Question about NEAT
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Phirrgus
Posts: 1,894 Member
Hi folks,
I'm trying to get a more accurate picture of my caloric needs, and what I ought to count as intentional exercise. Specifically on the job activity. My work boots weigh 2.5lbs each (I've weighed them) and on any given day I can either sit in my truck answering phone and email, or, like the last week of Jan where I hit 50 flights of stairs (one morning) + several miles walking - construction site, no elevator, huge survey mapping out the building.
An average work week will be roughly 80-90 flights. I also tend to "jog" up and down, if the client isn't with me, that is...
Truck time is a no brainer, but the rest - should I just be content to let my fitbit count away, or should I manually enter some type of cardio? I can also be carrying 10lbs-50lbs of tools and/or materials at any given time.
Am I over thinking this? I have it synced with mfp and the number of exercise calories it gives me is just high I think. I had about a 130 calorie workout this morning and now at 1:23 mfp is giving me 536 exercise calories...
Thanks folks
I'm trying to get a more accurate picture of my caloric needs, and what I ought to count as intentional exercise. Specifically on the job activity. My work boots weigh 2.5lbs each (I've weighed them) and on any given day I can either sit in my truck answering phone and email, or, like the last week of Jan where I hit 50 flights of stairs (one morning) + several miles walking - construction site, no elevator, huge survey mapping out the building.
An average work week will be roughly 80-90 flights. I also tend to "jog" up and down, if the client isn't with me, that is...
Truck time is a no brainer, but the rest - should I just be content to let my fitbit count away, or should I manually enter some type of cardio? I can also be carrying 10lbs-50lbs of tools and/or materials at any given time.
Am I over thinking this? I have it synced with mfp and the number of exercise calories it gives me is just high I think. I had about a 130 calorie workout this morning and now at 1:23 mfp is giving me 536 exercise calories...
Thanks folks
1
Replies
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IMHO I would start out just going with your Fitbit. If you find that over time you are losing faster than you'd like, or you are extra hungry on some days (when maybe you are carrying more stuff) then maybe you need to add in a few more calories. Alternately, on days you know you have exerted yourself more than normally but there's no way to account for it, you could eat a few more cals over your goal and make a note in your log that you were allowing for the extra workload.
Unfortunately, with activity level and exercise calories, trial and error is unavoidable The addenda I'd always add on to that is - If you are already aiming for a more aggressive weight loss goal, err on the side of eating extra calories as there is more danger to over-restricting. And if you are already aiming for a very conservative rate of loss where you don't have much wiggle room, err on the side of eating less calories as there is more danger of completely negating your deficit. That took more words than I thought it would - hope it makes sense! 6 -
@kimny72 It does make sense, thank you!
What got me after this is that I was losing the desired .5lb per week until about 2 weeks ago, so I doubled down on the measuring and weighing/logging (diary is public) but still no progress, but it's not all bad as it just seems I'm eating at maintenance now...somehow LOL.
Again, not all bad as my body composition is changing as well - stomach is much tighter, shirts loser around the shoulders and chest etc - I'm just not 100% sure how to put together a new goal/plan. My original goal was 174lbs, but I'm questioning if that's realistic. I'm fluctuating a lot right now..179.8 5 days ago, 182 3 days ago and 185 this morning, but my waist on my jeans are looser...that doesn't compute over such a short period of time.
I guess I just feel stuck
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@kimny72 It does make sense, thank you!
What got me after this is that I was losing the desired .5lb per week until about 2 weeks ago, so I doubled down on the measuring and weighing/logging (diary is public) but still no progress, but it's not all bad as it just seems I'm eating at maintenance now...somehow LOL.
Again, not all bad as my body composition is changing as well - stomach is much tighter, shirts loser around the shoulders and chest etc - I'm just not 100% sure how to put together a new goal/plan. My original goal was 174lbs, but I'm questioning if that's realistic. I'm fluctuating a lot right now..179.8 5 days ago, 182 3 days ago and 185 this morning, but my waist on my jeans are looser...that doesn't compute over such a short period of time.
