Maintaining with fitbit calorie calculations

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  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    You don't log your TDEE anywhere. Join your accounts at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps/show/30 Then Fitbit sends your TDEE to MFP & MFP sends your aggregate meals & drink (including water) to Fitbit.

    Be sure to enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • spikrgrl503
    spikrgrl503 Posts: 247 Member
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    You're also pretty tall for a woman. Silly question, but have you calibrated your fitbit? I'm a 6' woman and so I take longer steps. Before calibrating it said I was walking 15,000-20,000 a day. Then I went to the track and counted the number of steps it took me to run and walk 400m (one lap). When I put that into the fitbit settings it lengthened my stride and now even though I'm the same degree of active it has me taking 10,000-12,000 steps a day. That's going to make a huge difference in your calorie burn
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    I also calibrated mine (I'm 5'10 and have long strides). Yes, it's annoying. My husband is taller than me but has shorter legs. He takes 25% more steps to walk the same distance. It seems unfair he gets more calories than us efficient types.

    In answer to the earlier comment: as some one else said, the sites are set up so you track food on MFP and track exercise with fitbit. Everything coordinates on MFP. That's what both sites recommend.

    If you want to use MFP as a meal planner and log your food in Fitbit, unlink the accounts and just pay attention to what Fitbit tells you to guide your eating and activities. Continuing using MFP for planning.
  • mdoyle28
    mdoyle28 Posts: 62 Member
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    You're also pretty tall for a woman. Silly question, but have you calibrated your fitbit? I'm a 6' woman and so I take longer steps. Before calibrating it said I was walking 15,000-20,000 a day. Then I went to the track and counted the number of steps it took me to run and walk 400m (one lap). When I put that into the fitbit settings it lengthened my stride and now even though I'm the same degree of active it has me taking 10,000-12,000 steps a day. That's going to make a huge difference in your calorie burn

    Never heard of this how do u calibrate it? I have my height entered on the site but is this different?
  • tahinilove
    tahinilove Posts: 72 Member
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    Bumping this. I'm trying to go into my fitbit maintenance. I burn around 2300 on average but I don't add weight lifting calories to that. I've upped to around 2000 calories and not gained, or lost. I'm pretty lean already. I get hungry still on these calories so I'm unsure if my maintenance will be 2300+ or not!
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Never heard of this how do u calibrate it? I have my height entered on the site but is this different?
    https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/176045-how-do-i-measure-and-adjust-my-stride-length-

    How do I measure and adjust my stride length?

    1. Go to a track or somewhere that you know the exact distance of.
    2. Count your steps as you walk across that distance, making sure you travel at least 20 steps.
    3. Divide the total distance (in feet) taken by the number of steps to get your stride length.

    Your running stride can be calculated the same way, only by running a known distance rather than walking.

    To adjust your stride length on your Dashboard, please do the following:
    1. Log into your Fitbit.com Dashboard.
    2. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of your Dashboard and select "Settings."
    3. You will see a field for Stride Length and Running Stride Length. From here, you can manually enter your personal stride length. If you leave these blank, your profile will estimate these values based on your height and gender.
    4. Click the "Update Profile" button to save your changes. Note that a sync will be required to update your tracker with your new stride measurements.
  • mdoyle28
    mdoyle28 Posts: 62 Member
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    Never heard of this how do u calibrate it? I have my height entered on the site but is this different?
    https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/176045-how-do-i-measure-and-adjust-my-stride-length-

    How do I measure and adjust my stride length?

    1. Go to a track or somewhere that you know the exact distance of.
    2. Count your steps as you walk across that distance, making sure you travel at least 20 steps.
    3. Divide the total distance (in feet) taken by the number of steps to get your stride length.

    Your running stride can be calculated the same way, only by running a known distance rather than walking.

    To adjust your stride length on your Dashboard, please do the following:
    1. Log into your Fitbit.com Dashboard.
    2. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of your Dashboard and select "Settings."
    3. You will see a field for Stride Length and Running Stride Length. From here, you can manually enter your personal stride length. If you leave these blank, your profile will estimate these values based on your height and gender.
    4. Click the "Update Profile" button to save your changes. Note that a sync will be required to update your tracker with your new stride measurements.

    Thank you!! I will do this when weather allows...hopefully sooner vs later!
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,525 Member
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    I would trust your body's results over your fitbit. I use a Bodymedia, and it was reading very high. Over the course of nearly 10 months I have tracked my progress and my intake. It confirmed my suspicions that Bodymedia was way off. So be careful with the fitbit. So many have said, it may very well need adjusting.

    The truth is that if you are not gaining or losing, then you are eating at maintenance. Tighten up your logging to make sure you are not underestimating your food. This is a much bigger problem in maintenance than when you are losing. Use some of the online calculators as a point of reference. You likely are not too far from those. There is also an excellent one posted in "in place of a road map" group.

    Good luck.
  • tahinilove
    tahinilove Posts: 72 Member
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    Bodymedia's are known to overestimate around 10% I believe?

    Couldn't it also be that our bodies get used to a certain calorie intake and when increasing you might see a small initial rise (glycogen) but after that you will maintain?
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,525 Member
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    Bodymedia's are known to overestimate around 10% I believe?

    Couldn't it also be that our bodies get used to a certain calorie intake and when increasing you might see a small initial rise (glycogen) but after that you will maintain?

    Mine seems to be off by about 20-30%. That is about 600+ calories for me! That makes a big difference fast!

    But I was probably underestimating intake a bit too. I got a new digital food scale (my old one was an antique from the 70s and not digital), and it has shown me a few errors!

    But the point is the only real way you can verify these numbers is by tracking your eating and your results. It became obvious when I gained weight consistently that mine was off!

    I would still take any of these devices as a helpful estimate only! Instead, if you are gaining, cut 100 cals or so. If you are losing add a few calories. The thing that helps me is to remind myself that this is a lifelong journey.

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