Activity level confusion

Gena575

I've set my activity level for lightly active, but either my Fitbit is insanely inaccurate or I've under estimated my activity level. I lean toward the latter as in 6 weeks I've lost nearly 18lbs (from a high of 248). I sometimes net under my MFP goal when exercise is figured in to the equation and always under when my fitbit calories are figured.

I work retail. I average 12-14k steps in an 8 hr day. I climb ladders, pull pallets, push loaded freight carts. Do I fall in the active category? Because honestly it boggles my mind that I could be that active and hover around 250 for the past several years.

sijomial

Your actual weight change over time is the calorie counter that matters.

BarbieAS

12-14K steps per day is definitely not lightly active. Lightly active is more like about 5K up to maybe 10K, depending on if you've got a "moderately active" category to work with or not (MFP does not; here's the table they use with walking equivalents: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/5/921S/T1.expansion.html). I would certainly call that "active."

That said...if you're surprised how you weighed so much when you were so active, I really recommend that you make sure to weigh all solids and measure all liquids that you consume. MANY people are shocked by the number of calories they actually consume in a day, and eyeballing and guessing portions when you're just starting out is a lot more difficult than people think - if you feel like before MFP you weren't eating very much, it's possible that what you previously thought was 2 servings of popcorn was actually more like 4....which means when you go to portion out and log 1 serving for yourself now, if you're not weighing that portion, it might be more like 2, you know? If you're already doing that, then good for you - you're ahead of the game!

ETA: Don't forget that in the early weeks of weight loss, people often see a much bigger drop than expected, and that's mostly due to water weight losses. 18 pounds over 6 weeks is fantastic, but it's unlikely that you'll continue at a pace of 3lbs/week - which is fine! Shooting for a deficit setting of 2lbs/week or less is best.

Also, remember to log your exercise carefully if you're already using a Fitbit - if you don't do it just right, you can end up with big calorie inaccuracies. And, for step-based cardio, often it's better to just let Fitbit do the work than to try to use MFP's exercise database (which is notorious for over-estimating calorie burns).

Good luck!

charlieandcarol

It's perfectly plausible to be active and overweight, all you have to do is eat more calories than you burn or eat the calories to maintain. As you have found, adjusting your calories in is a very effective way to lose weight. Congratulations.

Hard to say re your fitbit accuracy. If you added up all your calories in and then all your calories out from your fitbit and took one from the other would that equal the correct number of calories for an 18 pound loss over 6 weeks? At 3500 per pound that would be an average deficit of 10 500 cals/week or 1 500 per day. I mean it's all estimates, my cals and your fitbit but that might give you an idea of where your fitbi is at.

murp4069

Unfortunately I've known many active but overweight and even obese people. It really does come down to food.

I've noticed that my Fitbit and MFP calories don't always match. Instead of really letting it bother me, I recognized that I am using Fitbit and MFP for two different things. I use Fitbit to monitor my activity and reach my exercise goals, and I use MFP to track my food. When it comes to calories in, I trust what I put into MFP and ignore the synced data on my Fitbit app. I've never investigated whether it's a duplication issue or not, but seeing that above it definitely could be.

Gena575

@BarbieAS I am weighing 95% of my foods. I don't weight lettuce lol and I have to estimate for meals I don't prep personally. I've even mocked up a few "old days" and was easily hitting 3k/day. Disturbing really. I have my deficit set to 1.5lbs/week so averaging 3 is a bit concerning to me. I'd like to minimize skin sag and other potential issues if possible. I also know I sound like an *kitten* whining about too quick of a loss. I also let fitbit log all of my exercise at this point (walks and home videos...1-200 calories 3-4x/week...nothing much really)

@charlieandcarol I am going to math now. Please send firefighters if you see smoke near the gateway arch lol!

@murp4069 my total #s end up fairly similar. I'm somewhat fascinated with how they change through the day actually. And my plan was to ignore fitbit's calories as I was exercise prior. Then it gives me 1k more than mfp and I am a bit worried I'm not eating enough.

Gena575

Also, @BarbieAS the link? That's exactly what I needed! Thank you. I'm not sure quite how I feel about the "active" moniker, but what the heck. Worst case is I feel a bit better about myself lol!

VintageFeline

I'd maybe give it another couple of weeks and disregard weeks 1 and 2 as they'll have had your water whooshes most likely (I never had those whooshes but most people do so those numbers are often a little wonky from a data perspective).

I do think though you are potentially in the wrong activity level and could bump up to active.

Gena575

charlieandcarol wrote: »

It's perfectly plausible to be active and overweight, all you have to do is eat more calories than you burn or eat the calories to maintain. As you have found, adjusting your calories in is a very effective way to lose weight. Congratulations.

Hard to say re your fitbit accuracy. If you added up all your calories in and then all your calories out from your fitbit and took one from the other would that equal the correct number of calories for an 18 pound loss over 6 weeks? At 3500 per pound that would be an average deficit of 10 500 cals/week or 1 500 per day. I mean it's all estimates, my cals and your fitbit but that might give you an idea of where your fitbi is at.

So I did this past week. I was down 2.8lbs and based solely on math I should have been down 2.3 (which I know can be a bit faulty especially in a rather short time frame). So, I'm believing a bit more in the accuracy of fitbit's projections.

Gena575

VintageFeline wrote: »

I'd maybe give it another couple of weeks and disregard weeks 1 and 2 as they'll have had your water whooshes most likely (I never had those whooshes but most people do so those numbers are often a little wonky from a data perspective).

I do think though you are potentially in the wrong activity level and could bump up to active.

I'm going to give it a whirl and see what happens. Like my own personal human experimentation lol!

charlieandcarol

Gena575 wrote: »

charlieandcarol wrote: »

It's perfectly plausible to be active and overweight, all you have to do is eat more calories than you burn or eat the calories to maintain. As you have found, adjusting your calories in is a very effective way to lose weight. Congratulations.

Hard to say re your fitbit accuracy. If you added up all your calories in and then all your calories out from your fitbit and took one from the other would that equal the correct number of calories for an 18 pound loss over 6 weeks? At 3500 per pound that would be an average deficit of 10 500 cals/week or 1 500 per day. I mean it's all estimates, my cals and your fitbit but that might give you an idea of where your fitbi is at.

So I did this past week. I was down 2.8lbs and based solely on math I should have been down 2.3 (which I know can be a bit faulty especially in a rather short time frame). So, I'm believing a bit more in the accuracy of fitbit's projections.

I take it there was no need for firefighters?

Gena575

charlieandcarol wrote: »

Gena575 wrote: »

charlieandcarol wrote: »

It's perfectly plausible to be active and overweight, all you have to do is eat more calories than you burn or eat the calories to maintain. As you have found, adjusting your calories in is a very effective way to lose weight. Congratulations.

Hard to say re your fitbit accuracy. If you added up all your calories in and then all your calories out from your fitbit and took one from the other would that equal the correct number of calories for an 18 pound loss over 6 weeks? At 3500 per pound that would be an average deficit of 10 500 cals/week or 1 500 per day. I mean it's all estimates, my cals and your fitbit but that might give you an idea of where your fitbi is at.

So I did this past week. I was down 2.8lbs and based solely on math I should have been down 2.3 (which I know can be a bit faulty especially in a rather short time frame). So, I'm believing a bit more in the accuracy of fitbit's projections.

I take it there was no need for firefighters?

Lol! There were a few tense moments. But apparently being properly hydrated helps

ericatoday

Even if youre that active a poor diet and too many calories can absolutely keep you at 250 for so long.