Fitbit Calorie Question

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keeponkickin
keeponkickin Posts: 1,520 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, I'm on day 3 of wearing the fitbit. I lost a 110 pounds in one year on mfp and then hit a huge 14 month stall. I've tried everything and now trying the fitbit to see just how much I'm burning during the day. With the last 15 pounds to lose there is much less room for error. How accurate is this thing? I plugged in that I want to lose 1 pound a week and it's telling me so far to eat about 2,200 calories a day. Anyone have success eating more and trusting the fitbit?

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  • keeponkickin
    keeponkickin Posts: 1,520 Member
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    anyone?
  • ckopeny1
    ckopeny1 Posts: 46 Member
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    bueller.....bueller?

    LOL, I have not used the fitbit but was as well interested in your question as I am considering purchasing one.
  • tif83
    tif83 Posts: 85 Member
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    hi- i only started using fitbit jan15th, but, yes i've been seeing results. that sd- i completely ignore the calories fitbit tells me to eat. COMPLETELY. i feel like they would have me eating WAY too much food. for me, i try to stick to 1200 cal/day and i try not to eat back my calories earned from exercising. try... that said, today is also a cheat day! gotta do it sometimes.

    but, i've lost like 10lbs since getting my fitbit (where i had been basically maintaing for mos and mos) i also started going to the gym tho, and tracking my calories again.

    i love the fitbit, tho. for me it keeps me motivated, i love competing w/ others and it makes me want to get in as many steps/day as i can! it's just a tool to help keep me on track w/ the other lifestyle changes i've made.
  • yensidtoon
    yensidtoon Posts: 82 Member
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    I have a Fitbit one. I also post my exercise on MFP. Now, with Fitbit, you can use them both at the same time.

    For example: If I run for 8 minutes, MFP will give me 99 calorie points. Fitbit will then give me about 40 more because of the steps I have taken.

    Fitbit will do calorie adjustments on your MFP page if MFP doesn't give you enough calorie credit.

    If you go over 5k steps you will get an adjustment and it will adjust for every 25k after that. I love FitBit because it makes me more aware of how many steps I am taking each day. If I need more steps at the end of the day, I will jog in place to get to 10k.

    I love my Fitbit and actually just recommended it to someone and they immediately went onto Amazon.com and bought the same model I have. I have the One so it counts my sleep, and the floors I climb.

    Now one thing I have noticed on the fitbit - it adds steps for driving. I get about 2000 extra steps from driving each day. Other than that, which I am now aware of, I have noticed that it is VERY accurate.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Mine seems accurate. I use a combination of MFP, Fitbit, and Trendweight with the Fitbit Zip and Aria scale.

    I hit my calorie target every single day, and have MFP set up for a 500 cal/day (1 lb/week) deficit.

    Here's how Trendweight says I'm doing:

    Statistics:
    You are losing 0.9 lbs/week of total weight.
    You are burning 429 cal/day more than you eat.

    You have been tracking your weight for 4 weeks.


    So I seem to be pretty much spot on.

    edit: Might be helpful to note that I play racquetball and tennis as well as spend 5-10 hours a week walking around in an office/hospital. The Fitbit is clearly fantastic at keeping track of those activities.

    Contrary to other posters, I eat exactly what the Fitbit tells me to eat.
  • lorcart
    lorcart Posts: 406 Member
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    I find it to be really accurate for things like walking, running, treadmill, etc. Where it's not accurate is calorie burn from things like yoga, weight lifting,etc. I don't pay attention to the Fitbit calories either. What most of us do is use MFP for food and Fitbit for exercise. There's a Fitbit usergroup here on MFP...come join us. Lots of knowledge!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    I actually don't understand what you would use the Fitbit for if you ignore its calorie calculations. Isn't that the entire point? So you know your TDEE, which will allow you to accurately calculate how many calories to eat in a given day?

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