Unsure Fitbit calorie adjustment

2

Replies

  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    If I was to eat my Fitbit calories - 500 I would be eating between 1900-2000 calories or more and how am I supposed to know in advance how much I'm going to burn in a day my last excersise is around 7-8pm I don't like eating after 9pm so what happens if I've a bunch of calories left a the end of the day the burn I mentioned in the OP was the first time I've had such a high burn and as I haven't had my Fitbit very long I'm still getting used to it I wasn't trying to "blame" or "use what you said" at all I'm just trying to get it right and I've only lost average of 1.2 lb a week since 15th January not eating any exercise calories back

    But you do know how much you are going to burn, you have a couple weeks worth of data that suggests your average calorie burn is 2400, so the calorie target you should be aiming for is 1900. As Pav said, do that for a few weeks, monitor the results and adjust based on what actually happens with your true weight trend (not knee jerk reactions to normal weight fluctuations).

    As has been explained - you are majoring in the minors. You need to establish a trend over time, some days you may be a little over, some days you may be a little under - but consistency and repeatability (precision) is more important than to the decimal point accuracy.

    Why are you timing all your meals around a workout? Again, following PAVs advice, increasing your activity level to a more representative amount would help you prepare your calorie intake. I have a desk job which according to MFP makes me Sedentary but I average 12-15k steps a day so my activity level is set to active. That gives me a higher baseline to start with and then smaller adjustments which makes it easier to plan my calorie intake for the day. Negative calorie adjustments ensure that you don’t over eat on days you have a truly Sedentary day - skip a workout, etc.

    Yes. This is *precisely* why I use TDEE instead of NEAT. Because thanks to my Watch, I have a fairly accurate idea of what I'm going to burn. And that way, instead of feeling this panic that OMG I have to workout or else I'm in the red (talk about engaging with the eating disorder behaviors), I know that really, I just have to hit X target, and it's OK. If I want to eat at maintenance for a day or two (hello, Disney trip and half marathon!), I know what that target is, and even though MFP tells me I'm over -- because I don't adjust my goal -- I know that I'm not.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited February 2018
    angelsja wrote: »
    The problem with upping my activity level is 1 when the kids are off school half term or weekends I'm not active and 2 I often pre log the day before and with negative calories on it tells me I'm over my calories unless I excersise. So I have to excersise to even get my 1400 into green hence my reluctantly to eat more as I've already worked to earn my 1400. Also I never said I couldn't eat more because I can't workout on a full stomach I said I don't need to as my workouts are set around my meals/snacks. I will monitor this week how much I'm burning as I don't think 9 days of data is enough to work from I will think of upping my activity level to lightly active after this week

    I pre-log the day before. Since I know I'm going to exercise, I simply ignore MFP's warning that I'll be over my calories. It's a computer program, I've got a human brain. At least for now, I'm smarter than MFP because I have information it doesn't have (namely, how much I'm going to workout).

    You are perfectly free to ignore MFP warnings when you have information that it doesn't yet have. (Actually, you can ignore them whenever you'd like -- MFP is just a tool, you can always make the final decisions).

    I'm really confused by the situation you've set up for yourself. You have to exercise to get 1,400 calories, so you're reluctant to eat more. But you keep exercising so that you need more than 1,400 calories. It seems like the way you're looking at this is fundamentally backwards.

    MFP and the Fitbit are tools to help you understand what your body needs. They're not your masters. You use them, they're not supposed to be using you. Right now it seems like you're letting them use you and set your priorities.

    Eat what you need. Do the amount of exercise that helps you meet your fitness goals. Don't let the MFP numbers determine how much exercise you do.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    That was one binge in 2months it WILL NOT be happening again I felt like crap the days after and had to really restrict the following days to reset myself but I don't want to get into that again and I probably wasn't burning as much then as I wasn't doubling up my excersise like iam now

    But you keep saying this. And based on your posts, there's been a lot more bingeing than just this one in two months.

    I promise you that if you eat at a moderate deficit, the urge to binge will eventually go away. It'll take time -- I'd say give it *at least* six weeks -- but it'll happen. And once you can curb that, you'll also not have that intense urge to restrict so that you have to "reset" yourself.

    Consistency is going to be your friend. But you're going to have to accept and trust that consistency to do its job.

    Can you see a counselor?
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    That was one binge in 2months it WILL NOT be happening again I felt like crap the days after and had to really restrict the following days to reset myself but I don't want to get into that again and I probably wasn't burning as much then as I wasn't doubling up my excersise like iam now

    But you keep saying this. And based on your posts, there's been a lot more bingeing than just this one in two months.

    I promise you that if you eat at a moderate deficit, the urge to binge will eventually go away. It'll take time -- I'd say give it *at least* six weeks -- but it'll happen. And once you can curb that, you'll also not have that intense urge to restrict so that you have to "reset" yourself.

    Consistency is going to be your friend. But you're going to have to accept and trust that consistency to do its job.

    Can you see a counselor?

    No there hasn't and now I'm pre logging everything so I know what/when I'm next eating I'm not getting that urge anymore I binged because I was over restricting had been at a kids party not had any food all day as I couldn't count the food there then over compensated when I got home which resulted in a f**k it day the next day I don't need a counselor thanks
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    The problem with upping my activity level is 1 when the kids are off school half term or weekends I'm not active and 2 I often pre log the day before and with negative calories on it tells me I'm over my calories unless I excersise. So I have to excersise to even get my 1400 into green hence my reluctantly to eat more as I've already worked to earn my 1400. Also I never said I couldn't eat more because I can't workout on a full stomach I said I don't need to as my workouts are set around my meals/snacks. I will monitor this week how much I'm burning as I don't think 9 days of data is enough to work from I will think of upping my activity level to lightly active after this week

    Okay, so don't up your activity level. Keep it sedentary. When you work out, eat back 75% of your adjustment from fitbit. So on an 1100 day, that's an extra 825. When you're actually sedentary, don't eat back anything. Or adjust your activity level when the kids are on break back to sedentary.

