Need help figuring out your TDEE? Get a Fitbit.

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  • Indiplanet
    Indiplanet Posts: 1
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    I agree. Added fitbit use on January 21st - down 21 pounds since then - just by staying in the goal range of calories consumed.
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
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    I :heart: my FB. I forgot to put it on one day and I felt like I was missing a limb.
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
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    One thing i've noticed with my fitbit, is i'm not sure of how accurate of a calorie count it can give for things like riding a bike. It doesn't have anything to do with my heart rate, doesn't pick up "steps" because there isn't enough of the walking motion, so how can i rely on that for how much i should be eating in a day? Right now, mine says i've burned 1000 calories from midnight until now.
  • tonytoo
    tonytoo Posts: 307
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    The fitbit one estimates your TDEE just like every website does with your vital stats. Then it divides that by 24 and uses that value when you're not doing anything. It's just a glorified pedometer so it can only measure what a pedometer can. It does vertical too, which is a bonus.

    A heart rate monitor is way more accurate.
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
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    Right. The Fitbit website says I burned 2463 calories yesterday. It has a little food planning section that I don't really use, but it says that I was supposed to eat 1963 yesterday.

    Here's how the MFP calculation works on previous days. I told MFP my age/height/weight, and activity level (sedentary). It then calculated that my before-exercise TDEE is 2040. I manually set my goal to 1650 calories. Fitbit then tells MFP "his actual TDEE yesterday was 2463." MFP says "oh OK, 2463 is 423 more than the 2040 I expected, so I'll add 423 to his goal." Therefore my MFP goal becomes 1650+423 = 2073.
    That's exactly what I did. MFP set my goal at 1200 (which is actually pretty close to where it *should* be with my goals) and then whatever my FitBit Flex tells MFP I've "earned" MFP adds back into my goal so i can eat back that exercise and still remain on target. So far, so good!!
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    I :heart: my FB. I forgot to put it on one day and I felt like I was missing a limb.

    I had a mini panic attack when I went to play tennis one day without it. I tried to estimate the calories I burned later and remember how much of a pain in the butt it was to try to do that every time I exercised.

    The Fitbit takes away so much annoying guesswork it's unbelievable. I literally never have to sit around and try to calculate how many calories I may have burned playing racquetball or walking around the mall or whatever. It's very liberating, and that's why I started this topic.
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
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    I :heart: my FB. I forgot to put it on one day and I felt like I was missing a limb.

    I had a mini panic attack when I went to play tennis one day without it. I tried to estimate the calories I burned later and remember how much of a pain in the butt it was to try to do that every time I exercised.

    The Fitbit takes away so much annoying guesswork it's unbelievable. I literally never have to sit around and try to calculate how many calories I may have burned playing racquetball or walking around the mall or whatever. It's very liberating, and that's why I started this topic.

    Agree!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Right. The Fitbit website says I burned 2463 calories yesterday. It has a little food planning section that I don't really use, but it says that I was supposed to eat 1963 yesterday.

    Here's how the MFP calculation works on previous days. I told MFP my age/height/weight, and activity level (sedentary). It then calculated that my before-exercise TDEE is 2040. I manually set my goal to 1650 calories. Fitbit then tells MFP "his actual TDEE yesterday was 2463." MFP says "oh OK, 2463 is 423 more than the 2040 I expected, so I'll add 423 to his goal." Therefore my MFP goal becomes 1650+423 = 2073.

    ^^^ That needs to be posted as sticky somewhere because most just don't understand what it's doing with the adjustments.

    Manual eating goal doesn't even matter, I'm glad you spelled the math out.

    Of course, that concept is exactly what happens with the whole eating back exercise calories too that so many don't get either, but at least that math makes it easy to see.

    Great example.
  • ellen_kay
    ellen_kay Posts: 304 Member
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    I have the FBZip and love it. It is another extension on me and I follow it regularly. I love that it gives me a target zone to lose 1lb a week. I input my food in MFP and let the FB tell me when to stop eating. Love it.
  • ozigal
    ozigal Posts: 173 Member
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    I have a fitbit as well and I use trendweight.com for weight trends in the same way the OP does. I don't count any exercise that my fitbit doesnt register and my results are very similar to the OP.

