I feel like I MUST be making a huge mistake here

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Replies

  • fullersun35
    fullersun35 Posts: 162 Member
    if you are doing TDEE why are you eating back exercise cals..? or am I missing something?

    I'm confused too. If you do TDEE - 20%, you aren't supposed to eat back your exercise calories.

    Ah, old post. Never mind.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    ...
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,224 Member
    So far I come in low every day (by design) because I am afraid I am not counting my calories right on the money, so a little under is better. Only been at it a little over a week but surpassing my goal so far. And I know it is longer term changes that really mean something. Just nice to see the slider going left and not right WOOT

    May I suggest that you start your own new thread instead of resurrecting a thread from 2013 started by a now deactivated poster who turned out to be quite the nutjob?
  • pita7317
    pita7317 Posts: 1,437 Member
    BMR, FitBit whatever....I consume 1300-1500 calories a day. Three meals. Drink lots of water.
    Portion sizes, big del.
    Female. Age 55.
    My ticker tells my results.
  • BramageOMG
    BramageOMG Posts: 319 Member
    I guess I did not look that closely... I may need to go back and re-read this thread, Nut job's intrigue me. Sorry for the resurrection.

    Also, I have a phobia of starting new threads. Being the first to post about any subject results in tremendous anxiety :)

    OK - OLD THREAD No one else post here !! my bad
  • BenjaminMFP88
    BenjaminMFP88 Posts: 660 Member
    I've been trying the TDEE-20% method for 3 days now, and I just cannot comprehend that I can eat this much and still lose weight.

    I currently have MFP set for my Sedentary TDEE-20% and then I plan on eating back all of the exercise calories from my Fitbit.

    Friday, I ate 1846 calories, but had 115 remaining. Yesterday, I ate 2140 calories with 81 leftover. Today, I've eaten 1268 calories and I still have 928 left!

    Coming from years and years of being told to stick to a 1,200-1,500 calorie diet as a female, I'm having a hard time accepting that I can eat over 2,000 calories a day and lose weight.

    If you are using the TDEE method, you do not eat back exercise calories as they are already factored into your allotment (TDEE)
  • mbcaldwell123
    mbcaldwell123 Posts: 79 Member
    I'm always told by nutritionist to give it two weeks for your body to adjust. Then you can start making the adjustments needed for your body. I also told to think of your metabolism as a fire. If you don't feed the fire, the fire burns out. It seems so counterintuitiive to EAT to lose weight. Just hang in there and give it a chance.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    As far as I can tell, fitibit is a glorified pedometer, NOT an HRM, so the calories she's tracking probably aren't accurate.
    I think you should actually read up on it then, as it goes way beyond what most HRMs are capable of.

    Everything I see just talks about counting steps, and how good it is at counting every step you take. I can't find anything that indicates it measures your heart rate at all. Counting steps doesn't tell you how many calories you've burned.

    Neither does heart rate except for when you are in the aerobic zone. Anaerobic exercises will not calculate correctly by heart rate.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    So far I come in low every day (by design) because I am afraid I am not counting my calories right on the money, so a little under is better. Only been at it a little over a week but surpassing my goal so far. And I know it is longer term changes that really mean something. Just nice to see the slider going left and not right WOOT

    May I suggest that you start your own new thread instead of resurrecting a thread from 2013 started by a now deactivated poster who turned out to be quite the nutjob?

    Ya gotta love MFP. :laugh:

    If someone posts a popular topic they are asked "why don't you use the search option"

    If someone uses the search button and gets on old thread, well ...
  • mmredd100
    mmredd100 Posts: 50 Member
    I started the tdee method about a month ago and nothing really happened for about 2 weeks. Now the weight is slowly but surely coming off. I do NOT eat back the calories. A couple days isn't enough time for your body to adjust. Give it time!
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  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    I have used a Fitbit for the past 6 months - and while it can't be 100% accurate, I've found it to be very useful as an activity tracker. Fitbit uses the established formulations for BMR and factors in activity. It can't tell intensity (not a HRM) but measures overall step-based movement. I officially set my goal for a 500 daily deficit, and generally try to have an extra 100-200 calorie deficit daily to help offset estimation errors. I lost 3.8 pounds in my last 4 week measuring period.

    Better than someone assuming they're 'lightly active' and never knowing how much they actually move, to know if the setting is too high or too low.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    As far as I can tell, fitibit is a glorified pedometer, NOT an HRM, so the calories she's tracking probably aren't accurate.
    I think you should actually read up on it then, as it goes way beyond what most HRMs are capable of.

    Everything I see just talks about counting steps, and how good it is at counting every step you take. I can't find anything that indicates it measures your heart rate at all. Counting steps doesn't tell you how many calories you've burned.

    It takes the steps and uses a formula to calculate your calories burned. This of course is an estimate. A HRM does the same thing though. It takes your HR and uses a formula to give you your calories burned. It's an estimate. As far as accuracy, reading some tests people have done the FitBit seems to come pretty close to numbers HRMs give. Bottom line though either way, if it's 100% accuracy you want you're not going to get that anywhere.

    Comparison of several devices: http://arijaycomet.com/2013/12/11/caloric-burn-comparing-heart-rate-monitors-to-activity-trackers/

    From the results summary: "For purpose of my testing I’ve learned that the data I have been estimating using the Fitbit calculator is nearly identical to the data I logged using the Polar H7 HRM"
    And you don't need accuracy. All you need is a baseline. Your results will tell you how accurate your estimates are and you can adjust your eating accordingly. Look at the Nike Fuelband. It doesn't even use calories as its metric, just a made up 'fuel points' value. Because it doesn't really matter. If I lose weight at 4000 fuel points a day and 2000 calories eaten, I'll lose more at 5000 and less at 3000 (and will lose more at 4000 points and 1800 calories/day than 2000/day).

    I agree with the post above but I would add that technically the Fitbit doesn't use 'steps' themselves to estimate calorie burn. It uses the motion pattern detected from the accelerometer. You could rack up more calories from a lower step-count workout if it's got larger body motions and more impact, for example.

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