New to BM, confused.

jmcreynolds91

Hey all. I have had my BM since last Friday. Come to find out, I am way more active than I thought. Assuming the BM calorie burns are correct, I burn about 2800-3000 calories a day as I have 2 kids and am always going. I eat roughly 1700 cals a day and have been loosing consistent weight with weekend indulgences. Since I got my BM, it syncs with MFP and tells me I am netting about 700 cals a day. Today was weigh in day and it wasn't as much as usual. I am worried that the BM burns are too high or I am not eating enough. Im scared to eat too much and gain all the weight back. What do you think. Thanks for reading!

JRadd14

It's hard to say... You only had the BMF for less than a week. The BMF is not 100% accurate.
Do you think you're burning that much? On an average day (no intense workouts) I burn around 2100-2250 calories. If you are moving around quite a bit most of the day your calorie burn seems about right. Netting only 700 cals though is pretty low, I would strive for something higher than that.

What have you been losing on average each week? This could simply be an "off" week - everyone has them. You could be plateauing if you are eating the same amount of cals everyday and doing the same activities.

I'd give it a month to really assess how it's going. I've had my BMF about 3 months now and it takes some time to figure out the data and how to apply that information to make it work for you.

SJCon

I don't think it is wise to change a plan after only one data point, you said you weigh once a week. You will see spikes up, down and plateaus over the course of your journey. A lot of it may have to do with fluids in the body and they can be impacted by a lot of things like sore muscles, salt intake, alcohol, hormones, etc.

That being said, i weigh once a day on waking so I can see a trend or spike for what it is but many people don't weigh that often, so what ever you choose. It also does not really matter if the BMF is accurate if you base your goal on what it records. My metabolism runs hot and so I was always feeling like I was starving when I went with Fitbit generated numbers (a statistical norm), that is not the case now with my BMF. I am bouncing up and down on my weight line but the trend is a steady two pounds per week.

zlauerMom

I don't think it is wise to change a plan after only one data point, you said you weigh once a week. You will see spikes up, down and plateaus over the course of your journey. A lot of it may have to do with fluids in the body and they can be impacted by a lot of things like sore muscles, salt intake, alcohol, hormones, etc.

That being said, i weigh once a day on waking so I can see a trend or spike for what it is but many people don't weigh that often, so what ever you choose. It also does not really matter if the BMF is accurate if you base your goal on what it records. My metabolism runs hot and so I was always feeling like I was starving when I went with Fitbit generated numbers (a statistical norm), that is not the case now with my BMF. I am bouncing up and down on my weight line but the trend is a steady two pounds per week.

I agree with this post. I lost 40 lbs. with a 1.5 pound/week setting. Some weeks I lost 2 pounds, some weeks I lost one pound, some weeks less, but over time it averaged to 1.5 pounds/week.
I weigh myself before bed every night. Weight fluctuates up and down. Salt intake has a big effect. If I eat out, my weight goes up- even when I'm staying in my calorie range. After a day or so of lower salt intake, my weight drops again. When we went on vacation and I was eating out for all my meals, I gained four pounds. Three days after returning, I dropped five pounds. I'm sure it is all water from the higher salt foods I had been eating.

I've observed a similar effect when I have sore muscles from working out.

My advice is watch your deficit number on BMF. For me, when I consistently reach my deficit number, I'm successful.

jmcreynolds91

Thanks Guys! That helped alot. I will try those things and stick with it. I have had big deficits so im going to work on getting them around the same number. I am going to watch sodium and see what happens. I have lost almost about 70 pounds just using MFP and exercising. So this is a little new for me. REALLY want BMF to work for me. I also weigh in everyday also to make sure I stay on track. I only record the number every Wednesday and I find it is very helpful for me. Thanks again everyone!

tigerblue

Not to be negative, but I`m about 3 1/2 months into using the BMF, and I``m still not sure about the numbers. In fact, I am at best maintaining while showing a large (750 cal deficit) on BMF.

A little history--I lost 40 lbs over 11 months using MFP. Maintained a year using MFP, then started a slow gain of 10 lbs over the last 1 1/2 years. That is why I got the BMF.

