How to get the correct calorie deficit

RiseHigher

editorgrrl, I at one time was very sick with illnesses doctors told me I'd never get over. I did get over them, and also lost the 50 lbs the whole experience caused me to gain as well. So I'm not getting snarky, but I do know my body and weight loss, in addition to having been a former trainer as well as coaching others to lose 100+ lbs as well. I think that putting "can'ts" on people is dangerous to the more impressionable.

shadow2soul, Thank you! I do still have the FitBit, if I changed the height on my FitBit, wouldn't the exercise calorie calculations be off?

shadow2soul

RiseHigher wrote: »

editorgrrl, I at one time was very sick with illnesses doctors told me I'd never get over. I did get over them, and also lost the 50 lbs the whole experience caused me to gain as well. So I'm not getting snarky, but I do know my body and weight loss, in addition to having been a former trainer as well as coaching others to lose 100+ lbs as well. I think that putting "can'ts" on people is dangerous to the more impressionable.

shadow2soul, Thank you! I do still have the FitBit, if I changed the height on my FitBit, wouldn't the exercise calorie calculations be off?

Hard to say without actually testing it. I'd say its worth a try. Chances are if you burn more at rest then the average person with your stats the exercise calories are already slightly off.

The basic Fitbit's underestimate my calorie burn by about 200-250 a day the last time I used one (have the Surge model now and it's much closer to my actual calorie burn). This for me meant I could set MFP to 1lb per week loss, eat all of my fitbit adjustments, and lose right around 1.5 lbs per week. Now I just have MFP set to 1 lb per week loss and Fitbit set to 1.5lb's per week. This gives me a little bit of a range to work with if I'm extra hungry one day.

edit: This gives me an idea. I still have the zip laying around here somewhere. Maybe I should set up another Fitbit account and where it one day along with my Surge to compare the burn. Then I can try messing with the settings and see what it would take to get them to come out to about the same calorie burn.

RiseHigher

I have a FitBit One. I did get a Surge, thinking the calorie calculations would be better, but it was almost the same (yes, I did go through a few days where I wore THREE trackers - tried a Xiaomi MiBand too LOL). With the FitBit... I lost weight, sure, but like literally 5 lbs in 4-5 days and I would be like AAAAAAHHHHH NOOOO MORE!!

I'm going to play around with a few things on the site and see. I actually like the FitBit website and didn't mind anything about it, except the too low calories. I even think I set it for less of a calorie deficit but it was still off. I dunno. I tried it twice and each time swore to my friends I'd not use it again, haha.

RiseHigher

Bahahaha I just logged onto FitBit to check it out, I forgot that it is connected to MFP because I use an Aria scale. FitBit is set to a 1.5 lb per week loss, yet I ran 9 miles today and it said I should have eaten just 1350 calories. BAHHHH yep it's going to need some work...

My calculation of my TDEE today put me at around 1850 calories for the same deficit. MFP put me at 2128.

Maybe I'll wear the FitBit for a few days and see where it has me as far as calories per day versus what I calculate. Then, I can make adjustments to the deficit or BMR. I did like the interface when I was using it. I returned the Surge in the month I had it as the calorie calc wasn't better for me, but might try it again. I wish it had an "idle alert" for if you're sitting down too long. I want to avoid "sedentary runner" syndrome. It sounds silly because I can run twice a day but still. Walking five minutes of every hour isn't so overtaxing and is good for you.

yirara

RiseHigher wrote: »

@Charlie I am normally a well-conditioned athlete who was injured. So being back into my sport I am going to gain back the lean mass that I lost (thank goodness). I am also in between an ecto-mesomorph, if you are familiar with that, meaning I can gain mass easier than average. My body is really just going back to it's normal status quo rather than trying to build for the sake of building. I only do strength work that supports and counterbalances my running. Normally I tend to eat a higher carb diet (carbs... not sugar) because I am an endurance athlete. However when cutting weight, many of the calories I tend to cut are carbs, simply because the body needs protein to support lean mass and fat to support recovery as well as the endocrine system, especially in women. I do not low carb. Cutting carbs for me means going down to 50% carb, 25% protein, 25% fat. I also calorie cycle, which tends to maintain lean mass a bit better, in my opinion, than simply dieting for weeks upon weeks.

