MFP Calories or FitBit?
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nikkit321
Posts: 1,485 Member
I just want to clarify:
I should eat by MFP calories, not what FitBit says I burned - correct? Do I then eat some of my exercise calories, or not, and how do I gauge that when I'm using the FitBit rather than entering exercise in MFP?
I should eat by MFP calories, not what FitBit says I burned - correct? Do I then eat some of my exercise calories, or not, and how do I gauge that when I'm using the FitBit rather than entering exercise in MFP?
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Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
Ignore your Fitbit calorie goal and follow MFP's, eating back your adjustments.0 -
Also read the FAQ in the stickies for a better understanding of your device and usage with MFP, you'll likely be curious where the numbers come from.0
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What I do is set myself as sedentary on MFP and eat based on what MFP says I should eat.
Then, I track all of my food in MFP and let fitbit do my exercise. I don't track anything if I'm walking or running, as fitbit will catch that on it's own. I track any strength training I do on MFP. I hear people track their non step based cardio, but I have yet to do that since getting my fitbit.
When they sync up MFP ends up giving me adjusted calories since I'm more active that sedentary. Sometimes I eat those back. Not always. Depends on how hungry I am or how much extra I added on that day.
You shouldn't have trouble gauging it - it should sync together. For example, say MFP tells you to eat 1400 calories. Fitbit and MFP connect, and fitbit says you burned 300 more calories than MFP predicted. You've already eaten 1100 calories in the day. It should say at the top of your food diary something like this:
1400 - 1100 + 300 = 600
It should tell you this on both fitbit and MFP. So you can eat up to 600 more calories and still hit your weight target you set in MFP.0 -
They usually add up after midnight and after I have completed the day. For some reason MFP gives me way more calories than fitbit. So I follow the fitbit, then after midnight, MFP seems to adjust to the fitbit and they are about the same, so I would follow the fitbit
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They usually add up after midnight and after I have completed the day. For some reason MFP gives me way more calories than fitbit. So I follow the fitbit, then after midnight, MFP seems to adjust to the fitbit and they are about the same, so I would follow the fitbit
I'm usually the other way round!
Fitbit gives me around 100-150 calories more than MFP does, until around an hour or so before midnight when the gaps starts to get smaller and finally at midnight they both say the saem. So I usually go with MFP so I know I'm not overeating.
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They usually add up after midnight and after I have completed the day. For some reason MFP gives me way more calories than fitbit. So I follow the fitbit, then after midnight, MFP seems to adjust to the fitbit and they are about the same, so I would follow the fitbit
That's because you have MFP set to a high activity level, which means a high calorie burn per hour.
But when you go to bed at say 9 pm - those last 3 hrs are NOT high calorie burn.
So until MFP is told of that fact the next morning, it's giving estimated eating goal based on what you selected.0 -
So how do you stop from over eating? If things don't match until midnight it's a little too late at that point. Sorry that's still rally confusing for me.0
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editorgrrl wrote: »Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
Ignore your Fitbit calorie goal and follow MFP's, eating back your adjustments.
Is there reasoning behind that goal? I am nursing so I didn't want to lose too fast...but I set my goal at 1.5/week when I am about 50 lbs from my goal weight. Should I be trying for 1 a week instead?0 -
mgonyer123 wrote: »So how do you stop from over eating? If things don't match until midnight it's a little too late at that point. Sorry that's still rally confusing for me.
What I would do to start with is rely on the lower calorie count towards the end of the day. So (assuming Fitbit and MFP are set to the same rate of weight loss), if I'm wondering if I can have an after-dinner snack, and MFP said I had 200 calories left, and Fitbit said only 100, then I'd go with the 100.
Then, over time, I'd look back at previous days and see how many calories I actually ended up having left. Since I have a fairly regular schedule, that should allow me to anticipate the number of calories I need to allow for adjustment. You'll never get it exact anyway - Fitbit is estimating your calories burned and no matter how obsessive you are about weighing your food that is also an estimate - so don't sweat the small stuff.0 -
supersocks117 wrote: »editorgrrl wrote: »Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
Ignore your Fitbit calorie goal and follow MFP's, eating back your adjustments.
