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Have I got this right? Fitbit & CICO.

oxlisaxo91
oxlisaxo91 Posts: 67 Member
edited November 11 in Social Groups
This will probably be long and I apologize but I have a few queries and I just want to make sure I've got this right so thanks in advance for any help that you might have for me! (actual questions in italics if you don't wanna read my wall of text :blush: )

So a little background: What I did before I purchased my FB was just eat a personalized set 1450 calorie and macro ratio, I haven't been very disciplined and whatever and I guess that's why I didn't get anywhere.
I purchased the Charge HR on Friday, after reading through many forum posts I turned off the calorie estimation and set it to a 500 calorie deficit. On MFP I wasn't sure what to change my goals to but I knew that I was going to need to start eating my exercise calories back so I set it to Sedentary which gave me 1200, I then changed the macros to something I felt more comfortable with.

So far my least active day of the three had me burn a total of 2200 calories and my Saturday/Sunday where I had a gym workout I burnt over 2450+
How well do you trust the Fitbit burn numbers? During my Saturday workout where I did legs, I put the fitbit further up my arm and I noticed there was quite a few times it couldn't find my heart rate until I stopped moving for a few seconds.

Now on Sunday (yesterday) I splurged... a lot, but I logged it so I could see my accurate numbers. So I ate a total of 2950 and burnt 2550. So 400 over maintenance in a sense then, but in saying that Friday was In:1450 Out:2120 (670 under) / Saturday In:1620 Out:2480 (860 under)
So does this mean I'm correct in thinking that my splurge yesterday shouldn't hinder my progress as long as I continue a constant 500 deficit for the rest of the week?

Also am I doing it right by just eating 500 under whatever I burn (I honestly feel like I'm never going to hit the 500 deficit spot on because I kind of have to estimate how many calories I'll burn for the day and honestly it feels weird allowing myself to eat 1700+ calories since I've been eating (or aiming for) 1400 every day.
Should I change my calories to reflect what I think I'll need to eat? I'm thinking 1600 cals as I feel like 2100 would be my lowest burn but I plan to monitor my rest day tomorrow and see how many I burn.
Will it hinder my process if I eat even less than my current 500cal deficit? like the day where I ate 860 below. Should I be forcing these extra calories in (i'm sure I can manage to do that but is it necessary)
I weigh 64kg (141) and I'm 6'3 female not with a weight goal but a figure goal, yes I want to lose fat but I don't care what the numbers on the scales say as long as I'm comfortable, toned and no longer jiggly. I did however give a guestimate goal of 58kg (127) on MFP & Fitbit.

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Wall of text crits you for over 9000 :smile:
Thank you for reading.
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Replies

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    1 - You didn't say anything about setting MFP to the same 500 cal deficit goal, or 1 lb weekly. Because the Fitbit goals have NO bearing on MFP goals.

    2 - Fitbit underestimates daily burn. It uses sleeping calorie burn (BMR) for all non-moving time.
    But if awake, you burn more (RMR).
    If standing not creating steps you burn more, like lifting weights.
    If digesting/processing food you burn more (10% of calories eaten about).

    Now, HRM calorie burn is ONLY a chance of good estimate for steady-state aerobic. Lifting if done right is no where near same HR for 2-4 min, and should be anaerobic - therefore inflated calorie burn from a HRM formula.
    If short workout time, it wouldn't matter too much, especially if inaccurate HR readings.

    But that daily burn sounds about right with exercise.

    3 - Correct, you maintained balance within 2 days. All you did was allow a better recovery/repair than otherwise.

    4 - If you have 10 - 25 lbs left to lose, then 1 lb weekly can be reasonable, if otherwise healthy body. If not healthy body, then that may be enough to stress it out more and create a bad fight with body.
    But since you said body recomp more than weight loss, that likely means 250 cal deficit.

    Is what you think you need to eat based on anything beyond what you used to eat, and is that based on anything with real calorie burn associated with it?
    I'd suggest follow the program.
    If you find 200 cal adjustments on non-workout days, then increase MFP activity level to Lightly Active so you can plan better, and those adjustments in general will be smaller.

