Disappearing net calorie surplus, WTF!?

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Tallulah827
Tallulah827 Posts: 27
in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone have this happen? I "complete" my entry for the day and have 199 net calories left over. I've exercised and done for the day; drink a cup of water and go to bed. I get up and I now have on 6 net calories as a surplus. What gives? Thanks for any insight.
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Replies

  • ErinMcMom
    ErinMcMom Posts: 228 Member
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    If you have a fitbit synced and have "allow negative calorie adjustments" enabled, that could be your issue. Fitbit was predicting you to move more than you did in the evening and clawed some calories back.
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    That must be it. Is there any downside to disallowing negative calorie adjustments?
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Do you mean yesterday said you had Net -199 calories and now when you scroll back and look at yesterday, it says +6 Net for yesterday?
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    No, it went from a 199 surplus to just 6. I did go back and look at the net calorie adjustment feature with Fitbit and it is a projection which I have disallowed. Will see what difference that makes. Kind of a kick in the pants to end the day feeling good about coming in under my goal only to see that margin drastically eroded away by morning.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Turn off calorie estimation and negative adjustments, and I think things will make more sense.

    Honestly, depending on how low your calorie goal is anyway, you probably should not net 200 calories below your goal. If you're going to workout, you should eat enough to fuel those workouts. Eating below your net goal on a regular basis isn't the best idea. That's just my advice for long-term success.

    Good luck, though, ok?
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    Yes, I turned off the negative calorie adjustment and that should help. I was coming in under because I had noticed the surplus erosion a few times so wanted the breathing room. Now that I've solved that mystery, when I've got a surplus I'll feel more comfortable rewarding myself with a few more calories to consume. Thanks for the feedback.
  • stef_monster
    stef_monster Posts: 205 Member
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    Yeah, FitBit adjustments can be depressing sometimes. I routinely wake up with +120 calories, effectively taking away from my calorie allowance for the day. I have both MFP and FitBit set on sedentary, and I have FitBit's calorie estimation turned off. By the end of the day it usually evens out, with FitBit giving me about 20-50 calories less than MFP recommends.

    I hate when I wake up to a +120, dropping me down to 1580 for the day. Of COURSE I want those calories back, and then some. So I bust my butt until I work off 300 calories or so, but it only affords me an extra 180 for the day, which ends up getting diminished to 120-130 by midnight if I don't stay somewhat active. /sigh No rest for the wicked, I guess.
  • DrJenO
    DrJenO Posts: 404 Member
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    Fitbit uses past data to make estimates on your exercise adjustments. If exercise more or less, or get more or fewer steps, by a certain time of day, it will change the way it adds calories back.

    For instance, I had a day where I exercised a lot more in the morning than I usually do, but then later in the day I had more sitting around (I think I was watching basketball on TV or something). It had given me a big adjustment at first, but then "took" some of those calories back.

    What I do with the extra fitbit calories is save them for the end of the day, after dinner. That way, I don't accidentally overdo it. If it's calories from a known burn (like a run or something), then I go ahead and eat those whenever, but if it's just step calories (from walking more at work, parking at the far end of the parking lot, taking the stairs, that kind of thing), I wait until later in the day to be sure.
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    Horseback riding is my saving grace at least so if anything, this project is giving me the incentive to ride more. I can burn 300 calories in a good schooling ride which helps, a lot.
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    Which is why I turned it off. I ate at 6:00 pm then at 6:30 went outside to ride and take care of the horses and didn't get back in until about 8:40 and then just relaxed until going to be at 10:30. The only thing I consumed before going to bed was 1 cup of water, and it yanked back 193 calories after that. I have SO turned that feature off!
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    I think this is what happens:

    I have MFP set to lightly active. It takes my info, calculates my BMR & activity multiplier, and gets an average per minute I should burn a day. But my activity is not spread out evenly. Once I go to bed, it drops to BMR only. So after my last login for the night, my actual burn is lower than the projected burn.
  • mandasalem
    mandasalem Posts: 346 Member
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    I finally unsynced my FitBit from my MFP for, in part, that reason. If I do "extra' step-based exercise, I log it separately. The FitBit is still good for motivating me to walk more, and for giving me an idea of calorie burn for the day, but syncing it here was just getting confusing and annoying.
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    Mine is set to inactive since I have a desk job. I am active early mornings and evenings during the week; all day, most days on the weekend.
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    And why won't my ticker show up!? :angry:
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    And why won't my ticker show up!? :angry:
    It's showing up when I look at your post...
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    Yes it's back. Yay! I logged out and back in. Thanks.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Here's the thing with the Fitbit.

    MFP takes the "xxxx calories burned as of xxx PM" number from Fitbit, then estimates how many calories you will burn the rest of the day based on the activity level you set in MFP.

    So say you've burned 1800 calories as of 11 PM. There's an hour left in the day. If you have MFP set to "extremely active" it may estimate that you will have burned 200 calories in the next hour, or 2000 calories by midnight.

    Now if you actually happen to be asleep during that hour, you may only burn 70 calories during that hour. So MFP will have said you can eat 130 more calories than you really should. See, MFP estimated you will have burned 2000 calories but by the end of the night Fitbit only measured 1870 burned.

    However, if you have MFP set to "sedentary" MFP may have taken that "1800 calories burned by 11 PM" and then estimated you will have burned 1880 by midnight, therefore giving you a much lower adjustment.
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    Got it. Thanks.
  • Otterluv
    Otterluv Posts: 9,083 Member
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    I like the negative calorie adjustment feature. Well, I wouldn't say that I LIKE it, but I find it useful. Accurate data is a good thing.
  • Tallulah827
    Tallulah827 Posts: 27
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    Except for the end-of the-day calorie yank, I've been very happy with the feedback of the Fitbit synched with MFP. Instant gratification and very motivational.

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