Does being post partum change the calories in and calories out rule?

penrbrown2711
penrbrown2711 Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How accurate is the fitbit TDEE?

I have a Versa that I have worn for almost two weeks now waking and sleeping.

A generic internet TDEE calculator puts me at 3000 cals a day.

Fitbit puts me at 3400-3700 a day.

I'm eating between 1800-2000 a day.

Haven't lost a single lb in 30 days and that's with a consistent diet of 1800-2000 cals per day.

If weight loss is simply calories in and out why would i not be losing? I was hoping my fitbit would reveal my TDEE is much lower and it's a simple case of eating too much but instead fitbit is claiming I burn more than predicted.

It's been 30 days so I don't feel I'm unreasonable in expecting some kind of loss but neither scale nor inches have moved.

Is it possible my estimated TDEE is just way off and I need to lower my calories a bit more? And yes I'm tracking everything. Any suggestions or wisdom welcome even if it's just: wait longer.

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Without knowing more details about your stats and activity, it's hard to say...but 3400-3700 calories per day would have to be a crap ton of activity. For context, I have a desk job but typically get 10K steps or more per day and also workout 6 days per week...3x per week in the weight room, 2x rigorous cycling training and 1 more casual long ride and my TDEE is around 2800-3000
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    If you’re breastfeeding, you should consult with your ob/gyn regarding calories needed for maintaining milk supply.

    If not, and you are sure you’re logging and tracking accurately, I would say give it more time. I do have a Fitbit, but I don’t really pay attention to the figures. It’s more motivational for me to move more.
  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
    As others have said, 3400-3500 does seem like a high calorie output, even when breastfeeding. On average, exclusive breastfeeding burns an additional 500 calories, but of course, that's an average and there are variations.

    I know my 1st Fitbit Versa needed to be replaced because the heartrate monitor stopped working accurately. It was overestimating my heartrate, saying it was like at 100 bpm when I was just sitting doing nothing. Therefore, my calorie count was way off, at least a 3000 calories or more when I no it wasn't that. I contacted them and they replaced it for free since I'd had it under a year.
  • penrbrown2711
    penrbrown2711 Posts: 13 Member
    Whoops. Didn't realize my profile didn't have my info and honestly was too busy to notice people had replied.

    I'm 5'10". 285lbs. On the days with a high reading I have two hour long walks (morning and evening) and one 30-40 minute cardio workout in the afternoon.

    On lower reading days I am generally pacing with a crying infant and tossing around a 30lb insane toddler. Lol.

    I also live in a two storey home and climb the equivalent of 5-10 flights of stairs a day - sometimes at a sprint to catch aforementioned toddler.

    The high activity days (with all the walking) only started 2 weeks ago because up until that point I had doctors orders to "take it easy".

    Theoretically... even if the TDEE estimator online and TDEE estimate on the Versa are wrong... at 1800-2000 cals I should still be losing something. Which is why I am baffled.

    I do measure and weigh every bit of food. I'm obsessive guys because I have two kids to lose weight for.

    After a month of literally no change I reached out to my friends to ask for help. A few suggested I wasn't losing because I'm 10 weeks post partum. Their theory was the hormones are working against me. Is that really a possibility?

    For a little more context... I've had two babies in two years. I gained all this weight with the first pregnancy and between baby one and baby two I completed p90x.

    I am willing to drop my calories further to 1500 a day... but I am worried about burnout especially since I have these kids to take care of. I guess I'm just confused mostly because I always presumed it was simple calories in and out and in my case that doesn't seem to be the case. And if TDEE is anywhere near accurate I should have a huge deficit...
  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,775 Member
    Congrats on the new baby and lovely toddler!

    I found that the Fitbit didn’t give me accurate calorie expenditure. It would way overestimate how many calories I burned. I only use the Polar heart rate monitor when I exercise- the one that goes around my arm. That gives me an accurate amount of calories burned, whether I’m playing tennis or walking for exercise. Then I log into MFP as exercise.

    As a new mom, you’re not sedentary, so don’t worry about getting the right amount of streps in. Your probably “lightly active”. Have MFP calculate the cals you need per day for your weight loss goals, continue accurately weighing your food, and log accordingly.

    That said, I doubt MFP will tell you to cut calories even more than you have. You need energy to chase children! Especially if you’re nursing/ consult your doctor here, but you need to eat more calories to feed the baby.

    At 10 weeks postpartum, you still have a lot of fluid in your system. It took 9 months for weight to come on, it’s going to probably take that long to get to your pre-pregnancy weight. Don’t worry about it! You’ll get there!

    Finally, yes it’s calories in and calories out, but make sure the foods you eat are minimally processed nutritious food. Your body will react badly to 1500 cals/day of a diet consisting of doughnuts, vs a diet consisting of fresh fruits, lean meat and steamed veggies!!
  • penrbrown2711
    penrbrown2711 Posts: 13 Member
    Womona wrote: »
    Congrats on the new baby and lovely toddler!