    At the end of the day, you WILL crash and binge if you keep going like this.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    The problem with upping my activity level is 1 when the kids are off school half term or weekends I'm not active and 2 I often pre log the day before and with negative calories on it tells me I'm over my calories unless I excersise. So I have to excersise to even get my 1400 into green hence my reluctantly to eat more as I've already worked to earn my 1400. Also I never said I couldn't eat more because I can't workout on a full stomach I said I don't need to as my workouts are set around my meals/snacks. I will monitor this week how much I'm burning as I don't think 9 days of data is enough to work from I will think of upping my activity level to lightly active after this week

    Okay, so don't up your activity level. Keep it sedentary. When you work out, eat back 75% of your adjustment from fitbit. So on an 1100 day, that's an extra 825. When you're actually sedentary, don't eat back anything. Or adjust your activity level when the kids are on break back to sedentary.

    At the end of the day, you WILL crash and binge if you keep going like this.

    Thanks for the bolded other bit wasn't really needed though
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    The problem with upping my activity level is 1 when the kids are off school half term or weekends I'm not active and 2 I often pre log the day before and with negative calories on it tells me I'm over my calories unless I excersise. So I have to excersise to even get my 1400 into green hence my reluctantly to eat more as I've already worked to earn my 1400. Also I never said I couldn't eat more because I can't workout on a full stomach I said I don't need to as my workouts are set around my meals/snacks. I will monitor this week how much I'm burning as I don't think 9 days of data is enough to work from I will think of upping my activity level to lightly active after this week

    Okay, so don't up your activity level. Keep it sedentary. When you work out, eat back 75% of your adjustment from fitbit. So on an 1100 day, that's an extra 825. When you're actually sedentary, don't eat back anything. Or adjust your activity level when the kids are on break back to sedentary.

    At the end of the day, you WILL crash and binge if you keep going like this.

    Thanks for the bolded other bit wasn't really needed though

    You have previously shared that binges or periods where you go off plan and eat enough to gain significant weight have been an issue for you in the past. People are just trying to share their personal experience and/or knowledge that excessive restriction (which includes netting a low number of calories due to exercise and not making appropriate adjustments) can be a major trigger/risk factor for binges.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    edited February 2018
    I have never binged due to low net calories before it's always been due to low total calories or going a long time without food exersise kills my appetite
  • LW3380
    LW3380 Posts: 118 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    I have never binged due to low net calories before it's always been due to low total calories excersise or going a long time without food kills my appetite

    That doesn't make sense...calories gained through exercise aren't a given or guaranteed.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    You get to choose:
    either the pure MFP way OR the MFP assisted by Fitbit way.

    You actually choose neither. Or rather you're choosing the guaranteed wrong way.

    Mfp way: log exercise manually and eat it. But you don't do that.

    MFP assisted by Fitbit way: Integrate both and eat based on Fitbit TDEE.

    The mechanism used by integration to transfer the information from one to the other has the unfortunate name of exercise adjustment. Really, it should just be called Fitbit Daily adjustment.

    As you said above, you don't trust it, so you also don't do that.

    So no. Don't put the blame on what I said because you're ignoring what I said.

    You are choosing to do neither method because the whole thing is confusing and you are unsure and you are operating under a self imposed deadline that has nothing to do with healthy choices.

    What I said is that *IF* you are using Fitbit integration (which apparently you're set up to do and are doing even though you're ignoring the numbers you're given as a result) you should not log your exercise activities separately on MFP.

    This is a technical not conceptual issue.

    Because if you enter manual exercise on MFP such manual exercise takes precedence over what Fitbit had detected in that same time frame. In other words you pollute your Fitbit data unless you then go to the Fitbit site and delete the imported MFP exercise!

    My advice is clear cut.

    Eat your Fitbit calories less an approximate 500 Cal deficit from that. Evaluate trending weight change over 4 to 6 weeks ànd make adjustments if your results are substantially different than expected.

    NOT so. If you integrate an activity tracker and turn on "negative adjustments" You will be able to see your purposeful activity as line items and the fitbit adjustment as a +/-
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    All my walking is purposeful exercise i don't work and I don't think just over 90min is "excersising so much" I know people who spend hours at the gym. I've only had my Fitbit since 17th Feb it says between the 19th-25 I burned 17094. I'm on 1400 calories per day and I'm not sure on my rate of loss as I weigh daily and it's up and down like a to yo at the minute I was 12.9 yesterday I'm 12.66 today don't think I lost 3lb overnight

    If you're doing 110-130 minutes a day 30+30 +20 +T25(30-45) That's hours a day.

    That's a LOT.

    angelsja wrote: »
    So today I have done 30min arm workout, 30min leg workout, 20min cardio/weight combo and T25 cardio as well as 10k (17k including workouts) steps mfp has given me 1100 exercise "points" can this be right that would mean my net for today is only around 500 Cal's? But I time all my workouts right before a meal or snack so I'm eating right after and am not going hungry
    angelsja wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    If I was to eat my Fitbit calories - 500 I would be eating between 1900-2000 calories or more and how am I supposed to know in advance how much I'm going to burn in a day my last excersise is around 7-8pm I don't like eating after 9pm so what happens if I've a bunch of calories left a the end of the day the burn I mentioned in the OP was the first time I've had such a high burn and as I haven't had my Fitbit very long I'm still getting used to it I wasn't trying to "blame" or "use what you said" at all I'm just trying to get it right and I've only lost average of 1.2 lb a week since 15th January not eating any exercise calories back

    But you do know how much you are going to burn, you have a couple weeks worth of data that suggests your average calorie burn is 2400, so the calorie target you should be aiming for is 1900. As Pav said, do that for a few weeks, monitor the results and adjust based on what actually happens with your true weight trend (not knee jerk reactions to normal weight fluctuations).

