Fitbit and TDEE confusion

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stacibuk
stacibuk Posts: 276 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys I'm so confused. I have been using my Fitbit one for a week now and I'm still confused. In fact I gained a pound this week.
It says the maximum number of calories to be burned per day is 2,184. Sometimes I burn more than this what with exercise and trying to achieve more than 10,000 steps a day. The maximum I burned in a day was 2,799. The fitbit adjusts my daily calorie intake. So should I eat that or just eat 2,184-500= 1,684 daily regardless of how much I burned.

Replies

  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    It doesn't give you a maximum number of calories to burn a day. Maybe that 2184 was what it suggested you eat one day?

    Are you doing the MFP weight loss plan or the one in Fitbit?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    if the Fitbit is adjusting your MFP goal then just eat what the MFP goal says. It only adds extra food if the Fitbit clocks more energy expenditure than MFP is expecting to see.
  • stacibuk
    stacibuk Posts: 276 Member
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    It doesn't give you a maximum number of calories to burn a day. Maybe that 2184 was what it suggested you eat one day?

    Are you doing the MFP weight loss plan or the one in Fitbit?

    I thought they were both synced to each other.

    Also, on the fitbit app, it says I need to get 10,000 steps, 10 floors, 5mile distance, 2,184 calories burned and 30 minutes of exercise per day. So is the 2,184 not my TDEE?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Also, on the fitbit app, it says I need to get 10,000 steps, 10 floors, 5mile distance, 2,184 calories burned and 30 minutes of exercise per day. So is the 2,184 not my TDEE?

    it will be, if you get to that.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Ignore the Fitbit calorie goal, and follow your MFP goal. Link your accounts and stop logging any step based activity. Here's an explanation of calorie adjustments I posted to the "Fitbit Users" group:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

    When you set up your MFP account, you specified an activity level: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided MFP used your answer, plus your age, sex & height, to estimate how many calories you burn every day (your TDEE). Then you set your weight-loss goal, and MFP subtracted the appropriate deficit to calculate your daily calorie goal.

    Once you link an activity tracker to your MFP account (via the "Apps" tab at the top of every page), you start getting calorie adjustments. If your tracker says you burned more calories than MFP estimated, you get a positive adjustment (meaning more calories to eat). If you enable negative calorie adjustments and you burn less than the MFP estimate, you will lose calories. (But negative calorie adjustments will never drop your daily calories below 1,200.)

    Log food & drink in MFP. No need to log step based activity. Log non-step based exercise (like swimming or spinning) either in Fitbit or in MFP--never both. If you choose to log in MFP, you'll be asked for start & end times. Then MFP will override your step data during that time.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    It doesn't give you a maximum number of calories to burn a day. Maybe that 2184 was what it suggested you eat one day?

    Are you doing the MFP weight loss plan or the one in Fitbit?

    I thought they were both synced to each other.

    Also, on the fitbit app, it says I need to get 10,000 steps, 10 floors, 5mile distance, 2,184 calories burned and 30 minutes of exercise per day. So is the 2,184 not my TDEE?

    FitBit makes a prediction as to what your TDEE will be, based on your previous days. Ignore it. At the end of the day, you will know what your total calorie expenditure was per FitBit. You will also know what your total intake was, as FitBit will sync with MFP to know how many calories you ate. So you set your calorie goals and input your calories in MFP. As I go along each day, I keep an eye on my FitBit burns to know how much I should eat. I let it do my calorie burns except when I do something that FitBit cannot track very well, like weight lifting. Then I enter it into MFP. At the end of the day, if I am under according to FitBit, I know I have done what I intended to do (create a calorie deficit).
  • Cadaverous_Bones
    Cadaverous_Bones Posts: 47
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    If you have it synced with MFP, follow what MFP says to eat for your calories. Make sure in your settings you have it set to allow "negative adjustments" so that it can adjust your calories burned correctly. Also if you do other exercises besides running/walking with the fitbit on, you need to log them on MFP. Also make sure you have your activity level set correctly in your settings on both of the devices. I mean I use fitbit and MFP and its really not that hard....
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    It doesn't give you a maximum number of calories to burn a day. Maybe that 2184 was what it suggested you eat one day?

    Are you doing the MFP weight loss plan or the one in Fitbit?

