Why is my FitBit adjustment so high?
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slevvio
Posts: 3
Hi, I just got a fitbit and I went to the gym this morning, on my first full day of ownership.
Several hours later MFT is giving me a fitbit calorie adjustment of 608 calories! My fitbit is also telling me I've done 51 active mins, which seems weird considering I just did bodyweight exercises today and walked around. Does this actually mean I can be eating an extra 600 calories and still lose weight? Is it borked maybe?
Thank you
Several hours later MFT is giving me a fitbit calorie adjustment of 608 calories! My fitbit is also telling me I've done 51 active mins, which seems weird considering I just did bodyweight exercises today and walked around. Does this actually mean I can be eating an extra 600 calories and still lose weight? Is it borked maybe?
Thank you
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Replies
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Do you have yourself set to sedentary? I find that for me, Fitbit considers sedentary around 2500 steps a day, so anything over that it starts adding. You probably don't have yourself set correctly on MFP for your average activity level.0
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Yes I am set to sedentary, I've barely done anything today and I am at 10k steps.
But if I'm not set to sedentary, surely I would be able to eat even more? Because then it would give me higher calories per day?
Sorry I'm very new to this.0 -
Your idea of what "sedentary" might be a bit off. I'm at 7500 right now and I took three 15 minute walks during my work day. If you're getting 10k by doing "barely anything", well, I don't know what your definition of "barely anything" is.
Yes, you would be able to eat more. Because you're more active. You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. If you're doing 10-15k steps a day, your food intake should reflect that. Sedentary basically means you get up to go to the bathroom but sit _all_ day.0 -
If you change your MFP settings to active rather than sedentary, your fitbit adjustment will not be as high, however your starting calories will be higher. It would all equal out to be about the same though. Since you are set at sedentary, but already have 10,000 steps, it will give you a big adjustment because you've been much more active than what MFP considers sedentary, as the previous person stated.0
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Yes - you've could have / should have been eating more for however long you've been using MFP.
- Sounds like your Fitbit is letting you know you are more active.
Then again, you don't say which Fitbit device. If HR version, then the calorie burn based on HR for lifting is inflated, those formulas are for steady-state aerobic, not non-steady-state anaerobic like lifting is.
So manually log Weights on fitbit or Strength training on MFP for that time.
Calorie burn is smaller, but that is correct.
Still sounds like you are more active than you think.
And since fat loss requires a reasonable deficit - make it so.
Unreasonable gives you muscle loss - to be avoided.
And no, MFP subtracts what it thought you'd burn with no exercise from Fitbit daily burn, to make the calorie adjustment.
So if MFP thought you'd burn more (and you do), it means the adjustment is smaller.
You can plan the day better.0 -
I just got my charge HR and my net calories today is-29. (I still need to eat one more small meal) I have apparently burned over 900 extra calories. I usually target eating 1200-1400 calories but maybe this is too few? I have my setting as lightly active.0
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DanielleMesa wrote: »I just got my charge HR and my net calories today is-29. (I still need to eat one more small meal) I have apparently burned over 900 extra calories. I usually target eating 1200-1400 calories but maybe this is too few? I have my setting as lightly active.
Forget net calories - how many are left to eat to meet the daily goal that is given?
Your MFP selected activity level isn't going to change anything about the Fitbit daily burn.
It will merely determine if your adjustments are big and harder to plan for, or smaller to allow better planning of the daily eating.0 -
I guess what I am asking is if I have set my calories too low. According to my current height and weight, MFP says I should be eating around 1900 calories. I set mine to 1400 because I went to a weight loss clinic that said to stick to 1200 but that seemed kind of low. I just want to make sure I am losing but also staying healthy.0
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Put stats in, tell MFP how much you want to lose, set yourself to whatever activity level you think you should be and your Fitbit will tell you if you should be eating more. I have pretty much consistently eaten all the extra calories my Fitbit gives me, and I've been losing fairly steadily at a pound a week, just like I want to (18 pounds down as of this morning)0
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DanielleMesa wrote: »I guess what I am asking is if I have set my calories too low. According to my current height and weight, MFP says I should be eating around 1900 calories. I set mine to 1400 because I went to a weight loss clinic that said to stick to 1200 but that seemed kind of low. I just want to make sure I am losing but also staying healthy.
