Fitbit users - does it help you lose weight?

sorchaedwards1991

Hi Fitbit users

I would just like a general response to see if people are successfully losing weight while listening to what Fitbit says your calorie burn is? Do any of you eat back most of the calories it says you've burned and still lose weight?

I got mine recently and tend to trust it in terms food logging - I want to know if this is a silly idea and will lose weight slower this way?

Also, if any Fitbit users have an open diary can you let me know? I would be intrigued to see someone else's to see how they use their calorie adjustment.

Thanks

WinoGelato

I have had a FitBit for about 4 years. I trusted it while losing weight, ate back the calorie adjustments and lost at the rate I wanted. In maintenance, I find it invaluable because I use the total calories burned as an accurate estimate of my TDEE - so I still eat back those exercise cals.

As you’re just starting using the tools together - check out the FitBit users group and in particular the FAQ thread. Make sure your activity setting is appropriate for your actual activity, and enable negative calorie adjustments to ensure you don’t overeat on very Sedentary days.

Good luck - I love mine.

ruqayyahsmum

Quick question, been trying to find negative calorie adjustments and can't work it out as my fit bit gives me huge adjustments some days, both set to same weekly weight loss goals, both set to sedentary

I don't trust my fit bit,told me I had burnt over 3000 calls the other day for less than 5000 steps. I had a hypo that day and my heart rate was at 120 for a long while so even though I wasn't moving I've a feeling it counts that as exercise

LivingtheLeanDream

I had one for 4 years. It helped me get to goal weight and set good and lasting fitness habits. I no longer use it as I don't need a gadget to motivate me to keep active any more.

bsexton3

Like everything else, it is a tool that can help or you can use it to cheat. Working in an office, one thing I like is the hourly reminder to get up and walk. I've had mine for three years, and still wear it everyday. And once in a while, it will motivate me to take and evening walk. But, as a weight lose tool, it is just that. Kind of like the kitchen scale to weigh food. Do I use it or just guess.

BigRed2525

I'm an Apple Watch user, former FitBit user. It helps remind me to be active and helps track my calorie expenditure. It's good motivation. It's not 100% accurate. For instance, it thought I was exercising when I was waiting on a verdict announcement on a case I tried. Just apply some common sense to your calorie burns and use it as tool, not accept it as fact.

Francl27

It's a HUGE eye opener about how few calories you burn if you don't make an effort to be active. That alone for me is worth it.

jjpptt2

There are some benefits for some people here and there, but I think the biggest potential benefit, and the only way I could see something like a fitbit "helping with weight loss" is if having a gadget on your wrist helped to keep you engaged, aware and focused on what you should be doing. For some, it might just be a visual reminder. For others, it's another set of data points. For still others, it's a neat new gadget.

But ultimately, you have to be willing to manage your intake and be patient. There are no ways to cut those corners and still be successful long term.

Angierae75

My fitbit is the only reason I've lost nearly 45 pounds. When I would try to lose weight before, I would set myself to sedentary, go "hey, I can only eat 1200 calories" and then a week later fail because that is NOT enough food. What my fitbit taught me is that I am not sedentary. I can eat between 1500-1700 calories a day and lose a pound a week.

Now, like someone said above, you still need to be able to manage your intake and be patient. But until my fitbit taught me that I was restricting far more than I needed to, I always failed.

toxikon

WinoGelato wrote: »

I have had a FitBit for about 4 years. I trusted it while losing weight, ate back the calorie adjustments and lost at the rate I wanted. In maintenance, I find it invaluable because I use the total calories burned as an accurate estimate of my TDEE - so I still eat back those exercise cals.

As you’re just starting using the tools together - check out the FitBit users group and in particular the FAQ thread. Make sure your activity setting is appropriate for your actual activity, and enable negative calorie adjustments to ensure you don’t overeat on very Sedentary days.

Good luck - I love mine.

That's interesting, I never thought about using it as a maintenance tool as well! What model do you have?

missysippy930

I have had a fitbit for 5 years. It doesn't necessarily help me lose weight (eating less calories than I burn does that), but it definitely does motivate me to move more, which is a huge benefit for overall health.

sorchaedwards1991

Do I still need to turn on negative calorie adjustment if I've set my activity level to sedentary? Also, I've always wondered....MFP still counts you for doing steps even if you're set as sedentary, so I'm wondering why my fitbit starts adding calories burned from 1000 steps onwards? It doesn't add a lot, but it adds none the less. I would have thought it would only start adding calories burned after 5000 steps as that's what's considered above sedentary.

WinoGelato

toxikon wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

I have had a FitBit for about 4 years. I trusted it while losing weight, ate back the calorie adjustments and lost at the rate I wanted. In maintenance, I find it invaluable because I use the total calories burned as an accurate estimate of my TDEE - so I still eat back those exercise cals.

