Fitbit users - negative adjustment or not?

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  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
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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.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,659 Member
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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.
  • dygitalpunk
    dygitalpunk Posts: 36 Member
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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.
  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
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    rosebette 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...

  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,659 Member
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    jeepinshawn wrote: »
    rosebette 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.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    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.

  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
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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.
  • sadiebrawl
    sadiebrawl Posts: 863 Member
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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?
  • wowser5
    wowser5 Posts: 51 Member
    edited October 2015
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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!
  • sadiebrawl
    sadiebrawl Posts: 863 Member
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    segacs wrote: »
    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!
  • ebouchie
    ebouchie Posts: 124 Member
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    segacs wrote: »
    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.

    Excellent explanation! I no longer use my Fitbit since I won my Apple Watch but I suspect it works the same.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
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    jeepinshawn wrote: »
    I always turn on negative adjustments, although pretty much the only time I see one is first thing in the morning.

    This is how it works for me too, by the end of the day I am good, even if I don't do a structured workout, I still get some added calories. Having a dog to walk everyday seems to help that :)
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    entwife wrote: »
    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

    Situations where you may as well turn it off:
    • If you are consistent in daily steps
    • If you sync later in the day.The Fitbit site even suggests turning it off if you only sync late in the day
    • If you use MFP's NEAT method to calculate calories and you have your activity level set to sedentary.

    When you definitely want them turned on:
    • If you have your activity level set higher than sedentary
    • If you are eating to TDEE instead of NEAT
  • ncfitbit
    ncfitbit Posts: 1,058 Member
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    I didn't use to enable negative adjustments because I used to use the TDEE method with a custom calorie goal and ignored any exercise calories added by MFP or fitbit. However, I realized I was probably overestimating my expenditure and it varied too much by day so I switched back to a dynamic calorie goal based on lightly active. However, I've quickly saw that on days when I'm super wiped from a tough cardio session early on in the day I would tempted to really rest later in the day (a nice nap sounds good sometimes!) and enabling negative adjustment is really what keeps me from just parking myself on the couch because I don't like to see my hard work dwindle away!
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    ncfitbit wrote: »
    I didn't use to enable negative adjustments because I used to use the TDEE method with a custom calorie goal and ignored any exercise calories added by MFP or fitbit. However, I realized I was probably overestimating my expenditure and it varied too much by day so I switched back to a dynamic calorie goal based on lightly active. However, I've quickly saw that on days when I'm super wiped from a tough cardio session early on in the day I would tempted to really rest later in the day (a nice nap sounds good sometimes!) and enabling negative adjustment is really what keeps me from just parking myself on the couch because I don't like to see my hard work dwindle away!

    Whether you set negative calories or not, you will have calories earned taken away if you work out in the morning and sit around the rest of the day. The difference is that with not having negative calories enabled you never go less than zero added calories.

  • kuroshii
    kuroshii Posts: 168 Member
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    rockmama72 wrote: »
    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.

    Me too! When I'm in the office I'll get 5k-7k steps hardly trying, but days I work from home I become a complete lump if I'm not careful.

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