Is there reasoning behind that goal? I am nursing so I didn't want to lose too fast...but I set my goal at 1.5/week when I am about 50 lbs from my goal weight. Should I be trying for 1 a week instead?
My understanding of the simplified explanation is that your body can only lose fat so fast, and if you try to lose it faster, you'll end up burning muscle instead, which, in the long run, makes it harder for you to lose weight and keep it off. When you've got 100+ pounds to lose, yes 2 lbs a week isn't unreasonable, because that's < 2% of the fat you need to lose. But, when you've got less than 50 pounds to lose, it's approaching 5%.
Personally, I shoot for a range. The guidelines indicate that I could safely lose 1.5 lbs per week (there are healthy women my height who weigh 75 pounds less than I do) but I'm more interested in doing something I can maintain over the long run than I am in getting there quickly. So I set my goal for .5 pound per week and then don't allow myself to have more than 500 calories left at the end of the day. Over the last 12 weeks I've lost about 11 pounds, so I guess I'm hitting the right range. (Especially since I can't imagine actually losing even 50 more pounds. I haven't been that light in decades!)
I would imagine that nursing complicates the whole thing and that there haven't been a lot of official studies on weight loss that included nursing mothers. My gut reaction is that you should err on the side of losing more slowly than what the guideline says.0 -
supersocks117 wrote: »editorgrrl wrote: »Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
Ignore your Fitbit calorie goal and follow MFP's, eating back your adjustments.
Is there reasoning behind that goal? I am nursing so I didn't want to lose too fast...but I set my goal at 1.5/week when I am about 50 lbs from my goal weight. Should I be trying for 1 a week instead?
Hi there. Congrats on your baby! I'm nursing too. My baby just turned 3 months old. How old is your baby?
You don't want to create too big of a deficit in general, since it is not sustainable over the long-term. Slow and steady loss allows you to create lifestyle changes that will ensure you can keep off the weight you do lose. Also, rapid weight loss puts you at a greater risk of losing lean muscle mass.
Since your body is producing milk to feed your child, slow and steady loss is in the best interest of you and your baby. If you reduce your calories too much, you run the risk of decreasing your milk supply. If you reduce your calories too much, you won't be getting adequate nutrition. Your body will take what it needs from you in order to feed the baby (that is why women experiencing famine are able to produce milk to sustain their children). Your health is put in jeopardy. Plus, you are tired enough, mama--why make yourself more tired by eating less?
I think that aiming for a loss of 1lb/week sounds reasonable if you are indeed 50 lbs overweight. Are you truly 50 lbs overweight? Or is some of that number vanity lbs that will get you to your personal ideal of what you should weigh?
I was about 20-25lbs overweight prior to getting pregnant. I lost everything I gained during my pregnancy within 2 weeks of giving birth. After getting medical clearance and feeling better mentally, I began weighing and measuring my food and logging again. I currently have my settings at .5lb/wk, and the fitbit has definitely helped me to get moving. With a baby to care for, household to run, pets to care for, working full-time, and having to pump on my breaks/lunch, I am not getting in workouts of the same intensity and duration as I was prior to pregnancy. I aim for 10,000 steps per day and 3 short strength training sessions per week. My goal is to just get through these next few months until baby begins sleeping all night, then reevaluate things.
You can friend me if you want, so we can motivate each other.0 -
supersocks117 wrote: »editorgrrl wrote: »Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
Ignore your Fitbit calorie goal and follow MFP's, eating back your adjustments.
Is there reasoning behind that goal? I am nursing so I didn't want to lose too fast...but I set my goal at 1.5/week when I am about 50 lbs from my goal weight. Should I be trying for 1 a week instead?
Hi there. Congrats on your baby! I'm nursing too. My baby just turned 3 months old. How old is your baby?
You don't want to create too big of a deficit in general, since it is not sustainable over the long-term. Slow and steady loss allows you to create lifestyle changes that will ensure you can keep off the weight you do lose. Also, rapid weight loss puts you at a greater risk of losing lean muscle mass.
