Fitbit users - negative adjustment or not?
entwife
Posts: 134 Member
Fitbit users, do you prefer to select the negative adjustment or not? and why?
Sorry if this is in the wrong area, I wasn't sure where to put it
Sorry if this is in the wrong area, I wasn't sure where to put it
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Replies
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Yeah turn it on, why wouldn't you?
Leaving it off means if your inactive it will show 0 instead of negative 200 and you might over eat.
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I agree, turn it on.0
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Mine's turned on but since I have a desk job I put sedentary as my activity level. I've never actually had a negative adjustment as a result.0
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Why wouldn't I? Well... it used to be on but the other night I wanted a glass of wine so I switched it off againYeah turn it on, why wouldn't you?
Leaving it off means if your inactive it will show 0 instead of negative 200 and you might over eat.
Its got a negative again today but I won't be turning it off.
Was just interested to hear what others choose to do
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That makes sense. But my activity varies a lot. Some days I'm desk-bound and do 4-5k steps, other days I'm easily hitting 10-12kthunder1982 wrote: »Mine's turned on but since I have a desk job I put sedentary as my activity level. I've never actually had a negative adjustment as a result.
Does it matter what I have my step goal set to? Or does MFP just pull that figure based on actual activity on the fitbit?
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Fitbit users, do you prefer to select the negative adjustment or not? and why?
Sorry if this is in the wrong area, I wasn't sure where to put it
I leave it off, to reduce the mathematical noise. It would only kick in on days where I left the thing at home (like yesterday) or knew I had been very inactive.
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I don't have mine on. I'm set to sedentary, and very very rarely don't get enough activity to get a positive adjustment (like every 3-4 months if I'm I'll, in which case a few extra calories may be needed). If for whatever reason I eat to my goal and didn't get any negative adjustments when I should have, I'll still be in a deficit so it won't cause harm. Eating at a smaller deficit once in a while is fine with me. If your activity varies, or your mfp settings aren't on sedentary then it makes sense to turn it on.0
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I prefer it enabled, that way IF I have a day I move less I know to eat less. Mine is set to active so the only day I get calories taken away is Sunday/rest day when I only do 7 -10k steps.0
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Yes I have mine on. I have a desk job but pre exercise I typically average about 8k steps a day.
I also have my activity level set at sedentary even tho I am not but based on my understanding if you are using an activity tracker for calorie adjustments you should set your activity level to sedentary and use negative adjustments to get "true" results.
Not sure if that is fact...I had my activity level set to "lightly active" and no negative adjustments it just meant I didn't get an adjustment before i hit 5k steps.0 -
Yes I have mine on. I have a desk job but pre exercise I typically average about 8k steps a day.
I also have my activity level set at sedentary even tho I am not but based on my understanding if you are using an activity tracker for calorie adjustments you should set your activity level to sedentary and use negative adjustments to get "true" results.
Not sure if that is fact...I had my activity level set to "lightly active" and no negative adjustments it just meant I didn't get an adjustment before i hit 5k steps.
@SezxyStef I've tried the sedentary versus the active adjustments - they both end up equalling same overall total - you just get less cals burned with exercise if set to active whereas with sedentary its a HUGE burn ...same difference
. It depends on the person and if they like to see high burns from exercise/steps 0 -
RunRutheeRun wrote: »Yes I have mine on. I have a desk job but pre exercise I typically average about 8k steps a day.
I also have my activity level set at sedentary even tho I am not but based on my understanding if you are using an activity tracker for calorie adjustments you should set your activity level to sedentary and use negative adjustments to get "true" results.
Not sure if that is fact...I had my activity level set to "lightly active" and no negative adjustments it just meant I didn't get an adjustment before i hit 5k steps.
@SezxyStef I've tried the sedentary versus the active adjustments - they both end up equalling same overall total - you just get less cals burned with exercise if set to active whereas with sedentary its a HUGE burn ...same difference . It depends on the person and if they like to see high burns from exercise/steps
Yah that's what I figured actually...there really is no right or wrong way with a tracker just what you are comfortable with.
I like seeing the burns...hehe0 -
@SezxyStef thats what I thought and I feel as if I'm cheating if I see too high a burn, but maybe I'm just weird/odd lol 0
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That makes sense. But my activity varies a lot. Some days I'm desk-bound and do 4-5k steps, other days I'm easily hitting 10-12kthunder1982 wrote: »Mine's turned on but since I have a desk job I put sedentary as my activity level. I've never actually had a negative adjustment as a result.
Does it matter what I have my step goal set to? Or does MFP just pull that figure based on actual activity on the fitbit?
I would suggest setting your activity on here to sedentary. On your work days you might get a little negative adjustment but on your days where you're doing 10k in steps you'll get a lovely bump in calories.
Also remember if for some reason you do go over one day due to a negative adjustment you can take that off another dats calories. As long as you're under over the whole week you'll still lose.0 -
I have it on, but I also have my activity level set lower than I need to. I do get negative adjustments whenever I sync during the day. I tend to not sync until the evening though, for that reason (and because I don't want too positive adjustments that are later reduced and making me go over).0
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I'm set to sedentary with negative adjustments. I work from home and can be really lazy!
I like the idea of earning all my extra calories--it makes it sort of a game.0 -
Yeah turn it on, why wouldn't you?
Leaving it off means if your inactive it will show 0 instead of negative 200 and you might over eat.
