*still!!* deliberating over net vs total calories!

twostepsforward
twostepsforward Posts: 113 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a fitbit and have my settings at sedentary on mfp. My average TDEE is pretty much 2000. This is without any specific exercise, this is just the day to day pottering/office job 2x week/house jobs etc.

As I have it set to sedentary, I always have some exercise calories added on by fitbit each day. Should I eat back these calories to net my target or just stick to the number given by MFP?

The plan is to aim for 2lb loss for the first 14lbs/stone, 1.5lbs loss for the next stone, 1 lb loss for the 3rd and 0.5lb loss for the last, thus gradually upping the calories as time goes on.

I think I am sabotaging my efforts by contemplating too much!
To lose 2lb/week, MFP sets me at 1200 (the minimum). Should I just eat the 1200 and not a crumb more, OR should I go by fitbit and eat the exercise calories it gives me from my day to day activities?

I have been tracking for months but the last two weeks as an example gave a trend downwards then upwards in weight:
Week 1 averages: 1617 calories in, 2017 TDEE and 1417 net calories. Lost 1lb
Week 2 averages: 1934 calories in, 2046 TDEE and 1697 net calories. Gained 2lb

I tend to prefer to eat more at weekend and less during the week so prefer to go on a daily average calorie intake. I find that I understand how fitbit and mfp work together just fine for about 5 mins then just lose it completely! I am just getting nowhere at the moment - lost 5lbs since beginning of June then it seems to be creeping up again this week.

Thanks all.

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    If you have a few stone to lose I wouldn't worry about a few hundred calories either way from the fitbit. All of this calculated calorie stuff is +/- 10% or worse accuracy.

    You lost 1 lb eating 1617
    You gained 2 lb eating 1934

    TDEE was practically the same

    317 calorie difference should be less than 1 lb of difference, you saw 3 lbs of difference. Clearly you're not accurately delivering to the maths. Eat 1500 for a month and see how it goes.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    The weight gain probably means nothing, it could be water or anything really, and one week is not enough to see if something works.

    I'd eat 1500 as well. You're not mentioning what kind of exercise you're doing though... it makes a huge difference.
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
    The weight gain probably means nothing, it could be water or anything really, and one week is not enough to see if something works.

    I'd eat 1500 as well. You're not mentioning what kind of exercise you're doing though... it makes a huge difference.
    Please specify what you mean by "it makes a huge difference."
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    choose a method and stick to it.... either MFP or TDEE... the numbers should be roughly the same either way!

    once you have chosen, yo uneed to give it at least 4-6 weeks before you decide its not working 1-2 weeks is not enough
  • twostepsforward
    twostepsforward Posts: 113 Member
    I have been keeping track of some numbers on hack diet since january.
    Daily average in since beginning of Jan: 1853
    Average tdee from fitbit since beginning march:2018
    Net average (only been noting this down since beginning June): 1595

    Loss since beginning of Jan 3.6lb as noted on the hack diet. Thats only about 0.12 lbs a week so something needs to change!

    My exercise is so erratic there's not much point using it to form part of a tdee. I might have 2 weeks where I exercise loads then the next 2 weeks do nothing at all. I am not exactly consistent....! Which is why I think I am better basing things on a sedentary number.

    The thing is that if I do have it set as sedentary, fitbit gives me some calories as I have been more active than just sedentary, so it might allow me to have 1500 cals instead of say 1200. But should I ignore this and just stick with the 1200?

    Thanks
  • twostepsforward
    twostepsforward Posts: 113 Member
    Hmm, so thats about a 165 cal deficit per day, ignoring net calories. which isn't that much anyway. Only about 1155 per week.

    I think I have been giving myself too much room thinking about eating back cals that fitbit give me. Its clear that my general tdee stays around 2000 before any proper exercise so if I stick to using a cut from that - 1500 as suggested, I should, in theory start losing 1 lb a week. I kept thinking, no 1 lb a week is too slow, but clearly thats a false economy as its taken me 6.5 months to lose less than 4 lbs!

    New plan, ignore net calories and take a cut from tdee. Anything I make from exercise would be a bonus loss.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    The weight gain probably means nothing, it could be water or anything really, and one week is not enough to see if something works.

    I'd eat 1500 as well. You're not mentioning what kind of exercise you're doing though... it makes a huge difference.
    Please specify what you mean by "it makes a huge difference."

    It makes a huge difference if you're basing your TDEE off a fitbit. Like, if your exercise is walking or running, it will show, but if you do home videos and burn 500 calories but hardly move, your fitbit won't register it. So adding all exercise calories might be adding too much.

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