Fitbit Charge: Eat back adjusted calories?

Jonna13

Just got my fitbit charge last night so today is my first day using it. It's been synced to MFP, and it's saying my "exercise" or adjusted calories are at +371 so far today and has added that to my remaining calories. It's only 2:20pm-I did exercise in the morning and have my level set to lightly active. I'm set to lose 1lb per week. Do I eat them? Ignore them? What does this mean?

srecupid

Maybe set it to sedentary and let it do it's thing. Then be really really accurate with your logs for a week and compare actual results to predicted results? Only real way to tell

Jonna13

Do I set my level in Fitbit too? Is there a way to do that? It's pretty much on basic settings etc right now. Lightly active is through MFP. I've almost hit 10,000 steps by now and I still have a lot of running around to do today.

acheben

If you have negative adjustments selected in MFP, it doesn't really matter what your activity level is set at since your FitBit will add or remove calories depending on how active you are for the day. I didn't get a FitBit until after I was in maintenance, but I eat back all of the calories that it gives me and I have been consistently maintaining for the 6 months that I've had it.

StaciMarie1974

A couple of thoughts... If you're eating (now) at a level that leaves you feeling energetic and you've been losing weight, don't change that immediately. Use the Fitbit for a week or two to get an idea of what its showing for your total daily burns. If you are not feeling energetic and think you should eat more, then do. Feel free to leave a buffer of 100-200 calories 'on the table' to account for any calculation errors. I love my Fitbit, and have a pretty good idea of how its data relates to my actual burns. But you'll need time to tell.

sugom2

I found that if I only eat the 1200 calories I loose weight. I do not pay attention to the additional calories given for exercising.

janejellyroll

You don't have to set a level in Fitbit. Your MFP level will only matter to the extent that it determines your starting calorie level. If your activity goes beyond that, you will begin earning additional calories.

I have been eating the calories back since July and have been losing/maintaining exactly as I expected.

Jonna13

Thanks for the advice! I usually eat between 1400-1500 cals per day,and have been losing on average 1.5lbs per week. MFP has my goal set to losing 1lb per week as I only have around 10lbs left until goal. I have set my Fitbit adjustment to negative calories as well. So I guess what I'm asking is-The adjusted calories, is that above and beyond what MFP estimates? If so I burn a heck of a lot more than I thought, although today has been a busy day so that may have something to do with it as well.

janejellyroll

Jonna13 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice! I usually eat between 1400-1500 cals per day,and have been losing on average 1.5lbs per week. MFP has my goal set to losing 1lb per week as I only have around 10lbs left until goal. I have set my Fitbit adjustment to negative calories as well. So I guess what I'm asking is-The adjusted calories, is that above and beyond what MFP estimates? If so I burn a heck of a lot more than I thought, although today has been a busy day so that may have something to do with it as well.

Yes, the adjustment is a way of letting you know that you have burned calories above and beyond what MFP would have estimated given your activity level. I also found that I burned much more than I thought when I began using a Fitbit.

Jonna13

janejellyroll wrote: »

Jonna13 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice! I usually eat between 1400-1500 cals per day,and have been losing on average 1.5lbs per week. MFP has my goal set to losing 1lb per week as I only have around 10lbs left until goal. I have set my Fitbit adjustment to negative calories as well. So I guess what I'm asking is-The adjusted calories, is that above and beyond what MFP estimates? If so I burn a heck of a lot more than I thought, although today has been a busy day so that may have something to do with it as well.

Yes, the adjustment is a way of letting you know that you have burned calories above and beyond what MFP would have estimated given your activity level. I also found that I burned much more than I thought when I began using a Fitbit.

Okay perfect! Thanks so much I have to say I'm loving this so far!

CoffeeNCardio

I have the charge HR and I eat backv all my exercise calories when my goal is 1200, and only half when my goal is 1450 (I change it around often for many reasons). At 1200 I eat back the exercise calories because they make for a good buffer in case I screwed up the logging, but at 1200 I'm still low enough to need them. At 1450 I eat half of them for the same reason, leaving a buffer in case my numbers aren't perfect. I have lost exactly the same rate both of these ways.