Need help figuring out your TDEE? Get a Fitbit.

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  • jody664
    jody664 Posts: 397 Member
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    I love my fitbit one, and I am in sales so I drive a lot for hours at a time, and it does give me some steps during that time. I have the free app called drivebit on my phone and you just start it and stop it during your drive and it automatically updates both fitbit and MFP - it gives you credit for your calories burned during that time but takes away the steps it gave you if any. Thank you to the genius that came up with it! Personally I only do weights, run or walk and I just let it do it's thing - I have noticed that it actually gives credit when I do barbell squats, as well as lunges etc..and I figure rather than overestimate, I would be safe and underestimate a little. I used to use my polar HRM which includes my V02max for my weights but know its not accurate, so I just go by fitbit alone and am thrilled with it.
    THANK YOU! I just downloaded DriveBit. I never knew there was an app for that. Genius!
  • themedalist
    themedalist Posts: 3,214 Member
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    I love my Fitbit One. I purchased the Ultra in Feb 2012 and I upgraded to the One last fall.

    Here's my Fitbit story.

    I'm a bit of a data geek so I took a little time when I first got my Fitbit to estimate my stride length in order to get the best estimate of miles walked. I'm walker and especially love walking half marathons. Last summer, I tripped over an old tree stump and from that single accident developed severe arthritis in my right hip. My walking and movement in general has plummeted since then.

    I met with an orthopedic surgeon on Monday to discuss treatment options and showed him my graph of my Fitbit data over the last 15 months. It showed I was walking 5.5 miles a day on average in Feb 2012 and am down to 2.3 miles a day now. I could tell the graph made an impact on him. He's recommending me for hip replacement surgery.

    I will never be without my Fitbit.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
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    I like the FLEX, but upon discovering how ripped off I get pushing strollers and giant shopping carts for hours... I decided I will put it on my ankle during those activities.

    Standard calculations worked for me, but I got the Flex for fun and motivation to move more in general. Because I'm a lazy couch potater.
  • rhonnik
    rhonnik Posts: 32 Member
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    Seriously thinking about getting one, so this may help make decision. Thanks!
  • hellokathy
    hellokathy Posts: 540 Member
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    I'm thinking about getting one. The Flex seems best for me but it isn't available in Germany just yet. The website won't give me a price yet, either. Can you tell me how much you guys paid for it?

    The Flex costs the same as the other FitBits: roughly $100 on Amazon (at least here in the U.S.).

    Thank you! I'll wait till it's available here then. It says Spring 2013, so it shouldn't be long.
  • snailrunner
    snailrunner Posts: 215 Member
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    So my month graph says I burned 60000 cals in the last month and ate 31000 calories (I'm doing 5:2). Now that I'm maintaining, MFP has my TDEE as 1600. I'm trying to stick to that, don't eat my exercise cals. Does that sound about right?
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    So my month graph says I burned 60000 cals in the last month and ate 31000 calories (I'm doing 5:2). Now that I'm maintaining, MFP has my TDEE as 1600. I'm trying to stick to that, don't eat my exercise cals. Does that sound about right?

    No. It means you burn over 1900 a day but only eat 1000. That's too big a deficit. You're not eating nearly enough.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    Just a reminder in case it matters to you (because it does to me) but the Flex doesn't count stairs climbed...

    ...and based on above, may not count steps when you aren't swinging your arms.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
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    It is insanely inaccurate for cycling though.
    I did over 2 hours today, for example, and it claimed I only burnt 122 calories, lol, as opposed to the over 1000 I did burn doing that.
    Same thing with running, because I have yet to figure out my stride length, so it underestimates the distance I have run.
    I log most of my workouts manually, using the timer on my fitbit one, and let it fill in the rest.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    So I get how it adjusts MFP, but does it save those numbers from day to day? Suppose on Monday, I should eat 2000, and on Tuesday I should eat 2100. When Tuesday adjusts, does it change Monday's goal as well? Or at the end of the week will MFP tell me I am way under/over?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    So I get how it adjusts MFP, but does it save those numbers from day to day? Suppose on Monday, I should eat 2000, and on Tuesday I should eat 2100. When Tuesday adjusts, does it change Monday's goal as well? Or at the end of the week will MFP tell me I am way under/over?