Again, I want to emphasize that I am only eating 1200 on the days I do not workout, which aren't that often, maybe once a week. When people start getting into 1000++ calorie deficits especially with not exercising they will lose lean mass.

Ehm no! Those somatypes don't exist. They were invented in the 1940s by a pyschologist who tried to fit bodytype to things such as intelligence, morals and future achievements. That's eugenics, the same stuff the nazis did to justify blond, blue-eyed people versus others - and it's complete quack. Seriously, it's based on racism, anti-Semitism and sexism. According to the inventor of those somatypes, by saying you're between ecto- and mesomorph you're saying your ancious-introvert and direct-dominant. I could add something on criminal history, intelligence and race here but I think you might be offended.

yirara

double post

RiseHigher

Yirara, I am not saying I fit into the entire definition of somatypes but I do feel they have some accuracy as far as the predominance of slow/fast twitch muscle fibers and athletics. Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger versus elite marathoner Meb Keflezighi, as an example. So you're telling me that they and everyone else has the same division of muscle type, fat-burning mitochondria and genetic traits? Call it what you want... funny viewpoint to have. have fun

RiseHigher

Aaaaanyway - So today I wore my FitBit One and my Garmin 910XT for a 7.5ish mile run. The Garmin 910XT by heart rate said I burned 636 calories.

FitBit bombed out - I did have it set to record the interval of the run, but afterwards when I synced it with my phone, probably because I hadn't used it in a while, it reset all the numbers to zero. However when I manually entered the activity, it said I had burned 627 calories.

Entering the same run workout into MFP gave 746 calories.

I used the same technique for a previous 10 mile run , FitBit (manually entered) and Garmin give me similar values (around 871 calories) while MFP says 1036.

So it seems to me that MFP overcalculates exercise, and the gross amount grows larger as the distance/time increases. I'll have to think of a new strategy...

Jod1eC

Hi everyone I have read through all the posts and think you may all be able to help me. I have been training and dieting for months but weight has only gone up week by week. I was following ww and have now joined mfp to try something new.
In terms of training I will do:
Monday:body pump
Tuesday 2xspin classes
Wed rest
Thursday: body pump and combat
Friday: rest
Saturday: either circuits or cycle 30miles ish

Any hints or tips on my calorie intake and what I should do with exercise calories would be mucho appreciated,
Please explain in simple terms as I am new to all this and do not understand lots of the abbreviations.
Thanks in advance

RiseHigher

JodieCabrera: How much are you eating now? How did you figure that number? Are you measuring and tracking your food? To be totally honest if someone's weight is going up usually their calorie intake is too high.

StaciMarie1974

@JodieCabrera from the MyFitnessPal website click on My Home and then Goals.

1. Click View Guided Setup. Confirm it has accurate information for your height, weight, gender, birthday, and goal weight.
2. Choose an activity level. This is based on your daily life: your job, your responsibilities at home, your hobbies. This is not about your exercise.
3. Workout goal is not important.
4. Under What Is Your Goal? Choose 1 pound per week
5. Update Profile.

That will allow MFP to set a daily calorie goal for you to eat. This has your deficit built in. Make an effort to eat protein, fruits & veggies, whole grains. You do not need to eliminate all fat from what you eat. Drink water daily. If & when you exercise it, you'll log it. And if you feel you need to eat more calories you can eat some extra for the exercise. Just be careful not to overestimate how much you burn.

Your profile shows that you have 33 pounds to lose, so 1 pound per week should be a good starting point for you. Try this for 4-8 weeks, and see how it goes. Then adjust if needed.