    5 - If you are willing to create a more extreme deficit on some days, are you willing to allow going over maintenance on other days? If not, follow the program and plan better to eat more. Bigger deficit isn't better unless you want more of the weight to be muscle mass, and performance to take a hit - if consistently doing it anyway.
    Your recovery from a good workout will suffer and you won't get as much from it if a big deficit, and your next workout won't be as good.
  • oxlisaxo91
    oxlisaxo91 Posts: 67 Member
    Thanks for your reply!
    Sorry I didn't mention it but MFP is the same defecit 0.5kg (1lb) I was going to stick to the 1lb loss until I hit maybe 61-62kg, my usual weight range and then drop the deficit back to 250.

    2- Wow that's interesting to know, so you think I should stick closely with what fitbit estimates since it can slightly underestimate my daily burn? ie: It says I burn 2200 so I should eat 1700 as close as I can get to what I think it'll max out to be (So like today it's currently 5pm and it says I've burnt a total of 2000 calories so I estimate I should hit 2400 tonight so therefore I should try to eat 1900.)
    Even just then when I typed that I should eat 1900 I silently said to myself "Wow that's a lot." I have never aimed to eat that many calories - I mean I've obviously gone up and beyond those numbers with take out food. But I have never purposely, while trying to lose fat, aimed for that high amount. It's just something I think I need to get used to!
    The other reason I wanted to increase my calories on MFP just so the difference wasn't so large because personally I'm finding it a little annoying :smile:

    Another thing I'll just mention is that MFP auto adjusts itself too high (I haven't researched into this yet so I'm sorry if there's a thread on the main page explaining it.)
    So like I said I've burnt 2000 calories today according to the fitbit, now on MFP its adjusted itself saying that I need to eat 2000 calories because that's what I have burnt. Is there a way to stop this or have MFP include the 500 calorie deficit it's meant to have? :confused: It's just annoying seeing green numbers and now not knowing what my protein/fat/carb goal really should be since MFP has given me inflated numbers.

    I will try to hit my calorie goals more often, I think after a couple of weeks of use I will know what my particular workouts will average so I will be able to estimate more correctly on what my calorie intake should be - I now have 300-400 calories I need to make up in dinner somewhere because I didn't account for them earlier today.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Auto-adjusts itself too high? Inflated numbers?
    What do you mean?

    When MFP gets the Fitbit daily burn up to that point in time, it does some math for the likely daily burn - and takes a deficit.
    The remainder of the day is calculated at your MFP selected activity level, plus what Fitbit said you burned up to that point.
    So you are not assumed to keep burning at that high level, nor for any more workouts.

    Why do you think too high?

    You likely need to increase MFP activity level if adjustments are more than the workout only burned, it means your daily activity is more than Sedentary.
    That will let you plan better, as the base calories before exercise or adjustment will be higher.

    If you set the 1 lb weekly loss on MFP - that deficit is in there with your eating goal.

    If it says to eat 2000, then it is estimating the daily burn is going to be 2500. Which is average gal with exercise. So that's close.
  • oxlisaxo91
    oxlisaxo91 Posts: 67 Member
    Ohhh, hurrr sorry that's actually completely straight forward and you're totally right looking back on the past few days MFP goals now :grin:
    I'm just looking into it too closely thinking as the day goes on MFP will just keep increasing the numbers :sweat_smile:
  • Angierae75
    Angierae75 Posts: 417 Member
    I have eaten back almost every single one of the calories that my Fitbit has given me since I got it on September 29th, and I am down about 16-18 pounds. (My goal was one pound per week.) It's pretty accurate, honestly.
  • mmerry5
    mmerry5 Posts: 69 Member
    oxlisaxo91 wrote: »

    Now on Sunday (yesterday) I splurged... a lot, but I logged it so I could see my accurate numbers. So I ate a total of 2950 and burnt 2550. So 400 over maintenance in a sense then, but in saying that Friday was In:1450 Out:2120 (670 under) / Saturday In:1620 Out:2480 (860 under)
    So does this mean I'm correct in thinking that my splurge yesterday shouldn't hinder my progress as long as I continue a constant 500 deficit for the rest of the week?

    I do this all the time. I try to eat under calories during the work week so that I can indulge a little on the weekend. As long as it all evens out it works. I've been maintaining this way for 2 years. I like food and sweets and being able to eat a bit more on the weekend keeps me sane.
  • flabassmcgee
    flabassmcgee Posts: 659 Member
    Helpful post, thanks heybales and others!
This discussion has been closed.

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