Fitbit and calories

SarahMorganP

I just got my fitbit and I put in that I want to lose 1lb a week. I am so confused by the amount of calories it gives me though. Right now for the day it says I have 1997 in/2548 out and that I still have 449 left to eat. How can I eat almost 2400 calories a day and still lose 1lb a week? That sounds just crazy to me. It's not like I lifted weights or anything. I did 30min on a bike and that's it other than normal walking, 11,755 steps so far plus 22 flights of stairs.

Before I got the fitbit I would net 1500 calories a day. I'm just freaked out by the number of calories this is giving me and worried if I do actually eat that much I'm going to gain and not lose.

Ready2Rock206

I used MFP for calories and just ignored what fitbit said. I used fitbit to track my activity.

Christine_72

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

I used MFP for calories and just ignored what fitbit said. I used fitbit to track my activity.

Same here. Mfp for food/calories and Fitbit for exercise.
Don't try and follow 2 different paths to the same destination.

mlinci

11000 steps plus cycling is a decent amount of exercise and would certainly allow you to eat a bit more.

I'm a 5'5'' woman, 40 years old, currently weighing 165 or so lbs, measuring my calorie expenditure with my Fitbit. If I am completely sedentary (say at home with a flu) I'll use about 1,600 calories. I use about 2,000 calories if I walk around 8,000 steps a day. I use about 2,400 calories if I walk about 16,000 steps a day. To me that makes perfect sense, and my weight loss so far (about 2kg per month) tells me my Fitbit has been reasonably correct at estimating my calorie expenditure. So, I don't think you should be afraid to eat a bit more (a bit!) on days when you move about a lot.

mlinci

Oh, also - if you are synching your Fitbit and MFP, remember to enter in both that you aim to lose 1 lb per week.

Also, one thing to note is that MFP tells you how many calories you have for the day in total, while Fitbit makes predictions for the day based on your current expenditure. So say you've just completed a two hour walk. MFP will sync the steps from Fitbit and assume you will do no more steps for the day. Fitbit will kind of assume that you will continue walking, i.e. that your calorie expenditure will continue to be high, but then will later adjust down if you don't. E.g. Fitbit could tell you you have 500 calories left for the day after a long walk, but then, if you stop moving about, and even if you don't log any further calories, it will adjust down and say, e.g. you actually have 300 left for the day. So if you exercise in the early part of the day, Fitbit will definitely overestimate how many calories you have left, as it will assume you'll continue being that active.

BruceHedtke

I usually just delete the calorie adjustment that I get from using a Fitbit but only because I use the calorie burn that other apps report to MFP. So, I keep getting my calorie burn double reported and since I have been using the other apps longer, it's just easier for me to trust those numbers.

If you're unsure that the calorie burn is correct, then use your scale to tell you if those numbers are right. Eat the exercise calories back 100% for a month and if you still lose four pounds that month, you're good to go. If you're losing less than a pound a week, start eating back 75% of the calories, then 50% if you're still not losing a lb a week. Your Fitbit is estimating the burn, same as any other app, machine or MFP would. Your scale will tell you if the calorie burn is high, low or close enough.