Since I got the BMF I have gained 2 lbs, and now I am maintaining. During the 3 1/2 months I have used it, I have always been under my calorie allowance. I actually gained up to about 3 1/2 pounds, but 3 weeks ago I decided to just look at my deficit each day and try to keep my deficit at 750. Since then, I have fluctuated, and currently I am showing a loss of 0.2 lbs for 2 1/2 weeks. Earlier in the summer I was eating closer to the full number reported, but still keeping a 200 cal or more deficit. I also seemed to be maintainting, or maybe gaining veerryy slowly. Hard to tell with sodium, hormones, etc!

So why am I still using BMF? Well, none of the numbers add up. Even if BMF is off by a little, I still should be losing more weight than I am now, according to all the online calculators, and I should be able to maintain at a number close to the BMF, again according to the calculators. So not using BMF isnt working either. So it seems basically that nothing is working and my body seems determined to gain weight, or at least not lose.

The only reason I am still using the BMF is because it gives me a relative idea of how active I am from day to day. It also confirms my exercise burns. So if my total number is higher, I eat a little more, while still trying to keep the same deficit--that is the magic number I am trying to find!

BTW, I did some research online and the BMF seems to be 90% correct for about 98% of the population, and 80% correct for the other 2%. I am guessing that I am in the 2%, and I take 20% off my totals for BMF burns.

jaz050465

Not to be negative, but I`m about 3 1/2 months into using the BMF, and I``m still not sure about the numbers. In fact, I am at best maintaining while showing a large (750 cal deficit) on BMF.

A little history--I lost 40 lbs over 11 months using MFP. Maintained a year using MFP, then started a slow gain of 10 lbs over the last 1 1/2 years. That is why I got the BMF.

Since I got the BMF I have gained 2 lbs, and now I am maintaining. During the 3 1/2 months I have used it, I have always been under my calorie allowance. I actually gained up to about 3 1/2 pounds, but 3 weeks ago I decided to just look at my deficit each day and try to keep my deficit at 750. Since then, I have fluctuated, and currently I am showing a loss of 0.2 lbs for 2 1/2 weeks. Earlier in the summer I was eating closer to the full number reported, but still keeping a 200 cal or more deficit. I also seemed to be maintainting, or maybe gaining veerryy slowly. Hard to tell with sodium, hormones, etc!

So why am I still using BMF? Well, none of the numbers add up. Even if BMF is off by a little, I still should be losing more weight than I am now, according to all the online calculators, and I should be able to maintain at a number close to the BMF, again according to the calculators. So not using BMF isnt working either. So it seems basically that nothing is working and my body seems determined to gain weight, or at least not lose.

The only reason I am still using the BMF is because it gives me a relative idea of how active I am from day to day. It also confirms my exercise burns. So if my total number is higher, I eat a little more, while still trying to keep the same deficit--that is the magic number I am trying to find!

BTW, I did some research online and the BMF seems to be 90% correct for about 98% of the population, and 80% correct for the other 2%. I am guessing that I am in the 2%, and I take 20% off my totals for BMF burns.

80% accurate doesn't necessarily mean it it over by 80% all the time. It may be inconsistent and it may be under.

tigerblue

Not to be negative, but I`m about 3 1/2 months into using the BMF, and I``m still not sure about the numbers. In fact, I am at best maintaining while showing a large (750 cal deficit) on BMF.

A little history--I lost 40 lbs over 11 months using MFP. Maintained a year using MFP, then started a slow gain of 10 lbs over the last 1 1/2 years. That is why I got the BMF.

Since I got the BMF I have gained 2 lbs, and now I am maintaining. During the 3 1/2 months I have used it, I have always been under my calorie allowance. I actually gained up to about 3 1/2 pounds, but 3 weeks ago I decided to just look at my deficit each day and try to keep my deficit at 750. Since then, I have fluctuated, and currently I am showing a loss of 0.2 lbs for 2 1/2 weeks. Earlier in the summer I was eating closer to the full number reported, but still keeping a 200 cal or more deficit. I also seemed to be maintainting, or maybe gaining veerryy slowly. Hard to tell with sodium, hormones, etc!

So why am I still using BMF? Well, none of the numbers add up. Even if BMF is off by a little, I still should be losing more weight than I am now, according to all the online calculators, and I should be able to maintain at a number close to the BMF, again according to the calculators. So not using BMF isnt working either. So it seems basically that nothing is working and my body seems determined to gain weight, or at least not lose.

The only reason I am still using the BMF is because it gives me a relative idea of how active I am from day to day. It also confirms my exercise burns. So if my total number is higher, I eat a little more, while still trying to keep the same deficit--that is the magic number I am trying to find!

