BodyMedia Fit usage and MFP numbers

ox45
ox45 Posts: 90 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I have been using the BodyMedia Fit band for a few weeks now, and have started to collect enough data to question a few things. My biggest question is, should I use MFP's numbers, or should I trust what the BodyMedia is telling me.

MFP has me at 1730 calories per day net. BodyMedia has me at 1950. But my actual readings have me at burning an average of 3400+ a day. So in theory I should be eating 2400+ a day.
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I have been keeping my average calories right at around 1740 which is very close to the MFP guide. However, when I look at my deficits on the BodyMedia, the deficits average out to 1730 which is way more than the recommended 1000 maximum.
Summary2.jpg
Summary3.jpg

The calorie load I have been using usually keeps me pretty full, or at least enough that squeezing in another 700+ calories seems impossible without just packing in useless calories just to do so.

Would you recommend that I change my MFP goals to reflect the BodyMedia readings, or stick with what I have been doing?

Thanks!

Replies

  • B140
    B140 Posts: 56
    I use a bodymedia fit too. I have been using it since February. Honestly, I use the BMF for my calories and MFP to log my food. I shoot for a 1000 cal deficit everyday, according to the armband, and feel like I'm getting plenty to eat. I adjust MFP with exercise calories everyday to reflect the numbers that the armband is giving me. I have lost 26 lbs so far. My hubby just got a BMF band this weekend and has realized he probably wasn't eating enough to sustain his exercise goals. He started losing weight at the same time as me and has lost about 10 pounds less than me. He has had a hard time eating the amount of food the band says too because he feels like if he eats he won't lose weight. We can't say how well it's worked for him yet, but he did say it was a lot easier to workout two days in a row with eating the extra food and that before he really felt the need for a rest day in between workouts.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    I upped the calories I was eating based on my BMF info and lost weight again when I'd been plateaued for over a month. I tend to defer to the band info, always keeping in mind that it has a 10% +/- error window.
  • FaithandFitness
    FaithandFitness Posts: 653 Member
    I would go witth the numbers you are getting from the bodymedia . . .since MFP is just a generalization and this is data from your body. I must say, those charts look awesome and fun to play with, I'd love one for myself!
  • marianne_s
    marianne_s Posts: 983 Member
    I've got a KiFit (same as BodyMedia Fit, but just named differently in UK), and the first thing I noticed is that my BMR is a lot higher than what MFP or the normal average is for a female of my height / weight / age.

    I've got my calories manually set in MFP to 1640, this is based on what I was allocated by the diet club that I was a member of - actually it was 100 calories higher, but I dropped it so I could get 1.5 lb per week loss.

    The KiFit has recommended a daily 750 calorie deficit for me to achieve a weekly 2lb loss, and I'm happy with that.... in fact my deficit is a lot larger than that, even when I don't exercise!

    Personally, I'm going to leave all of my settings as they are, because even though I may not be achieving that 2 lb weekly loss - I am still losing, and more importantly I am able to be quite flexible with my diet (calories zig-zagging).
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    Keep in mind that your BMR is a measure of what your body would burn if you were doing nothing but laying still in bed all day. So your caloric burn that the device gives you isn't a BMR since it's measuring your movements all day and calculating your burn from that.

    But you can use it to estimate a BMR. If you look at your average caloric burn per minute while laying down/asleep/a time when you were completely sedentary, multiply that out over an hour and then over a full day and you can get a rough estimate.

    E.g. I tend to burn at a rate of .9-1 calorie per minute when completely at rest (non-post workout, when I burn around 1.3 for awhile). So averaging that to .95 I burn about 57 calories an hour and therefore my approximate BMR would be 1368.

    But my daily caloric burn on even a lazy day is closer to an average of 1850. And that obviously only goes up from there on days I'm more active and workout days. So make sure you aren't confusing your daily burn with your BMR. :)
  • robertf57
    robertf57 Posts: 560 Member
    Quite frankly, you have quite a bit of data there. How are you actually doing. All these measures are just estimates. They will be directionally correct, but they didnt come down from God on high. You have weeks of experience and information. How much are you losing? What is your subjective energy like? Have you measured you body fat change? I would use the empiric data you have to decide if changes are needed and not worry about a generic formula.
  • ox45
    ox45 Posts: 90 Member
    Thank you everyone for your input! The weight is still coming off at a good pace of around 1-2 lbs a week. I still do not feel hungry, or like I am starving myself. The thing that worries me is that I have been noticing lately that my workouts have become a little sluggish, even though I haven't really changed anything in my eating habits too dramatically. In the beginning, I was able to increase reps and/or weight every week without issue. The past three weeks I have been struggling to complete the same weight/reps let alone improve any of them.
    Unfortunately I didn't have a professional body composition taken when I began this journey, but I did do measurements when I started the P90 program roughly 2 months ago. I remeasured last night, and according to the results on there I have lost about 16 lbs of fat, and 10 of lean muscle. I know this isn't the most accurate, but it is showing a trend of losing lean mass as well. I'm starting now to worry if I am under eating, over training, or a little of both.
    I think for me the biggest obstacle is the mental aspect of eating more to lose more. Guess I just want to make sure I am correcting any mistakes now, before it turns into a bigger problem.
  • angp7711
    angp7711 Posts: 324 Member
    I wish I would have seen this last night I basically posted the same question BUT unlike you I have stopped losing. I am at a 1000 cal deficit and had just increased my cals from 1600 to 1800 and haven't lost still but it has only been two weeks. I am losing body fat though (according to my tanita scale). So that is what I am trying to focus on.
  • cmay74
    cmay74 Posts: 1
    If you're losing lean muscle mass, you may not be eating enough protein. You want a balanced diet for sure (carbs are not your enemy!), but higher protein will help you build lean muscle (which burns fat faster). I am on about 1300 calories a day (higher on workout days) and about 115 grams of protein a day. I feel amazing, and I always have energy for my workouts!
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