Earned calories are way too much - how to adjust?

jayemes
jayemes Posts: 865 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
47yo F
SW:219 (8/2/20)
CW: 211

I lost 25 pounds 3 years ago eating around 1500-1600 calories most days, up to 1900-2000 on workout days. Gained it back so I'm here to do it again.
I'm walking more these days (17k step average) because gyms in NY are still closed and I'm still eating in the same calorie range and losing (8 pounds since the beginning of August - it'll slow down now)

My issue is, my fitbit way overestimates my earned calories. If I walk 18-20k steps it's giving me over 1000 earned calories. I know I can't eat 2500 calories just because I walked around all day. I've tried to adjust and make myself "active" but then it bumps my base calories up.

Is there any way to adjust the calories I'm getting from fitbit so my diary is closer to correct? Or should I just continue to ignore the extra calories and eat in the range I know works for me?

Replies

  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,071 Member
    i just eat less of my exercise calories back - a lot of people here eat half their exercise calories back.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    edited August 2020
    Fitbit estimates your total burned calories for the day - and then MFP compares that to what it expects.

    What is your activity level set to in MFP? If its not at one of the highest levels, and 18-20k steps is normal for you, then you may want to consider bumping it up. Then you'll get more calories to start w/ in MFP's method. And the Fitbit adjustment will be less.
  • Jacq_qui
    Jacq_qui Posts: 443 Member
    What nanastci2020 said above, basically. I have my activity level set to sedentary so the days I don't go out for a walk or get far from the house, I don't end up eating over my cal budget. The flipside of course is that the days I do walk, work out or I'm really busy/active or all 3, I end up with 500-1000 cals extra to eat. Once I worked this out (or rather someone on here explained it!) I felt a lot better about it. I don't usually eat all my exercise calories back, but if I didn't eat any I'd likely be very hungry the next day and probably wouldn't always make the best choices. Eventually, not eating enough just makes me tired and lethargic.

    Trial and error - could you eat some back for a few weeks and see how your weight is?
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    I don’t sync my Fitbit with mfp for that reason.

    You can either eat fewer calories back. OR unsync the Fitbit and manually enter exercise. I manually enter my exercise. For example, if I go on a 1.5 hr dog walk, I enter that as only 1 hr to account for stops for the dogs getting snacks and playing. I also enter it at 2.5 mph. MFP gives me a much lower calorie burn estimate than Fitbit does.

    It’s all an estimate though as various factors will influence how many calories you really burn. Age, weight, metabolism, actual speed, strenuousness (flat ground vs hills) etc. all play a factor. It’s probably going to take some trial and error to best guesstimate how many calories you are personally burning.
  • jayemes
    jayemes Posts: 865 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    OP: Just stay on top of it. If you continue to lose faster than expected please up your calories before it begins to make you feel bad. It is quite horrible and well worth avoiding.
    Totally agree. She who eats the most calories and still loses weight wins. I always lose the first 8-10 very quickly and now I'm on pace to lose .5-1lb per week.
    Also although I'm walking a fair amount more, I'm not going to the gym 4-5 days a week. Instead I'm doing only one, maybe two gym workouts at home per week.
    Thanks for the input everyone.
    I'll stick to the calories that have worked for me in the past few years and just adjust if the weight comes off too fast or not enough
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    jayemes wrote: »
    47yo F
    SW:219 (8/2/20)
    CW: 211

    I lost 25 pounds 3 years ago eating around 1500-1600 calories most days, up to 1900-2000 on workout days. Gained it back so I'm here to do it again.
    I'm walking more these days (17k step average) because gyms in NY are still closed and I'm still eating in the same calorie range and losing (8 pounds since the beginning of August - it'll slow down now)

    My issue is, my fitbit way overestimates my earned calories. If I walk 18-20k steps it's giving me over 1000 earned calories. I know I can't eat 2500 calories just because I walked around all day. I've tried to adjust and make myself "active" but then it bumps my base calories up.

