Fitbit confusion - am I at a decent deficit?

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Trixiegirl66
Trixiegirl66 Posts: 75 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been logging food here for over a month and using the Fitbit flex for almost two weeks. I received the weekly report and it says I burned 15,008 calories burned, 11,279 calories eaten, leaving me with a -5250 plan deficit. So after walking a little over 24 miles this past week I have no weight loss reflected on the scale. I am truly at wits end with this lack of progress - my husband says to be patient but I can't help but think I am doing something wrong. And by the way, the 24 miles is all hills. My diary is open if anyone cares to give it a quick review. Needless to say, I am very frustrated and would greatly appreciate some feedback.

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  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Are you using the fitbit or MFP to track your calories in and out? Are you measuring your food? Does the amount of downhill roughly equal the uphill on your walks (I'm guessing it's less than 15% slopes)?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    A 20% slope is steeper than the road up Pike's Peak.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Start with making sure the food entries on MFP and fitbit match and start measuring ... you can't balance the input side of the eqation without knowing what you're really eating. Then make sure your stride length is set properly in the fitbit.

    Uphill walking does burn more caloires than flat terrain. The flipside is that downhill burns less than flat ground with an exception beyond the 15% grade point according to physiological studies done. It isn't a total cancellation in the equation but going up and down is not the huge boost to calorie burns as it gets presented around MFP. Walking also is not a big caloric burn at about .3 calories per pound per mile net expenditure. That's 45 net caloires for a150 pound person, 60 for a 200 pound person, per mile.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    When I try to put my treadmill on 15%, I have to hang on to the bar to avoid falling off the back. 20% would be a mountain!

    Like others have said, start with more accurate logging. Measure everything. I have found my fitbit quite accurate in measuring my calorie burn. I'm on maintenance and if I eat what my fitbit says is my 24 burn, I pretty much stay the same weight.
  • baby72500
    baby72500 Posts: 7
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    I have this very same question.... I should be losing based on what it tells me I burn but I see no budge in the scale..... I log food on mfp and let the fitbit log my walking, I don't log my exercise/walks separately.. maybe I need to?
  • mamaleftwich
    mamaleftwich Posts: 256 Member
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    I purchased a food scale two weeks ago and I wished that I would have purchased it when I stArted this journey two years ago! LOL It really is amazing how much I was miscalculating the amount of food I was eating, even thou I have lost weight, I could probably be better if I would have used a food scale to measure. it truly does make a difference.
  • nlsalvatore
    nlsalvatore Posts: 521 Member
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    I use my Fitbit as a motivator, but I don't have it synced to MFP. It tracks every step throughout the day, but what I do is use MFP to log food, and only add steps as exercise to MFP as a walk if I actually took a walk. I also do Aqua Zumba which doesn't show up on my Fitbit. I have done this for 6 weeks and have lost about 6 lbs. If I do Zumba or Wii Fit, which I also love, I just count that exercise.
  • mamaleftwich
    mamaleftwich Posts: 256 Member
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    I have this very same question.... I should be losing based on what it tells me I burn but I see no budge in the scale..... I log food on mfp and let the fitbit log my walking, I don't log my exercise/walks separately.. maybe I need to?

    Any exercise that you do you should log into MFP
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    I enter my food in MFP and let my fitbit sync my steps. I do log separately any exercise for which I wear my HRM (rebounder and cycling). I am careful to enter the times correctly so that fitbit won't add any calories for those sessions.

    Accurate logging is a factor in comparing your food intake to your calorie burn.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    Any exercise that you do you should log into MFP

    Not if you have your Fitbit synced to MFP. Then it would be double logged.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Any exercise that you do you should log into MFP

    Not if you have your Fitbit synced to MFP. Then it would be double logged.

    Logged exercises override the fitbit entry for the times provided.
  • aleggett321
    aleggett321 Posts: 186 Member
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    Maybe it was a typo, but 15,008 minus 11,279 is only a 3729 cal deficit. This is about a pound. There could be myriad reasons why that pound on paper doesn't equal your actual weight loss. Water fluctuations or retention, even slightly inaccurate logging can make a difference.
    I think you may need to listen to hubby and be patient. Weight loss can be inconsistent, not linear. You may stay the same weight for a while and then suddenly drop a couple of pounds. Log accurately on MFP, let your fitbit track your calories burned, and don't get discouraged! You can do it :smile:
  • evsplava
    evsplava Posts: 35 Member
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    You may not have lost pounds but have instead lost inches. There are two different ways of calculating calorie burn and i have found both fitbit and my fitness pal to be accurate
  • roenutrition
    roenutrition Posts: 26 Member
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    I just bought a fitbit one on Thursday. I am logging all my food on MFP as well as my exercise. I am also logging exercise on Fit bit. They are off a bit. For example I walked/jogged 2.74 miles today. MFP stated I burned 362 calories and the fitbit stated 465. Wasn't sure which is accurate. Fitbit stated very active. I used the timer when I exercised to keep accurate minutes. So I added the two and average it and that is what I used for my calories burned. Any suggestions?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Fitbits include BMR in their calculations. Look at the reading when you first wake up and you'll notice the overnight burn.
  • glow77enil
    glow77enil Posts: 25 Member
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    I wear the Fibit flex and have been for a year now. I got really SERIOUS about 3 months ago by logging my food into mfp. I am also a Weight Watcher member. I am going into the 4th month and I have just now started losing. I logged my food in faithfully and walked six days a week and was really frustrated because I was not seeing changes. I was my own self motivator by being determined that I was not giving up. You have to keep doing what you are doing and you'll see the results. We have to also remember that it didn't take two weeks to get to wear we are. Keep going and pushing yourself.
    Sync your fitbit to mfp, you will love it. You will see the extra calories earned when you exercise.

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