Fitbit Flex and overestimating calories?

Options
xynyth
xynyth Posts: 89 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I got a fitbit flex for my birthday and I feel like it is grossly overestimating the calories I burn in a day. It tells me I have burned over 500 calories today (and by this I mean the fitbit calorie adjustment on MFP) and the only thing remotely exerting was work (I work in a portrait studio). I suppose I could have burned that many calories, but if that's the case then I have been drastically underestimating how many calories I should be eating in a day. I only work about 3 days a week so I don't count it as a regular activity so do you think I should allow myself these "extra" calories I'm getting from the fitbit, or just continue what I had been doing and only eating back calories from actual exercises?

I admit I am more confused than ever with this new gadget. I'm not sure I really understand it at all.
«1

Replies

  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    Options
    How many calories do you normally eat? Without more info, it is hard to say. My guess, and this is totally a guess, is that you may have been eating too few calories all along. A lot of women start that way.

    I had a fitbit zip, and it actually underestimated my daily calorie burn.
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    How many calories do you normally eat? Without more info, it is hard to say. My guess, and this is totally a guess, is that you may have been eating too few calories all along. A lot of women start that way.

    I had a fitbit zip, and it actually underestimated my daily calorie burn.

    Mfp has me set at 1360, before that it was 14 something. I always eat back at least half my exercise calories, usually more than half.

    ETA: I ask (and worry about this) because I had a pretty wrecked metabolism before and learning to actually eat good, nutritious food in appropriate portions has been a pretty big step for me :)
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    Options
    How many calories do you normally eat? Without more info, it is hard to say. My guess, and this is totally a guess, is that you may have been eating too few calories all along. A lot of women start that way.

    I had a fitbit zip, and it actually underestimated my daily calorie burn.

    Mfp has me set at 1360, before that it was 14 something. I always eat back at least half my exercise calories, usually more than half.

    ETA: I ask (and worry about this) because I had a pretty wrecked metabolism before and learning to actually eat good, nutritious food in appropriate portions has been a pretty big step for me :)

    You are doing what I used to do when I was in weight loss mode. I was set at 1350 or so, and ate back most of my exercise calories. I usually ate between 1550 and 1700 per day, and it worked.

    Your ticker is showing 21 pounds lost. Is this accurate, and are you still losing? How much do you lose per week?
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    How many calories do you normally eat? Without more info, it is hard to say. My guess, and this is totally a guess, is that you may have been eating too few calories all along. A lot of women start that way.

    I had a fitbit zip, and it actually underestimated my daily calorie burn.

    Mfp has me set at 1360, before that it was 14 something. I always eat back at least half my exercise calories, usually more than half.

    ETA: I ask (and worry about this) because I had a pretty wrecked metabolism before and learning to actually eat good, nutritious food in appropriate portions has been a pretty big step for me :)

    You are doing what I used to do when I was in weight loss mode. I was set at 1350 or so, and ate back most of my exercise calories. I usually ate between 1550 and 1700 per day, and it worked.

    Your ticker is showing 21 pounds lost. Is this accurate, and are you still losing? How much do you lose per week?

    Yep it's accurate :) I've been losing between 1 and 2.5 lbs per week depending on the week. Last month was the first month I was serious about anything and also the first month I started working out and I lost a total of 11 pounds that month. It's been little slower this month but I haven't been able to get to the gym as often and there was mothers day and my birthday in there but still losing so I'm cool with that. I just don't want to be eating too little and have no where to go later if that makes any sense?
  • GeekAmour
    GeekAmour Posts: 262
    Options
    Fitbit will tell you total calories burned, not just burn from activities. I am sick at the moment & lazed about all day yesterday but I still burn calories, from, you know, living. If you have it set to sedentary it will keep adding cals throughout the day, your BMR plus even moving from the couch to the bathroom.
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    Fitbit will tell you total calories burned, not just burn from activities. I am sick at the moment & lazed about all day yesterday but I still burn calories, from, you know, living. If you have it set to sedentary it will keep adding cals throughout the day, your BMR plus even moving from the couch to the bathroom.

    First: Love your screen name

    Second: so are those calories I should be eating or just finding interesting? I do have my stuff set to sedentary because....well, I am most of the time.
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    Options
    How many calories do you normally eat? Without more info, it is hard to say. My guess, and this is totally a guess, is that you may have been eating too few calories all along. A lot of women start that way.