    As has been explained - you are majoring in the minors. You need to establish a trend over time, some days you may be a little over, some days you may be a little under - but consistency and repeatability (precision) is more important than to the decimal point accuracy.

    Why are you timing all your meals around a workout? Again, following PAVs advice, increasing your activity level to a more representative amount would help you prepare your calorie intake. I have a desk job which according to MFP makes me Sedentary but I average 12-15k steps a day so my activity level is set to active. That gives me a higher baseline to start with and then smaller adjustments which makes it easier to plan my calorie intake for the day. Negative calorie adjustments ensure that you don’t over eat on days you have a truly Sedentary day - skip a workout, etc.

    Because I can't workout on a full stomach and that's just how my day falls get up do school run/walk dogs, home breakfast wait an hour or so workout, lunch pick kids up have evening meal, workout at 7 have snack chill and bed. And I've only had my Fitbit for 9 full days

    Perhaps if you eased off on how much "working out" you're doing... you would be able to work out closer to meals.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    All my walking is purposeful exercise i don't work and I don't think just over 90min is "excersising so much" I know people who spend hours at the gym. I've only had my Fitbit since 17th Feb it says between the 19th-25 I burned 17094. I'm on 1400 calories per day and I'm not sure on my rate of loss as I weigh daily and it's up and down like a to yo at the minute I was 12.9 yesterday I'm 12.66 today don't think I lost 3lb overnight

    If you're doing 110-130 minutes a day 30+30 +20 +T25(30-45) That's hours a day.

    That's a LOT.

    angelsja wrote: »
    So today I have done 30min arm workout, 30min leg workout, 20min cardio/weight combo and T25 cardio as well as 10k (17k including workouts) steps mfp has given me 1100 exercise "points" can this be right that would mean my net for today is only around 500 Cal's? But I time all my workouts right before a meal or snack so I'm eating right after and am not going hungry
    angelsja wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    If I was to eat my Fitbit calories - 500 I would be eating between 1900-2000 calories or more and how am I supposed to know in advance how much I'm going to burn in a day my last excersise is around 7-8pm I don't like eating after 9pm so what happens if I've a bunch of calories left a the end of the day the burn I mentioned in the OP was the first time I've had such a high burn and as I haven't had my Fitbit very long I'm still getting used to it I wasn't trying to "blame" or "use what you said" at all I'm just trying to get it right and I've only lost average of 1.2 lb a week since 15th January not eating any exercise calories back

    But you do know how much you are going to burn, you have a couple weeks worth of data that suggests your average calorie burn is 2400, so the calorie target you should be aiming for is 1900. As Pav said, do that for a few weeks, monitor the results and adjust based on what actually happens with your true weight trend (not knee jerk reactions to normal weight fluctuations).

    As has been explained - you are majoring in the minors. You need to establish a trend over time, some days you may be a little over, some days you may be a little under - but consistency and repeatability (precision) is more important than to the decimal point accuracy.

    Why are you timing all your meals around a workout? Again, following PAVs advice, increasing your activity level to a more representative amount would help you prepare your calorie intake. I have a desk job which according to MFP makes me Sedentary but I average 12-15k steps a day so my activity level is set to active. That gives me a higher baseline to start with and then smaller adjustments which makes it easier to plan my calorie intake for the day. Negative calorie adjustments ensure that you don’t over eat on days you have a truly Sedentary day - skip a workout, etc.

    Because I can't workout on a full stomach and that's just how my day falls get up do school run/walk dogs, home breakfast wait an hour or so workout, lunch pick kids up have evening meal, workout at 7 have snack chill and bed. And I've only had my Fitbit for 9 full days

    Perhaps if you eased off on how much "working out" you're doing... you would be able to work out closer to meals.

    I do workout close to meals? I workout then I eat my meals and I did 105min that's not even 2 hours 30min arms& legs 20 min cardio/weights and T25 which is 25min there are people that spend longer than that in the gym?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    All my walking is purposeful exercise i don't work and I don't think just over 90min is "excersising so much" I know people who spend hours at the gym. I've only had my Fitbit since 17th Feb it says between the 19th-25 I burned 17094. I'm on 1400 calories per day and I'm not sure on my rate of loss as I weigh daily and it's up and down like a to yo at the minute I was 12.9 yesterday I'm 12.66 today don't think I lost 3lb overnight

    If you're doing 110-130 minutes a day 30+30 +20 +T25(30-45) That's hours a day.

    That's a LOT.

    angelsja wrote: »
    So today I have done 30min arm workout, 30min leg workout, 20min cardio/weight combo and T25 cardio as well as 10k (17k including workouts) steps mfp has given me 1100 exercise "points" can this be right that would mean my net for today is only around 500 Cal's? But I time all my workouts right before a meal or snack so I'm eating right after and am not going hungry
    angelsja wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    If I was to eat my Fitbit calories - 500 I would be eating between 1900-2000 calories or more and how am I supposed to know in advance how much I'm going to burn in a day my last excersise is around 7-8pm I don't like eating after 9pm so what happens if I've a bunch of calories left a the end of the day the burn I mentioned in the OP was the first time I've had such a high burn and as I haven't had my Fitbit very long I'm still getting used to it I wasn't trying to "blame" or "use what you said" at all I'm just trying to get it right and I've only lost average of 1.2 lb a week since 15th January not eating any exercise calories back

    But you do know how much you are going to burn, you have a couple weeks worth of data that suggests your average calorie burn is 2400, so the calorie target you should be aiming for is 1900. As Pav said, do that for a few weeks, monitor the results and adjust based on what actually happens with your true weight trend (not knee jerk reactions to normal weight fluctuations).

