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Advice on how much to eat please!

ashesfromfire
ashesfromfire Posts: 867 Member
edited January 16 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey y'all I want your opinions! So I started wearing a fitbit about a month ago and it's always automatically adding extra calories burned to my MFP account - increasing my allotted daily intake BUT I already have MFP set to take into consideration my active job and lifestyle. Do you think I'd get a more accurate idea of how much I should be eating if I drop my initial MFP calories to 1200 and then eat back all the calories Fitbit syncs in? (It seems to add anywhere from 300 - 800 calories extra in a day - I have a job where I work on my feet and climb ladders and run around all day long) Right now I usually don't eat it all back, OR I feel like I use them as an excuse for eating too much, and I really haven't seen much progress since I started doing that.
My stats:
Height: 5'5"
Weight: between 197 - 194
age: 21
Active - lightly active depending on the day
my BRM is around 1700 - I currently have MFP set too 1500 too account for errors in underestimating how much I ate - I'm pretty darn positive I eat at least 1700 a day
Feel free to check out my diary - I know there are some holes in my logging over the last month or so - I'm working hard at getting back to making sure I track everything.

Thanks everyone!

Replies

  • Aleciarose123
    Aleciarose123 Posts: 44 Member
    I have a fitbit too and I could be wrong, but I believe that when MFP syncs with your fitbit it only adds extra calories after your allowance for an active lifestyle is already factored in. Your fitbit adjustment is what you have burned beyond what was expected during your typical day. At least that is how it was decribed to me...I hope that makes sense!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    How much does your FitBit tell you that you burn in a given day? Do you wear it all day and all night? Are you fairly routine in what you do?

    Couldn't you just take your daily burn that FitBit gives you (i.e. your TDEE) and deduct XX% for weight loss or 500 calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week and so on? Just customize your calorie goals...

    Also, if yor BMR is 1,700 you absolutely should not touch 1,200 calories...those are net calories...you want to at minimum, net to 1,700 (BMR), not gross....i.e. your gross calories will be much higher.
  • ashesfromfire
    ashesfromfire Posts: 867 Member

    Also, if yor BMR is 1,700 you absolutely should not touch 1,200 calories...those are net calories...you want to at minimum, net to 1,700 (BMR), not gross....i.e. your gross calories will be much higher.

    Totally agree - just wanted to clarify what I meant - I was thinking if I drop mfp goal to 1200 then also eat what my fitbit syncs in I'll probably be eating between 1700-2100 a day - depending on how much of a rock star I am that day with work and exercise. But maybe I'm still wrong and I would still be under my BRM, would I?
  • ashesfromfire
    ashesfromfire Posts: 867 Member
    Bump
  • Grognit
    Grognit Posts: 50
    I take what my fitbit tells me (usually between 2050 and 2100 if I am active) and I deduct 500 from that and eat 1500 or so calories a day. It was weird to get it to adjust here but basically I set my mfp for lightly active and eat what adjustments come from my fitbit. That seems to get me almost eating at a 500 calorie deficit from my overall calorie burn as shown on my fitbit.
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