I guess I just feel stuck
Are you weighing daily and using a weight trending app? (You may have said before and I missed it,)1 -
@kimny72 It does make sense, thank you!
What got me after this is that I was losing the desired .5lb per week until about 2 weeks ago, so I doubled down on the measuring and weighing/logging (diary is public) but still no progress, but it's not all bad as it just seems I'm eating at maintenance now...somehow LOL.
Again, not all bad as my body composition is changing as well - stomach is much tighter, shirts loser around the shoulders and chest etc - I'm just not 100% sure how to put together a new goal/plan. My original goal was 174lbs, but I'm questioning if that's realistic. I'm fluctuating a lot right now..179.8 5 days ago, 182 3 days ago and 185 this morning, but my waist on my jeans are looser...that doesn't compute over such a short period of time.
I guess I just feel stuck
With a 1/2 Lb per week rate of loss, it can be very difficult to see if you're actually losing weight early on because normal weight fluctuations from water weight and waist can easily mask that rate of fat loss.
Also, the calories you're getting from your Fitbit to MFP aren't necessarily exercise. You're getting additional calories for anything that is beyond your activity level in MFP.3 -
Ah heck - no I'm not, I keep telling myself to install one and keep forgetting, because...braincell lol. I'll do that today, thanks pinuplove.@kimny72 It does make sense, thank you!
What got me after this is that I was losing the desired .5lb per week until about 2 weeks ago, so I doubled down on the measuring and weighing/logging (diary is public) but still no progress, but it's not all bad as it just seems I'm eating at maintenance now...somehow LOL.
Again, not all bad as my body composition is changing as well - stomach is much tighter, shirts loser around the shoulders and chest etc - I'm just not 100% sure how to put together a new goal/plan. My original goal was 174lbs, but I'm questioning if that's realistic. I'm fluctuating a lot right now..179.8 5 days ago, 182 3 days ago and 185 this morning, but my waist on my jeans are looser...that doesn't compute over such a short period of time.
I guess I just feel stuck
Are you weighing daily and using a weight trending app? (You may have said before and I missed it,)cwolfman13 wrote: »
With a 1/2 Lb per week rate of loss, it can be very difficult to see if you're actually losing weight early on because normal weight fluctuations from water weight and waist can easily mask that rate of fat loss.
Also, the calories you're getting from your Fitbit to MFP aren't necessarily exercise. You're getting additional calories for anything that is beyond your activity level in MFP.
That would explain the ups and downs I'm seeing now, a lot in a short period of time...thanks cwolfman13.
Ya know, I read this stuff every day, but now that it's under my own personal skin lol....2 -
Ok I saw Libra on the play store and remember that being mentioned here - installed!2
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Ah heck - no I'm not, I keep telling myself to install one and keep forgetting, because...braincell lol. I'll do that today, thanks pinuplove.@kimny72 It does make sense, thank you!
What got me after this is that I was losing the desired .5lb per week until about 2 weeks ago, so I doubled down on the measuring and weighing/logging (diary is public) but still no progress, but it's not all bad as it just seems I'm eating at maintenance now...somehow LOL.
Again, not all bad as my body composition is changing as well - stomach is much tighter, shirts loser around the shoulders and chest etc - I'm just not 100% sure how to put together a new goal/plan. My original goal was 174lbs, but I'm questioning if that's realistic. I'm fluctuating a lot right now..179.8 5 days ago, 182 3 days ago and 185 this morning, but my waist on my jeans are looser...that doesn't compute over such a short period of time.
I guess I just feel stuck
Are you weighing daily and using a weight trending app? (You may have said before and I missed it,)cwolfman13 wrote: »
With a 1/2 Lb per week rate of loss, it can be very difficult to see if you're actually losing weight early on because normal weight fluctuations from water weight and waist can easily mask that rate of fat loss.
