Help understanding how fitbit calulates calories please :)

BobcatGirl110

I am in need of a little fitbit expertise When your dash shows you that you have 306 calories left on your food plan does that take into account the deficit you set up in your food plan? Meaning if you set it to be -500 a day (to lose a lb a week) when it says what you ate and what you burned and you have 306 left does that mean you can eat 306 or were you supposed to show you have 500 left today so you are at a deficit????

brraanndi

Try the fitbit community. I personally go by why MFP says I have available.

amyoliver85

I agree with brranndi. You should ask this question in the FitBit forum. But FitBit works roughly like MFP and if your FitBit is connected to your MFP, then it really won't matter. The number you get on FitBit may be slightly more accurate if you sit around most of the day. I typically look at both and find a happy medium.

Francl27

I'd say yes, but I haven't linked my fitbit to MFP, seems like a total pain...

BobcatGirl110

I'm sorry, I guess you are right; I should have asked this outside of MFP....I figured so many use fitbit that someone would be able to explain it to me being that what I'd done so far had always been MFP....my apologies. Thx anyway.

Morgaath

Try here: https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/1179771-how-do-i-integrate-fitbit-with-myfitnesspal-

tdawg875

It takes into account your 500 calorie deficit. You have 306 calories left until you get to your 500 calorie deficit. If you eat more than 306 calories you will have less than a 500 calorie deficit. It will change throughout the day though depending on how active you are. Most of my activity during the week is after work.

shadow2soul

I'll try explaining the best I can.

Okay, so when looking at my dashboard:

Calories Burned: 946 (I went to bed around 4:30 am and just got up 1:50 pm)

The calories in vs out tile is based on what I've currently burned. So for me it's showing that I ate 688 calories already (dinner) and I've only burned 946 so far for today. I have the information on fitbit set for a 500 calorie deficit. Since 946 - 688 =/= 500, it is telling me I am over.

Now the Food Plan Tile on the other hand is based on what Fitbit predicts I will burn for the day. Since I haven't done much yet, it predicts by the end of the day I'll be able to eat 1383 calories and have burned 1883. This number can adjust up or down depending on what I do. If as it gets closer to midnight and I haven't burnt close to 1883 yet, it will start subtracting calories.