    As has been explained - you are majoring in the minors. You need to establish a trend over time, some days you may be a little over, some days you may be a little under - but consistency and repeatability (precision) is more important than to the decimal point accuracy.

    Why are you timing all your meals around a workout? Again, following PAVs advice, increasing your activity level to a more representative amount would help you prepare your calorie intake. I have a desk job which according to MFP makes me Sedentary but I average 12-15k steps a day so my activity level is set to active. That gives me a higher baseline to start with and then smaller adjustments which makes it easier to plan my calorie intake for the day. Negative calorie adjustments ensure that you don’t over eat on days you have a truly Sedentary day - skip a workout, etc.

    Because I can't workout on a full stomach and that's just how my day falls get up do school run/walk dogs, home breakfast wait an hour or so workout, lunch pick kids up have evening meal, workout at 7 have snack chill and bed. And I've only had my Fitbit for 9 full days

    Perhaps if you eased off on how much "working out" you're doing... you would be able to work out closer to meals.

    I do workout close to meals? I workout then I eat my meals and I did 105min that's not even 2 hours 30min arms& legs 20 min cardio/weights and T25 which is 25min there are people that spend longer than that in the gym?

    And people who spend that long (or longer) in the gym and have long-term success fuel their activity by accounting for it in their calorie goal.

    What are you looking for here? It seems as if you're looking for affirmation that it's okay to net 500 calories.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    I have never binged due to low net calories before it's always been due to low total calories or going a long time without food exersise kills my appetite

    Why does it matter? Low calories lead to a binge, regardless of whether it's net or total. It doesn't matter how that low figure happens.

    You want an excuse to restrict, and you're not going to get that here. But you also don't want to accept that eating more is going to stave off those binges.

    What do you want from this conversation?
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    All my walking is purposeful exercise i don't work and I don't think just over 90min is "excersising so much" I know people who spend hours at the gym. I've only had my Fitbit since 17th Feb it says between the 19th-25 I burned 17094. I'm on 1400 calories per day and I'm not sure on my rate of loss as I weigh daily and it's up and down like a to yo at the minute I was 12.9 yesterday I'm 12.66 today don't think I lost 3lb overnight

    If you're doing 110-130 minutes a day 30+30 +20 +T25(30-45) That's hours a day.

    That's a LOT.

    angelsja wrote: »
    So today I have done 30min arm workout, 30min leg workout, 20min cardio/weight combo and T25 cardio as well as 10k (17k including workouts) steps mfp has given me 1100 exercise "points" can this be right that would mean my net for today is only around 500 Cal's? But I time all my workouts right before a meal or snack so I'm eating right after and am not going hungry
    angelsja wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    If I was to eat my Fitbit calories - 500 I would be eating between 1900-2000 calories or more and how am I supposed to know in advance how much I'm going to burn in a day my last excersise is around 7-8pm I don't like eating after 9pm so what happens if I've a bunch of calories left a the end of the day the burn I mentioned in the OP was the first time I've had such a high burn and as I haven't had my Fitbit very long I'm still getting used to it I wasn't trying to "blame" or "use what you said" at all I'm just trying to get it right and I've only lost average of 1.2 lb a week since 15th January not eating any exercise calories back

    But you do know how much you are going to burn, you have a couple weeks worth of data that suggests your average calorie burn is 2400, so the calorie target you should be aiming for is 1900. As Pav said, do that for a few weeks, monitor the results and adjust based on what actually happens with your true weight trend (not knee jerk reactions to normal weight fluctuations).

    As has been explained - you are majoring in the minors. You need to establish a trend over time, some days you may be a little over, some days you may be a little under - but consistency and repeatability (precision) is more important than to the decimal point accuracy.

    Why are you timing all your meals around a workout? Again, following PAVs advice, increasing your activity level to a more representative amount would help you prepare your calorie intake. I have a desk job which according to MFP makes me Sedentary but I average 12-15k steps a day so my activity level is set to active. That gives me a higher baseline to start with and then smaller adjustments which makes it easier to plan my calorie intake for the day. Negative calorie adjustments ensure that you don’t over eat on days you have a truly Sedentary day - skip a workout, etc.

    Because I can't workout on a full stomach and that's just how my day falls get up do school run/walk dogs, home breakfast wait an hour or so workout, lunch pick kids up have evening meal, workout at 7 have snack chill and bed. And I've only had my Fitbit for 9 full days

    Perhaps if you eased off on how much "working out" you're doing... you would be able to work out closer to meals.

    I do workout close to meals? I workout then I eat my meals and I did 105min that's not even 2 hours 30min arms& legs 20 min cardio/weights and T25 which is 25min there are people that spend longer than that in the gym?

    And people who spend that long (or longer) in the gym and have long-term success fuel their activity by accounting for it in their calorie goal.

    What are you looking for here? It seems as if you're looking for affirmation that it's okay to net 500 calories.