Also, the calories you're getting from your Fitbit to MFP aren't necessarily exercise. You're getting additional calories for anything that is beyond your activity level in MFP.
That would explain the ups and downs I'm seeing now, a lot in a short period of time...thanks cwolfman13.
Ya know, I read this stuff every day, but now that it's under my own personal skin lol....
I did 1/2 Lb per week thing once and it pretty much took 4-6 weeks to see definitive change...like I started at 188 and about 4-6 weeks later it looked like I was definitively down 2-3 Lbs to 186/185...another 4-6 weeks to look like I was definitively down another 2-3 Lbs to 184/183, etc.3 -
Ok I saw Libra on the play store and remember that being mentioned here - installed!
Recognize that you need to give it a sound base of data before you can expect to get anything sensible out of it. It's just statistics, not magical insight. If you have a record of past weigh-ins, you can enter past data, if you wish, to accelerate that process.
I also recommend (to smart people like yourself
) that they play around a little with the "Advanced Settings" (Smoothing Days, Forecast Days) to see how those affect the trend lines, past and future. I'm not suggesting you ought to reset them permanently, I'm suggesting fiddling with them as a route to understanding the tool better. Changing them has no effect on your saved weight data, and you can just reset them back to the defaults after playtime.
A trending app can lie or mislead, too, but that's less likely to happen the more you understand what it's telling you. (I remember one guy a long time ago who went to the trouble of installing a trending app, but got really mad when he found it would not tell him his "true weight" - LOL!).2 -
Ok I saw Libra on the play store and remember that being mentioned here - installed!
As close as you are to goal, I think it will help set your mind at ease a bit. Granted you won't have the cycle-related weight fluctuations I do, but water weight from sodium or muscle repair, food in transit, etc, can still be enough to obscure your losses in the short-term.
I basically 'lose' weight one week a month. I hit a new low and then spend the next 3 weeks bouncing around between that number and my low from the previous month.2 -
Ok I saw Libra on the play store and remember that being mentioned here - installed!
Recognize that you need to give it a sound base of data before you can expect to get anything sensible out of it. It's just statistics, not magical insight. If you have a record of past weigh-ins, you can enter past data, if you wish, to accelerate that process.
I also recommend (to smart people like yourself ) that they play around a little with the "Advanced Settings" (Smoothing Days, Forecast Days) to see how those affect the trend lines, past and future. I'm not suggesting you ought to reset them permanently, I'm suggesting fiddling with them as a route to understanding the tool better. Changing them has no effect on your saved weight data, and you can just reset them back to the defaults after playtime.
A trending app can lie or mislead, too, but that's less likely to happen the more you understand what it's telling you. (I remember one guy a long time ago who went to the trouble of installing a trending app, but got really mad when he found it would not tell him his "true weight" - LOL!).
Oh yeah, I wanted to say thanks for that advice you gave in another thread! I'm close enough to maintenance now that I think changing my days to a longer range will help with the up/down trends I'm getting.1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »
I did 1/2 Lb per week thing once and it pretty much took 4-6 weeks to see definitive change...like I started at 188 and about 4-6 weeks later it looked like I was definitively down 2-3 Lbs to 186/185...another 4-6 weeks to look like I was definitively down another 2-3 Lbs to 184/183, etc.
Ah you were even in the same ballpark I'm in - That's setting me at ease right there, thanks!Ok I saw Libra on the play store and remember that being mentioned here - installed!
Recognize that you need to give it a sound base of data before you can expect to get anything sensible out of it. It's just statistics, not magical insight. If you have a record of past weigh-ins, you can enter past data, if you wish, to accelerate that process.
