MFP and fitbit flex - mega confusion since haven't lost this week at all.

wyllden
wyllden Posts: 48 Member
edited November 17 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm getting so confused since having the fitbit flex, haven't been logging my exercise separately like i used to, i'm sticking to mfp goals and sometimes eating back my exercise calories but wondering do i now need to have a deficit of 1000 cals per day aswell as staying within mfp goals in order to lose?

Before getting the fitbit i stayed within the mfp goals set for me and had some progess losing, now i have the fitbit flex it is confusing me. I wanted it to give me a more accurate idea of calories burned and to motivate me to move more, although since I haven't lost at all this week it has made me wonder if there is something i'm missing. Can i still rely on MFP's pre-set goals for me to lose weight or do i need to change something?
I worked out that over the last 4 weeks, the average calories i burn in a day is 2316 (don't always log my sleep though so not sure if that makes a difference)
MFP has set me to 2030 cals burned from daily activity. I have it set to sedentary.

Background: I'm 5"5, 91kg and want to lose about 20kg at a rate of about 1-2kg per week.

MFP gives me 1200 calorie allowance per day but then I have also been eating back some of the exercise cals - my average intake per day is about 1650 cals.

I'm getting so confused with all these variables and wanted the fitbit to help me, not to confuse me even more and hinder my progress.

Please someone who understands it all or has had success can you help me?

Thanks in advance

Replies

  • biscuitnow
    biscuitnow Posts: 141 Member
    I got a flex about a week ago and it confuses me a bit too. I've read somewhere on here that it's a good idea to rely on MFP for food tracking and calories and on the fitbit for exercise (and to log weight training and stuff manually as the fitbit doesn't track it). If others have more experience with the fitbit I'd be interested in their comments as well. :)
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    I have never gone by the fitbit for calories.

    I log food here and go off what mfp tells me to eat.

    I let fitbit handle the exercise.

    They sync together and at the end of the day, it all is close to the same, but go off what myfitnesspal says for intake.
  • ChrisManch
    ChrisManch Posts: 46 Member
    I have the Fitbit charge HR, which also measure heart rate.

    Last year I just used MFP, set my activity record to "sedentary" because I have a sitting down job, used the MFP recommended calorie deficit and logged all my food with MFP. My main exercise is walking, when I went for a long walk I logged it via MapMyWalk - linked to MFP - and often ate back the exercise calories but still lost weight quite quickly.

    This year I added FitBit to the equation and I am finding that I am getting a lot more "exercise" calories taken off my daily figures. I think MFP assumes "sedentary" is a very low level of exercise, but as I am wearing fitbit 24/7 everything I do - shopping, cooking, stair climbing, gardening, putting the trash out etc. is being logged as exercise and so I am not as "sedentary" as MFP assumes.

    So this year I am getting "exercise" calories from MFP's assumed low level of activity, plus my logged walks, plus my normal activity which is not as "sedentary" as I thought. These extra "exercise" calories mean my logged calorie deficit is not as big as last year, and if I eat all the exercise calories back I don't lose weight as fast as I did last year.

    Last year my "goal" was to lose 1Kg (2.2lbs) per week, but I would often lose 2kg per week. This year it is more like 1kg per week. I think this is because last year my calorie deficit was higher than MFP reported, because it had assumed my activity was much lower than it actually is.
  • jenniferann320
    jenniferann320 Posts: 38 Member
    I have a fit bit flex. I started MFP and got the flex about two weeks after that if I recall correctly. For me it helped a lot! I went from losing and starving to losing and being satisfied. I log all food on mfp and use the fit bit for my exercise. They link so I get my "fitbit calorie adjustment" each day, I eat back my exercise calories.. Some days just a small portion of them sometimes all of them. The only exercise I log on mfp are ones that aren't step based, like yoga. But 90% of my exercise comes from simply walking. I think I've only ever missed my step goal one when I was sick.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    ChrisManch wrote: »
    Last year my "goal" was to lose 1Kg (2.2lbs) per week, but I would often lose 2kg per week. This year it is more like 1kg per week. I think this is because last year my calorie deficit was higher than MFP reported, because it had assumed my activity was much lower than it actually is.

    It could also be that as you lose more weight and get closer to your goal, weight loss naturally tends to slow down. Don't know if this is the case for you, since your profile is set to private, but since you've been at this for longer than a year, I suspect this may be a factor. :)

  • marissafit06
    marissafit06 Posts: 1,996 Member
    2.2/1kg pounds a week is a lot of weight to lose, that likely isn't sustainable forever. Some weeks I lose, some weeks I don't but my weight is generally getting lower. As you have less to lose it makes more sense to track changes over longer periods of time such as months vs weeks. My Fitbit's projections as generally correct in the long run, but not in the short run (each week).
  • wyllden
    wyllden Posts: 48 Member
    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    ChrisManch wrote: »
    Last year my "goal" was to lose 1Kg (2.2lbs) per week, but I would often lose 2kg per week. This year it is more like 1kg per week. I think this is because last year my calorie deficit was higher than MFP reported, because it had assumed my activity was much lower than it actually is.