    As I've said I was asking if if Fitbit burns are trustworthy and whether I should eat the calorie adjustments from Fitbit to mfp and I have had that answered now. I enjoy working out and it gives me something to do and keeps me occupied
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    edited February 2018
    angelsja wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    All my walking is purposeful exercise i don't work and I don't think just over 90min is "excersising so much" I know people who spend hours at the gym. I've only had my Fitbit since 17th Feb it says between the 19th-25 I burned 17094. I'm on 1400 calories per day and I'm not sure on my rate of loss as I weigh daily and it's up and down like a to yo at the minute I was 12.9 yesterday I'm 12.66 today don't think I lost 3lb overnight

    If you're doing 110-130 minutes a day 30+30 +20 +T25(30-45) That's hours a day.

    That's a LOT.

    angelsja wrote: »
    So today I have done 30min arm workout, 30min leg workout, 20min cardio/weight combo and T25 cardio as well as 10k (17k including workouts) steps mfp has given me 1100 exercise "points" can this be right that would mean my net for today is only around 500 Cal's? But I time all my workouts right before a meal or snack so I'm eating right after and am not going hungry
    angelsja wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    If I was to eat my Fitbit calories - 500 I would be eating between 1900-2000 calories or more and how am I supposed to know in advance how much I'm going to burn in a day my last excersise is around 7-8pm I don't like eating after 9pm so what happens if I've a bunch of calories left a the end of the day the burn I mentioned in the OP was the first time I've had such a high burn and as I haven't had my Fitbit very long I'm still getting used to it I wasn't trying to "blame" or "use what you said" at all I'm just trying to get it right and I've only lost average of 1.2 lb a week since 15th January not eating any exercise calories back

    But you do know how much you are going to burn, you have a couple weeks worth of data that suggests your average calorie burn is 2400, so the calorie target you should be aiming for is 1900. As Pav said, do that for a few weeks, monitor the results and adjust based on what actually happens with your true weight trend (not knee jerk reactions to normal weight fluctuations).

    As has been explained - you are majoring in the minors. You need to establish a trend over time, some days you may be a little over, some days you may be a little under - but consistency and repeatability (precision) is more important than to the decimal point accuracy.

    Why are you timing all your meals around a workout? Again, following PAVs advice, increasing your activity level to a more representative amount would help you prepare your calorie intake. I have a desk job which according to MFP makes me Sedentary but I average 12-15k steps a day so my activity level is set to active. That gives me a higher baseline to start with and then smaller adjustments which makes it easier to plan my calorie intake for the day. Negative calorie adjustments ensure that you don’t over eat on days you have a truly Sedentary day - skip a workout, etc.

    Because I can't workout on a full stomach and that's just how my day falls get up do school run/walk dogs, home breakfast wait an hour or so workout, lunch pick kids up have evening meal, workout at 7 have snack chill and bed. And I've only had my Fitbit for 9 full days

    Perhaps if you eased off on how much "working out" you're doing... you would be able to work out closer to meals.

    I do workout close to meals? I workout then I eat my meals and I did 105min that's not even 2 hours 30min arms& legs 20 min cardio/weights and T25 which is 25min there are people that spend longer than that in the gym?

    And people who spend that long (or longer) in the gym and have long-term success fuel their activity by accounting for it in their calorie goal.

    What are you looking for here? It seems as if you're looking for affirmation that it's okay to net 500 calories.

    They also have specific goals and programming to get there.
    angelsja wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    All my walking is purposeful exercise i don't work and I don't think just over 90min is "excersising so much" I know people who spend hours at the gym. I've only had my Fitbit since 17th Feb it says between the 19th-25 I burned 17094. I'm on 1400 calories per day and I'm not sure on my rate of loss as I weigh daily and it's up and down like a to yo at the minute I was 12.9 yesterday I'm 12.66 today don't think I lost 3lb overnight

    If you're doing 110-130 minutes a day 30+30 +20 +T25(30-45) That's hours a day.

    That's a LOT.

    angelsja wrote: »
    So today I have done 30min arm workout, 30min leg workout, 20min cardio/weight combo and T25 cardio as well as 10k (17k including workouts) steps mfp has given me 1100 exercise "points" can this be right that would mean my net for today is only around 500 Cal's? But I time all my workouts right before a meal or snack so I'm eating right after and am not going hungry
    angelsja wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    If I was to eat my Fitbit calories - 500 I would be eating between 1900-2000 calories or more and how am I supposed to know in advance how much I'm going to burn in a day my last excersise is around 7-8pm I don't like eating after 9pm so what happens if I've a bunch of calories left a the end of the day the burn I mentioned in the OP was the first time I've had such a high burn and as I haven't had my Fitbit very long I'm still getting used to it I wasn't trying to "blame" or "use what you said" at all I'm just trying to get it right and I've only lost average of 1.2 lb a week since 15th January not eating any exercise calories back

    But you do know how much you are going to burn, you have a couple weeks worth of data that suggests your average calorie burn is 2400, so the calorie target you should be aiming for is 1900. As Pav said, do that for a few weeks, monitor the results and adjust based on what actually happens with your true weight trend (not knee jerk reactions to normal weight fluctuations).

    As has been explained - you are majoring in the minors. You need to establish a trend over time, some days you may be a little over, some days you may be a little under - but consistency and repeatability (precision) is more important than to the decimal point accuracy.

    Why are you timing all your meals around a workout? Again, following PAVs advice, increasing your activity level to a more representative amount would help you prepare your calorie intake. I have a desk job which according to MFP makes me Sedentary but I average 12-15k steps a day so my activity level is set to active. That gives me a higher baseline to start with and then smaller adjustments which makes it easier to plan my calorie intake for the day. Negative calorie adjustments ensure that you don’t over eat on days you have a truly Sedentary day - skip a workout, etc.