    I thought they were both synced to each other.

    Also, on the fitbit app, it says I need to get 10,000 steps, 10 floors, 5mile distance, 2,184 calories burned and 30 minutes of exercise per day. So is the 2,184 not my TDEE?
    Those are some goals they stick in by default. You can change them to whatever you want.

    Fitbit has an eating plan that is totally separate from MFP's. The instructions you've gotten above are for how to use MFP's plan with Fitbit's adjustments as input.
  • stacibuk
    stacibuk Posts: 276 Member
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    Thanks all. It's so much clearer now! Can I log Zumba or body jam classes
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Yes, log Zumba & body jam in Fitbit or MFP—the choice is yours. It will take trial & error to see which you prefer.
  • stacibuk
    stacibuk Posts: 276 Member
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    I've calculated my TDEE when I'm sedentary at my ideal weight and I'm going to eat that number of calories and see if I lose weight.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    I've calculated my TDEE when I'm sedentary at my ideal weight and I'm going to eat that number of calories and see if I lose weight.

    Is that number under your current BMR? You should never eat under your current BMR.
  • Blokeypoo
    Blokeypoo Posts: 274 Member
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    Hiya. I'm a bit confused....sorry if I'm misunderstanding you - I'm not being obtuse! I have a Fitbit One and have used it daily for a year now.

    The steps etc goals on Fitbit are set by you.

    Have you set a wt loss goal on Fitbit?
    Are the cals you mention those burned or those it says to eat?
    Have you got it set to estimate cals at personalised or sedentary (one goes up through the day and one goes down - I use the sedentary one and make sure I walk enough to increase it rather than start off with generous cal alowance and see it decrease lol)

    Re your last post, if you set cals at your ideal wt then you're going to be undereating aren't you?

    I have Fitbit set to lose .5lb/wk (250 cal deficit) and MFP set at the same and they are linked. I only eat what Fitbit recommends as it is always slightly under MFP but only by about 50-100 cals. Using 2 systems may confuse you at first though.

    Helen
  • Smallbluepebble
    Smallbluepebble Posts: 49 Member
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    I have a fitbit linked to MFP. I also use map my fitness to track powerwalks and runs which links back into MFP to show a calorie burn. Should I remove this link as it would then feed into fitbit as it's a 'step based activity'?

    I am a bit confused now myself, truth be told..!
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
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    I've calculated my TDEE when I'm sedentary at my ideal weight and I'm going to eat that number of calories and see if I lose weight.

    Is that number under your current BMR? You should never eat under your current BMR.

    How can her TDEE ever be under her BMR?

    I think she means she will eat at BMR + low level activity, but also be doing more activity, so she will lose weight.
  • stacibuk
    stacibuk Posts: 276 Member
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    I've calculated my TDEE when I'm sedentary at my ideal weight and I'm going to eat that number of calories and see if I lose weight.

    Is that number under your current BMR? You should never eat under your current BMR.

    I calculated my TDEE and BMR with scooby calculator. It worked out that my TDEE-20% is lower than my BMR. My TDEE-20% is 1725 whereas my BMR is 1796. My TDEE at my ideal weight is 1700. So either way I'm eating below my BMR.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
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    Also be aware that sometime FitBit will think you are doing more than you did. For example a friend had her's on her wrist, worked late doing a bunch of data entry....it gave her an extra 634 calories over here on MFP, because it thought she was running, rather than typing.
    If the numbers seem off with what you know you did, then eat what you think is right.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Also be aware that sometime FitBit will think you are doing more than you did. For example a friend had her's on her wrist, worked late doing a bunch of data entry....it gave her an extra 634 calories over here on MFP, because it thought she was running, rather than typing.
    If the numbers seem off with what you know you did, then eat what you think is right.
    Your friend should contact Fitbit support. It should never think you're running when you're typing. Think of the motion your wrist makes when running and when typing.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    I have a fitbit linked to MFP. I also use map my fitness to track powerwalks and runs which links back into MFP to show a calorie burn. Should I remove this link as it would then feed into fitbit as it's a 'step based activity'?

    I am a bit confused now myself, truth be told..!
    Everybody's different, and it takes trial & error to find what settings work best for you.

    Try it your way for 2 weeks, then reevaluate: did you lose, maintain, or gain? Adjust accordingly.

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