fitbit question, am i doing this right? sync

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chadya07
chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
so... i sync my fitbit and i enable negative adjustments as it seemed to make sense to do so, but now i am not sure and just want to double check. should i permit negative adjustments or no? why or why not?
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  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
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    thanks in advance. hope i dont get buried under all the spam tonight.
  • Chevy_Quest
    Chevy_Quest Posts: 2,012 Member
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    posting for later... I have been using a fitbit synched with MFP for a while and just getting the "hang of it".. I have lots of good feedback later... It really is great :smile:
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    I have enabled negative calories. I figure it tells me how much more I need to move, in order to 'earn' the lightly active status I have set in MFP. Here's my logic:

    If I'm losing calories: that means I have not moved as much/burned as many calories as MFP projected
    If I'm even: I'm perfectly on target with my activity level
    If I earn extra calories: I'm moving more/burning more than anticipated. <--this is my goal

    Usually I get a lot of activity in the evening hours - so its not unusual to be negative in the morning and ahead/positive later in the day.
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    I have had my fitbit since January but was only using it to track my steps/miles (I only have a Zip, and was tracking/adding step-based exercise separately. About two weeks ago I linked it to MFP and enabled negative adjustments, as well as turned on the "track exercise" setting in my FitBit dashboard. I no longer add my walks or runs separately. So far I really like it although the negative adjustments take some getting used to - you can go to bed with 100 calories remaining only to wake up and find that your negative adjustment put you over your calorie limit by the time midnight rolled around. I try to look at my negative adjustment in the morning (most mornings I've got +140 to +160 under my Exercise category depending on how long I've slept) and try to leave that much left at the end of my day to compensate; for the most part this works out pretty well.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    To avoid going to bed and waking up to different numbers: Reverse engineer your goals. Its not as complicated as that may sound.

    Know 2 #s.

    1. What's your daily BMR divided by 24? Mine is just shy of 60 - meaning I burn almost 60 calories an hour just to live.
    2. Know what your daily goal deficit is? 250 for .5 pounds a week, 500 for 1 pound a week, etc.

    For sake of this example I'll assume your BMR is 75/hour and a goal deficit of 500/day.

    At 9:30 you know you've eaten 1675 calories and Fitbit shows that you've burned 2000 calories so far. So you know you'll end the day with 2000 + 187 (for 9:30pm-midnight). A 500 calorie deficit means you need to end the day having burned at least 1675 + 500 or 2175. You can know you'll end the day with a surplus.

    If at 9:30 you're only at 1875 burned and want to hit 2175, you know you need to do some cardio and get your burn # up. Go for a walk, run in place, ride a bike, jump rope, etc.
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    To avoid going to bed and waking up to different numbers: Reverse engineer your goals. Its not as complicated as that may sound.

    Know 2 #s.

    1. What's your daily BMR divided by 24? Mine is just shy of 60 - meaning I burn almost 60 calories an hour just to live.
    2. Know what your daily goal deficit is? 250 for .5 pounds a week, 500 for 1 pound a week, etc.

    For sake of this example I'll assume your BMR is 75/hour and a goal deficit of 500/day.

    At 9:30 you know you've eaten 1675 calories and Fitbit shows that you've burned 2000 calories so far. So you know you'll end the day with 2000 + 187 (for 9:30pm-midnight). A 500 calorie deficit means you need to end the day having burned at least 1675 + 500 or 2175. You can know you'll end the day with a surplus.

    If at 9:30 you're only at 1875 burned and want to hit 2175, you know you need to do some cardio and get your burn # up. Go for a walk, run in place, ride a bike, jump rope, etc.

    thanks, this is great info for most people! If my metabolism ever gets to normal I'll use this to know where I'm going to end up :) (dealing with hyperactive thyroid at the moment so my metabolism is all sorts of jacked up which means I actually can't accurately estimate my BMR, at all. But when things are under control it will be useful)
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
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    The negative adjustments basically let you know you are or arent reaching your calorie burn goal for the day or not. When I don't do anything all day mine will negatively adjust my calories as far back as 1110, because I only burned 1600ish calories for the day.... I don't stress about it too much but it's a nice reminder I'm not as active as I would like to be those days.
  • _sirenofthesea_
    _sirenofthesea_ Posts: 117 Member
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    I have enabled negative calories. I figure it tells me how much more I need to move, in order to 'earn' the lightly active status I have set in MFP. Here's my logic:

    If I'm losing calories: that means I have not moved as much/burned as many calories as MFP projected
    If I'm even: I'm perfectly on target with my activity level
    If I earn extra calories: I'm moving more/burning more than anticipated. <--this is my goal

    Usually I get a lot of activity in the evening hours - so its not unusual to be negative in the morning and ahead/positive later in the day.

    ^^^^^ This!
    I could type it again but she already said it :)
  • pixelatedsun
    pixelatedsun Posts: 165 Member
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    Can someone give me a "For Dummies" version of what negative calories are/do? I am getting a Fitbit Ultra and am currently exercising only sporadically, and when I do it's walking or kettlebell exercises, so I do not know if turning on negative calories is something it would be in my best interest to do?
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    MFP sets your intake level by estimating how much you burn and subtracting the calories for how much you want to lose. Say it thinks based on your inputs (age, gender, weight, activity level, etc.) you will burn around 2000 calories a day. This number can be seen on your Goals page.

    If Fitbit's total burn estimate for the day based on your activity is higher than 2000, you'll see a positive adjustment here for the difference. If it's lower, you'll see a negative adjustment.

