things becoming more clearer!

rachylouise87

so happy i got this fitbit. on working days i have been burning on average 1600-1800 depending on my workout and how long im at work (desk job) i try moving as much as i can i now run up and down the stairs at work twice daily (5th floor) since then i have been able to create a manageable deficit based on activity. so on the lower days 1600 i have been eating around 1300 calories and on my higher days eating as much as 1600 depending on how much has burned. i dont feel tired or crappy and now i am realizing getting the balance right is crucial. not eating the same amount every day is different but it works because i earn calories rather than having to work them off. feeling really good right now

MandaLeigh123

Whats your TDEE? 1300 seems lower than BMR.

tigerblue

BMR depends on current weight and age. Hers might well be below 1300. Mine is somewhere between 1180 and 1280 (currently 131 lbs). 1300 might still not be right for OP, but it is totally possible to have a bmr below 1300, or even below 1200.

MandaLeigh123

Just checking! trying to help some since the premise of the support here given is about eating more not less and 1300 just didnt seem much. I'll shut my trap

tigerblue

No I agree eating just as much as possible is the goal!!! I just got sidetracked for a long time because I thought "eat more" meant I could eat as much as someone who was 30 lbs heavier than me. I'm all for OP finding the highest possible number. Who doesn't want to eat as much as possible!

rachylouise87

hi there my BMR is 1343 i am 5ft. so finding my TDEE BMR etc has been really difficult. i had been eating around my TDEE which i figured weekly is around 1800 now so have been creating daily deficits based on daily activity. i am truely happy at eating as much as i can now i know what i am burning

tigerblue

TDEE is similar to mine. It is tough to figure out when you are short, especially if you don't have much to lose. Glad it is working for you!!

leooftheyear

If you're using your TDEE you should be eating at the same level every day.

rachylouise87

I am eating at deficit i am trying to lose weight i have 19lbs to go. My activity levels change day by day so the fitbit tells me when i can eat calories back

leooftheyear

rachylouise87 wrote: »

I am eating at deficit i am trying to lose weight i have 19lbs to go. My activity levels change day by day so the fitbit tells me when i can eat calories back

if youre using MFP and allowing FitBit the negative calorie adjustment, then that is fine. BUT if you are truely using your TDEE, then use the FitBit Weekly report, divide the calories burned per week by 7 and get your TDEE that way and create your deficit, unsynch your accounts and use your new calculated TDEE as your goal for every day regardless of the amount of exercise.

heybales

rachylouise87 wrote: »

I am eating at deficit i am trying to lose weight i have 19lbs to go. My activity levels change day by day so the fitbit tells me when i can eat calories back

So 19 lbs to go - you hopefully selected a reasonable 1/2 lb loss weekly goal?

If you manually entered an eating goal, you are getting adjustments to not what you think you are.

rachylouise87

oh no i did what MFP recommended. i allowed negative adjustment. i have lost .6lbs this week after 7 weeks of stalling. something must be working. ? MFP has my eating goal at 1410 and i selected on both .5lbs loss per week. fit bit wants me to eat less but i am using the mfp goal and letting the fitbit sync. when i do extra activity not included in TDEE i eat half those back. it seems to be working so far

leooftheyear

rachylouise87 wrote: »

oh no i did what MFP recommended. i allowed negative adjustment. i have lost .6lbs this week after 7 weeks of stalling. something must be working. ? MFP has my eating goal at 1410 and i selected on both .5lbs loss per week. fit bit wants me to eat less but i am using the mfp goal and letting the fitbit sync. when i do extra activity not included in TDEE i eat half those back. it seems to be working so far

If you're using MFP method then 1410 is not your TDEE, like i said above the best way to get your TDEE is from the Fitbit Weekly Reports. Your TDEE includes all daily activity and exercise, so you do not eat extra exercise calories using TDEE. MFP uses the NEAT method, therefore, 1410 is your base calories and you add exercise calories to that to get your daily eating goal, it changes on a daily basis depended on activity level, TDEE does not change.

rachylouise87

mfp has my NEAT at 1610 - Activity has been 1900 this week approx. mfp has eating goal at 1410 net and i have been eating what mfp has been telling me. i am 5ft 148lbs so low bmr etc. i started using the fitbit 3 weeks ago so been getting an average on activity level. i think its safe to say i can bump up to light activity rather than sedentary. everything is a trial. i have a desk job but i have 3 children and do 2-30 mins of cardio and according to fitbit this is light activity

heybales

If you find it really hard to plan your eating for the day because the Fitbit adjustments are very high, then by all means change to Lightly active.
It won't change the eating goal one bit, but it will make the adjustment smaller, meaning your base calories is higher, meaning you can plan better.