    I had a fitbit zip, and it actually underestimated my daily calorie burn.

    Mfp has me set at 1360, before that it was 14 something. I always eat back at least half my exercise calories, usually more than half.

    ETA: I ask (and worry about this) because I had a pretty wrecked metabolism before and learning to actually eat good, nutritious food in appropriate portions has been a pretty big step for me :)

    You are doing what I used to do when I was in weight loss mode. I was set at 1350 or so, and ate back most of my exercise calories. I usually ate between 1550 and 1700 per day, and it worked.

    Your ticker is showing 21 pounds lost. Is this accurate, and are you still losing? How much do you lose per week?

    Yep it's accurate :) I've been losing between 1 and 2.5 lbs per week depending on the week. Last month was the first month I was serious about anything and also the first month I started working out and I lost a total of 11 pounds that month. It's been little slower this month but I haven't been able to get to the gym as often and there was mothers day and my birthday in there but still losing so I'm cool with that. I just don't want to be eating too little and have no where to go later if that makes any sense?

    It makes perfect sense. 1 pound a week sounds healthy. It sounds like you may be able to eat more, but I hate to tell you to change something that is working for you. Maybe eat more of your exercise calories back and see how that goes. Or trry to eat what fitbit gives you for 2 or 3 weeks and see how that goes. Good luck. It sounds like you are on the right track.
  • pet1127
    pet1127 Posts: 572 Member
    Options
    I have my fitbit linked with mfp
    that being said I eat what fitbit tells me to eat on my slower days and if I exercise I eat half of them back

    basically read threw the site ask questions on the fitbit boards were the mods are they are a great help
  • kristafb
    kristafb Posts: 770 Member
    Options
    Do you have the negative calories enabled? I did at first but I found it wasn't working for me so I removed it & its much better. I don't really understand the math behind it all to be honest I just know that suddenly I was given a lot more calories to eat in the run of a day than I was used to and I wasn't exercising excessively.
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    I have my fitbit linked with mfp
    that being said I eat what fitbit tells me to eat on my slower days and if I exercise I eat half of them back

    basically read threw the site ask questions on the fitbit boards were the mods are they are a great help

    Can you point me at an active fitbit board please. The only ones I have come across the last post was months ago. Thanks!
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    Do you have the negative calories enabled? I did at first but I found it wasn't working for me so I removed it & its much better. I don't really understand the math behind it all to be honest I just know that suddenly I was given a lot more calories to eat in the run of a day than I was used to and I wasn't exercising excessively.

    I do, but to be honest I don't understand that either.
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    Ok, so here's a good example of why I am confused. I've been out of bed for all of half an hour, just grabbed some breakfast and have plopped my behind on the couch. I already have 154 calories credited as exercise..... My eyes are barely open, how can I have that much of a deficit already?
  • fdavisdarthard
    fdavisdarthard Posts: 13 Member
    Options
    Hi Xyynyth, its possible that your Fitbit Flex is correct. Your body burns calories all day long while you’re doing various activities, not just exercising. Your body needs energy to function. Since you work in a portrait studio, you’re on your feet moving, bending, stretching, reaching, etc. this helps your BMR (basal metabolic rate). Your basal metabolic rate accounts for about 60 to 75 percent of the calories you burn every day. Besides your basal metabolic rate, two other factors determine how many calories your body burns each day which are physical activity and thermogenesis.

    from Felicia D.
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    Options
    Ok, so here's a good example of why I am confused. I've been out of bed for all of half an hour, just grabbed some breakfast and have plopped my behind on the couch. I already have 154 calories credited as exercise..... My eyes are barely open, how can I have that much of a deficit already?

    My body media fit does this as well. In the morning it will credit me about 400 calories. For the body media fit, it is estimating what I am going to burn that day, based on my profile and previous days. As I exercise and move more, it will add onto that. Sometimes it overestimates and takes calories away (I hate those days :)).

    The reason it adds in the morning is that MFP tends to give you to few calories, so the fitbit is adjusting for you based on your profile. Hope this helps. I currently eat what the body media fit tells me to eat, but I am near goal right now.
  • Sevio
    Sevio Posts: 181 Member
    Options
    Is your Fitbit on the Fitbit website set to Sedentary or Personalized? Mine is set to Personalized and it only gives me credit for exercise when I actually am really doing something and it adjust throughout the day rather than giving it to me all at once. From your posts it seems you are doing everything right since you are a consistent weight loss. Kudos to you.
  • LazyBearGrrr
    LazyBearGrrr Posts: 35 Member
    Options
    Ok, so here's a good example of why I am confused. I've been out of bed for all of half an hour, just grabbed some breakfast and have plopped my behind on the couch. I already have 154 calories credited as exercise..... My eyes are barely open, how can I have that much of a deficit already?