    So without a Fitbit, MFP would have you eat say 1500 (2000-500 deficit for 1 lb/week). With a Fitbit you might be told to eat less or more than 1500, if you move less or more causing your burn to go above or below the 2000 estimate. It's basically like adding back exercise calories, or subtracting them out if you haven't hit your baseline 'activity level' (moderately active, etc.)
  • pixelatedsun
    pixelatedsun Posts: 165 Member
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    MFP sets your intake level by estimating how much you burn and subtracting the calories for how much you want to lose. Say it thinks based on your inputs (age, gender, weight, activity level, etc.) you will burn around 2000 calories a day. This number can be seen on your Goals page.

    If Fitbit's total burn estimate for the day based on your activity is higher than 2000, you'll see a positive adjustment here for the difference. If it's lower, you'll see a negative adjustment.

    So without a Fitbit, MFP would have you eat say 1500 (2000-500 deficit for 1 lb/week). With a Fitbit you might be told to eat less or more than 1500, if you move less or more causing your burn to go above or below the 2000 estimate. It's basically like adding back exercise calories, or subtracting them out if you haven't hit your baseline 'activity level' (moderately active, etc.)

    So basically walking exercise + negative calories turned on + not logging the walking exercise as exercise = the same thing as walking exercise + negative calories turned off + logging the walking exercise as exercise?
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Not really. In all cases, if you're wearing a Fitbit that's synching to MFP, you won't be manually logging walking.

    Negative adjustments pertains to when you burn less over the day than your base MFP calorie burn goal, seen on your Goals page.

    Though I don't think MFP ever puts me below 1200 regardless, so if your MFP intake goal is at 1200 (before exercise), I don't think it matters either way if you have negative adjustments enabled or not.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    It's easier to understand after you have the device and see how the sites interact.

    Is someone giving you an Ultra? Those haven't been sold in a while. I would buy a Zip for $50 before I'd buy a used Ultra, just for warranty purposes. But if it's free... :smile:
  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
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    ok thanks. i had actually done some research after i posted this as it looked like i wouldnt get answers. i disabled the nagatives because i dont wear it all day, only when i leave the house.
  • pixelatedsun
    pixelatedsun Posts: 165 Member
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    It's easier to understand after you have the device and see how the sites interact.

    Is someone giving you an Ultra? Those haven't been sold in a while. I would buy a Zip for $50 before I'd buy a used Ultra, just for warranty purposes. But if it's free... :smile:

    It's a Fitbit One. I just got my models confused!
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    MFP (without Fitbit)
    Estimates what you'll burn each day, based on your height/weight/gender/age and the activity level you select. Let's say MFP thinks you'll burn 2200 not counting 'exercise'. You want to lose 1 pound a week, MFP tells you to eat 1700. But its somewhat of a guessing game, because some people don't pick the right activity level.

    Using a Fitbit (or similar) then MFP works the same except that it gets a reading of your calories burned from Fitbit. It then compares to what it assumed. Right now this is what my MFP/Fitbit connection says:

    MyFitnessPal Calories burned (this is a projection for the end of day) 1835
    Fitbit calories burned (based on 1159 at 3:07pm) 1837

    So I've earned an extra 2 calories as of the last sync of my Fitbit. Lets say I did not run in place at lunch time, then maybe Fitbit would be only 1000 at 3:07 and the end of day projection only 1600/. <--making up #s here for sake of example.

    Myfitnesspal thinks I was going to burn 1837 and has me at a deficit of 250 so eat 1837-250 = 1587. But I'm going to miss, only going to burn 1600 so I've lost 237. Meaning can only eat 1600-237 = 1287. This is negative calories, I eat less because my activity is too low. I'm too inactive, not on pace to hit my burn, so either need to eat less or not have my deficit.

    If you don't have negative calories enabled its kind of like the person who uses the wrong activity level. The 'program' won't work if you consistently burn less than you're supposed to, but eat as if you're burning more.
    Can someone give me a "For Dummies" version of what negative calories are/do? I am getting a Fitbit Ultra and am currently exercising only sporadically, and when I do it's walking or kettlebell exercises, so I do not know if turning on negative calories is something it would be in my best interest to do?
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Just my opinion - but if you're only wearing it part time, you may want to disable syncing between MFP & Fitbit. Getting partial information may give you skewed results. You're doing more than Fitbit is giving you credit for.
    ok thanks. i had actually done some research after i posted this as it looked like i wouldnt get answers. i disabled the nagatives because i dont wear it all day, only when i leave the house.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    One last thought:

    For me the #1 goal that I pay attention to on the Fitbit is the calories burned. I try to get in a good # of steps, but it varies depending on what is going on that day. But I make certain (most days!) to hit 2000 calories burned total. I eat generally in the 1600-1800 range, and know that this combination gives me a slight deficit each day.

    For most of the year I was aiming for a 500/day deficit. And over the summer I was aiming for 2250 burned - but life has gotten busier now that school has started back for me & the kids. So I worked out a goal that is reasonable, and still requires some effort on my part. I also figure ultimately for maintenance that 2000/day is a good calorie target range. So when I get there, it should not be hard to adjust. :)
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
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    Join the FitBit group, and you will see there is a pinned post there about negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/801871-negative-calorie-adjustments-are-now-opt-in In short, it helps MFP more accurately measure your activity level rather than just "sedentary, moderate, active." I also suggest adjusting to "sedentary" when you turn on negative calorie adjustments.

    Also, you need to wear it all the time for any of this to be useful. Take it off to shower or when you need to charge it, but otherwise, wear it all the time.

    Edited to add link.
  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
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    i guess to be clear, i bought this fitbit so i could see if i was actually walking as much as i thought i was. which i wasnt. but i dont eat back walking calories or if i do not many of them, i just use it to see whats up. so the reason i disabled the negs is that it was taking off calories i should have been eating. i only eat back actual workouts or if i go over 10,000 steps a day (my average)

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