My Fitbit says I’m burning 2250 calories a day, why am I still not losing weight on 1500 calories

sydneysteinberg1324

I’ve read on several occasions that Fitbit calorie burn is not entirely correct. Even if it was off, how is it possible that 1500 calories isn’t leading to weight loss?

I workout 5+ times a week (cardio and heavy weightlifting) and I work a job on my feet walking 3k-6k steps per 5 hour shift depending on the day, on TOP of my daily workout.

I’m focusing on nutrition choices. Healthy fats and carbs and proteins.

I used to be big in high school (185lbs), got so small in college (150-without even trying) and then slowly but surely gained it again each time I came home and had access to homecooked food. I’ve lost 5 pounds since dedicating myself more to this, but I’m slightly worried it was just a fluke.

1500 calories is justttt enough where I feel satisfied for the day but still have my stomach growl before bed. So I’m definitely eating less because I’m noticing that I’m hungry.

try2again

sydneysteinberg1324 wrote: »

I’ve lost 5 pounds since dedicating myself more to this, but I’m slightly worried it was just a fluke.

??? Sounds like you are losing weight on 1500 calories/day.

kimny72

How much weight do you have to lose?
How much weight are you trying to lose per week?
How long have you been doing this?
How consistent is your logging?
Are you using a food scale?

sydneysteinberg1324

@try2again I’m unsure if I genuinely lost that weight or if the time I weighed myself before that I was bloated/had eaten a lot previously and when I stepped on the scale again the 5lb difference just reflected my accurate weight

sydneysteinberg1324

@kimny72 I think I have ~40lbs to lose to get back to a comfortable spot. I’ve been weighing what I eat with my biggest loser food scale, only trying to lose 1lb per week, and it’s been like 3 weeks. The first week was the only time I saw a difference on the scale

kimny72

sydneysteinberg1324 wrote: »

@kimny72 I think I have ~40lbs to lose to get back to a comfortable spot. I’ve been weighing what I eat with my biggest loser food scale, only trying to lose 1lb per week, and it’s been like 3 weeks. The first week was the only time I saw a difference on the scale

Patience is a virtue. Especially for women, where hormone fluctuations can mess with water weight throughout the month, you can't tell anything in three weeks . Plus if the exercise is new it can cause you to retain water as well.

Focus on logging accurately and consistently, using the food scale as often as possible, and have faith in the process for at least 6-8 weeks. Some people find weighing themselves every day to get used to their daily weight fluctuations is helpful, others do better weighing once a week as the fluctuations upset them. Either way you are looking for the trend over weeks and months to average out to your expected rate of loss. It can be tough though, especially in the beginning when you want to start to see your reward. Hang in there :drinker:

Nony_Mouse

kimny72 wrote: »

sydneysteinberg1324 wrote: »

@kimny72 I think I have ~40lbs to lose to get back to a comfortable spot. I’ve been weighing what I eat with my biggest loser food scale, only trying to lose 1lb per week, and it’s been like 3 weeks. The first week was the only time I saw a difference on the scale

Patience is a virtue. Especially for women, where hormone fluctuations can mess with water weight throughout the month, you can't tell anything in three weeks . Plus if the exercise is new it can cause you to retain water as well.

Focus on logging accurately and consistently, using the food scale as often as possible, and have faith in the process for at least 6-8 weeks. Some people find weighing themselves every day to get used to their daily weight fluctuations is helpful, others do better weighing once a week as the fluctuations upset them. Either way you are looking for the trend over weeks and months to average out to your expected rate of loss. It can be tough though, especially in the beginning when you want to start to see your reward. Hang in there :drinker:

^^What this smart lady said

It's early days, and you may have water weight from new/increased exercise and/or hormonal fluctuations clouding the picture. I highly recommend downloading and using a trending weight app - Happy Scale (Android), Libra (iPhone), or Trendweight (web based, syncs with Fitbit). This will help smooth out daily fluctuations and show you if you weight is heading in the right direction.

jemhh

sydneysteinberg1324 wrote: »

@try2again I’m unsure if I genuinely lost that weight or if the time I weighed myself before that I was bloated/had eaten a lot previously and when I stepped on the scale again the 5lb difference just reflected my accurate weight

Your weight is what the scale says when you step on it, assuming a properly working scale. It doesn't matter if you were bloated or had a lot of food in your digestive tract. That was your starting weight. You've lost five pounds. Once you've gone a month losing zero pounds on the scale, drop your calories. To be clear, five does not equal zero. Zero equals zero.

gogetemrogue

I'm new to fitbit, but from my understanding fibit will add your BMR to your daily calories in addition to the calories you burn through exercise.

It sounds like you are off to a good start, just keep with it and you will see results in time. If the weight comes off too quickly you can have health problems related to that, so there's no need to be in a rush.

Sharon_C

This is exactly why I stopped using my Fitbit and went back to just using MFP

Francl27

Without knowing your stats, I'd say that 2250 calories from fitbit is probably pretty accurate with your activity level, so 1500 calories (assuming you are using accurate entries, that could be your problem too) would probably be too little for you actually, given that you only want to lose 40 lbs... obviously I'm assuming that you're not eating back exercise calories...

3 weeks doesn't mean much though, especially as us women tend to retain water around our periods. Personally, I only lost one week a month, 3-4 lbs at a time (the one after my period). Then nothing for 3-4 weeks etc.

So yes, it all comes down to patience.

lemurcat12

kimny72 wrote: »

sydneysteinberg1324 wrote: »

@kimny72 I think I have ~40lbs to lose to get back to a comfortable spot. I’ve been weighing what I eat with my biggest loser food scale, only trying to lose 1lb per week, and it’s been like 3 weeks. The first week was the only time I saw a difference on the scale

Patience is a virtue. Especially for women, where hormone fluctuations can mess with water weight throughout the month, you can't tell anything in three weeks . Plus if the exercise is new it can cause you to retain water as well.

Focus on logging accurately and consistently, using the food scale as often as possible, and have faith in the process for at least 6-8 weeks. Some people find weighing themselves every day to get used to their daily weight fluctuations is helpful, others do better weighing once a week as the fluctuations upset them. Either way you are looking for the trend over weeks and months to average out to your expected rate of loss. It can be tough though, especially in the beginning when you want to start to see your reward. Hang in there :drinker:

Yes, this.

With not being sure of your weight starting out, the (likely) big loss in the first week, and new exercises, and normal female fluctuation (which are not at the same time for every woman), you don't have any reason to think it's not working. Stick with it, be careful with your logging, and see how it goes.