I leave it off because MFP would give me 1200 calories and I'd rather not eat 1200 calories. So I have a minimum that I eat, it's still a deficit if I don't get in a workout, just not a very big one.0 -
I don't have it on. I try to maintain an active lifestyle so for me it doesn't factor into my "exercise" it is just getting up and moving around.0
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The whole point of the Fitbit for me is to give me an accurate gauge of how much I've moved that day. With a desk job, it's very easy for me to only do like 3k steps a day. Enabling negative adjustments is a good reality check and reminds me to use my Bluetooth head set and walk around while taking phone calls.0
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If you always get a positive adjustment, then enabling negative does not matter. It only matters if your actual activity level is less than your stated activity level.
Example: you tell MFP you're light active, and MFP estimates you will burn 2000 cals a day based on that. But tomorrow you're a slug, only walk 1500 steps in your day, and your Fitbit says you burned 1700. If you do not have negative enabled, you may eat more than you need for such days.
If you always - or almost always - burn more, then Fitbit gives you a positive adjustment. If the slow day is an oddity, then eating a few hundred calories 'extra' every now and then will probably not derail your progress. Or just mentally know on those days to adjust.
Personally I have the negative 'on' because it shows me if I'm ahead or behind schedule. I'm always behind schedule in the morning - and know what I need to do to end up where I want.Fitbit users, do you prefer to select the negative adjustment or not? and why?
Sorry if this is in the wrong area, I wasn't sure where to put it
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Turn on negative, for sure. If it's off, then you could be over-eating on the days when you're less active than usual.
But if you're getting big negative adjustments regularly, you should drop your activity level in MFP to a lower level. For instance, if you're at "active", move to "lightly active". Then you should see fewer negative and more positive adjustments.
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I always turn on negative adjustments, although pretty much the only time I see one is first thing in the morning.0
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Negative adjustments are also important if you workout in the morning because mfp assumes you will be maintaining that level all day and could overestimate what you need to eat.0
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I don't have it on right now. I have myself set to lightly active because I meet or exceed 10k steps a day.... should I choose a lower activity level and turn on the negative adjustment? I do have a desk job.0
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Negative adjustments are also important if you workout in the morning because mfp assumes you will be maintaining that level all day and could overestimate what you need to eat.
MFP doesn't work that way, I think fitbit will occasionally over estimate your initial burn prediction, but if you have one you should already know what your approximate TDEE is for your average day anyway. I pay zero attention to fitbits under, in the zone and over thing. I eat what MFP says I can and typically 100-300 worth of the fitbit extra calories...
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jeepinshawn wrote: »Negative adjustments are also important if you workout in the morning because mfp assumes you will be maintaining that level all day and could overestimate what you need to eat.
MFP doesn't work that way, I think fitbit will occasionally over estimate your initial burn prediction, but if you have one you should already know what your approximate TDEE is for your average day anyway. I pay zero attention to fitbits under, in the zone and over thing. I eat what MFP says I can and typically 100-300 worth of the fitbit extra calories...
Sorry, I meant to say that the Fitbit overestimates. For example, I often do a kickboxing class on Friday morning, and by the end of the day, the fitbit says I can have 2000+ calories, but after just sitting and using the computer the rest of the day, my calorie allowance will drop as a result of a sync. By the way, if I'm sedentary, I might get 0 extra calories to eat at the end of the day, or even if I just talk a 1/2 hour walk but am sedentary the rest of the day, MFP will negatively adjust away the calories I earned later in the day because I didn't maintain that activity level.0 -
To clarify: Negative calorie adjustments are only relevant if you burn fewer calories than your MFP base activity level.
For instance, let's say you've set MFP to "lightly active" and it estimates you should be burning 1800 calories every day just from your normal daily activity. If, by midnight, your Fitbit has logged fewer than 1800 calories, you'll get a negative adjustment for the day.
The Fitbit adjustment may go up and down throughout the day due to the way it syncs. But if you burn more than 1800 calories every day, negative adjustments won't be relevant.
If you've set MFP to sedentary, it's pretty unlikely you'll ever have a negative-adjustment day (unless you end up in a coma or are really ill and bedridden, for instance). If you set MFP to a higher activity level, you could have days when you're simply less active than usual and you do see negative adjustments.
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I have a desk job, too, but I average 12-15k steps a day and get big adjustments (200-500 cal). It does work.0
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I don't understand this question at all, which is probably bad. If I exercise it connects with this and I have more calories to eat, which is good because running makes me hungry. If I don't I eat less that day. Am I oversimplifying this bracelet?0
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I don't understand what negative adjustments mean? My fitbit only ads calories based on my activity. I rarely use them, unless I plan on drinking alcohol during the weekend. Can someone explain?
Never mind...I just saw post above explaining it! Thank you!0 -
To clarify: Negative calorie adjustments are only relevant if you burn fewer calories than your MFP base activity level.
For instance, let's say you've set MFP to "lightly active" and it estimates you should be burning 1800 calories every day just from your normal daily activity. If, by midnight, your Fitbit has logged fewer than 1800 calories, you'll get a negative adjustment for the day.
The Fitbit adjustment may go up and down throughout the day due to the way it syncs. But if you burn more than 1800 calories every day, negative adjustments won't be relevant.
If you've set MFP to sedentary, it's pretty unlikely you'll ever have a negative-adjustment day (unless you end up in a coma or are really ill and bedridden, for instance). If you set MFP to a higher activity level, you could have days when you're simply less active than usual and you do see negative adjustments.
thanks!0
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