I also recommend (to smart people like yourself ) that they play around a little with the "Advanced Settings" (Smoothing Days, Forecast Days) to see how those affect the trend lines, past and future. I'm not suggesting you ought to reset them permanently, I'm suggesting fiddling with them as a route to understanding the tool better. Changing them has no effect on your saved weight data, and you can just reset them back to the defaults after playtime.
A trending app can lie or mislead, too, but that's less likely to happen the more you understand what it's telling you. (I remember one guy a long time ago who went to the trouble of installing a trending app, but got really mad when he found it would not tell him his "true weight" - LOL!).
I laughed at the bold LOL! Thank you for the tips! I do have an accurate record since Dec, but missed where I could enter that. I'll find it though, and I'll be honest
I'm only hurting myself if I'm not...usually by sucking in my gut more than I can actually hold LOL. Ok I saw Libra on the play store and remember that being mentioned here - installed!
As close as you are to goal, I think it will help set your mind at ease a bit. Granted you won't have the cycle-related weight fluctuations I do, but water weight from sodium or muscle repair, food in transit, etc, can still be enough to obscure your losses in the short-term.
I basically 'lose' weight one week a month. I hit a new low and then spend the next 3 weeks bouncing around between that number and my low from the previous month.
And this encourages even more. I hate that "Stuck" and not sure what to do next feeling...and now you mention it, the diet has been high in sodium recently.
Thank you thank you thank you - I love the way you folks jump right in to help
edit: Meant to add @pinuplove - that weight update on the...homepage?? ...that was awesome. I need to see reports like that 0 -
<snip for length>
I do have an accurate record since Dec, but missed where I could enter that. I'll find it though, and I'll be honest I'm only hurting myself if I'm not...usually by sucking in my gut more than I can actually hold LOL.
I think the user interface is a little confusing in this regard. You'll find that if you use the "+" to add a new entry, that you can click on the date/time and change those to past dates.
You can also pull your data out of somewhere else, put it in the proper CSV format, and import it . . . but no regular person wants to do that, unless they have years of data points!
If you upgrade to a new device, don't forget to export your database and save it on a different device (or in the cloud) to re-import. I had trouble with the re-import, but eventually made it work.
Edited: Fix missed quote tag.2 -
@Phirrgus Just to add - If you have some weeks at work where you spend most of your time sitting in the truck, and other weeks where you are getting a ton of steps lugging around tools, that's just like starting and stopping a new exercise program over and over again, ie water weight swings. Swings that could easily mess with seeing 0.5lbs on the scale. All the more reason the advice above to use a weight trending app is a great idea :drinker:3
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<snip for length>
I do have an accurate record since Dec, but missed where I could enter that. I'll find it though, and I'll be honest I'm only hurting myself if I'm not...usually by sucking in my gut more than I can actually hold LOL.
I think the user interface is a little confusing in this regard. You'll find that if you use the "+" to add a new entry, that you can click on the date/time and change those to past dates.
You can also pull your data out of somewhere else, put it in the proper CSV format, and import it . . . but no regular person wants to do that, unless they have years of data points!
If you upgrade to a new device, don't forget to export your database and save it on a different device (or in the cloud) to re-import. I had trouble with the re-import, but eventually made it work.
Edited: Fix missed quote tag.
Be honest now. How many times a day do people here tell you that you are awesome? Every post of yours I read is loaded with great info. Thank you. I did see the +, and will absolutely remember the CSV format - my phone hits the ground more than I do lol. Thanks again @AnnPT77 @Phirrgus Just to add - If you have some weeks at work where you spend most of your time sitting in the truck, and other weeks where you are getting a ton of steps lugging around tools, that's just like starting and stopping a new exercise program over and over again, ie water weight swings. Swings that could easily mess with seeing 0.5lbs on the scale. All the more reason the advice above to use a weight trending app is a great idea :drinker:
Same compliment as above @kimny72 - you are always so helpful. It never even occured to me to think of water weight after one of those days. Not in that context anyway, as I usually drink lots of fluids, especially warmer months.
Thank you 3
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