Fitbit Calories eaten

lairyliam
lairyliam Posts: 33 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Iv had a fitbit flex for a few days and so far on average i have exceeded 3000 calories burned (today is 4000 with 1000 calories through exercise (HRM - FT7))

I am concerned as for the last 56 days i have solidly eaten 2000 calories every day, and with the exercise calories that MFP gives me i eat those calories too.

Now im tracking every calorie with the fit bit and am actually scared that i am either eating too much (if the flex is over counting) or two little (eating 2000 calories on a 3000 calorie burn.

Does anyone have any experience with high calorie days with the fitbit and what then should be eaten, Iv eaten 3000 calories today and whilst if the Fxitbit is accurate thats perfectly fine, if its way off, im going to be piling on the pounds superfast.

How accurate do you find your fitbit flex?

BMR = 1756
TDEE = 2264 sedentary
TDEE =2964 (full exercise - Turbo fire, Insanity and Soccer)

I have read and read and read posts here and on Fitbit.com and i am still struggling to work out what the best thing to do with this tech.

I have no problem eating the calories, i just need to be sure im burning more than i am eating!

Any help would be greatly appreciated

EDIT - for typos

Replies

  • pilarter
    pilarter Posts: 49
    I have a Fitbit Zip and I track my Food here at MFP then sync to Fitbit and it has been working great for me, as I got out of the stall I was at, while eating more than never,
    I have to say that I sometimes find hard to eat the many calories I am supposed to eat, but I set my net calories as a weekly-bases goal, so lazy/ 24h shifts at work days are compensated with the days that I can exercise.
    You had your Flex only for a few days, I think you should wait and see how it works for you, and I insist on accuracy in logging food.

    Feel free to befriend if you fel like, here and/or at fitbit
  • lairyliam
    lairyliam Posts: 33 Member
    Your weekly Nett makes sense, - although being grossly under my allotted calories a day is what bothers me, I am led to believe that the simple science of calories eaten - calories burned should be the same to maintain weight, or less depending on desired weight loss.

    I have been logging daily.

    Thanks
  • lairyliam
    lairyliam Posts: 33 Member
    Bump- My topic got moved
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    I've had a One for 5 months and have eaten all my fitbit calories. It has been reasonably accurate: I lose when I set to a deficit, gain on a bulk, and stay the same on maintain.

    If you find you are gaining or not losing as expected, then adjust your goal up or down accordingly on MFP. If your fitbit's calculation is inaccurate, it will at least be consistent about it. Once you've got your goal calibrated you should be fine.
  • lairyliam
    lairyliam Posts: 33 Member
    Thanks that helps. - I presume that includes if you have a 3000 + calorie day?
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    Remember though that the Flex will pick up ANY hand movements & not just step moves...so that means you could be told you have x amount of cals to eat when really you don't have nearly as many. I'd take about half off.
  • zinatara
    zinatara Posts: 76 Member
    I get extra calories from fitbit from just everyday activities. I've changed my activity level up to lightly activ and I still get a few extra even when I have a rest day.

    On MFP I have a daily deficit of 500, so not a very high one. So now I'm trying to either eat my extra calories on the days I'm hungry or leave up to 500 calories when I don't feel like eating. Often the problem is that I'm more active in the afternoon and evening than in the day, so a lot of calories are added in the evening when I'm not that hungry. Yesterday evening I went for a walk/run and when I came home I had about 1000 calories left for the day and it was an hour before I should get to bed.
  • lairyliam
    lairyliam Posts: 33 Member
    Remember though that the Flex will pick up ANY hand movements & not just step moves...so that means you could be told you have x amount of cals to eat when really you don't have nearly as many. I'd take about half off.

    Does that not defeat the object of having one tho. i appreciate it will not be exactly 100% but not doing the math was one of the reasons i opted for the gadget in the first place.

    I have however switched wrists to my non dominant hand, and hope that it would be less sensitive.

    - I try Zinatara to eat my calories early if i know i am exercising so i have been getting within 200-300 calories of my goal, (except the day of 3900 calorie burn (1000 calories of that were exercise as mentioned above)

    i also note your point about consistency Liftallthepiz.
  • KristiRTT
    KristiRTT Posts: 346 Member
    Are you by any chance adding your exercise into myfitnesspal, or just using the fitbit to count exercise calories? When I fist got my one, I was still adding my runs and elliptical workouts like I was used too, and found that half the time I was getting double credit on fitbit for said workouts! Now I just strictly follow the adjustment that fitbit gives me. I have a job where I will almost 4 miles daily, so my activity on mfp was set to fairly active! On days I do not exercise, fitbit sometimes is + or - 100 calories! So I believe it to be pretty accurate! One days I run 5 miles it adds around 450! The total calories I can consume to maintain my weight on those days is around 2600, and I am small at 135 lbs. I hope that makes sense and helps!
  • torymichaels
    torymichaels Posts: 79
    I'm going to watch this thread. I've had my fitbit one for close to two months now and it was just after I got it that I stalled out. According to the One, I burn between 2800 & 3500 a day (the days I walk, it shows) and since it's definitely up by about the right amount the days I walk for exercise (usually between 3-5 miles), I tend to believe what it's saying. I have MFP set to active which gives me 1790 calories to start and it STILL adds exercise calories from Fitbit (usually between 250 - 500/day) I log my food and average 1700-2200 (gross) most days for what I've eaten. I 'should' be losing weight, but I'm not.
  • lairyliam
    lairyliam Posts: 33 Member
    I am but MFP now shows that it includes the calories from FB in it (in the break down) , - i also see the adjustment in FB of the exercise, (checked the numbers before and after) so i am very much confident that there is no "double dipping" (i think its called)

    I use a heart rate monitor for calorie burn for exercise only, the extra stuff that the FB puts on is just my normal daily stuff. i have paid real close attention to it the last couple of days, and while its not an exact science, i think its fairly bob on to my daily routine.

    The only way i will really know is by how much weight i loose or gain over the next few weeks.

    I am actually confident its going to be a loss.
  • lairyliam
    lairyliam Posts: 33 Member
    Double post - Please delete

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