Fitbit and IIFYM

brittany_812

Hey everyone. I've had a fitbit charge hr for a few months and have used it on and off for basing my caloric intake. I recently started an IIFYM diet, which give you a daily number of grams of protein, fats and carbs to hit. These add up to your daily intake. I've been using a few different calculators to determine my macros and the estimated TDEE it's giving me is all over the map.

So, what I'm wondering if I should use the fitbit tracking and adjust my daily intake to that (which would take a lot of attention to make sure I'm getting the actual amount of protein I need, since the calculator would add or drop calories from all nutrients, not just carbs as IIFYM would require) OR should I use the average estimate from the Charge (as one of the things with IIFYM is that you should be consistent in your daily intake regardless of calories burned, because it is the nutrients not the actual calories you worry about)

Ultimately to calculate macros I need an accurate estimate of calories burned per day... So the fitbit charge hr should be good to use for that right?

kuranda10

on your profile page FitBit gives you a 30 day avg. I have found that to be close enough. I only re-adjust for days that I've sat on the sofa watching movies

brittany_812

Cool. I used their diet calculator and it seemed to use a caloric burn estimate of 1800 (since it told me to eat 1300 at a 500cal daily deficit), while the calorie estimate is more like 2000 burned, so even at a 500cal deficit I'd be at 1500, which is what I'm already eating

kuranda10

I don't trust the FitBit calories estimator as it will go below 1200.

I refuse to eat below my BMR, evenon my sofa slugging days.

editorgrrl

brittany_812 wrote: »

I used their diet calculator and it seemed to use a caloric burn estimate of 1800 (since it told me to eat 1300 at a 500cal daily deficit), while the calorie estimate is more like 2000 burned, so even at a 500cal deficit I'd be at 1500, which is what I'm already eating

A healthy, sustainable deficit is 250 calories per day for every 25 lbs. you're overweight.

kuranda10 wrote: »

I don't trust the FitBit calories estimator as it will go below 1200.

I refuse to eat below my BMR, evenon my sofa slugging days.

^^^This. Undereating will not get you to your goal any more quickly. In fact, it usually leads to bingeing.

heybales

Usually those calculations are based on grams eaten per day for protein and fat, carbs gets the rest.

The number of calories to obtain that doesn't matter.

So as mentioned above, look at your Fitbit emails for 2 weeks that gives your average daily burn - if they were indeed average weeks.

There's your TDEE.

Take your deficit amount, either % or block of calories. And with only 5 lbs to go, hopefully that is a small amount so you can get the most from your workouts. Either 5% or 250 calories.

Setup on MFP your Goals - Custom - net eating goal calories (though you'll treat it as a gross goal actually).
Change the Protein and fat to hit the grams those other sites give you, and let carbs get the rest.
Yes, changing by 5% increments isn't as exact, but you were going to get exact grams anyway eaten.

And so you are aware, even for IIFYM - it is the calories that is the ultimate concern, they merely take an average weekly burn down to an average daily level for ease of you.
Don't imagine for a second you could eat the macros perfectly on the head but 500 extra calories and not gain fat.