As you’re just starting using the tools together - check out the FitBit users group and in particular the FAQ thread. Make sure your activity setting is appropriate for your actual activity, and enable negative calorie adjustments to ensure you don’t overeat on very Sedentary days.

Good luck - I love mine.

That's interesting, I never thought about using it as a maintenance tool as well! What model do you have?

Originally the flex and now the surge HR.

Knowing the total cals burned (and that it’s accurate for me as I maintain eating back those cal adjustments) is one of the best things about FitBit. And mine is higher than MFP or other calculators would predict since I’m a petite female over 40 but my TDEE is around 2100-2200.

amc2509

I have my activity level set to lightly active with negative adjustments enabled. I start to earn extra calories at around 4500 steps... So Sunday 28th I only had 5045 steps and got an extra 37 calories, but the next day I had 15535 steps and got an extra 447 calories. I couldn't be without my FitBit! I love it and it is really helping me to be consistent with my weight loss... I have actually gone out at night for an extra walk to earn calories for wine!!

ruqayyahsmum

sorchaedwards1991 wrote: »

Do I still need to turn on negative calorie adjustment if I've set my activity level to sedentary? Also, I've always wondered....MFP still counts you for doing steps even if you're set as sedentary, so I'm wondering why my fitbit starts adding calories burned from 1000 steps onwards? It doesn't add a lot, but it adds none the less. I would have thought it would only start adding calories burned after 5000 steps as that's what's considered above sedentary.

Mine's doing the same, I hadn't been able to switch on negative calories via the app but have found it now via desktop site

Mine added over 1000 the other day and I had taken under 5000 steps so I'm wary of the numbers despite having my fit bit for over a year

Francl27

sorchaedwards1991 wrote: »

Do I still need to turn on negative calorie adjustment if I've set my activity level to sedentary? Also, I've always wondered....MFP still counts you for doing steps even if you're set as sedentary, so I'm wondering why my fitbit starts adding calories burned from 1000 steps onwards? It doesn't add a lot, but it adds none the less. I would have thought it would only start adding calories burned after 5000 steps as that's what's considered above sedentary.

Yes, I start at -80 calories every day with MFP set on sedentary.

And I do remember also not being to turn on negative adjustment from the app.

You have to keep in mind that you won't get adjustment on steps alone though - you'll get a bigger adjustment from a 2000 steps 300 calories workout than a 2000 steps walk, for example. So it's not just about steps.

shadow2soul

It helped me become and stay more active. Which is helpful for losing weight and eventually maintaining.

When I first got mine I was so sedentary that if I didn't workout, I would lose calories on MFP even with being set to Sedentary. I was shocked. My workouts just made it so I didn't lose calories at Sedentary. That was in 2013. That was my eye-opener. I am active now and my Fitbit is my reminder to stay that way.

madwells1

Yes. Love it. Keeps me accountable because I can see how active/inactive I am.

aeloine

I love mine, for not just the calories burned but a bird's eye view of my overall lifestyle:

1. I'm noticing that if I don't sleep for at least 7 hours, I'm ravenous for carbs and junk. Over 9, I could go most of the day without eating. There are some minor weight fluctuations associated with length of sleep. It doesn't matter how long I'm in bed because I have long restless periods that cut into my total sleep time (have a charge 2 with the heart rate monitor that's fairly accurate for day to day purposes).

2. If I don't have a reminder, I might think that I'm getting the steps I need to be, but I might not get up but every three hours. I really like to connect the walking dots so make it a point to actually walk every hour.

3. My intentional calorie burn is overestimated but my steps definitely help me earn some extra snacks. I only ever eat like 1/2 of my exercise calories back.

4. I really like their weight trending feature.

aeloine

The day to day of weight loss is nuts but this helps to make sense of the chaos.

chornak05

I have a fitbit and love it. I do have a slightly irregular heartbeat at times, so I disabled the heart rate feature. I found that if I had a day with a lot of irregular episodes, it thought I was exercising the whole time and gave me a ton of calories. Now that I have turned off that feature, it is extremely accurate. I'm using it for maintenance but it worked well during my 50 lb loss as well.

Elle_Marie_Fit

I didn't love my fitbit, but it's a tool that works well for some people.

lorrpb

I use fitbit mainly as a steps and floors counter. To keep moving, i.e. more steps in an otherwise sedentary job, increases my NEAT/TDEE. The floor counter motivated me with certain fitness goals.

Angierae75

sorchaedwards1991 wrote: »

Do I still need to turn on negative calorie adjustment if I've set my activity level to sedentary? Also, I've always wondered....MFP still counts you for doing steps even if you're set as sedentary, so I'm wondering why my fitbit starts adding calories burned from 1000 steps onwards? It doesn't add a lot, but it adds none the less. I would have thought it would only start adding calories burned after 5000 steps as that's what's considered above sedentary.