    The way I see it, if I burn extra calories and fitbit doesnt pick it up... bonus! That's more weight lost not more food for my mouth :)
  • jody664
    jody664 Posts: 397 Member
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    I'm considering getting one. Any thoughts on FitBit Zip (~$50) vs. FitBit One (~$90) I think the FitBit Ultra is discontinued, right? Does the extra $40 gain me anything useful?
  • ozigal
    ozigal Posts: 173 Member
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    One thing i've noticed with my fitbit, is i'm not sure of how accurate of a calorie count it can give for things like riding a bike. It doesn't have anything to do with my heart rate, doesn't pick up "steps" because there isn't enough of the walking motion, so how can i rely on that for how much i should be eating in a day? Right now, mine says i've burned 1000 calories from midnight until now.

    There is a trick for this one... put the fitbit in your sock :)
  • ozigal
    ozigal Posts: 173 Member
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    I'm considering getting one. Any thoughts on FitBit Zip (~$50) vs. FitBit One (~$90) I think the FitBit Ultra is discontinued, right? Does the extra $40 gain me anything useful?

    http://www.fitbit.com/uk/comparison/trackers

    That should help :)
  • jrbb03092
    jrbb03092 Posts: 198 Member
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    One thing i've noticed with my fitbit, is i'm not sure of how accurate of a calorie count it can give for things like riding a bike. It doesn't have anything to do with my heart rate, doesn't pick up "steps" because there isn't enough of the walking motion, so how can i rely on that for how much i should be eating in a day? Right now, mine says i've burned 1000 calories from midnight until now.

    There is a trick for this one... put the fitbit in your sock :)

    Also, it even says on the fitbit site and this one that you should log exercises that fitbit doesn't track well like rowing, biking, lifting, etc. - anything that's not step-based (walking, running, aerobics).
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    I'm considering getting one. Any thoughts on FitBit Zip (~$50) vs. FitBit One (~$90) I think the FitBit Ultra is discontinued, right? Does the extra $40 gain me anything useful?

    I had a Zip then I returned it and got the One.

    The One does sleep tracking, which can be marginally useful. The floor counting is much more substantial though. It encourages me to use the stairs, which is something I never used to do.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    The fitbit one estimates your TDEE just like every website does with your vital stats. Then it divides that by 24 and uses that value when you're not doing anything. It's just a glorified pedometer so it can only measure what a pedometer can. It does vertical too, which is a bonus.

    A heart rate monitor is way more accurate.

    It's not a glorified pedometer. There's no reason in the world to think that it's less accurate than an HRM and a million reasons an HRM is far less accurate.

    However, this thread is not about HRM vs Fitbit. The Fitbit is a device designed to be worn 24/7 in order to give you a TDEE. HRMs are not.

    This thread is about how people struggling to figure out their TDEE can make it a lot easier by getting a Fitbit and removing most of the guesswork.
  • Going4Lean
    Going4Lean Posts: 1,077 Member
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    I bought a fitbit flex and i couldn't understand the connection between FB and MFP so i disconnected them.
    I have been wearing it for almost 5 days and it has calculated my TDEE is between 2700-3200 and i am considering raising my calories, but i am not sure.
  • iysys
    iysys Posts: 524
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    fitbit is on my list of items to buy it seems like a great tool.

    but mostly i want to comment on that you are a cutey with a kitty who spends hours shoe shopping...that's kinda dreamy.

    edited for a question - the fitbit tracks workout activity also? will it count my calories burned on the stationary bike?
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
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    One thing i've noticed with my fitbit, is i'm not sure of how accurate of a calorie count it can give for things like riding a bike. It doesn't have anything to do with my heart rate, doesn't pick up "steps" because there isn't enough of the walking motion, so how can i rely on that for how much i should be eating in a day? Right now, mine says i've burned 1000 calories from midnight until now.

    There is a trick for this one... put the fitbit in your sock :)

    you... my friend... are a genius.
  • aliciab307
    aliciab307 Posts: 370 Member
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    Interesting topic. Question, would the fitbit track hiit work outs like turbofire or insanity well?

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