FitBit Calorie Adjustments

Options
mirki002
mirki002 Posts: 47 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All
I'm back at MFP after a while off and a bit of weight gain while not tracking. During that time, I began running more frequently and longer distances. I am between 5 ft 6 and 5 ft 7 and 185 lbs. I have my activity level set to "sedentary" because I like being rewarded with extra calories for moving around, and find that motivating. However, lately my added MFP calories from my Fitbit are really high. On days I don't run they can still be as high as 800 or 900. On days that I do longer runs, like 8 miles, they are often upwards of 1,500. That's extra 1,500 on top of the 1,500 I am already allowed( set to lose 1 lb per week). What I am wondering is- can I really eat all of these calories back and still lose? I am really hungry after I run, and could probably eat that many calories. But I'm not sure if this is reasonable. Have other people experienced this? Thoughts about eating back all Fitbit calories? Thanks!

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Options
    I routinely get adjustments of 1,000 calories or more (I am also a runner who is set to "sedentary"), eat them back, and lose/maintain exactly as I expect.

  • mirki002
    mirki002 Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    That is totally the answer I wanted to hear :-) thanks!
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
    Options
    I try to do 75%, or I eat all but keep MFP set at 1.5 pounds per week so I know I have padding to cover any errors. I'm 20 pounds heavier than you and a few inches taller, and with MFP set to sedentary, I get 400-1,000 calories per day added in. I just do easy runs of a few miles, and I run/walk, so I worry about Fitbit getting it wrong. You'll be able to tell after several weeks whether you need to adjust your exercise calories by looking at your rate of loss.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Options
    afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »
    I try to do 75%, or I eat all but keep MFP set at 1.5 pounds per week so I know I have padding to cover any errors. I'm 20 pounds heavier than you and a few inches taller, and with MFP set to sedentary, I get 400-1,000 calories per day added in. I just do easy runs of a few miles, and I run/walk, so I worry about Fitbit getting it wrong. You'll be able to tell after several weeks whether you need to adjust your exercise calories by looking at your rate of loss.

    Yep, this is important. Track your rate of loss to make sure that it's working. If your weight loss stops or is slower than you expect, you can either ensure your logging is accurate or reduce the number of exercise calories you're eating back. I'm exact with my logging (use a food scale, make my own Recipes, minimize guesses, etc) so it works well for me.
  • mommazach
    mommazach Posts: 384 Member
    Options
    I don't eat back any of my fitbit calories, unless they are specific to exercise. For instance, yesterday showed 2,683 calories burned, but only 30 of it was time that I intentionally exercised. I only allow the intentional exercise calories to be eaten back, and then only about 1/2 of those. It's obviously a personal choice, but this is what has been working for me.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    Options
    mommazach wrote: »
    I don't eat back any of my fitbit calories, unless they are specific to exercise. For instance, yesterday showed 2,683 calories burned, but only 30 of it was time that I intentionally exercised. I only allow the intentional exercise calories to be eaten back, and then only about 1/2 of those. It's obviously a personal choice, but this is what has been working for me.

    I was like that when I first got my fitbit. But found after a month that I was losing too quickly. So I started eating back a portion of my whole adjustment. Still losing too quickly. So now I eat all but about 15% and my loss seems more on track.
  • Annahbananas
    Annahbananas Posts: 284 Member
    Options
    mirki002 wrote: »
    Hi All
    I'm back at MFP after a while off and a bit of weight gain while not tracking. During that time, I began running more frequently and longer distances. I am between 5 ft 6 and 5 ft 7 and 185 lbs. I have my activity level set to "sedentary" because I like being rewarded with extra calories for moving around, and find that motivating. However, lately my added MFP calories from my Fitbit are really high. On days I don't run they can still be as high as 800 or 900. On days that I do longer runs, like 8 miles, they are often upwards of 1,500. That's extra 1,500 on top of the 1,500 I am already allowed( set to lose 1 lb per week). What I am wondering is- can I really eat all of these calories back and still lose? I am really hungry after I run, and could probably eat that many calories. But I'm not sure if this is reasonable. Have other people experienced this? Thoughts about eating back all Fitbit calories? Thanks!

    I don't trust my Fitbit calorie burnt whatsoever. That is one thing I ignore on my Fitbit. One day it said I burnt 4000 calories above my bmi ...the day I was in bed all day with a summer flu.

    Another day, I did no exercise whatsoever and according to Fitbit, I burnt 3300 calories above my bmi doing absolutely nothing.


  • saires_au
    saires_au Posts: 175 Member
    Options
    I did a check of 5 weeks of fitbit reports which have calories burned vs calories consumed, calculated my defecit and it came out to a loss of 4.8kg, I had lost 5kg in that time so it was very close to expected for me (my logging at the time was accurate using scales).

    If you can look at your fit bit reports and calculate the defecit over at least a month you can figure out how accurate your fitbit burn is.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,739 Member
    edited July 2016
    Options
    Annahbananas wrote: »
    I don't trust my Fitbit calorie burnt whatsoever. That is one thing I ignore on my Fitbit. One day it said I burnt 4000 calories above my bmi ...the day I was in bed all day with a summer flu.
    Another day, I did no exercise whatsoever and according to Fitbit, I burnt 3300 calories above my bmi doing absolutely nothing.

    So.... what happened during the two days you got, obviously crazy results? Was your fitbit recording phantom steps? Did you figure out the cause and adjust for it?

    If not, how can you trust anything it records for you under normal circumstances?

    I don't know about most other people; but when I first got my Fitbit I did manual and phone step counts to confirm how accurately it was recording my steps under various conditions (swinging arms, carrying items, pushing buggies, moving fast, moving slow)

    And on occasion when I had weird results (a day in which I switched Fitbit devices), I was quite pissed and called tech support twice when my results didn't come out as expected.

    I mean there is very little point in having the damn gadget if you don't even think it's in the ballpark!

Categories