BTW, I did some research online and the BMF seems to be 90% correct for about 98% of the population, and 80% correct for the other 2%. I am guessing that I am in the 2%, and I take 20% off my totals for BMF burns.

80% accurate doesn't necessarily mean it it over by 80% all the time. It may be inconsistent and it may be under.

Very true. But MY body's reaction seems to back up the fact that it is 20% over for me.

The OP, and anyone using the device, needs to know that there is a possibility of a significant error one way or the other. Or maybe the error is only significant when you are already close to your goal, and you are looking at trying to find a small deficit. If I just went with a larger deficit then eventually I would find the right number. But again, the numbers are not lining up. Sure I could eat at 1000 deficit and I might start losing again. But my question is, if I am cutting 750 and barely losing, why am I not losing like 1 1/2 lbs a week? So the device has to be reporting incorrectly for me.

I guess I'm just saying that you may not be able to take the reported BMF number at face value. You may need to use it to find a range, or a number that can be altered. I'm just hoping that by looking at deficit rather than total burn I can eat appropriately each day according to my activity for that day which can be very variable for me.

For those of you that this is working for, that is wonderful. I just wish it were as simple for me.

And OP, my advice would be to keep meticulous notes and watch your trends. Then decide what is going on with you and the BMF.

jaz050465

Not to be negative, but I`m about 3 1/2 months into using the BMF, and I``m still not sure about the numbers. In fact, I am at best maintaining while showing a large (750 cal deficit) on BMF.

A little history--I lost 40 lbs over 11 months using MFP. Maintained a year using MFP, then started a slow gain of 10 lbs over the last 1 1/2 years. That is why I got the BMF.

Since I got the BMF I have gained 2 lbs, and now I am maintaining. During the 3 1/2 months I have used it, I have always been under my calorie allowance. I actually gained up to about 3 1/2 pounds, but 3 weeks ago I decided to just look at my deficit each day and try to keep my deficit at 750. Since then, I have fluctuated, and currently I am showing a loss of 0.2 lbs for 2 1/2 weeks. Earlier in the summer I was eating closer to the full number reported, but still keeping a 200 cal or more deficit. I also seemed to be maintainting, or maybe gaining veerryy slowly. Hard to tell with sodium, hormones, etc!

So why am I still using BMF? Well, none of the numbers add up. Even if BMF is off by a little, I still should be losing more weight than I am now, according to all the online calculators, and I should be able to maintain at a number close to the BMF, again according to the calculators. So not using BMF isnt working either. So it seems basically that nothing is working and my body seems determined to gain weight, or at least not lose.

The only reason I am still using the BMF is because it gives me a relative idea of how active I am from day to day. It also confirms my exercise burns. So if my total number is higher, I eat a little more, while still trying to keep the same deficit--that is the magic number I am trying to find!

BTW, I did some research online and the BMF seems to be 90% correct for about 98% of the population, and 80% correct for the other 2%. I am guessing that I am in the 2%, and I take 20% off my totals for BMF burns.

80% accurate doesn't necessarily mean it it over by 80% all the time. It may be inconsistent and it may be under.

Very true. But MY body's reaction seems to back up the fact that it is 20% over for me.

The OP, and anyone using the device, needs to know that there is a possibility of a significant error one way or the other. Or maybe the error is only significant when you are already close to your goal, and you are looking at trying to find a small deficit. If I just went with a larger deficit then eventually I would find the right number. But again, the numbers are not lining up. Sure I could eat at 1000 deficit and I might start losing again. But my question is, if I am cutting 750 and barely losing, why am I not losing like 1 1/2 lbs a week? So the device has to be reporting incorrectly for me.

I guess I'm just saying that you may not be able to take the reported BMF number at face value. You may need to use it to find a range, or a number that can be altered. I'm just hoping that by looking at deficit rather than total burn I can eat appropriately each day according to my activity for that day which can be very variable for me.

For those of you that this is working for, that is wonderful. I just wish it were as simple for me.

And OP, my advice would be to keep meticulous notes and watch your trends. Then decide what is going on with you and the BMF.

I haven't found it works for me.

jmcreynolds91

Thank you for your input. I have been messing with the numbers and trying to get it to work for me. I am doing better with it, but still experimenting. Hopefully, I can get it to help me loose weight. Thanks everyone!