Fitbit and MFP - wondering....

Opuslive
Opuslive Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I use MFP faithfully and carry a Fitbit One. I'm 45yo 235lb 5'10 male HS Teacher. I rarely sit down at work - so I average about 8000-10000 steps per day at work - and then I come home and walk the dog 1.5-2 miles - so I'm hitting about 14K steps per day average.

My goal is to weigh 200lbs.

MFP regularly shows my eating goal should be 2700 calories or so a day with my Fitbit adjustmen (that's with a 1000 per day deficit to lose 2 lbs per week).

Problem is - that seems like a ton of food. I'm currently eating about 2100 calories (what MFP would be telling me to eat if I didn't have my FITBIT adjustment). So - I'm not eating back my "activity calories" for the day.

Currently I'm on a plateau - no significant weight loss in about 10 days - and I don't know what to do...

Do I eat more? I'm scared to death to try to eat 2700+ calories - that I'll gain more weight... But what I'm doing isn't working - so now what? I've considered seeing a nutritionist.... I just want to figure out what I REALLY SHOULD BE EATING.

I figure - with my Fitbit One and MFP telling me I'm cutting 1500 calories or more per day - I should be losing 3 lbs per week- but I'm obviously not....

HELP.....

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    edited October 2014
    Ten days is not a plateau. Add calorie dense foods into your diet (dairy/nuts/nut butters if you have no problems, oils, larger portions of lean meat). Also, 2 pounds a week is too aggressive for your goal (3 pounds isn't good for anyone except the morbidly obese), so adjust down to a 1 pound a week deficit.

    However, if you aren't losing, you may be eating more than you think (which I should have said first, but I'm working on 4.5 hours sleep). How do you determine what you're eating?
  • Opuslive
    Opuslive Posts: 4 Member
    I log everything I eat into MFP - I use a weight scale - I'm actually pretty OCD about it - so i think my calorie intake is pretty accurate....

    If I go to a 1 lb deficit - I think MFP and Fitbit will put me at like 3500 calories per day - at which I can't possibly lose weight..... can I?

    I switched my goals in MFP to 1lb loss and "lightly active" to see where that adjusts to - but seems like I'm going the wrong direction.....

    Big question is still - should I trust MFP to give me my calorie numbers - they just seem like they are too much.....
  • fit4lifemom
    fit4lifemom Posts: 47 Member
    Funny, I integrated my fitbit with MFP last week and it seems to me like there are now too many calories to be eaten as well when the fit bit adjustment is factored in. There is a group for fitbit users on MFP. I suggest taking your question to that group. As for me, I think I will try and decouple my fitbit from MFP. I have a desk job and am really using my fitbit to force myself to get more steps in every day. Good luck
  • thegilly6
    thegilly6 Posts: 137 Member
    You may want to dial your MFP activity level down to low and let the FitBit dictate all of the calories you're burning. It may not matter but that's what I do. There's also a negative mode that can subtract calories if activity is too low or below what MFP thinks you will burn by the end of the day. Try tweaking with those adjustments.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    I don't know if moving from lightly active to sedentary will change much, but it could be worth trying. I'm in retail and keep mine lightly active, mostly now because my base would be too close to 1200 calories.

    What about sodium? Has that been a little high for you lately?
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    edited October 2014
    Fitbit/MFP credits me with too many calories burned per mile. The app(s) give me around 100 calories per mile. At 150 lbs, most online calculators give me 70 to 80 calories per mile. This particular calculator http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calories_burned.asp
    gives me 77 calories per mile.

    It gets more complicated when I workout on top of that. The fitbit calorie burn is automatically adjusted downwards as soon as I add more exercise. (Almost like it's pissed off that I dared to do something other than walk.) So when I add 200 calories for strength training, Fitbit takes most of them back. Depending on the total number of steps (I'm currently averaging around 10k), that might mean I'm only getting credit for 60 to 80 calories per mile.

    To keep things simple and avoid a lot of extra calculations, I just assume my allowed calories are 200 to 300 too high, especially on days when my only exercise is walking.

    At 235 lbs, the same calculator would credit you with 123 calories per mile. If you haven't already done so, you might want to compare that with the credit MFP is giving you for your 14k steps, and adjust accordingly.

    Another thought: I think you might be better off setting your activity level to sedentary and then let fitbit/MFP determine your allowed calories.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    If you're eating 2100 now and not losing at the speed you'd like, eating 2700 is not going to speed things up. You probably need to ignore the last 10 days and look at your longer term average. Change isn't linear and fat loss can occur without weight loss sometimes.

    Good luck!
  • Opuslive
    Opuslive Posts: 4 Member
    What about sodium? Has that been a little high for you lately?

    My sodium is always a bit high... can't seem to shake that part....
  • Opuslive
    Opuslive Posts: 4 Member
    If you're eating 2100 now and not losing at the speed you'd like, eating 2700 is not going to speed things up. You probably need to ignore the last 10 days and look at your longer term average. Change isn't linear and fat loss can occur without weight loss sometimes.

    But I have the fitbit Aria scale - and it says I'm not losing far - my lean body mass is constant....

  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    I've essentially thrown in the towel on using the calories burned between the two since it just seems way too high. I monitor my caloric intake in relation to my scale and calipers and just go on with my life. I only use the fitbit to actually keep me on track for steps and MFP to monitor my intake but the output I just don't worry too much about since it's not very accurate.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    10 days is not a plateau.

    As a 235 pound man, you can possibly safely have a higher deficit (than 1000 per day) for the short term. If you feel energetic, and otherwise have no health concerns - keep doing what you're doing. You need realistic expectations though. The body is not 100% efficient. Some weeks you will maintain, some you may even gain. Generally speaking you should weigh less a month from now than you do today.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Also keep in mind Fitbit can't be 100% accurate. Its good (I love my One) but its still an estimate. I think its safe to assume it could be off by 10% - so if Fitbit says you're burning 3700 per day, it may be more like 3300. Which puts you closer to the 2 pounds/week.

    Above all else, judge what you're doing by how you feel in terms of energy levels and such. Most people can get a decent amount of nutrition consuming 2000-2100 calories a day, so you're probably not doing harm by having a more aggressive loss goal. As you lose weight though, your daily burn will decrease.

    Men have a higher metabolic rate, all else being equal, than women. My husband is just starting his journey and his BMR is higher than I burn (with effort) all day. His goal weight BMR + lightly active lifestyle is still higher (before exercise) than what I can manage.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Opuslive wrote: »
    But I have the fitbit Aria scale - and it says I'm not losing far - my lean body mass is constant....
    Bioelectrical impedence does very poorly at detecting actual changes in body fat.

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