And that clinic had no clue how active you were, or perhaps with the device now, how active you are now.
Sounds like a real fancy clinic, sorry to say, throwing out the same eating level as vast majority of diets, which is really the recommended lowest value for average sedentary female, to not go below for safety.
If not average and not sedentary and you feel like your body deserves better than bare minimum - eat more.
Apt this time of year, would you regularly drive in the snow so as to always be barely skidding and sliding, just at the line of losing traction?0 -
You make a good point. I hadn't thought of it like that. I will up my calories this week and see what happens.
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I have this same question so I'm jumping on here (sorry ).
I've only had my FitBit Flex for a day, so I'm still learning about how to use it and going through the info on here. I'm synced to MFP for which I had originally manually set my macros using Scooby's Workshop, putting myself at 'desk job with little exercise', and doing TDEE -20% which was 1480 calories which I've been doing for 4-5 weeks. This is because I don't do any set exercise and I'm on leave so I'm not even going out to work regularly, and some days are just pottering around the house.
However on my first day with the Flex I've hit 7500 steps just in my morning which has taken me by surprise. MFP has already logged an adjustment from FitBit of an extra 429 calories. On reflection, I walk quite a bit throughout the week. So now I think I've put my original activity levels as too low. I was thinking of waiting a few days to see if I'm regularly high like this, readjusting to the next activity level up if so, and going from there. Does that sound like a good plan?
Also when it comes to eating adjustment calories, do FitBit users eat back all of the calories? When I've read about exercise calories on MFP the general idea has been to eat at least 50% back, but I think part of that is because MFP can overestimate calorie burns, so I'm guessing the FitBit adjustment calories might be more reliable and therefore recommended to eat them...?
I don't want to go aggressive and not eat at the right level for me - part of the reason why I got the Flex in the first place - so I want to make sure I'm doing this sensibly 0 -
I switch mine to very active and made my intake 1700 like it was before I will let you know if it helped0
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Fitbit also adjusts itself throughout the day. If you ran 5 miles in the first 2 hours you were awake, it's going to give you a HUGE adjustment thinking you'll maintain that same activity level all day. If you spend the day sitting at a desk/only doing normal office walking around and then check back in by late afternoon, Fitbit will probably have drastically reduced its original prediction. Mine does it all the time, since I hit the gym first thing in the morning and confuse the little bugger. 0
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Actually, if you have Calorie Estimation turned off in your Fitbit account, it won't front load tons and then take them away. It will just give you calories as you earn them. I suggest everyone turn it off so that you don't over eat and then realize you've gone over once it takes the calories back.0
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Thanks for the tip Angierae, I hadn't discovered that feature yet.0
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Oh wait, I don't think I can disable calorie estimation... well I'm sure I'll figure it all out soon enough 0
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Angierae75 wrote: »Actually, if you have Calorie Estimation turned off in your Fitbit account, it won't front load tons and then take them away. It will just give you calories as you earn them. I suggest everyone turn it off so that you don't over eat and then realize you've gone over once it takes the calories back.
I dont see where you can do this?
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On the fitbit dashboard (on a computer, I don't know how to do it on the app) click on the wheel in the upper right hand corner for settings. Then click on settings.
Then it's down under "preferences".0 -
Angierae75 wrote: »Actually, if you have Calorie Estimation turned off in your Fitbit account, it won't front load tons and then take them away. It will just give you calories as you earn them. I suggest everyone turn it off so that you don't over eat and then realize you've gone over once it takes the calories back.
I dont see where you can do this?
Go to the Food tab of the Log at FitBit.com. Mouse over the gear in the upper right of the Food Plan. Select Sedentary rather than Personalized. Be forewarned, it can show a depressingly low number of calories to eat until you get your usual amount of exercise in.0
