Eating back fitbit adjustment

ssakcik

Got my Fitbit the other day. Still trying to work out how to best use it in my weight loss journey. So today it says I've done 18200 steps (I went for a 5k run this morning). My MFP is set at 1200 caps but I eat back what I exercise... Today it says I have a exercise adjustment of 900+. I've still have around 300 cals left and have eaten 1666 so far... (I'm in the UK and have had dinner lol). I'm not planning on eating anymore lol but just want to know for further reference and because I don't want to mess up all that I've accomplished so far... How much can I eat back? How much can I rely on the adjustment? Is my best bet just not to go over 1500 caps no matter what and stick to 1200 when I havn't exercised that day? I want to lost another 3 kg before the summer holidays (6 weeks away). I bought my first bikini in over 10 years lol.

Vegplotter

Don't take those exercise calories too seriously and don't get to rely on them too much. I treat exercise days as a good kickstart to losing weight. I'm always lighter the next morning.
If in doubt use up half your exercise calories IF YOU NEED TO.

ssakcik

@vegplotter thank you... Yes, wasn't gonna tuck into that choclate cake to make up calories lol...

I'd mentioned the Fitbit to hubby ages ago... Then when I started running (c25k) I started thinking about a Garmin watch with GPS... He went abroad earlier in the week... Took all our left over Euros with him and came back with a fitbid for me... I must admit I'm starting to wonder how useful it is for me lol... Is it just a glorified motivator? I can easily use my smartphone to track my run and MFP to track my calories...

AuroraGeorge8393

Why do you have MFP set to 1200 calories? Did you set this manually or did MFP/Fitbit assign you this cap?

If you are going to be eating back what you exercise I would suggest that you set your MFP activity level to sedentary and enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

I have a Fitbit Zip and it helped me lose quite a bit of weight. I set the MFP level to sedentary, enabled negative calorie adjustments from Fitbit, and set a goal to lose 1lb a week. I then ate back most of my exercise calories beyond the 500 a day deficit needed to lose the weight. By following this plan, I lost 30 pounds in six months.

BUT - and it's a big one - I also wore my Fitbit 24/7 and religiously weighed and logged all my meals. Also, most of my exercise came from walking or jogging very long distances. For walking and jogging related exercises, I've found the Fitbit calorie burn to be quite accurate. However, if you're engaged in other activities (weight-lifting, for example), the estimates provided by Fitbit may either overestimate or underestimate calorie burn.

debrag12

I have mine to sedentary (I think) and have the adjustment on. Today I've got an adjustment of 586 calories. Aim to eat half back.

One way is to take have one months worth of data then take an average TDEE and aim to eat 500 under that. You can set custom calories.

ssakcik

I've managed to lose 15 kg (33lbs) since the new year. I set MFP to 1200 (to lose 1kg a week) when I just started. I had it set for sedentary until I started c25k 9 weeks ago when I changed it to light. I have managed to lose weight fairly easily without the Fit bit. Hubby brought it back as a present a couple of days ago. I'm trying to work out how to make it work best for me.

I'll go and change it back to sedentary and have a look at negative adjustment. Thanks

Edited to add... I weigh my food and log everything...

ssakcik

So I've changed my setting to sedentary and added negative adjustment. This is the numbers I have on MFP: 1200-1666-1128=538
I'm just trying to work out how best to use the Fitbit and make it of most use and tbh atm I'm struggling lol... I know it's early days lol.

AuroraGeorge8393

Now that you've set the negative adjustment, be sure to periodically sync your Fitbit so it updates your remaining calories. I sync mine manually at least 3 or 4 times a day. It doesn't take long. Try eating exactly the number of calories (or under) that MFP allots you each day for the next month. If you haven't started losing weight by following that plan within the next 4-5 weeks, you'll know you need to make some adjustments. Good luck!

Vegplotter

I have a tracker and I think it's excellent for recording steps and then motivating me to get more active in normal situations. There's no point for exercise or games because you can more accurately add that into this programme manually.
What I do like to know is how many steps I've done each day. I walk, go shopping, cook the meals, garden and even getting up seems to help to the day's total.

ssakcik

@auroraGeorge8393 thank you... I've used MFP to loose 15 kg (33lbs) over the last 5 months by eating the calories it gave me and an eating some or all of the calories back I manually added for exercise. I'm not worried that I can't lose weight with MFP, my worry is that I'm gamma find it more difficult to track my calorie intake with the Fitbit adding it's thing? Does that make sense? I'm a just better of un-syncing the two?

I've been syncing my Fitbit at least every hour lol.

SisterSueGetsFit

How do you "sync" your Fitbit? I thought it happened automatically.

missh1967

I do not sync my fitbit with MFP.

LivingtheLeanDream

@rchlthompson >>

Go to settings on Fitbit and you'll see where it asks you to connect with other apps, choose MFP and that way both apps will 'talk' to each other and the data will get sync'd

I like having both apps connected, both calorie totals at the end of the day will be very similar which is how it should be.

Enable negative adjustments. As I'm active I have MFP set to active so on a Sunday when I'm having a rest day having the negative adjustments enabled will mean I will see my calories being automatically reduced for that day. However if I do 10k on my rest day (which I normlly do anyway) then my calories get adjusted up.

The trackers are a great way to calculate TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).

