Body Media and myfitnesspal linked

Chocolatdee1203
Chocolatdee1203 Posts: 20
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello Everyone,

I recently bought a Body Media Link Armband and have linked it to my myfitnesspal app. I am suppose to have a 1000 calorie deficit however just from walking yesterday 9600 steps no workout and my eating it showed a 1100 calorie deficit. My question is once I add my workout to this regimen my deficit is going to grow. Do I A. increase my food or B. change the setting on my armband. I don't know alot about METS or if I should use the Heart Rate Option to record my heart rate or if I can just leave that out. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks in Advance!!!!!

Replies

  • ccather
    ccather Posts: 16 Member
    I have the Body Media Link too. You can tie the apps together so that Body Media sends your "earned exercise calories" to MFP. It's not always an exact science. I more keep an eye on the deficit that I maintain in the Body Media app on the phone. As long as I'm near (or will be by midnight which requires some mental maths ;) I don't pay too much attention to MFP's remaining calories to be consumed numbers.

    It took me a little while to find my sweet spot of calorie burn vs food consumption and deficits. Averaging a 700-900 cal per day deficit it the magic spot for me. I burn about 65 cal an hour when I'm idle, so if I'm at -500 by 8pm or so, I'm good to go. The Body Media app makes it so easy to see that. Let the armband do it's thing and don't mess with adding exercise into MFP.

    I love my Body Media! I'm a cronic over estimator "That workout was totally 1,000,000 calories burned! EAT ALL THE CAKE!" Nah, it's probably closer to 350. It may not be an exact science, but I think it's in the ballpark, which really helps. It doesn't hurt that it totally appeals to the engineer in me! All the numbers!

    Good Luck!
  • Initial_D
    Initial_D Posts: 2 Member
    Do you have your activity level on MFP set to sedentary? I ask, because I feel like if MFP is adding 300 calories to my goal because it is compensating for me being lightly active, and then Bodymedia sends over my calories burned for being lightly active, that they are being counted twice. I wear the armband all day, so it's counting everything I do.
  • Chocolatdee1203
    Chocolatdee1203 Posts: 20
    Thanks CCather, so if you find that you are over your deficit do you eat more? I am suppose to have a 1000 calorie deficit but yesterday it was like 1175. Should I have ate something else. I just don't want to under eat and find that I am not losing weight because of it. I am so excited about the Link. This is only my third day wearing it.
  • Chocolatdee1203
    Chocolatdee1203 Posts: 20
    Initial D, good point I will have to look into that when I get home. I never thought of that. I want to really go by the deficit on my Link and not my balance on MFP. I just want to make sure it is right.
  • ccather
    ccather Posts: 16 Member
    Thanks CCather, so if you find that you are over your deficit do you eat more? I am suppose to have a 1000 calorie deficit but yesterday it was like 1175. Should I have ate something else. I just don't want to under eat and find that I am not losing weight because of it. I am so excited about the Link. This is only my third day wearing it.

    It completely depends on what I've been up to in order to create that deficit, what my eating looked like that day and what the day before and the day after will look like. If I do any distance running in a day, say 8+ miles, my calorie burn will start to add up. Sometimes I can't eat them all back (if I'm making super awesome food choices that day!) but maybe I'll eat a little more the day before in anticipation or a little more the day after. As long as my average is about 700ish over those three days and I'm not starving, I'm cool with a one off high deficit day. As a rule, however, I would not have a huge deficit consistently.

    Generally, I have found my sweet spot to be eating around 1500-1700 calories and maintaining about a 7-800 calorie deficit. That's enough food to keep me happy with what I'm eating (AKA maintainable!!) and enough activity (boot camp 2xs a week, soccer 2xs week and run/bike/swim training for whatever race I'm working on...oh and I work and have 3 kids. Always going! ;)

    What are your calorie goals set to? What kinds of activity are you doing?
  • Chocolatdee1203
    Chocolatdee1203 Posts: 20
    Thanks CCather, so if you find that you are over your deficit do you eat more? I am suppose to have a 1000 calorie deficit but yesterday it was like 1175. Should I have ate something else. I just don't want to under eat and find that I am not losing weight because of it. I am so excited about the Link. This is only my third day wearing it.

    It completely depends on what I've been up to in order to create that deficit, what my eating looked like that day and what the day before and the day after will look like. If I do any distance running in a day, say 8+ miles, my calorie burn will start to add up. Sometimes I can't eat them all back (if I'm making super awesome food choices that day!) but maybe I'll eat a little more the day before in anticipation or a little more the day after. As long as my average is about 700ish over those three days and I'm not starving, I'm cool with a one off high deficit day. As a rule, however, I would not have a huge deficit consistently.

    Generally, I have found my sweet spot to be eating around 1500-1700 calories and maintaining about a 7-800 calorie deficit. That's enough food to keep me happy with what I'm eating (AKA maintainable!!) and enough activity (boot camp 2xs a week, soccer 2xs week and run/bike/swim training for whatever race I'm working on...oh and I work and have 3 kids. Always going! ;)

    What are your calorie goals set to? What kinds of activity are you doing?

    So I want to lose 1.5 to 2 lbs a week. To do that MFP and the Band say I have to eat about 1200 a day. I spend most of the day sitting on Mon, Wed, and Fri as I work from home so I don't have to walk to work, around the office to get to the bathroom, out for lunch, and back to the train etc. On those days by the time I get home I have like 7000 steps on the other days I am home I have like 3000 at the end of the day. I work out like an hour on those days to make sure I hit my 10,000 steps. I am just getting started with the whole eating right and working out thing so I suspect it will change (I am trying to get in 4 days a week). However, I do feel like the 1200 calories is unrealistic and I am starving most of the time so maybe I should up that on days I am working out. I come from a WW world and had some success in the past but wanted to try something new with the LInk and MFP. I was never starving on WW but since that was a points system I have no idea what 30 pts is in calories. With WW all fruits and veggies are 0 points. However on MFP everything counts. My 1 point smoothie is 230 calories, lol. So I will try what you said and see if that helps me. I guess everything is about finding what works from you. Thanks sooo much for your help.
  • ccather
    ccather Posts: 16 Member
    I come from the WW world as well. I lost about 55 lbs with them before I had my kids, but gained it all back with my last pregnancy. :( I could never get back into the swing of things with it. I like what I'm doing now much better and think it's long term sustainable. I think your point about the smoothie illustrates some of the flaws with WW vs reality. Everything does count!

    If you're hungry at 1200 calories, plain old eat some more. 1.5-2 week is very aggressive. Personally, I would get sick of being hungry and start to blow things off (matter of fact, I have done exactly that!) If you want to target 1200, but on days that you're hungry add in 3-500 cals, then do it, especially if those are workout days. There's no way I can sustain my exercise levels on my 1500 calorie days without eating some of it back. I can't even imagine trying it at 1200.

    So, yeah, fiddle with your numbers a bit to find your sweet spot! That point at which you're satisfied with what you're eating and you're maintaining a deficit enough to lose with. You may find that it's closer to the 1-1.5 range and that's okay. The old "you didn't gain it overnight, you're not going to lose it overnight" thing is true! Be patient with yourself :)

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