    It could also be that as you lose more weight and get closer to your goal, weight loss naturally tends to slow down. Don't know if this is the case for you, since your profile is set to private, but since you've been at this for longer than a year, I suspect this may be a factor. :)

    I have only got back on mfp in the last month after losing a bit last year then abandoning mfp only to pile on the pounds again (pre-fitbit days), last week was my first proper week back and I lost a bit, but this week I haven't lost any, so don't think it will be down to weight loss slowing down, I still have quite a way to go.
  • Unknown
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  • Thesuninsideyou
    Thesuninsideyou Posts: 5 Member
    I've been using a Fitbit for a few weeks now, and it was a little confusing for me at first as well. This is what I've found to be consistently accurate and giving me the results I want:

    Only record your exercise on MFP (the exception to this is running, which shouldn't be logged on either, as the Fitbit is pretty accurate in tracking this. Just remember to hold the button to put it into exercise mode before and stop it after), and make sure the times are accurate (the Fitbit will adjust calories burned for those specific times). After you've logged the exercise into MFP, then sync your Fitbit. This will give you a good accuracy for your calories. Then sync it once more before you go to bed, so it can give you a full daily assessment. Also, make sure you allow Fitbit to make negative adjustments in your MFP settings if it needs to (I have a desk job, and I find that I often have a negative calorie adjustment before my exercise).

    If you do all of that and find that you're still not losing weight, like the other people said, you either have hit a plateau and should shake up your exercise regiment a bit, or you're eating more than you think. Either way, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon and get right back on track. :smile:

    Good luck!
  • HardyGirl4Ever
    HardyGirl4Ever Posts: 1,017 Member
    I have the flex right now. I don't think it has the exercise feature on it. (I could be totally wrong, just don't know how to find it). Anyway, it will take all the movement I do through the day and then tell me what I did. Other fitbits have a feature where when you're about to start an exercise you press a button and press it again when you're finished. Then you're supposed to log the exercise on MFP and after a bit of time the fitbit will take the information from the span of time you did the workout and adjust it on MFP to the amount you actually burned.
  • wyllden
    wyllden Posts: 48 Member
    Thesuninsideyou wrote: »
    I've been using a Fitbit for a few weeks now, and it was a little confusing for me at first as well. This is what I've found to be consistently accurate and giving me the results I want:

    Only record your exercise on MFP (the exception to this is running, which shouldn't be logged on either, as the Fitbit is pretty accurate in tracking this. Just remember to hold the button to put it into exercise mode before and stop it after), and make sure the times are accurate (the Fitbit will adjust calories burned for those specific times). After you've logged the exercise into MFP, then sync your Fitbit. This will give you a good accuracy for your calories. Then sync it once more before you go to bed, so it can give you a full daily assessment. Also, make sure you allow Fitbit to make negative adjustments in your MFP settings if it needs to (I have a desk job, and I find that I often have a negative calorie adjustment before my exercise).

    If you do all of that and find that you're still not losing weight, like the other people said, you either have hit a plateau and should shake up your exercise regiment a bit, or you're eating more than you think. Either way, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon and get right back on track. :smile:

    Good luck!

    Thanks for your reply, I was a little confused when you said about pressing a button before exercise and after, I have a flex and wasn't aware of a button to press, so i'm assuming you use a different fitbit model?

    By exercise, would you say log anything other than running, most of my exercise is walking, but I don't usually log that as assumed fitbit would take care of that. So should I be logging walking?
  • wyllden
    wyllden Posts: 48 Member
    HardyGirl4Ever wrote: »
    I have the flex right now. I don't think it has the exercise feature on it. (I could be totally wrong, just don't know how to find it). Anyway, it will take all the movement I do through the day and then tell me what I did. Other fitbits have a feature where when you're about to start an exercise you press a button and press it again when you're finished. Then you're supposed to log the exercise on MFP and after a bit of time the fitbit will take the information from the span of time you did the workout and adjust it on MFP to the amount you actually burned.

    Haha, I was also wondering about the button, whether there was a feature on mine I was completely unaware of, I also have the flex and pretty sure it doesn't have a button.

    Ok, so from what you said, you would still go on mfp and log exercise, for example, 30 mins on treadmill walking 3.5mph, then when syncing your fitbit will recognise the active minutes and adjust to what you actually burned in that time. (just wondering, is it necessary to log then or do you just do that to see how accurate mfp database is?)

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