Calorie Intake w/ Fitbit Calories Burned

IllusionKitty

So I'm curious as to how you guys using MFP with a Fitbit manage your calories... For example, my Fitbit Charge HR says I burned 2500+ calories today. That translated over as roughly 900 exercise calories in MFP. I've eaten around 1450 calories, with my MFP allowance being 1200/day. So MFP still wants me to eat 563 calories today, but I'm not sure if I should eat those or not?

I know there is a fine line between eating too much and not eating enough, so I guess my question is, if MFP says to eat another 500, 600, etc calories, should I? Or should I just leave them?

daniip_la

Some people on here report that their Fitbit measures their energy expenditure very accurately, and eat all their exercise calories. Some people say that theirs is not accurate, and don't eat the exercise calories, or only eat a portion. You're going to have to go through trial and error to see which of those categories you fit into.

When I got my Fitbit, I measured my energy output (via the Fitbit) and my input (via MFP) and my weight change over 6 weeks. My numbers were almost perfect, I lost a little faster than expected. So I'm able to eat all of my exercise calories and lose exactly according to plan.

ETA: I track my intake as close to 100% accurate as I can. That's a crucial part of this.

TangledThread

I'm another person where the fitbit is accurate and I eat all my adjusted calories. You will have to test it and see. I believe the more accurate your logging the more of those calories you can eat.

Christine_72

My fitbit overestimates, so i try not eat back any more than 50%. You may be one of the lucky ones who can eat back more. It's all trial and error. I would start by eating back half, and increase or lower it depending on your weight loss. If you're losing faster than your chosen goal, then eat back more, if it slows down eat back less etc etc

corsayre8

Just to add, make sure you calibrate your Fitbit. I'm tall, so when I first got mine it was over estimating steps. When I did a treadmill test and updated the length of my stride, things became more accurate. My actual losses are always very close to what my reports indicate I should have lost.