Because the fitbit assumes that you will continue moving at the rate you're moving at for the rest of the day. If you get to 2000 steps by 10am, it assumes that you'll continue to move at that 'pace'. I'm at 2400 steps right now and it's added a small amount of calories (40, I think), but it assumes I'll continue that "level" of activity for the rest of the day. (It's wrong - I'll hit 7k-10k by the end of the day, and it will add even more.) The problem comes if you get to say, 5k steps by noon, and then sit the rest of the day, it'll start taking those calories back. So if you know you're done moving for the day, you have to be careful.

I'm never done moving until after my last food of the day, so it hasn't been a problem for me.

Roadie2000

Somehow just having it on my wrist makes me think about being more healthy and exercising a little bit more than I normally would. And I like how it easily keeps track of my weight and how much I move around but that's about it. It's great for steps, but I don't track my calories. For those that do it could probably be more useful.

I don't wear it when I sleep, since I haven't found it to be very accurate. I can lie in bed awake for hours but it still thinks I'm sleeping. I usually just charge it overnight now.

I also got one with a heart rate monitor, but it is completely useless. It is horribly inaccurate and all it does is just drain the battery.

simcon1

I really like mine, and it's taken lots of the guesswork out of figuring expended calories for me. Mine is a blaze, set to active with negative calories enabled, and I've been steadily losing since Thanksgiving (16 or so lbs so far). I mostly eat back exercise calories and just find it helpful as a check in tool so I don't have to think about food & movement all day long.

MsMaeFlowers

I love my fitbit. The calorie burn numbers are super helpful for me, as depending on the day, I burn anywhere from 1500-2500 cals, so I like knowing how much I need to eat (or not eat) to maintain.

I also love the HR tracking, as it actually showed up a medical problem about a month ago before I had any symptoms. I ended up with a tooth infection, and my resting HR jumped up from around 63 bpm to 75. I hadn't been checking my resting HR, but after the tooth pain started and I got on antibiotics, I saw the HR spike and was kind of amazed at it.

The sleep tracker is nice too. Lets me know if I'm feeling tired because I missed out on sleep, or if there is some other reason I need to look into. Also tracks how many times a night I have to get up and let my dog out for a pee (4 times last night), so I can keep an eye out for any changes in his routine that way too hah.

Competing against other people is also motivating to get moving more.

hesn92

Yes I trusted the calories it gave me and I lost weight. It was really handy and encouraged me to move more. I haven’t used it in a long time though. I just got tired of wearing it.

ETA- I will say that I wasn’t a fan of how it assumed your calorie burns for the rest of the day though. (For example if I was really active in the morning, mfp would assume I was going continue being active all day and give me a ton of extra calories, and then take them back as the day went on. I wish it would strictly give exercise calories once you exceeded the calories you have your goal set to.

PAV8888

Fitbit TDEE as compared to MFP logging and trending weight results via trendweight.com FOR ME has been accurate to within 0.5% underestimate of TDEE to 5.5% overestimate of TDEE (and various points in between) over 3+ years of losing and maintaining, and two Fitbit models (charge HR and Charge 2).

Days of higher than normal heart rate for non exercise reasons and travel days with time zone changes produce outlier results.

Whether knowing your TDEE with relative certainty helps you lose weight is another story and will mostly depend on how you eat as compared to your expenditure.

Whether you find that having a gadget that encourages you to move more is a positive or negative experience is also up to your individual make-up. Some people embrace and some people resent the experience.

Per minute of inactivity till midnight your exercise adjustment decreases by BMR / 1440 * F

BMR is http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

F is 0.25 or 0.4 or 0.6 or 0.8 depending on your pre-selected MFP activity setting (sedentary to very active)

My personal opinion should be obvious since I grabbed a Charge 2 once I run through 3 warranty replacements and a hand me down glued together Charge HR.

Charge 2 is going strong at the 7 month mark!!!

Christine_72

My Fitbit definitely motivates me to move more!

When i first got it 3 years ago, i had my goal set to 25,000 steps a day, i then changed it to 20k, and have reduced it by 5,000 steps at a time, and now my goal is a minimum of 10k a day.

Ironically since i started walking less, my weight loss has picked up. The more i exercised the hungrier i got, and as they say "you cant out exercise a bad diet", or in my case an increased appetite due to massive amounts of exercise.

jerms9

I've had mine for only two months but am loving more than I thought I would. I like that I can look up calorie burn and intake for weeks at a time. I have this odd tendency to either think "oh I overate/under ate a few weeks ago" -- or thinking I"ve exercised more/less than I have. Now I can just look with a couple button pushes. Also as others have mentioned, seeing the difference in sedentary vs. meeting step goal and the difference in cal burn has been eye opening and motivating.

I'm also a big data and finding trends with data nerd so the data it generates makes me extra happy (I'm not necessarily normal in that regard)