So I got a fitbit..

WinoGelato

SarahFromWalthamForest wrote: »

PAV8888 wrote: »

SarahFromWalthamForest wrote: »

I ignore my FitBit's calorie burn estimation (and most online exercise calculators) and calculate my calorie burn from my body-weight (161lbs) X by 0.3 (48.3) X by distance walked in miles.
Example: (7 miles) 161 X 0.3 = 48.3 X 7 = 338.1.
So the burn in the above example would be 338 calories.

so you ignore your height, age, speed and incline of walking and you're more accurate than your Fitbit which has access to some of this information and proxy access to the rest of it via your heart rate...

It has said 5000 calories on a day I walked 16 miles, and about 3000-4000 on the other days that week, I lost 1lb that week, and I don't eat back exercise calories.
If I had eaten some of those exercise calories, I would have gained weight.

The calculation that I use, I found found online and it matches up more accurately (than other calorie burn calculators) with how I lose weight.

Most if not all calorie burn calculators greatly overestimate calories burned, which is why a lot of people here on MFP advise only to eat back 25-50% of exercise calories...

So you'd rather trust a calculator that is purely based on algorithms and averages and not a device that you wear on your body that at least has the benefit of being with you while you are moving, knowing the pace, distance and altitude changes of your movement, measuring your heart rate, etc? Why even have a FitBit if you don't trust it?

People advise eating back a portion of calories estimated from calorie burn calculators which is what you're using, until you know your actual results and the accuracy of your logging. Most people who have FitBits and understand how they work and who have become good at logging accurately themselves eat back all of those calories with great success. There are a handful of people who find FitBit overestimated their burns but most find it to be completely reliable if used properly.

lulehlu

bytheplanets wrote: »

I posted about this a few weeks ago. I get around 20,000 steps about 4 times a week (other days I'm around 12,000 or so).

Today, for example I am at 18,758 and my Fitbit says I've burned 3,031 cals. That sounds a little high to me! ( for info I am 39, female, 186 lbs and 5'9").

So generally I try not to trust the Fitbit, but when I am particularly hungry or struggling w/ eating well I admit that I do tend to trust it a little more

That sounds about right to me. I am the same age and height as you. As an example, my highest step day this week was 12,500 and my estimated calorie burn was about 2,500. Fitbit gave me 2,000 calories to eat for that day. But I usually only eat back 100-150.

WinoGelato

lulehlu wrote: »

bytheplanets wrote: »

I posted about this a few weeks ago. I get around 20,000 steps about 4 times a week (other days I'm around 12,000 or so).

Today, for example I am at 18,758 and my Fitbit says I've burned 3,031 cals. That sounds a little high to me! ( for info I am 39, female, 186 lbs and 5'9").

So generally I try not to trust the Fitbit, but when I am particularly hungry or struggling w/ eating well I admit that I do tend to trust it a little more

That sounds about right to me. I am the same age and height as you. As an example, my highest step day this week was 12,500 and my estimated calorie burn was about 2,500. Fitbit gave me 2,000 calories to eat for that day. But I usually only eat back 100-150.

If the numbers sound right, why do you only eat back 100-150 cals?

Lynnmi07

I don't use my Fitbit anymore but mine was pretty accurate with taking into account my calorie needs. If you have it set up accurately you can probably trust it. Also, I didn't take the number until the end of the day because it adjusts throughout the day.

U2R2

If you are a daily food and weight logger, this spreadsheet can be used to determine the accuracy of your fitbit.

With only one weeks info it reports my fitbit overestimates by 30%. It will take more time for the data to normalize but I plan to continue using it as I transition into maintenance.

Credit to PAV8888 for the spreadsheet.

lulehlu

WinoGelato wrote: »

lulehlu wrote: »

bytheplanets wrote: »

I posted about this a few weeks ago. I get around 20,000 steps about 4 times a week (other days I'm around 12,000 or so).

Today, for example I am at 18,758 and my Fitbit says I've burned 3,031 cals. That sounds a little high to me! ( for info I am 39, female, 186 lbs and 5'9").

So generally I try not to trust the Fitbit, but when I am particularly hungry or struggling w/ eating well I admit that I do tend to trust it a little more

That sounds about right to me. I am the same age and height as you. As an example, my highest step day this week was 12,500 and my estimated calorie burn was about 2,500. Fitbit gave me 2,000 calories to eat for that day. But I usually only eat back 100-150.

If the numbers sound right, why do you only eat back 100-150 cals?

I find it easier to be consistent with what I eat during the week rather than going up and down. It's been working for me so that's what I will continue to do until it stops working.

RobBasss

If your syncing your Fitbit I think you have to set your activity level to Sedentary. When I had mine set moderately active, it was giving me some really odd numbers.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

RobBasss wrote: »

If your syncing your Fitbit I think you have to set your activity level to Sedentary. When I had mine set moderately active, it was giving me some really odd numbers.

no you dont have to set it to sedentary. what a lot of people dont understand is it takes into acct your BMR as well as exercise calories and it combines the two for the daily burn you get. so if you are getting say 4000 calories thats going to include your BMR(what your body burns being alive) and your calories burned from being active. the 4000 isnt just your calories from being active. if you are moderately active you set it to that,if you are setting it to moderately active but are actually sedentary then it probably will skew the numbers

WinoGelato

RobBasss wrote: »

If your syncing your Fitbit I think you have to set your activity level to Sedentary. When I had mine set moderately active, it was giving me some really odd numbers.

Depends how active you are. I average 15k steps/day, much of that is from just daily activity or NEAT, and then a portion of it is also from purposeful exercise. Setting myself to sedentary would mean a lower starting calorie target and huge exercise adjustments because I'm not Sedentary. Setting myself to active, with negative calories enabled, ensures that the calories are built in to begin with, that MFP has a reasonable estimate of how many cals it expects me to burn, and that if I have a day where I'm not that active (illness, long road trip, all day work meetings) then the negative cal adjustment ensures I don't eat more than I should that day.

SusanMFindlay

RobBasss wrote: »

If your syncing your Fitbit I think you have to set your activity level to Sedentary. When I had mine set moderately active, it was giving me some really odd numbers.

No, you don't have to. I have my activity level set to "active". I am actually more active than that so, while I have negative adjustments enabled, I never end the day with one. The reason I don't set to "sedentary" is that it would be bad for me psychologically to see a starting calorie goal of 1200 when I know that my end-of-day goal will be over 2000. Simply put, it would mess with my head and lead me to undereat.

To the OP: Knowing that you weigh 269, I can say that you FitBit is almost certainly in the right ballpark telling you your daily calorie burn (including BMR) was over 4000 calories for 20,000+ steps. Like I said, my husband would be over 4000 calories for that and he weighs less than you. While you may feel fine only eating 1800 calories/day right now (because you're just starting out), please understand that that won't be sustainable. To lose 1% of your bodyweight per week, you'd need a deficit of 1345 calories/day (right now; less as you lose weight). Subtracting that from 4000 calories burned, I calculate that you should be eating a minimum of 2700 calories/day (plus 200 if FitBit says 4200, for example). Even if FitBit is slightly overestimating, with that kind of deficit, you'll certainly lose weight - and you can adjust the numbers as you start to see what happens with your actual weight loss.