    Is there any way to adjust the calories I'm getting from fitbit so my diary is closer to correct? Or should I just continue to ignore the extra calories and eat in the range I know works for me?

    Since Fitbit is using accurate formula for getting calories from the distance walked - have you looked at distance?
    What kind of distance is that daily?

    Steps is just a figure, you could have tons of steps and little distance or calorie burn.
    You could be running fast with few steps and big distance and calorie burn.

    Stride length can be corrected if it's wrong to allow that tool to adjust better for you. like when you don't walk as much.

    Ditto's to impossible to compare when you have different variables now (amount of daily activity, 20K steps with good distance is an extra 1000 cal), everything over about 4K steps is beyond sedentary.

    Walk a known distance 1/2 to 1 mile at avg daily pace about 1.8 mph, start as workout to compare the distance when done.
    Adjust stride length after you math it out if it was off by 1%.

    Other problem could be your walks are bumping you into exercise zone and Fitbit starts using HR-based calorie burn - which that low in the range is inflated calories. Distance-based calorie burn would be better to use, but not always easy to disable HR on the fly.
  • jayemes
    jayemes Posts: 865 Member
    heybales wrote: »

    Since Fitbit is using accurate formula for getting calories from the distance walked - have you looked at distance?
    What kind of distance is that daily?

    Generally about 11-12k steps for me is 5 miles.
    Looking back, the miles seem to be in range....
    19k = 8 miles
    16k = 7 miles
    17k = 7.5 miles
    21k = 9 miles

    The calorie burn on fitbit is generally between 3000-4000. I did measure my stride when I first got it.
    This new watch does track exercise though so I wonder if it is measuring heart rate and giving me more calories for a workout instead of just walking around the yard.

    For now I'll just keep ignoring the super high exercise calories and make sure I'm getting my protein and feeling satiated.

  • derekoh1234
    derekoh1234 Posts: 14 Member
    ultimately most of the fitness trackers over or underestimate the calories burned, BUT if its consistently inconsistent then go with the number and maybe subract 10% to feel better about it.
  • jayemes
    jayemes Posts: 865 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    Some people walk across their living room for stride length. Not a valid measure.
    Especially not when you have as many steps as you are getting.

    Don't totally ignore the high readings, and don't totally rely on hunger cues (most are here losing weight because they don't know that foreign language that well).

    Do make sure you are losing at reasonable rate as a couple suggested, as the negatives from fast loss are obviously not good. One of them repeating the whole effort the next year.
    And reasonable rate changes as you have less to lose, and body with less fat on it can become more stressed with same deficit.

    Makes sense. I can check stride length again. And definitely not in any rush to lose it. I'll be very happy with .5-1lb a week. Trying to make sustainable changes so I can keep it off this time!
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,748 Member
    20,000 steps is about 10 miles for me, so at your weight could well be 1000 calories. Are you trying to lose 2+ lbs a week? That's what you've done so far this month. Do you think that is sustainable over the long term mentally and physically? 1600 is maintenance for me at 121 lbs. as a 63 year old sedentary female). I eat more because I do get exercise every day. Do you really think that's enough for you with your active lifestyle?
  • jayemes
    jayemes Posts: 865 Member
    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    20,000 steps is about 10 miles for me, so at your weight could well be 1000 calories. Are you trying to lose 2+ lbs a week? That's what you've done so far this month. Do you think that is sustainable over the long term mentally and physically? 1600 is maintenance for me at 121 lbs. as a 63 year old sedentary female). I eat more because I do get exercise every day. Do you really think that's enough for you with your active lifestyle?

    No I'm set to 1 lb a week and I'd be happy with that. I just started cutting calories again 3 weeks ago so the first 7-8 pounds I'm losing is just water weight and comes off quickly. I lost 1.5 last week and I'm on track to be down 1 this week. If after another month I'm feeling like it's not enough calories or I'm losing more than a pound a week I'll adjust and eat more. I'm not trying to win and speed medals here. Just trying to get to a better place

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