Bodymedia Fit - I don't need to go to the gym??

Hi everyone

First time posting here :-)

I got a BMF on Monday. So far so good. I've been wearing it non-stop (except for the recommended hour off time each day) and I am quite surprised with my numbers.

Currently my settings are 1400 cals per day and I need to create a 1100 cal deficit every day to lose 1kg a week (well in theory anyway). What I found alarming (and quite strange) is that I meet my targets on days that I don't go to they gym and just do general day to day activities and a bit of moderate walking. So the lazy in me is now saying yay, no gym, which is off course silly and counter productive.

I would love some help/opinions please.

Is it possible that the BMF is still "learning" and my deficit is not really 1100 per day? Or should I eat a little bit more? Or should I just forget the BMF and go to the gym 3 times per week as planned? Or is it that I am actually so overweight (need to lose 30 kg plus) that the activities I am doing is more than enough - for now - to create a good deficit.

I guess my worry is just that I am going to go into the feared starvation mode and NOT lose any weight after spending $220 (AU$) on the BMF.

Replies

  • Anyone?
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    You don't deduct 1100 from the 1400 to get your deficit so I'm assuming you mean your TDEE is 2500 and you've created a deficit of 1100 from that giving you 1400 which seems awfully low.
  • That's correct. I'm eating 1400 per day.
  • nucgirl13
    nucgirl13 Posts: 56 Member
    I would eat more and continue to hit the gym. I get about the same number of calories burned everyday without going to the gym and eat 1800 cal
  • I would eat more and continue to hit the gym. I get about the same number of calories burned everyday without going to the gym and eat 1800 cal

    Do you use a BMF?

    I'm just worried that by eating more I am not going to lose weight. I get the whole starvation mode thing and I understand about cals in and cals out (I lost 30kgs 3 years ago using CalorieKing).
  • nucgirl13
    nucgirl13 Posts: 56 Member
    No, I just go by my pedometer and its backed up by my TDEE. I have been losing about 2 lbs a week on 1800 cals. You could always try increasing your calories by 100 cals a week to make sure you are still losing.
  • Thanks! Think I might do that as I think it is crazy for me not to go to the gym but I don't want to gain or stop losing. 100 cals a week doesn't seem too bad to experiment with.
  • Would love some more opinions please
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    look at it this way: going to the gym isn't about weight loss, its about health and strength... weight loss is a great side effect. Because of this, I say continue going to the gym. Exactly how many calories you need to lose, unfortunately, is a trial and error thing so you may need to spend a few weeks eating at a certain rate and see how you progress, then make changes as necessary.
  • SGSmallman
    SGSmallman Posts: 193 Member
    I started MFP on 1850 intake which is roughly my TDEE - 20ish% I have dropped over a stone in total in 5ish weeks and recalculated my TDEE now it has gone up to 2250 it was hard for a couple of days eating that much extra but im still at a deficit and still losing weight. luckily it's fat and no muscle

    To lose weight you need to eat more but still burn more than you consume. The more lean muscle you have the more calories you burn stripping body fat, it's a case of how many calories you need to survive (your BMR) and the extra you need to consume fro exercising.

    To lose weight eat at a deficit
    To lose body FAT weight train and eat at a deficit.

    Have a read of this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937709-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0
  • mjrn1221
    mjrn1221 Posts: 11
    I have been using BMF since January. When I first started using it I was surprised at the number of calories I was burning with just day to day activity, I continued to workout and just ate more on the days I did workout so that my calorie deficit was very close to the 1000 calories that BMF had calculated as the deficit I needed. Surprisingly to me when I added calories I started losing more quickly. I was hesitant at first and added just a couple hundred calories a day (according to BMF I could eat an additional 600 calories/day on most days). It takes some time to see where your average for calories burned but after a few weeks I could see that even on my rest days I could still maintain a 1000 calorie deficit and still add around 300 calories/day. Before using BMF I was eating about 1300 calories/day, now I am eating 1600 cal/day and I am still losing. I have lost 90 total (40 of which has been after starting to use BMF) so I keep a close eye on how much I am burning as my weight goes down.
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
    Go to the gym. Eat accordingly....
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    I would eat more and continue to hit the gym. I get about the same number of calories burned everyday without going to the gym and eat 1800 cal

    This. If you go the gym you will be healthier plus you get to eat those calories back while losing the same amount. What's not to like? I wish I could go more right now (allergies ugh!). It's only been a few weeks since I cut down my workouts and I feel slodgy and doughy and weak already. Plus workouts put me in a very good mood and give me more energy. I miss it!
  • gatorginger
    gatorginger Posts: 947 Member
    If you don't really want to go to the gym then buy a strength training DVD so that when you do lose the weight you will tone up at the same time, otherwise you will have lots of flab so either go to the gym or get a strength training DVD for the house to tone up while your losing
  • artofbs
    artofbs Posts: 17 Member
    Hi

    I use Fitbit which is a similar system. On my fitbit it will show me total calories burned for the day and you take to ~1000 calories off that to get your daily food allowance. This will move up or down depending on how active you are. I have days at work where i am on my feet all day and will get a 800 odd calorie boost to the day and I will have lazy days where I lose 100 - 200 calories off my allowance.
  • bhmathews
    bhmathews Posts: 43 Member
    I would eat more and continue to hit the gym. I get about the same number of calories burned everyday without going to the gym and eat 1800 cal

    This. If you go the gym you will be healthier plus you get to eat those calories back while losing the same amount. What's not to like? I wish I could go more right now (allergies ugh!). It's only been a few weeks since I cut down my workouts and I feel slodgy and doughy and weak already. Plus workouts put me in a very good mood and give me more energy. I miss it!

    Yes and yes!!

    You want to have a healthy heart, lungs and skeletal structure besides being thinner, yes? Weight beaing activites help with bone density, and has the beautiful effect of causing your body to burn more calories each day.

    Welcome to the BMF! I've had mine for a few weeks now. I'm still trying to figure out the perfect numbers for me, too. I've had a hard time trusting those numbers because they just seem so high, but I'm trying to have more faith.
  • Your BMF doesn't 'learn', the results that you get aren't going to change. A 1100 calories is too big imo - it will cause you to lose lean muscle. Keep going to the gym and spend time doing weights and resistance exercise and eat more - you'll become much more 'toned' and building muscle raises your BMR.
  • SpecialSundae
    SpecialSundae Posts: 795 Member
    After a few months of tweaking, I've finally got to grips with my FitBit and calorie goals. Instead of setting my calorie goal low (i.e. already counting in a deficit) I set it to "sedentary" and "lose 0lb a week". I know that on anything other than my laziest day walking around will take off another 300-400 calories and an average day including gym time will take off 700-1500 calories.

    Averaging it overall I can eat at "maintenance" (1800ish calories) and then my exercise both in and out of the gym will create the deficit I need to lose weight (albeit I'm aiming for a more sensible 400-600g a week).