Have A Fitbit: Need Help Setting MFP Calorie Goal

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ExcelWithMel
ExcelWithMel Posts: 192 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have read several posts on this topic, but still can't get the math right in my head and MFP and my Fitbit are not showing similar results at the end of the day. I guess I'm just bad a math. Any help that can be provided is appreciated:

I have a new FitBit flex. I have tracked 11 days so far. My average TDEE over those 11 days is 2,460. I have set my FitBit to deduct 500 calories per day to achieve a 1# loss per week. So I should be eating roughly 1,960 calories per day. I can read my FitBit calorie target often, but it changes by the hour depending on how active I am. So it's a moving target and frustrating.

I track my food and workouts in MFP so I'd rather set a MFP goal and stick as close to that as I can.

If this matters, I also have been tracking my workouts with a Polar F6 HRM and enter that information into MFP which deducts from FitBit so I am not double tracking. Out of the 11 days, I did 5 kickboxing or HIIT workouts averaging 34 minutes each and burned an average of 299 calories (according to my HRM). I would start them at an exact 15 minute interval and compare it to what the FitBit was saying, and FitBit was always quite a bit lower so I am using the HRM monitor. I think the FitBit would be good for calculating burns for walking and running, but I'm not in that season. I am recovering from shoulder surgery so starting this week I expect to be doing 4-5 boxing or HIIT workouts per week instead of 2-3.

For several days I had MFP set to 1,500 calories per day (and aimed to eat my exercise and fitbit calories back), but it was off from the FitBit so I upped it to 1,700 but I'm still off. And not necessarily in the right direction but I don't think I should be eating less than 1,500 calories.

Additional Stats: 41 year old female, 5'8", 184#, want to be 160-165.

So any thoughts on what I should set MFP calories to to closely match my FitBit or is that not the way it works? I like that my FitBit takes the guesswork out of calculating my TDEE, but I really only want to have to watch MFP to see how many calories I need to eat daily to have a 500 calorie deficit.

Thanks!

Replies

  • Psalm17v22
    Psalm17v22 Posts: 168 Member
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    I have a FitBit Force and I just use FitBit to monitor my calorie deficit. I have MFP set to sedentary since walking is my primary source of exercise. but I don't pay much attention to my TDEE on MFP.
    Sorry I couldn't be more help, I just don't think there is any way to get them close.
    God bless,
    Karen
  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
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    Watched a video today and the guy said to set it to 'sedentary',
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    For your HIIT and kickboxing fitbit will not record accurately so use your HRM reading and log it as an exercise activity, noting the start time and duration.

    As you've already done, use past data to work out your average TDEE. Yours appears to be in the region of 2500. Therefore if you wish to take a 500 cal deficit, an option would be to set your MFP goal to 2000 cal and eat that every day. Do not eat back exercise cals as these are already accounted for. Therefore in this case you'd ignore MFP's 'net' figure.

    I don't really pay much attention to my MFP goals at all. Rather, I just use MFP to log food then use fitbit to check this fits within my expected burns or the day.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    For your HIIT and kickboxing fitbit will not record accurately so use your HRM reading and log it as an exercise activity, noting the start time and duration.

    As you've already done, use past data to work out your average TDEE. Yours appears to be in the region of 2500. Therefore if you wish to take a 500 cal deficit, an option would be to set your MFP goal to 2000 cal and eat that every day. Do not eat back exercise cals as these are already accounted for. Therefore in this case you'd ignore MFP's 'net' figure.

    I don't really pay much attention to my MFP goals at all. Rather, I just use MFP to log food then use fitbit to check this fits within my expected burns or the day.
    Same here. I don't think trying to get the two site's goals in synch is worth it. They use different methods.

    I would try to keep my TDEE (per Fitbit) around 2400-2500 and my intake between 1500-2000 (or whichever end of that range appeals to you) and go about my days, ignoring 'net' and all the other micromanaging stuff both sites try to use.
  • ExcelWithMel
    ExcelWithMel Posts: 192 Member
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    Great. Thank you all. I guess I was over thinking it. I will set MPF to 1,960 and ignore the daily adjustments that happen for over/under additional calories burned. I can adjust that periodically when my weight goes down and my activity consistently goes up.

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