    I found that the Fitbit didn’t give me accurate calorie expenditure. It would way overestimate how many calories I burned. I only use the Polar heart rate monitor when I exercise- the one that goes around my arm. That gives me an accurate amount of calories burned, whether I’m playing tennis or walking for exercise. Then I log into MFP as exercise.

    As a new mom, you’re not sedentary, so don’t worry about getting the right amount of streps in. Your probably “lightly active”. Have MFP calculate the cals you need per day for your weight loss goals, continue accurately weighing your food, and log accordingly.

    That said, I doubt MFP will tell you to cut calories even more than you have. You need energy to chase children! Especially if you’re nursing/ consult your doctor here, but you need to eat more calories to feed the baby.

    At 10 weeks postpartum, you still have a lot of fluid in your system. It took 9 months for weight to come on, it’s going to probably take that long to get to your pre-pregnancy weight. Don’t worry about it! You’ll get there!

    Finally, yes it’s calories in and calories out, but make sure the foods you eat are minimally processed nutritious food. Your body will react badly to 1500 cals/day of a diet consisting of doughnuts, vs a diet consisting of fresh fruits, lean meat and steamed veggies!!

    Thank you. :) I have only lost weight in my youth when I was not a mom so this losing weight post partum is a new one to me.

    I am probably super impatient... which I'm sure is the case for most people around here. Haha.
  • penrbrown2711
    penrbrown2711 Posts: 13 Member
    edited January 2021
    Speakeasy76 wrote: »
    As others have said, 3400-3500 does seem like a high calorie output, even when breastfeeding. On average, exclusive breastfeeding burns an additional 500 calories, but of course, that's an average and there are variations.

    I know my 1st Fitbit Versa needed to be replaced because the heartrate monitor stopped working accurately. It was overestimating my heartrate, saying it was like at 100 bpm when I was just sitting doing nothing. Therefore, my calorie count was way off, at least a 3000 calories or more when I no it wasn't that. I contacted them and they replaced it for free since I'd had it under a year.

    Mine is brand new. It seems to be working fine. It calculates my resting heart rate at 62 and I was able to count my heart rate manually to verify it was calculating correctly.

    I took the calorie counting with a grain of salt. I figure if a random internet generator calculates 3000 and fitbit is estimating between 3400 and up then I'm probably around 3000.

    But either way... I doubt my TDEE is 1800-2000... which it would have to be for me to not be losing weight

    How would I go about finding a more accurate TDEE? I am willing to play with the calories I'm consuming but figure it would be helpful if I knew my TDEE on a more accurate scale. If nothing else then so I could say: ok... nothings moving but I KNOW I'm at a deficit.
  • penrbrown2711
    penrbrown2711 Posts: 13 Member
    Womona wrote: »
    Congrats on the new baby and lovely toddler!

    Why on earth are people disagreeing with your post? I'm so baffled.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member

    penrbrown2711 wrote: »

    How would I go about finding a more accurate TDEE? I am willing to play with the calories I'm consuming but figure it would be helpful if I knew my TDEE on a more accurate scale. If nothing else then so I could say: ok... nothings moving but I KNOW I'm at a deficit.

    Log your food completely, consistently and as accurately as you can for four weeks, total up the calories eaten, add 3,500 for each pound lost in that time.
    Divide that total by 28 and you have your TDEE corrected for your particular logging accuracy.

    If you want help with logging making your diary public helps enormously.
    There is a disparity between someone who is active and your size compared to what you think is your calorie intake.
  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
    So, I"ll be honest--at 10 weeks postpartum I wasn't thinking about losing weight yet. I had PPD with both of my children and they didn't sleep well, even for babies. I was 10 pounds heavier than what I was when I got pregnant with my 1st child. I had wanted to lose it before I got pregnant with my 2nd, but got pregnant right away! It wasn't until my 2nd was 9 months old that I felt I was in a good place to lose the weight. I did and have kept it off (plus about 10 more), 8 years later. I'm not saying this is your case at all and really doesn't explain why you're not losing (although it definitely could be the hormones), but for me personally, I know at 10 weeks I wasn't ready.

    The other thing that may be impacting your metabolism right now is sleep. Sleep and quality of sleep impacts our ability to burn off calories as well, as well as increasing our appetite if we're not getting enough good sleep.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,840 Member
    edited January 2021
    I would give it another month. You might be experiencing hormonal water weight issues related to being post-partum or even from increasing your activity.