    Each day is adjusted, and it doesn't matter what you eat, the adjustment is based on what you burn.

    If you set MFP to sedentary, which is BMR x 1.25, and FitBit constantly sees your TDEE at higher level, like BMR x 1.35, then you'll get constant adjustments up.

    You still have the deficit in there to meet your weight loss goal, as wise or unwise as that may be, but just like logging exercise, you get to eat more because your TDEE that day is higher.

    In that case, probably easier to plan your day well by just changing MFP activity level to Lightly Active. Less adjustments up, may be a few calories down. On non-exercise days.
    On exercise days, your TDEE of course was higher, so you get bigger adjustment.

    If you log the exercise, FitBit is told to replace it's calorie estimate for the time you indicated. Then same adjustment happens except you already manually entered exercise to eat back.
  • Qskim
    Qskim Posts: 1,145 Member
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    Bump
  • marshallexi
    marshallexi Posts: 162 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.

    Bumped because this comment has the most useful explanation ever of how this device works (thank you!).
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    So I get how it adjusts MFP, but does it save those numbers from day to day? Suppose on Monday, I should eat 2000, and on Tuesday I should eat 2100. When Tuesday adjusts, does it change Monday's goal as well? Or at the end of the week will MFP tell me I am way under/over?

    Fitbit doesn't change your actual MFP goal. It just adds a daily adjustment to correct for that day's *actual* calorie burn. It's on a day to day basis.
  • Stumason2105
    Stumason2105 Posts: 12 Member
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    bumb for great reference
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    What exactly does the Fitbit track? Movement? Heart rate? Body temperature? What?

    I don't exercise. Will the Fitbit monitor anything for me that I'm not already entering in my food diary?
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
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    What exactly does the Fitbit track? Movement? Heart rate? Body temperature? What?

    I don't exercise. Will the Fitbit monitor anything for me that I'm not already entering in my food diary?
    First off, if you're wearing chain mail and in the SCA, you do TOO exercise! *wink* Secondly, it tracks movement. Every bit of movement you make, apparently! The FitBit does not monitor food intake or anything like that. It uses algorithms to figure out how many calories you burn with each bit of movement your body makes. When you sync it to your MFP account, it goes back and forth between the two to adjust and calculate everything for you. It's fabulous! I discovered that I burn far more calories with my weaving than I previously thought - all because the FitBit Flex tracked each of my movements (which are considerable with all the shuttle throwing). Get one. You won't regret it.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    I have not fought in a long time. I was too out of shape to do it.
  • Tigg1011
    Tigg1011 Posts: 146
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    Ok-stupid question, but I just want to make sure I am understanding correctly as well as doing what I am supposed to be doing.

    I set my fitbit to 1400 calories accoriding to scoobys calculations for a sedentary level. Now, it says I have to burn 2184 calories/day but if I burned only 2000, that gives me a 600 calorie deficit correct? Which number is the actual TDEE number on my fitbit? The calories burned? I dont know, I am so confused! Sorry! Please help, thanks!
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Ok-stupid question, but I just want to make sure I am understanding correctly as well as doing what I am supposed to be doing.

    I set my fitbit to 1400 calories accoriding to scoobys calculations for a sedentary level. Now, it says I have to burn 2184 calories/day but if I burned only 2000, that gives me a 600 calorie deficit correct? Which number is the actual TDEE number on my fitbit? The calories burned? I dont know, I am so confused! Sorry! Please help, thanks!

    I'm not sure what you mean by setting Fitbit to anything. Fitbit does the calorie burn calculations automatically; there is no place to set how many calories you burn.

    The "I have to burn" part is just a goal. It's essentially random and meaningless. What you want to pay attention to is the number of calories it says you've burned. That's a running TDEE. At the end of the day, that number is the total number of calories you've burned that day.

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