    Because I can't workout on a full stomach and that's just how my day falls get up do school run/walk dogs, home breakfast wait an hour or so workout, lunch pick kids up have evening meal, workout at 7 have snack chill and bed. And I've only had my Fitbit for 9 full days

    Perhaps if you eased off on how much "working out" you're doing... you would be able to work out closer to meals.

    I do workout close to meals? I workout then I eat my meals and I did 105min that's not even 2 hours 30min arms& legs 20 min cardio/weights and T25 which is 25min there are people that spend longer than that in the gym?

    They don't "work arms&legs and cardio and T25"

    They have specific defined and measurable goals and progression.

    For example. Starting 15 Mar(because I have a different goal that completes that week) I'm going back to barbell lifting with the goal of getting to the 1000 lb club by end of summer... I'm also going to continue my run training(although backing off a bit) with the goal of a 65 Minute 10K Mid-June.

    Those goals will take me between 400-500 minutes a week of training time.


    SMART Goals
    Specific – target a specific area for improvement.
    Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
    Assignable – specify who will do it.
    Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
    Time-related – specify when the result(s) can be achieved.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    I have never binged due to low net calories before it's always been due to low total calories or going a long time without food exersise kills my appetite

    Why does it matter? Low calories lead to a binge, regardless of whether it's net or total. It doesn't matter how that low figure happens.

    You want an excuse to restrict, and you're not going to get that here. But you also don't want to accept that eating more is going to stave off those binges.

    What do you want from this conversation?

    It does matter I get net calories from excersise, excersise kills my appetite so no binges but anyway I have had my question answered
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    angelsja wrote: »

    As I've said I was asking if if Fitbit burns are trustworthy and whether I should eat the calorie adjustments from Fitbit to mfp and I have had that answered now. I enjoy working out and it gives me something to do and keeps me occupied

    Whether they are trustworthy or not (some people find them to be so, others do not), you can be certain that you're burning *some* calories with your exercise. For long-term success and health, you should account for those calories in some way.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    angelsja wrote: »

    As I've said I was asking if if Fitbit burns are trustworthy and whether I should eat the calorie adjustments from Fitbit to mfp and I have had that answered now. I enjoy working out and it gives me something to do and keeps me occupied

    Whether they are trustworthy or not (some people find them to be so, others do not), you can be certain that you're burning *some* calories with your exercise. For long-term success and health, you should account for those calories in some way.

    Hence why I was asking about the 1100 calorie adjustment I got
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    edited February 2018
    angelsja wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    All my walking is purposeful exercise i don't work and I don't think just over 90min is "excersising so much" I know people who spend hours at the gym. I've only had my Fitbit since 17th Feb it says between the 19th-25 I burned 17094. I'm on 1400 calories per day and I'm not sure on my rate of loss as I weigh daily and it's up and down like a to yo at the minute I was 12.9 yesterday I'm 12.66 today don't think I lost 3lb overnight

    If you're doing 110-130 minutes a day 30+30 +20 +T25(30-45) That's hours a day.

    That's a LOT.

    angelsja wrote: »
    So today I have done 30min arm workout, 30min leg workout, 20min cardio/weight combo and T25 cardio as well as 10k (17k including workouts) steps mfp has given me 1100 exercise "points" can this be right that would mean my net for today is only around 500 Cal's? But I time all my workouts right before a meal or snack so I'm eating right after and am not going hungry
    angelsja wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    If I was to eat my Fitbit calories - 500 I would be eating between 1900-2000 calories or more and how am I supposed to know in advance how much I'm going to burn in a day my last excersise is around 7-8pm I don't like eating after 9pm so what happens if I've a bunch of calories left a the end of the day the burn I mentioned in the OP was the first time I've had such a high burn and as I haven't had my Fitbit very long I'm still getting used to it I wasn't trying to "blame" or "use what you said" at all I'm just trying to get it right and I've only lost average of 1.2 lb a week since 15th January not eating any exercise calories back

    But you do know how much you are going to burn, you have a couple weeks worth of data that suggests your average calorie burn is 2400, so the calorie target you should be aiming for is 1900. As Pav said, do that for a few weeks, monitor the results and adjust based on what actually happens with your true weight trend (not knee jerk reactions to normal weight fluctuations).

    As has been explained - you are majoring in the minors. You need to establish a trend over time, some days you may be a little over, some days you may be a little under - but consistency and repeatability (precision) is more important than to the decimal point accuracy.

    Why are you timing all your meals around a workout? Again, following PAVs advice, increasing your activity level to a more representative amount would help you prepare your calorie intake. I have a desk job which according to MFP makes me Sedentary but I average 12-15k steps a day so my activity level is set to active. That gives me a higher baseline to start with and then smaller adjustments which makes it easier to plan my calorie intake for the day. Negative calorie adjustments ensure that you don’t over eat on days you have a truly Sedentary day - skip a workout, etc.

    Because I can't workout on a full stomach and that's just how my day falls get up do school run/walk dogs, home breakfast wait an hour or so workout, lunch pick kids up have evening meal, workout at 7 have snack chill and bed. And I've only had my Fitbit for 9 full days

    Perhaps if you eased off on how much "working out" you're doing... you would be able to work out closer to meals.

    I do workout close to meals? I workout then I eat my meals and I did 105min that's not even 2 hours 30min arms& legs 20 min cardio/weights and T25 which is 25min there are people that spend longer than that in the gym?

    And people who spend that long (or longer) in the gym and have long-term success fuel their activity by accounting for it in their calorie goal.

    What are you looking for here? It seems as if you're looking for affirmation that it's okay to net 500 calories.

