How to Account for Fitbit?

ritamkoch

Hi,

So I recently added a Fitbit to my MFP and I'm not sure if I'm setting everything up the way I need to. I'm currently at 213, down from 232, but it's been a very slow process and so I was trying to increase my weight loss to two pounds per week. Given that I have a desk job and don't move around much, I set MFP to sedentary and it told me to eat 1200 calories per day. However, when I hit my daily steps of 7,000, I'm typically burning 2,400+, leaving me with a 1,200 calorie deficit. I know that eating too little can not only hinder your weight loss but mess up a lot of other things too, so should I be eating back at least those additional 200 calories to bring me to 1,400 a day? Or should I just set MFP to lightly active to account for the new Fitbit activity and allow positive and negative adjustments?

Sorry, I'm sure this has been asked a million times in a million ways but I have a wedding dress to fit into in three months and I want to lose the weight, but I also want to do it in the healthiest way possible.

Thanks!

GoodLittleEater

Great job adding in some activity. I don't know the answer to your question regarding the best way to log that. If it were me I would just forget the question and add a precise amount of fat-burning cardio to my routine to meet such a stringent goal, haha! Good luck.

indextwo

7000 steps a day is great - I do a 25 minute workout and a 4 mile bike ride every day and my FitBit only logs me at 5,500 of my recommended 10k a day

It's worth remembering that, even at our most vigilant, we can never be 100% accurate in logging our calories in, just as these devices can never be 100% accurate at logging calories out. You are aiming for a calorie deficit and, although 1200 does seem very low, I'd be tempted not to try to 'make up' for the extra calories you've earned just because you can.

However, if at any point you're feeling hungry or light-headed, you should definitely re-examine your eating plan. Nothing that makes you hungry will ever succeed in the long term.

lemurcat12

If you connected the Fitbit to MFP, then it will adjust your calories to tell you how much more to eat back. I see it as more of a cushion, but I've found it to be pretty accurate for me personally (some find it high), so eating back the adjustment is consistent with the MFP approach. It fixes it since you aren't sedentary given the level of activity.

If you also log other activity (Fitbit doesn't give any accurate info about biking, for example), you will want to be careful to put in the time of the activity correctly so you don't get a double count.

I've tried putting it at sedentary and letting Fitbit give me more calories to account for additional activity and have recently changed it to lightly active and letting Fitbit adjust either way. Both work and should come out around the same place. I currently like the lightly active way, since it reminds me I've committed to a certain level of activity, but some people get messed up or demotivated by negative adjustments.

There's a Fitbit thread that I'd recommend asking in as people might have a variety of experiences.

LivingtheLeanDream

7000 steps is giving you a fitbit burn of 2400! wow lucky you, I have to do 18000 to get that but maybe thats cos I'm older.

change your MFP settings to lightly active, that'll change the amount of calories you can eat.

fitbit only counts steps so any other activity like biking/yoga/strength training you have to add yourself.

I have mine 6 months and find it pretty accurate at predicting TDEE

Keep up with the steps and try and get them to at least 10k/day :-D

and to answer your question, if your TDEE is 2400+ eat at 20% deficit of that amount and you will lose weight. 20% deficit is what you eat at if you have more than 20lbs to lose. if you need to lose less then it would be 10% deficit

Armwrench

I am told that if your hands are holding onto something it doesn't always record your steps. This has been found when just going to the grocery store if your hand with the band is on the cart it doesn't record.

KarenJanine

If you change MFP to lightly active, do the same with your Fitbit account - both ought to have the same settings in order for the adjustments to be correct.

Having a 50% deficit is not advisable, so on days when you are burning 2400 you should definitely be eating more than 1200 calories. How much weight do you have to lose? Unless you are obese then you should only be aiming to lose around 1 lb per week .

Negative adjustments should be enabled so if for any reason you do not meet your step goals on a given day, then your MFP goals will be adjusted accordingly.

LivingtheLeanDream

Negative adjustments should be enabled so if for any reason you do not meet your step goals on a given day, then your MFP goals will be adjusted accordingly.

^^ this

KarenE86

Negative adjustments should be enabled so if for any reason you do not meet your step goals on a given day, then your MFP goals will be adjusted accordingly.

^^ this

Agreed. I don't manually add any workouts to MFP, I just let FitBit automatically add negative adjustments on the days I've earned it.

Kel1677

I have a fitbit flex and because I am a cook and always have my hands in water I wear my flex on my ankle. It seem to be accurate to a pedometer that I carried in my pocket for the first few days.

sodakat

I am told that if your hands are holding onto something it doesn't always record your steps. This has been found when just going to the grocery store if your hand with the band is on the cart it doesn't record.

It may not on a grocery cart but it certainly does on a push lawn mower! Of course your body moves differently, including your arms, when mowing.

I'm going to test it the next time I go grocery shopping. You have me curious now. But wait... what about the times you leave the cart to grab an item? I'm sure it evens out between steps and arm movements when you are standing still picking up items.