    The Fitbit calories are based on its prediction for the day. It is saying, "based on my knowledge of you, this is what I think you will burn in calories today." As you walk during the day, it can change. It's saying, "based on my knowledge of you, plus all this extra walking that you have done today, I actually think you will burn THIS amount of calories."

    You know that selection on MFP where you choose sedentary, lightly active, active etc.? This is how MFP knows what to give you for your baseline calories of the day. When you connect a Fitbit, it communicates with that number and replaces it with actual real data, rather than what you told MFP to assume.

    So, when you worked and walked a lot, it told MFP that you were way more active that day than what you had selected in your options. It said, "Uh uh, no way! You were WAY more active than what you set your plan to, you need to eat 500 more calories."

    And when you woke up today, it said, "So....you set your food diary to a sedentary lifestyle, but I know that you are really not as sedentary as you think, so, I predict that you will actually burn more calories today from routine activity...so I know that you need to eat 154 more calories." It is predictive. It's trying to predict what your day will look like. It will get more accurate as the day goes by and it gets more information.

    Remember though, Fitbit doesn't consider your fitness activities, like swimming, running, cardio etc., it just looks to give you a realtime idea of your baseline activity level. It replaces the part of MFP where you choose how active you are, taking away the guess work, and allowing it to change on a daily basis. Much like a heart rate monitor takes the guess work out of how many calories you burned during exercise.

    If you find that Fitbit keeps adding on calories in the morning, my suggestion would be to go to your settings in MFP and increase your activity to the next highest level (i.e. from sedentary to lightly active). You may find that the calories match a bit more. A lot of people put sedentary "just in case" so that they don't eat too many calories, even if they are quite active. I think you might be running into this situation...meaning, you're more active than what you told MFP, and Fitbit is correcting that.

    I hope that helps just a little bit.
  • JulieBGoood
    JulieBGoood Posts: 120 Member
    Options
    I had worried about that myself but I have really been dropping weight since I started using my fitbit (11 lbs since April 14th)! I almost never can eat all of my calories though, I have a labor intensive job so I often get like 900 calories back...
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    Wow! Thank you all so much! That does make much more sense. I do have my settings set to sedentary though I am more likely lightly active because I thought it would be easier to just add in my exercise calories for a more accurate count. What you all answered clears it up for me and I might up that to compensate.

    Thanks again everyone!

    I feel significantly less confused now :)
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    Options
    Wow! Thank you all so much! That does make much more sense. I do have my settings set to sedentary though I am more likely lightly active because I thought it would be easier to just add in my exercise calories for a more accurate count. What you all answered clears it up for me and I might up that to compensate.

    Thanks again everyone!

    I feel significantly less confused now :)

    :). Good luck.
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
    Options
    How many calories do you normally eat? Without more info, it is hard to say. My guess, and this is totally a guess, is that you may have been eating too few calories all along. A lot of women start that way.

    I had a fitbit zip, and it actually underestimated my daily calorie burn.

    Mfp has me set at 1360, before that it was 14 something. I always eat back at least half my exercise calories, usually more than half.

    ETA: I ask (and worry about this) because I had a pretty wrecked metabolism before and learning to actually eat good, nutritious food in appropriate portions has been a pretty big step for me :)

    You are doing what I used to do when I was in weight loss mode. I was set at 1350 or so, and ate back most of my exercise calories. I usually ate between 1550 and 1700 per day, and it worked.

    Your ticker is showing 21 pounds lost. Is this accurate, and are you still losing? How much do you lose per week?

    Yep it's accurate :) I've been losing between 1 and 2.5 lbs per week depending on the week. Last month was the first month I was serious about anything and also the first month I started working out and I lost a total of 11 pounds that month. It's been little slower this month but I haven't been able to get to the gym as often and there was mothers day and my birthday in there but still losing so I'm cool with that. I just don't want to be eating too little and have no where to go later if that makes any sense?

    this sounds like exactly what you should be doing, you need to trust the tools you have chosen to use to help you out.

Categories