn

If I exercise in the morning and it adds 300 calories in the morning, and then I sloth around on the couch the rest of the day, can those 300 calories be taken back because I don't do much the rest of the day?

T1DCarnivoreRunner

Yes. You should also turn on negative calorie adjustments in case you don't exercise at the level set on MFP.

AvriAnn

I do have the negative on. I am just wondering how you ever really know what your goal is for the day when it can change so much by the end of it. I guess I just need to do some trial and error

skylark94

I use the negative adjustment as a motivator to keep moving throughout the day. I hate losing calories I have earned, so I make a point to keep moving.

malibu927

Yep. That 300 is an estimation for what MFP believes you'll burn the entire day based on your activity up to your last sync. So if you don't move at all and sync again, it will recalculate and remove calories.

AvriAnn

I am just trying to get a good idea, as I am still in my last semester of college so I don't have a choice during class times. But, I'll have to take extra trips to the water fountain or increase the morning work outs

editorgrrl

AvriAnn wrote: »

I do have the negative on. I am just wondering how you ever really know what your goal is for the day when it can change so much by the end of it. I guess I just need to do some trial and error

My adjustments were all over the place at first. But they got better & better, as if the system was "learning" my routine.

Did you just get a Fitbit?

heybales

Just sync more often - if possible.
Fitbit reports new daily burn to MFP - MFP does new math for daily burn and adjusts eating goal then.

But indeed, if morning workout, then sync, then sitting all day and sync at 10 pm after dinner - you'll have issues getting good estimates.

So just look at your device, and subtract 500 from the calories it says as eating goal, and then MFP to tell you how much you've eaten so far.

Also, if you have NOT disabled the default setting of Fitbit Calorie Estimation, then as Editorgirl says, it'll get more accurate as more history is available to average.
But that's good if you really can't sync all day.

CM9178

If you have your activity level on MFP set way too low or way too high, compared to what you actually burn in a usual day, you will also get drastic differences.

AvriAnn

editorgrrl wrote: »

AvriAnn wrote: »

I do have the negative on. I am just wondering how you ever really know what your goal is for the day when it can change so much by the end of it. I guess I just need to do some trial and error

My adjustments were all over the place at first. But they got better & better, as if the system was "learning" my routine.

Did you just get a Fitbit?

Yeah, I'm on like day 4 I think? I've just got a mess going on... Even these days I think I'm sedentary I'm still getting 8-10k steps without a workout and I am also nursing a very new baby. I've been eating about 1800-1900 calories and I've lost 2 lbs this week. Which I know isn't a realistic long term thing... I guess I'll just give it a few weeks and reevaluate.

AvriAnn

And I sync basically constantly because I sync with my phone. I was mainly asking this question to plan my meals when I'm in class 8-5 and then didn't get surprised by being over at the end of the day.

heybales

People have many misconceptions about diet and exercise concepts.

Studies have shown without weighing or measuring food and with little experience, people tend to underestimate how much they eat when logging, and their concept of calories in food is terrible, very under reality.

Studies have shown without experience people tend to underestimate how much exercise burns.

And with every diet starting out at 1200, people have a terrible concept of how much they could likely eat compared to how much they likely burn to lose weight reasonably.

It's interesting how many don't know their biggest calorie burn of the day is their basal metabolism.

Or it sounds like how much walking around you are doing for instance.

And I wouldn't be shocked at all if about half of weight gain is from eating out frequently, with no concept there of calories eaten. Oh sure the fruit for breakfast, cottage cheese for lunch, light dinner, ect is known as low calorie, how some are very confused how they gained weight when they eat just that stuff only and say they have trouble eating even 1200 calories. Totally forgetting the 1200 calorie dinners or lunches they'd do 4-6 x weekly that actually caused the weight gain slowly.

tlacox1

AvriAnn wrote: »

If I exercise in the morning and it adds 300 calories in the morning, and then I sloth around on the couch the rest of the day, can those 300 calories be taken back because I don't do much the rest of the day?

Yes, that number changes all day, depending on how often you synch.