I've found the totals to be very accurate for me.

sky_northern

I use my Fitbit sync with MFP. I don't manually add any excersize to MFP unless it's water based and I take my Fitbit off. Majority of my excersize is walking and running.

I find the Fitbit very motivating to keep moving especially since I have a desk job.

I'm set to lose 2 lbs per week and I have been pretty close to that even when eating my entire Fitbit adjustment.

ssakcik

Thank you... Will see how I get on.. I guess it's days like today it comes in useful when I've been at work all day and haven't got my 10000 steps... Close (9000) so I can make up the last 1000 steps.

StaciMarie1974

To be on the safe side I'd say to assume 10% error.

Keep in mind that if you have MFP set to sedentary and you're moving 15k-18k steps per day, you are burning much more than a sedentary person. To maintain that level of activity safely longterm without suffering a loss of energy, you'll need to eat more than the bare minimum even though your starting point is 1200 per day.

ssakcik wrote: »

Got my Fitbit the other day. Still trying to work out how to best use it in my weight loss journey. So today it says I've done 18200 steps (I went for a 5k run this morning). My MFP is set at 1200 caps but I eat back what I exercise... Today it says I have a exercise adjustment of 900+. I've still have around 300 cals left and have eaten 1666 so far... (I'm in the UK and have had dinner lol). I'm not planning on eating anymore lol but just want to know for further reference and because I don't want to mess up all that I've accomplished so far... How much can I eat back? How much can I rely on the adjustment? Is my best bet just not to go over 1500 caps no matter what and stick to 1200 when I havn't exercised that day? I want to lost another 3 kg before the summer holidays (6 weeks away). I bought my first bikini in over 10 years lol.

willburpeeforcookie

I like looking at them, but I NEVER eat them

LivingtheLeanDream

kquick316 wrote: »

I like looking at them, but I NEVER eat them

What a shame, getting to eat extra calories and still lose is so much nicer

ssakcik

@stacimarie1974 thank you for your reply... On the days I run (Sunday, Weds and Friday) and on Thursdays when I walk my son to school I get close to 15000 steps but on the other days I am belowl, not by much (made 10000 tonight by jumping around the lounge lol). Before Fitbit I ate back my exercise calories ( manually adding them)... I will not starve myself I was just not sure that I really needed to eat that much back... So atm I'm thinking around 1500-1600 cals on the days I exercise (or more of I'm hungry lol).

I think my main worry is that Fitbit is adding too many calories back and I'll eat them and I'll stop losing. I'm 73 kg (160 lbs) and want to lose another 10 lbs.

emmylootwo

I have trust issues with the fitbit calorie adjustment, so what I personally would do is un-sync (is that a word?) fitbit and MFP and instead change my activity level in MFP to lightly active or active. That way you don't have to worry about eating exercise calories back. You just have to be careful with being consistent. If 10k+ steps isn't your usual or isn't something you could do 6 or 7 days a week, then the fitbit adjustment might be better.

ridge4mfp

I have lost 93 lbs eating all my Fitbit Charge HR calories back most days. I am also set to sedentary on both apps and have negative calories enabled. Had a sick day Saturday, so had negative calories from Fitbit for the day (I ate lightly). I have found it to be very accurate for me. Experiment - eat them back and if you slow down or stop losing, adjust. It's not a "set in stone" decision.

ssakcik

Thank you both... I'll have a good think... I will definitely be eating some back as that's what I did before Fitbit (I just did it manually)... I'm quite good at listening to my body and there's no way I'll starve myself... If I'm hungry I eat... I'm just not 100% sure how much to trust the Fitbit... I think I have 200+ steps added just driving to and from work... And apparently I climbed 29 floors which is strange as there's no floors at work and I've only been upstairs in our house 3 times today. Lol... So, this is what my issue is... If it's not totally accurate and recording things I haven't done... And I eat back the adjustments... Then I'm gonna be eating too much. Thing is, weight loss worked without the Fitbit, and at a healthy rate, some weeks I'd lose 1kg and some weeks nothing but it was steady... I just don't want to undo the good work I've done so far.

tamatisk

I've got a ChargeHR and find it's adjustments match what I used to get using a chest strap and the estimates my GPS monitor gives me (when running).

Stairs are calculated based on the altimeter so if your journey to work involves going up hill it will count it. Steps will count in the car because you are moving your arm. Try putting it on your non-dominant hand and changing the settings to show this. If that doesn't work take it off during the drive.

Don't enable negative adjustments if your cap is 1200 and you are not eating back your adjustments as you'll then be eating too little.

capaul42

I've found my Charge HR to be very accurate. Non-dominant hand while driving is a must. And the stair thing, I've found that if I'm outside on windy days, I get more floors (weird eh). I will also take off and put in my pocket if I'm shopping or pushing a cart/stroller.

As for everything else, I'm currently eating 90-100% of my adjustment back. And still losing slowly, about .5lb a week (which is what I'm set for). Some days I will eat up to fitbit's maintenance number but that's once every 2-3 weeks when we've got an event, like a family party or such.

Currently I have mfp set for lightly active and do not have negative adjustments enabled as I'm very rarely ever that inactive. Even on my lazy days, I get about 8000 steps and burn about 1800+ calories. MFP has me at 1560 to lose .5lb a week and says my maintenance is 1796. Those days, I may get an adjustment of 50-100 calories from fitbit.