Basing Deficit On Fitbit

Miel00

Hi all, I am getting back into CICO after a few months off and was wondering on whether I should base my deficit on my Fitbit calories burned. I have a versa 2 and while sedentary I burn 1700-2500 calories a day.

hipari

For me personally, it works and Fitbit calories are close enough to reality that the math matches my results. For some people, Fitbit calories are too high or too low. The only way of knowing which category you fall into is by trying for a few weeks and seeing what the results tell you.

yirara

Try it. You only know it works if you try it. For some it does, for others it doesn't. For me, fitbit was way off and garmin kind of works. As long as I'm not walking too much as it, like Fitbit totally overstates walking burns. For others it will be spot on.

skinnyrev2b

Fitbit seemed to work for me (Versa), but as others have said, ymmv as their algorithms are based on the average... which means there are statistical outliers out there for whom it doesn't work. You may - or may not - be one of them. So try eating all the calories for 4 weeks - yes, it's a long time, but that's what it takes to find an average loss for you (especially if you're a woman) then cut as appropriate.

PAV8888

I would note that since it is probably a more unbiased estimator than your own perception, even if you are an outlier, if you log considely you can still calculate a percentage correction down the road.

For myself Fitbit has shown a less than 5% error when considered over any greater than 90 days interval during which I have logged consistently. Most of the time much less of an error than that, especially when looked at over 12 months.

Again apparent results are influenced by food intake logging, type of exercise, resting heart rate, and whether you're part of the majority or an outlier..

Fflpnari

I found mine pretty accurate. I looked at the weekly totals and figured out my deficit from there with the average showing over 3k burned a day. I decided to do 2400 for 4 weeks and see what happened. I lost! a lot say they are inaccurate, but the best way is trial and error to see what works for you. Now my HR on my versa 2 no longer tracks accurately so I think my calorie burn numbers are off now too.

yirara

On sedentary days my garmin estimates my calories at around 1700 calories. That's very much in line with my own maintenance calorie estimate. Perfect. Yesterday however I walked a bit through a town, first a slow stroll along a few historical court yards, then to a place 2.5km outside the centre, back into the center and then back to the station. At maximum I'd say 10km. Garmin gave me 757 more calories for that compared to a sedentary day. Which is a lot for a bit of walking. But lets be honest, Fitbit would have given me a lot more for that. I find the running and cycling calorie estimates not too bad though, compared to fitbit, which again are far too high for me. But yeah, this is me. For you things might be a lot different.

Lietchi

yirara wrote: »

On sedentary days my garmin estimates my calories at around 1700 calories. That's very much in line with my own maintenance calorie estimate. Perfect. Yesterday however I walked a bit through a town, first a slow stroll along a few historical court yards, then to a place 2.5km outside the centre, back into the center and then back to the station. At maximum I'd say 10km. Garmin gave me 757 more calories for that compared to a sedentary day. Which is a lot for a bit of walking. But lets be honest, Fitbit would have given me a lot more for that. I find the running and cycling calorie estimates not too bad though, compared to fitbit, which again are far too high for me. But yeah, this is me. For you things might be a lot different.

Did you let your step count 'take care of it' (757 is your adjustment) or did you start an exercise session (757 is the calorie burn given for that exercise)? In the latter case, they're gross calories, which really inflates the calorie burn for longer slow walks.

It's tricky comparing different trackers sometimes, I know Garmin gives gross calorie burns for exercise, not sure about Fitbit.

yirara

Lietchi wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

On sedentary days my garmin estimates my calories at around 1700 calories. That's very much in line with my own maintenance calorie estimate. Perfect. Yesterday however I walked a bit through a town, first a slow stroll along a few historical court yards, then to a place 2.5km outside the centre, back into the center and then back to the station. At maximum I'd say 10km. Garmin gave me 757 more calories for that compared to a sedentary day. Which is a lot for a bit of walking. But lets be honest, Fitbit would have given me a lot more for that. I find the running and cycling calorie estimates not too bad though, compared to fitbit, which again are far too high for me. But yeah, this is me. For you things might be a lot different.

Did you let your step count 'take care of it' (757 is your adjustment) or did you start an exercise session (757 is the calorie burn given for that exercise)? In the latter case, they're gross calories, which really inflates the calorie burn for longer slow walks.

It's tricky comparing different trackers sometimes, I know Garmin gives gross calorie burns for exercise, not sure about Fitbit.

Yes, it autotracked. The watch gave me more than those 757 calories for the walking, but the total is still resting plus walking. Thus those 757 are total minus normal sedentary day. Which makes it mostly net calories. I don’t connect to mfp to prevent these exaggerated calories to end up there. I use a custom equation for walking and log it. And eat it back. That works for me.

Speakeasy76

I generally use the calorie burn I get from my Fitbit Versa 2 by subtracting a couple hundred. I have never been able to get my Fitbit to sync to MFP (although it works the other way), so I just gave up and that's what I do.

I have read it gives too high an estimate for weightlifting and if I just select "workout" when doing cardio dance, it may be a bit high (but still less than MFP's estimate for this).

33gail33

It's working for me using the daily adjustment, I am still losing weight, but when I look at my individual numbers it seems off.
I walked the dogs for 30 minutes this morning and it told me I burned 167 calories, but then I logged a spinning workout where I went super hard for 30 minutes, and felt wiped at the end, and it told me I burned 100? Idk maybe because I log the spinning manually it is giving me the "extra" calories burned above the base, while the walking is auto recognized and gives me the total?
It all seems to work out in the end though I am still losing weight almost every week.