BMR/TDEE/MFP and FITBIT

I have been at it almost 60 days and just not seeing the results I had in the past. So I got to looking at the rest of the numbers.
My net calories according to MFP is 1530
My fitbit says I average about 1980 burned calories per day in the last month
My TDEE is 1814
and my BMR is 1630

So with all of that hoping a numbers person can come in and tell me if I am where I should be or should I be eating more or less.
I have been reading and will continue to read how TDEE and BMR fit into the equation but in the meantime figured I would ask.
I often wonder if my fitbit is messing with things as well -- I LOVE the step counter but perhaps it is tweaking MFP incorrectly and I should not sync it and go back to letting MFP decide daily -- Although you would think the fitbit is a better gauge since it is on me and not just guesstimating. I think I have too many numbers and too much info I just need to know what numbers to believe so that I can be successful once again.

Thanks for the help!

If your Fitbit is saying that you're burning 1980 calories a day, what makes you say that your TDEE is 1814?

Some site online

There's the source of your confusion, then. What you see with online calculators is an estimated TDEE. What the Fitbit is giving you is your actual TDEE based on how much you, personally, move.

I have been using a fitbit flex for the last 7 weeks & I find it to be very accurate. My BMR is about 1650, so I eat at this level each day. I then try to ensure I burn enough cals on my fitbit to ensure a 3500 cal deficit for the week. This allows me to loose at a rate of 1lb per week. Based on my stats since wearing it I have lost at a rate of 1lb per week as planned. Most of my exercise is walking/hiking and I don't eat back additional calories unless I have had quite a high additional burn - If I did a long hike on a weekend & burned an additional 600 calories to my usual day, then I might eat back half.

Sometimes I do circuit training, but I log these separately & don't tend to eat back the cals. I don't like eating back cals from exercise which I am effectively having to guesstimate the calories burned. If I do this I run the risk of over estimating calories burned & then pver eating when I eat them back.

I try not to get too bogged down with the figures in terms of TDEE etc. I would suggest you eat at BMR. After that it is a simple equation of cals in V cals out. You need to burn 3500 cals more than you consume each week to loose 1lb. So, as long as you weight & track your food accurately and watch how many cals you burn with the fit bit, the scales should start moving.

I really struggled before I go my fitbit. Finally I feel I have a little more control.

So you eat at your BMR and then don't eat the exercise calories you burn unless it's a hike? I'm sorry, but that's terrible advice.

ETA: And what's the point of having a fitbit if you just eat your BMR?

I have been using a fitbit flex for the last 7 weeks & I find it to be very accurate. My BMR is about 1650, so I eat at this level each day. I then try to ensure I burn enough cals on my fitbit to ensure a 3500 cal deficit for the week. This allows me to loose at a rate of 1lb per week. Based on my stats since wearing it I have lost at a rate of 1lb per week as planned. Most of my exercise is walking/hiking and I don't eat back additional calories unless I have had quite a high additional burn - If I did a long hike on a weekend & burned an additional 600 calories to my usual day, then I might eat back half.

Sometimes I do circuit training, but I log these separately & don't tend to eat back the cals. I don't like eating back cals from exercise which I am effectively having to guesstimate the calories burned. If I do this I run the risk of over estimating calories burned & then pver eating when I eat them back.

I try not to get too bogged down with the figures in terms of TDEE etc. I would suggest you eat at BMR. After that it is a simple equation of cals in V cals out. You need to burn 3500 cals more than you consume each week to loose 1lb. So, as long as you weight & track your food accurately and watch how many cals you burn with the fit bit, the scales should start moving.

I really struggled before I go my fitbit. Finally I feel I have a little more control.

So you eat at your BMR and then don't eat the exercise calories you burn unless it's a hike? I'm sorry, but that's terrible advice.

ETA: And what's the point of having a fitbit if you just eat your BMR?

I set my MFP daily cal goal at my bmr - so yes this is the base I work from. On days were i don't do any 'exercise' beyond my normal daily movements, then I stick to that bmr figure. On days when I do exercise, fitbit is linked to MFP and will show me extra cals burned and offer them as extra cals to eat. If I'm hungry I eat them - usually I eat between 50-75% of those cals. If I'm not then I don't - I tend to listen to my body in this respect. I only have big calorie burns when I go hiking 1-2 times a week max (sometimes not at all). I think the other poster maybe thinks I am exercising daily, not eating those extra cals at all & therefore my net cals (total cals consumed-exercise cals) is below bmr on a daily basis? This is not the case.

I'm not a professional, I'm just offering my personal experience. Everone has a different opinion of what works or what is 'right'. All this advice can make it hard to know what to do. Presently I'm eating healthy fresh food (I love cooking), I'm full, have loads of energy, I'm more active day to day and am loosing 1lb a week - it works for me. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear in earlier posts - OP you can pm me if you want.

The fit bit has basically made the equation much simpler & now I am loosing consistently.

I agree OP, all the numbers can be confusing.

I also agree with Jonny and others that told you that what your FitBit is telling you your average calories burned are, that is actually your TDEE, within a small margin of error. Much more accurate than some calculator online.

I wouldn't worry about the BMR too much - it sounds like you are being reasonable about not eating a VLCD and so I don't think you are going to eat drastically below your BMR.

If I were you I would take that average FitBit calories burned over a month (or longer if you have the data) and calculate a deficit from there. If you want to lose a pound/week, subtract 500 cal from that average daily burned and set that as your new goal in MFP. Sounds like you are already pretty close to that number.

If you do considerably more exercise on a day to day basis, you will get an adjustment above that calorie level and I would eat those calories back. If you do non-step based exercise, I would enter those calories from your HRM into MFP and if that results in an adjustment, I would eat those back too. I wear my FitBit, even when I do non-step exercise, so that FitBit recognizes I'm doing something for that 30 minute period or whatever, and then when I put the activity into MFP it adjusts and FitBit adjusts and I don't believe they are double counting - they are adjusting accordingly.

I would track your weight for the next few weeks or more and see if you get the desired results.

For me personally, since I've had my FitBit I've had to tweak my settings and goals a couple of times to get things right, but I find the FitBit to be very accurate - I was losing 0.5lb/week as desired and have been maintaining for the last couple of months with no real issues.

I agree OP, all the numbers can be confusing.

I also agree with Jonny and others that told you that what your FitBit is telling you your average calories burned are, that is actually your TDEE, within a small margin of error. Much more accurate than some calculator online.

I wouldn't worry about the BMR too much - it sounds like you are being reasonable about not eating a VLCD and so I don't think you are going to eat drastically below your BMR.

If I were you I would take that average FitBit calories burned over a month (or longer if you have the data) and calculate a deficit from there. If you want to lose a pound/week, subtract 500 cal from that average daily burned and set that as your new goal in MFP. Sounds like you are already pretty close to that number.

If you do considerably more exercise on a day to day basis, you will get an adjustment above that calorie level and I would eat those calories back. If you do non-step based exercise, I would enter those calories from your HRM into MFP and if that results in an adjustment, I would eat those back too. I wear my FitBit, even when I do non-step exercise, so that FitBit recognizes I'm doing something for that 30 minute period or whatever, and then when I put the activity into MFP it adjusts and FitBit adjusts and I don't believe they are double counting - they are adjusting accordingly.

I would track your weight for the next few weeks or more and see if you get the desired results.

For me personally, since I've had my FitBit I've had to tweak my settings and goals a couple of times to get things right, but I find the FitBit to be very accurate - I was losing 0.5lb/week as desired and have been maintaining for the last couple of months with no real issues.