Fitbit calorie adjustment

kgirlhart

How much if any of your Fitbit calorie adjustment do you eat back? I got a Fitbit One this week. I have been eating back about 75% of my exercise calories and losing 1.4 pounds per week. Should I eat back the same amount of the Fitbit calorie adjustment? My calorie goal is 1300 and I usually end up eating about 1500 calories per day. But when I look at my net calories I average about 1100. I don't want to eat too much, but I do want to make sure I am eating enough. Should I be looking at the net or just looking at the total calories I eat? Should I eat more or less of the Fitbit adjustment?

LushFix

What is your goal to lose per week?

kgirlhart

Mfp gave me 1240 to lose 1 pound per week. I set it to 1300 because I have losing at 1.4 per week. I have mfp set to sedentary and Fitbit set to lose 1 pound per week.

kgirlhart

.

macgurlnet

Pick something and stick with it.

Personally, I eat 100% of my calories back (leaving maybe 50 cals or so at the end of the day) and I can lose or maintain fine doing that.

If 75% is what you've been doing, carry on with that and see how things go. If you're averaging a higher weight loss than expected, eat back more. Try to make sure your food logging is as accurate as possible, too!

~Lyssa

kgirlhart

Thanks. I just wondered how the Fitbit calorie adjustment was compared to the exercise calories from mfp. I've been eating back about 50-75% and will probably continue to do so. I just worry some that my net calories are too low.

macgurlnet

How tall are you? How long have you been netting 1100 or so?

1200 is just a minimum recommendation - if you're shorter & eating nutritiously, netting under that shouldn't be an issue, especially since you're only 100 shy. I would aim for a net of 1200 if you're concerned and do that for 4-6 weeks and see how things go.

~Lyssa

kpkitten

I eat all fitbit adjustment calories because I tend to find my fitbit quite reliable.
If I do non-step activity, I either don't bother with it (10 minutes on a bike or weights) or I log it in mfp, override the calories burned with 50-75% of the figure suggested making sure to enter the correct time, and continue to eat back all of my adjustment calories

kgirlhart

I'm 5' 4.75" so not tall but not extremely short. I always eat at least 1200 calories but I don't always net that much when you take exercise into consideration. I'm not sure how long I have been netting under 1200 but I have been losing a little quicker than expected. I'm set up for 1 pound a week but I'm losing at 1.4. I changed my goal from 1240 to 1300 because of that. I do have a very sedentary job so I think my activity level is correct. It's hard because I want to make sure I eat right, but I have a hard time believing that I am burning very many calories throughout the day so I get nervous eating them back.

FitOldMomma

I'd pick one or the other app and use that. For weeks I was using Fitbit only to track my activities. The calorie burns were so much different than what MFP would have allotted me. Also, sometimes the two wouldn't sync.
So, I use the Fitbit now just to track my steps and for motivation to move.
From my experience, MFP is a bit more generous with the calorie burns so I rarely eat back more than 50% of them.

macgurlnet

kgirlhart wrote: »

I'm 5' 4.75" so not tall but not extremely short. I always eat at least 1200 calories but I don't always net that much when you take exercise into consideration. I'm not sure how long I have been netting under 1200 but I have been losing a little quicker than expected. I'm set up for 1 pound a week but I'm losing at 1.4. I changed my goal from 1240 to 1300 because of that. I do have a very sedentary job so I think my activity level is correct. It's hard because I want to make sure I eat right, but I have a hard time believing that I am burning very many calories throughout the day so I get nervous eating them back.

If you're losing at 1.4, you can eat back more calories since you chose a 1lb/week goal.

It might be worth re-calculating calories here, setting MFP to Sedentary and 1lb/week, and then eat back the majority of your Fitbit cals and see how things go. You'll want to be solid with your food logging for at least 4 weeks to get good data.

How many steps are you getting on average? What's Fitbit showing as your total calorie burn for the day?

~Lyssa

bennettinfinity

If you're losing faster than you've allowed for, eat back more calories. If you get to the point that you're losing less than plan, start cutting back. Nothing is static or 100% accurate - so you'll need to continuously adjust your intake as you go.

kgirlhart

I've been getting around 11000 steps. Most of those are from my daily walk. I walk my dog 3-4 miles a day. Usually when I get home from work I have between 1300-2200 steps. I have mfp set to sedentary. Fitbit is giving me about 100-150 calorie more than I was getting just logging my walks on mfp. I'll probably just eat back 75% for now and see how it goes.

macgurlnet

kgirlhart wrote: »

I've been getting around 11000 steps. Most of those are from my daily walk. I walk my dog 3-4 miles a day. Usually when I get home from work I have between 1300-2200 steps. I have mfp set to sedentary. Fitbit is giving me about 100-150 calorie more than I was getting just logging my walks on mfp. I'll probably just eat back 75% for now and see how it goes.

I think going with 75% is a good call. If it turns out you can eat more, awesome!

For reference, I have ~9400 steps today. I'm 5 feet tall, 113 lbs, and MFP has credited me 300 calories on top of my 1450. I have MFP set at maintenance right now.

I'm typically more sedentary later in the day (from 7pm-10pm) and I can eat back all those calories and my weight holds steady.

~Lyssa