Since your body is producing milk to feed your child, slow and steady loss is in the best interest of you and your baby. If you reduce your calories too much, you run the risk of decreasing your milk supply. If you reduce your calories too much, you won't be getting adequate nutrition. Your body will take what it needs from you in order to feed the baby (that is why women experiencing famine are able to produce milk to sustain their children). Your health is put in jeopardy. Plus, you are tired enough, mama--why make yourself more tired by eating less?
I think that aiming for a loss of 1lb/week sounds reasonable if you are indeed 50 lbs overweight. Are you truly 50 lbs overweight? Or is some of that number vanity lbs that will get you to your personal ideal of what you should weigh?
I was about 20-25lbs overweight prior to getting pregnant. I lost everything I gained during my pregnancy within 2 weeks of giving birth. After getting medical clearance and feeling better mentally, I began weighing and measuring my food and logging again. I currently have my settings at .5lb/wk, and the fitbit has definitely helped me to get moving. With a baby to care for, household to run, pets to care for, working full-time, and having to pump on my breaks/lunch, I am not getting in workouts of the same intensity and duration as I was prior to pregnancy. I aim for 10,000 steps per day and 3 short strength training sessions per week. My goal is to just get through these next few months until baby begins sleeping all night, then reevaluate things.
You can friend me if you want, so we can motivate each other.
She's 2 - sleeping through the night, but milk is a still a large bulk of her calories (she eats a good amount of real food, but still nurses often) - she won't starve though if my supply goes down, I think it would be hard on her though (especially since she is "underweight" for her age and always has been, I am hesitant to do anything to take calories away). I definitely am tired already though still! She wakes earlier than I naturally would in the morning. I am currently 5'6" (a little taller, but not 5'7") 195 lbs and am aiming for 145. BMI wise I would be "healthy" at 135, but I was 135 in college and it was tough to maintain and looked really skinny on me - I think I would prefer 145 and reevaluate. It is also possible I could want to get pregnant in the next year or so and not have lost 50 pounds by then, but I would like to be as healthy as possible by then. I was maybe 160 prepreg (I didn't weigh until 8 weeks) and 195 before delivery, lost 15-20 with delivery and then it has pretty slowly creeped back on.
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mgonyer123 wrote: »So how do you stop from over eating? If things don't match until midnight it's a little too late at that point.
My adjustments were wonky at first, but they got better—as if MFP was "learning" my routine. And look at your nutrition for the past 7 days, not just today. (It's easier in the app.)supersocks117 wrote: »Is there reasoning behind that goal? I set my goal at 1.5/week when I am about 50 lbs from my goal weight. Should I be trying for 1 a week instead?
The less you have to lose, the more slowly it comes off. That's just the way the human body works. Undereating won't get you to your goal any more quickly. Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight. (The smaller deficit will also help you transition to maintenance.)
Food is fuel, and we should all be looking for the maximum number of calories at which we lose weight—never the minimum.0 -
editorgrrl wrote: »
The less you have to lose, the more slowly it comes off. That's just the way the human body works. Undereating won't get you to your goal any more quickly. Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight. (The smaller deficit will also help you transition to maintenance.)
Food is fuel, and we should all be looking for the maximum number of calories at which we lose weight—never the minimum.
Thanks, I bumped it down to a goal of 1 lb per week - I think it'll be a little hard with nursing to get it just right.
I do remember from the last time I lost weight (pre-baby) that my body stalls bad if I go under 1300 cals (although I weighed 155-165 then?) so I am definitely keeping an eye to make sure I am losing as expected.
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mgonyer123 wrote: »So how do you stop from over eating? If things don't match until midnight it's a little too late at that point. Sorry that's still rally confusing for me.
To add, if you always go to bed about the same time - the difference is always going to be about the same.
One day note what MFP says it estimated your end of day burn to be.
Next morning after Fitbit sync - see what it was adjusted to.
There's your difference that will always be.0
