Calorie Adjustment--Please Help

heybales

3girlmommy wrote: »

I've read so many posts that I'm giving myself a headache and I just want to make sure I'm using my Charge HR and MFP correctly......so here goes, I have my Fitbit set @ sedentary so that I can earn calories thru the day. I have MFP set at sedentary based on the fact that I have a desk job from 8-430. I drive an hour back and forth to work...more sitting, go home, make dinner, do chores, etc. Another reason I had it set it at sedentary was so that when I worked out (prior to having the HR) I would only earn extra calories after logging activities and therefore I knew I actually earned those calories and I would eat those back. Now enter the new Charge HR...I have the 2 apps synced. I enabled the negative adjustment feature on MFP as I read on one of these many posts to do. My TDEE 1607, have my setting is to lose .5/wk, looking to lose 10 lbs (@140 5'6'' now). My daily calorie goal is 1366 with no exercise. It's around noon and I have a fitbit adjustment of 250 cals. When I look under the "i" I see a fitbit calories burned fullday projection of 1900 and MFP estimated cal burn of 1650. Do I really want to eat those calories...knowing I haven't really done any "exercise"? It's hard for me to wrap my head around that knowing prior to the HR I would have only earned calories based on the exercises I entered manually. Also, is my way of thinking of starting with sedentary and eating back calories as they are earned the wrong way to look at things? I don't always do this same ol' routine, drive to work, work, drive home, do light chores and sleep, often I walk at lunch and work out at home after work that's why I liked having the lower setting (sedentary) for my not so active days and then the days I am active I know I've truly worked hard to earn those extra calories.

Thanks in advance for your help....

Is being slightly more active than sedentary and receiving positive adjustments "earned" calories in your mind?

You could have big adjustment and NO exercise - because you are more active during the day.

Did you get the Fitbit to be more accurate for daily burn and therefore eating level?
Or merely to increase steps taken?

If accuracy - then let MFP do it's job and correct it's estimate - yes eat the extra calories back - they aren't really extra though.

They were just unknown to you.

Shoot - many start out not knowing that you burn calories while sleeping.
Are those extra?
Or merely didn't know about them, but sure they count?

If you have an adjustment at noon for 250 calories already - you are not sedentary then.
Leave Fitbit on that setting, because that's not a comment or reflection on activity, but merely what their eating goal is based on, and what they estimate daily burn to be without any syncs from the device.
But MFP should be Lightly Active then.

So unless you see a bunch of steps in your daily graph at times you know you weren't moving, you are more active than you believed - might as well plan the day better than.

3girlmommy

Yes @heybales‌, I got the Fitbit for accuracy. I will update MFP to lightly active. Thanks again for your help!!!