    As I've said I was asking if if Fitbit burns are trustworthy and whether I should eat the calorie adjustments from Fitbit to mfp and I have had that answered now. I enjoy working out and it gives me something to do and keeps me occupied

    I kept a spreadsheet of data from Fitbit/MFP and rate of loss. *daily weigh ins FWIW*
    The spreadsheet tracking over 4 weeks calculated my weight loss was in line with a TDEE of 1700... my Fitbit was giving me a daily of 2200! At Fitbit's rate, my weight loss would have been much quicker.
    Highly over estimated my cals out and my data concluded that.
    So I no longer wear it.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,156 Member
    If you have your activity level set low on mfp and you are very active you will get a large fitbit adjustment. If you raise your activity level you won't get as large of an adjustment (but the daily calorie goal will be about the same). If you have negative adjustments turned on then on any day where you are not as active as your set level you will have calories taken away. If you are not sure how accurate your adjustment is then eat back a portion of it and see how you are doing in 3-4 weeks. If you are losing faster than expected then you need to eat back more of the adjustment. If you are losing slower then eat back less. You don't look like you have a lot to lose, so you probably should be set to 1 pound and not 2 pounds per week. I'm not sure what you have set your rate of loss at, but if you are disappointed that you are only losing 1.5 pounds per week I am guessing you have it set to 2. If you do have it set to 1 then you are losing faster than expected and need to be eating back more or exercising less. You are using libra, so focus on the trend, not the day to day. Your weight may have been up some after a "binge", but you didn't really "put on weight" as you are losing about a 1.5 pounds per week. So you are not putting on weight, you are in fact losing weight. You just had an upward fluctuation which is totally normal. Stop worrying so much about the red and the green. It doesn't matter if you are in the red early in the day (when you have pre-logged food that you haven't eaten yet) as long as you end the day in the green. And you really only need to be in the green most days, an occasional day over really is ok. I really think you should read back over this thread because you have received a lot of good advice that you seem really resistant to taking.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    edited February 2018
    kgirlhart wrote: »
    If you have your activity level set low on mfp and you are very active you will get a large fitbit adjustment. If you raise your activity level you won't get as large of an adjustment (but the daily calorie goal will be about the same). If you have negative adjustments turned on then on any day where you are not as active as your set level you will have calories taken away. If you are not sure how accurate your adjustment is then eat back a portion of it and see how you are doing in 3-4 weeks. If you are losing faster than expected then you need to eat back more of the adjustment. If you are losing slower then eat back less. You don't look like you have a lot to lose, so you probably should be set to 1 pound and not 2 pounds per week. I'm not sure what you have set your rate of loss at, but if you are disappointed that you are only losing 1.5 pounds per week I am guessing you have it set to 2. If you do have it set to 1 then you are losing faster than expected and need to be eating back more or exercising less. You are using libra, so focus on the trend, not the day to day. Your weight may have been up some after a "binge", but you didn't really "put on weight" as you are losing about a 1.5 pounds per week. So you are not putting on weight, you are in fact losing weight. You just had an upward fluctuation which is totally normal. Stop worrying so much about the red and the green. It doesn't matter if you are in the red early in the day (when you have pre-logged food that you haven't eaten yet) as long as you end the day in the green. And you really only need to be in the green most days, an occasional day over really is ok. I really think you should read back over this thread because you have received a lot of good advice that you seem really resistant to taking.

    I'm not disappointed with my rate of loss and I did put weight on after my binge even Libra logged it I put on like 3lb which then took me about 3 weeks to re lose all I wanted to know was whether to trust my Fitbit and after crunching the numbers since I've had it I should have lost 2.3lbs if the maths was right I have in fact lost 1.3lb so obviously something is off. And if your using my pic to gauge how much I need to lose that is a old pic that's my motivation picture
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    maybe1pe wrote: »
    I wear a Fitbit at it way underestimates my calories out. But I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't tried eating those calories. I think the only way you'll know if it's accurate for you is to try it and see what happens. You have a tool giving you data and you can use that data to see if it correlates to real world results or not.

    Like I said mine underestimates but I know many other people say it overestimates. Bottom line a whole bunch of people can come in here and say yes it's right or no it's not for a million different reasons but you won't know if it's right or wrong for you unless you try eating the calories, or some of them, and see what happens to real world trends over time. (I'd like to stress the OVER TIME part because a lot of people expect to have confirmation after a week but as a woman your weight is going to fluctuate for a lot of reasons over the course of a month so really 4-8 weeks of data is a better gauge of progress)

    Yeah I don't have that problem the only time my shoots up/down is if I eat junk then go back to "normal eating" but I see what you are saying :)
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited February 2018
    17K steps get's me about an extra 1K calories too. I'd eat that but like others have mentioned don't double dip by ALSO logging classes you do etc.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    17K steps get's me about an extra 1K calories too. I'd eat that but like others have mentioned don't double dip by ALSO logging classes you do etc.

    I don't log any exercise I just let my Fitbit do its thing
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,238 Member
    edited February 2018
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    You get to choose:
    either the pure MFP way OR the MFP assisted by Fitbit way.

    You actually choose neither. Or rather you're choosing the guaranteed wrong way.

    Mfp way: log exercise manually and eat it. But you don't do that.

    MFP assisted by Fitbit way: Integrate both and eat based on Fitbit TDEE.

    The mechanism used by integration to transfer the information from one to the other has the unfortunate name of exercise adjustment. Really, it should just be called Fitbit Daily adjustment.

    As you said above, you don't trust it, so you also don't do that.

    So no. Don't put the blame on what I said because you're ignoring what I said.

    You are choosing to do neither method because the whole thing is confusing and you are unsure and you are operating under a self imposed deadline that has nothing to do with healthy choices.

    What I said is that *IF* you are using Fitbit integration (which apparently you're set up to do and are doing even though you're ignoring the numbers you're given as a result) you should not log your exercise activities separately on MFP.