    If you don't want to share your diary, you could always take some print screens of some of your recent meals and post them here, just so we have an idea of how you're logging and we might spot something that would improve the accuracy of your logging.
  • penrbrown2711
    penrbrown2711 Posts: 13 Member
    Speakeasy76 wrote: »
    So, I"ll be honest--at 10 weeks postpartum I wasn't thinking about losing weight yet. I had PPD with both of my children and they didn't sleep well, even for babies. I was 10 pounds heavier than what I was when I got pregnant with my 1st child. I had wanted to lose it before I got pregnant with my 2nd, but got pregnant right away! It wasn't until my 2nd was 9 months old that I felt I was in a good place to lose the weight. I did and have kept it off (plus about 10 more), 8 years later. I'm not saying this is your case at all and really doesn't explain why you're not losing (although it definitely could be the hormones), but for me personally, I know at 10 weeks I wasn't ready.

    The other thing that may be impacting your metabolism right now is sleep. Sleep and quality of sleep impacts our ability to burn off calories as well, as well as increasing our appetite if we're not getting enough good sleep.

    The sleep deprivation is real. For me the increased physical activity has helped me battle PPD which is probably why I've been moving as much as I physically can.

    I know I just gotta get my nutrition sorted to be that final piece in my health. It's just frustrating when you finally do the thing and see no immediate reward. I gotta slow my roll for sure. Thank you.
  • penrbrown2711
    penrbrown2711 Posts: 13 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    I would give it another month. You might be experiencing hormonal water weight issues related to being post-partum or even from increasing your activity.

    If you don't want to share your diary, you could always take some print screens of some of your recent meals and post them here, just so we have an idea of how you're logging and we might spot something that would improve the accuracy of your logging.

    Well... this is interesting.

    For context... I log on the go. I use the MFP app and just use the add button. I don't tend to look at my diary closely. End of day I just scroll down and hit complete.

    For the purpose of taking screenshots I just scrolled through my diary... there are days where things I KNOW I ate aren't in the diary. Which means some days I was glancing and seeing I was at 1500cals eaten and ate more thinking I was good for more when certain items hadn't logged for some reason. I just went through two weeks and I see a few days where I know I had more than is in the diary.

    So I think we solved some of the issue. Not sure why that would happen... a glitch in the app? But apparently I have been eating more than I thought because not everything was logging. Aghhhhhh!!!! Now I'm annoyed...
  • penrbrown2711
    penrbrown2711 Posts: 13 Member
    moonangel12 wrote: »
    I know women have weight fluctuations month to month based on cycle and hormones, as crazy as things are PP it’s not a stretch of the imagination for them to be playing a major role in what you are experiencing. (I had a weird hormonal “side effect” after giving birth to my children in that my face went crazy with freckles! I am a freckle-y person anyway, but it was comical how polka dotted I would get :D ).

    You mentioned dropping to 1500... my brain says 1700 minimum if you are breastfeeding (1200 minimum for women + the generic 500 estimated for BFing).

    I apparently need to start again. Lol. Just found out something went wrong with logging.

    But babies destroy our bodies! Lol. I've developed so many weird issues i credit to baby and that I won't go into for the sake of the forum. Lol.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    edited January 2021
    Congrats on the babies. My youngest is 19 and getting to a healthy weight became a priority for me about 7-8 years ago. So you have a giant head start!

    When it comes to food logging: make an effort to be accurate and honest with all you consume. Use a food scale for solid foods and log in grams. When a food label says 1 serving = 1/4 cup (28g) for something solid, ignore the '1/4 cup' and go by the grams. What you can fit into 1/4 cup is often more than 28g. Cups are meant for liquid measure, not solid. By the way, 28g is about 1 ounce. 1 solid ounce and 1 liquid ounce are NOT the same thing, of course. So even though 8 liquid ounces = 1 liquid cup, 8 solid ounces do not equal 1 cup in terms of food labels. It is a bit of a mess, using the same word for different types of measurement.

    When it comes to logging things like eggs, bananas, slices of bread: also go by weight. I tend to eat hard boiled eggs 4-5 days each week for breakfast. The carton says large egg, quantity 1 = 50g for 70 cals. They are often 54-55, sometimes even higher. Not all slices in the bag of bread are the same thickness. If you use an entry in the database like '1 medium banana' you have no way of knowing how your banana compares to that in size. You can create your own recipes in the recipe builder, and the app/website will compute details for you. Trying to make your own lasagna and use a generic entry in the database for 'lasagna': you have no way of knowing how that actually compares to what you made, what ingredients were used, etc.

    Also do account for cooking oils, beverages, etc. And if you tend to grab a bite here & there when you can (because you don't exactly have 'free' time to enjoy a regular meal) remember those have calories and add up. It might help to preportion snacks in baggies or something so you can grab a bite when you have the chance, and know what to log.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Good detective work, OP. Be patient with yourself. I would implicate hormone-driven crazy water retention before suspecting hormones altering CICO. CICO will work over time, but it will not always show on the scale in the time frame we want.

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