Success eating back Fitbit calories

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jasveersingh925
jasveersingh925 Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been using Fitbit more these past few weeks and I have enjoyed having calories available from exercise. Has anyone lost weight eating back the adjustment the Fitbit gives? I am set to lose 1lb/week and was not eating back these calories before but this weekend I ate more. I am just wondering how it's worked out for others when they eat them back. Thanks!

Replies

  • jessiruthica
    jessiruthica Posts: 412 Member
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    I've been on MFP for 8 weeks and am down 12 pounds. I use the FitBit to measure exercise / calories burned. I usually eat most of my calories back, although not always. It depends on if I'm still hungry or if I just want a little treat. So, it depends on what works for you. If you are losing while eating the calories back, then carry on. If not, then readjust and eat fewer of the calories back. Many people here on MFP will warn that MFP is VERY generous on calorie burn, and so only eat 50% back. YMMV.
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
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    I usually ate some of them back. I rarely ate ALL of them back unless I was especially hungry. Just experiment and find what works for you.
  • brightsideofpink
    brightsideofpink Posts: 1,018 Member
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    Most people have reported that fitbit calorie estimates are pretty accurate for step based exercises. I don't wear a HRM so I can't tell you for sure, but in my experience, I'm losing weight at the rate at which all my logging tells me I will, even with eating back fitbit calories.

    My approach is to eat them if I'm hungry. If I'm really hungry or snacky or its just that time of the month, I often find myself eating back most or all of them, but never more. If I'm not hungry and its close to bed, I don't force myself to eat them. Its been working for me quite nicely.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    The two cases where I'd be concerned are:

    - You're manually logging stuff that might or might not be good calorie burn estimates. Those will affect your Fitbit adjustments.

    - You have MFP set to lose 1 lb/week but your calorie burn goal isn't high enough, without hitting the 1200 calorie floor. It's not likely but say you only burn 1500 or so without exercise so MFP only lets you run a deficit of 300/day. There's no reason you couldn't increase your activity to up that to 500/day but the way MFP is set up is it adds it back. So if you're ok with losing slower than your goal, it's no biggie. But be aware that it's doing that. Even with exercise, it decides you can't run a deficit of 500/day. Though if your base activity level was higher, MFP would be fine with that. The distinction is arbitrary.
  • thesmallestpineapple
    thesmallestpineapple Posts: 21 Member
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    If I eat back my fitbit calories I gain weight. I use the fitbit as a general indication of how active I've been in the day, but just use the basic MFP calorie value and add separately specific 'workout' stuff like running and cycling that I measure with a garmin hrm/gps-thingy. It all evens out in the end to a pretty steady weight loss for me.
  • woofer00
    woofer00 Posts: 123 Member
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    I eat back, but based on using negative adjustment and tweaking to my MFP net calorie target. Most of the steps and calories the fitbit measures are overwritten by what I log into MFP off cardio machines (and then gets synced back into fitbit). When I go for a walk or run, the calorie adjustment seems fairly accurate.
  • redwoodkestrel
    redwoodkestrel Posts: 339 Member
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    I usually eat back 25-75% of my Fitbit calories. And my Fitbit is the only way I track my calories burned through exercise, since all my activities (walking, running, hiking) are step-based, except for an occasional kayaking trip.

    Seems to be working - down 73 lbs in 8 months! :drinker:
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    I eat mine back, was successful in losing and now in maintaining using that approach. I have found it to be pretty accurate for estimating daily total calories burned and have adjusted my MFP goal according to my FitBit estimate of my TDEE. It took some tweaking to get the two systems working together optimally but once I made some adjustments it works well. I've had my FitBit for over a year.
  • arrrrjt
    arrrrjt Posts: 245 Member
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    Short answer: It depends!

    Long answer: It depends on what you're eating and what you're doing ;) I find many exercises fitbit does not really register well - calisthenics, body weight workouts, sprints, etc. In which case I would eat back the calories and maybe a bit more. If I am hungry after an intense workout, you can bet I'm not going to feel guilty about reaching for a healthy snack. So far, the weight loss ahas been slow but steady for me using this method.
  • jasveersingh925
    jasveersingh925 Posts: 50 Member
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    Thanks for the responses. I am glad to see things have worked out for many people - would enjoy reading about more successes!

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