    This is a technical not conceptual issue.

    Because if you enter manual exercise on MFP such manual exercise takes precedence over what Fitbit had detected in that same time frame. In other words you pollute your Fitbit data unless you then go to the Fitbit site and delete the imported MFP exercise!

    My advice is clear cut.

    Eat your Fitbit calories less an approximate 500 Cal deficit from that. Evaluate trending weight change over 4 to 6 weeks ànd make adjustments if your results are substantially different than expected.

    NOT so. If you integrate an activity tracker and turn on "negative adjustments" You will be able to see your purposeful activity as line items and the fitbit adjustment as a +/-

    @stanmann571 If you have a specific tracker that passes back info about individual exercises from the tracker to MFP, let me know which one so I can try to check it out.

    The way that Fitbit works is that if you have a cardio exercise that you have individually entered in MFP, integration propagates it to Fitbit as an imported acticity and over writes what Fitbit had detected during the stated time frame with the caloric value that MFP provides.

    In other words you are manually changing what Fitbit detected on its own with the value you enter in MFP.

    You can counteract this by logging back on Fitbit and deleting the exercise that was imported from MFP, at which point Fitbit reverts to the originally detected calories while leaving the activity logged and detailed on mfp.

    I thought that this procedure is somewhat complicated for the OP's current level of familiarity with the tools.

    Back to the OP, one of the possible side effects of really large deficits, especially if not supported by abundant energy reserves, is an increase in ED type ideation. This can often resolve by a decrease to the extremity of the deficit.

    The distinction between net and total calories may apply to the concept of receiving an adequate amount and variety of micronutrients, but it doesn't change the possibility of a large deficit all by itself triggering ED ideation in previously unaffected individuals.

    Red, green, and purple polkadots are tools for us to reach our goals. When they become goals in and of themselves and they affect our mood and behaviour and even more so our sense of self worth we do need to take a step back and re evaluate.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    edited February 2018
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    You get to choose:
    either the pure MFP way OR the MFP assisted by Fitbit way.

    You actually choose neither. Or rather you're choosing the guaranteed wrong way.

    Mfp way: log exercise manually and eat it. But you don't do that.

    MFP assisted by Fitbit way: Integrate both and eat based on Fitbit TDEE.

    The mechanism used by integration to transfer the information from one to the other has the unfortunate name of exercise adjustment. Really, it should just be called Fitbit Daily adjustment.

    As you said above, you don't trust it, so you also don't do that.

    So no. Don't put the blame on what I said because you're ignoring what I said.

    You are choosing to do neither method because the whole thing is confusing and you are unsure and you are operating under a self imposed deadline that has nothing to do with healthy choices.

    What I said is that *IF* you are using Fitbit integration (which apparently you're set up to do and are doing even though you're ignoring the numbers you're given as a result) you should not log your exercise activities separately on MFP.

    This is a technical not conceptual issue.

    Because if you enter manual exercise on MFP such manual exercise takes precedence over what Fitbit had detected in that same time frame. In other words you pollute your Fitbit data unless you then go to the Fitbit site and delete the imported MFP exercise!

    My advice is clear cut.

    Eat your Fitbit calories less an approximate 500 Cal deficit from that. Evaluate trending weight change over 4 to 6 weeks ànd make adjustments if your results are substantially different than expected.

    NOT so. If you integrate an activity tracker and turn on "negative adjustments" You will be able to see your purposeful activity as line items and the fitbit adjustment as a +/-

    If you have a specific tracker that paces back info about individual exercises from the tracker to MFP, let me know.

    The way that Fitbit works is that if you have a cardio exercise that you have individually entered on MFP integration propagates it to Fitbit and over writes what Fitbit detected during the stated time frame with the caloric value you gave.

    In other words you are manually changing what Fitbit detected on its own.

    You can counteract that by logging back on Fitbit and deleting the exercise that was imported from MFP at which point it reverts to the originally detected calories while leaving the activity logged and detailed on mfp.

    I thought that this procedure is somewhat complicated for the OP.


    One of the possible side effects of really large deficits, especially if not supported by abundant energy reserves, is an increase in ED type ideation. This can often resolve by a decrease to the extremity of the deficit.

    The distinction between net and total calories may apply to the concept of receiving an adequate amount and variety of micronutrients, but it doesn't change the possibility of a large deficit all by itself triggering ED ideation in previously unaffected individuals.

    Red, green, and purple polkadots are tools for us to reach our goals. When they become goals in and of themselves and they affect our mood and even more so our sense of self worth we do need to take a step back and re evaluate.

    It sounds like the problem is with the Fitbit App, not with MFP, in that Fitbit is trying to do what MFP is also doing..

    I have my misfit and Garmin synced... I used to have my jawbone synced as well, but it choked, my misfit passes daily activity total, and my Garmin additionally passes Purposeful activity. I'll post a screenshot when I get to my phone.

    I had to remove strava and Mapmyrun from MFP, not because my daily calories were messed up, because negative adjustments worked just fine, but because the output ended up looking like

    Misfit
    16000 steps
    -3800 calories

    Garmin
    4 mile run 33 minutes
    500 calories

    Strava
    4 Mile run 32 minutes
    900 calories

    MapmyRun
    4.2 mile Run 34 minutes
    1300 calories

  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    I'm not sure how MFP does it in terms of baseline activity. I use cronometer and I can set it to "no activity" as in IN A COMA. Not sedentary which accounts for some. It's literally my bmr (or guess) plus my fitbit data. I'm 5'6" 155lbs and I eat about 2K on a cut which will net me 1lb fat loss per week; just as a comparison.