NEAT must be 1660 - 250 deficit = 1410.

BUT.....

If you meet your goal early in the evening, say 9 pm and go to bed - you will continue to get Lightly Active calorie burn for rest of the 3 hrs until midnight.
Upon first sync in the morning, MFP will be told by Fitbit that of course you were not not Lightly Active for those 3 hrs, and you will have gone over eating goal upon correction.

So either see what that amount ends up being, and leave that much green by your last snack before bed.
Or leave it at sedentary.

Then again, if you are up until 11 pm when you reach eating goal, that really won't be a problem then.

Also, Fitbit doesn't rate your activity level to tell you this is Lightly Active level.

I'd say look at your average non-exercise day and see how much adjustment you get.
Or if you can work with negative adjustments on rest days, then match your average day exercise or not.

rachylouise87

thanks Heybales. non exercise days on sedentary i was getting an adjustment of 100-150. and on exercise days this was 300 sometimes. lightly active gives me a 0 adjustment most of the day and then maybe 100 at the end of the day on exercise days. i usually have been reaching my eating goal around 9pm but i tend to go to bed around then. thanks

rachylouise87

heybales - do i want to be netting food per day in order to keep the same deficit for mfp and fitbit to sync?

rachylouise87

oh and on non exercise days the NEAT mfp has for sedentary is pretty much the same. on exercise days it can be up to 1950

heybales

The NEAT cannot be the same between Sedentary and Lightly Active, and exercise on non-exercise day wouldn't matter. I think something has confused you on that.
Sedentary is BMR x 1.25.
Lightly active is BMR x 1.4.

You don't have to keep the same deficit for MFP and Fitbit to sync.
You can totally select different goals on each site and it won't effect the math on MFP one bit.
For what MFP does math with to arrive at your eating goal, it's totally the Fitbit daily burn.

Reread the Fitbit group FAQ on the sections regarding what the values are.

But you eat your MFP goal. And the way you have it setup, it happens to be meeting your NET goal because of the way MFP does math.
But really, with Fitbit figures being used for math, there is no more NET. Your daily goal is a gross amount 250 less than what Fitbit says you burned.
Concept of NET goes out the window, because you can totally have exercise adjustments that have nothing to do with exercise, but just increased daily activity.

So it sounds like according to Fitbit daily burn on non-exercise day, MFP would rate you as Lightly Active.
But you also go to bed at 9 pm.
So just look at prior day when you thought you met your goal, and see how much over you went upon correction at next sync the next morning.

rachylouise87

sorry for sounding like a confused loon. i came to weigh in this morning and had gained a lb. but i could put this down to impending TOM. it does appear that my activity is lightly active. my average Burn for last week was 1882 which according to mfp is lightly active. so i bascially need to create the deficit based on lightly active and eat the goal set out in mfp with a 250 per day deficit. so far i have been eating the net goal based on calorie adjustments?

rachylouise87

lightly active gives me an eating goal of 1610. i have set it for negative adjustments so on my working days il probably end up eating less according to the sync and go from there. deficit is set at 250 with a NEAT of 1860 which matches the fitbit quite closely. im pretty sure after 2 weeks of monitoring i have now got it set up correctly. any huge adjustments ill work out when it comes to it but i think that wont be likely since the activity level will be on track

heybales

If you want minimum adjustments daily, then that is the way to do it.
That lets you plan for the day.
You can "create the deficit" based on any MFP activity level and tell MFP in your profile to use 1/2 lb weekly loss.
The "net goal" is not "based on calorie adjustments", it's actually just opposite.
The NET goal is prior to all adjustments.
You have been eating the Gross goal hopefully, whatever MFP says to eat for the day on your Food diary page.

Just so you know, it doesn't change the eating goal one bit by the end of the day, merely the adjustment level that leads to the eating goal.

Because MFP being told by Fitbit that you burned say 2000 doesn't change because of MFP activity level.
MFP subtracting 250 from that doesn't change with MFP activity level, still 1750.

The only difference is during the day and the size of the calorie adjustment, even the eating goal wouldn't change that much as the day goes on and gets later.

I think you'll need to stop weighing daily - doesn't appear to be useful to your stress level if you are even noticing 1 lb and thinking it's worthy of comment. You should have 1-2 lb fluctuations day to day. It would be odd if you didn't actually.