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Really confused - negative calorie adjustments? Can someone explain in layman's terms?

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  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    2kidsandatrip wrote: »
    I'm supposed to eat the extra calories I get for exercising?... The exercise will continue to go up through the day and there for my remaining calories will go up through the day.

    As I said above, your default MFP calorie goal is activity level minus deficit. Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE (aka your maintenance calories). Adjustments are the difference between your Fitbit burn & your MFP activity level.

    If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments, eating back your adjustments means you're eating TDEE minus deficit: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
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    editorgrrl wrote: »
    2kidsandatrip wrote: »
    I'm supposed to eat the extra calories I get for exercising?... The exercise will continue to go up through the day and there for my remaining calories will go up through the day.

    As I said above, your default MFP calorie goal is activity level minus deficit. Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE (aka your maintenance calories). Adjustments are the difference between your Fitbit burn & your MFP activity level.

    If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments, eating back your adjustments means you're eating TDEE minus deficit: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    Surely your MFP calorie goal is only at a deficit if you set it that way. If you set it at maintenance then it would be at the level required to maintain your weight.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    If you set your MFP goal to maintenance, your deficit is zero. So eating back your Fitbit adjustments means you're eating TDEE minus zero.

    I've maintained for ten months using Fitbit + MFP. So my Fitbit burn is 100% accurate.

    The other side of the equation is all about logging everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    2kidsandatrip wrote: »
    retirehappy wrote: »
    2kidsandatrip wrote: »
    So I've read the boards on how the fitbit in connection with MFP works and I am still sooo confused. My daily goal is usually 1530, but on my home page it says goal 1530.. Food eaten 545 - 411 (exercise) = 134 Net and then says I have 1396 calories remaining.... UMM WHAT?!?! CONFUSED!

    Net is the calories after you eat back your exercise cals. You ate 545 cals. so far that day, it then subtracted the exercise cals burn, 411 so your net is 134, so you can still eat up to 1396 more cals. Your needed deficit is already calculated into the daily goal of 1530 cals. so you will still lose weight if you are tracking everything correctly.

    Retirehappy, so if I'm understanding you correctly, I'm supposed to eat the extra calories I get for exercising?... The exercise will continue to go up through the day and there for my remaining calories will go up through the day. I worry that I will then be eating way to much. I am not moving any more than what I would have on a normal day before I added the fitbit to my MFP account. Or is it just deciding how much of those calories I'm going to eat back each day?

    Does your handle indeed indicate you have 2 kids?

    And did you select Sedentary on MFP activity level?

    If those 2 are true - then it is no wonder Fitbit is telling you you are burning more before exercise starts - you aren't really sedentary.

    So really, the question is - why did you trust MFP before when it didn't really know about your activity and you were really more active than either you thought or answered?

    You are questioning the wrong thing. It should be, why was I eating so low before the Fitbit when I didn't have to?
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    If big adjustments bother you and if you've enabled negative calorie adjustments, then you can increase your MFP activity level.

    At the end of the day you'll still be eating the same number of calories—TDEE minus deficit. You'll just start with more calories in the morning and get smaller adjustments throughout the day. It's entirely a matter of personal preference.
  • 2kidsandatrip
    2kidsandatrip Posts: 98 Member
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    LOL. Heybales... that is very true... I do indeed have 2 children and my activity is set at sedentary because I work a desk job (by day) but I suppose by night I am in fact the crazy mother who runs back and forth barely sitting down for even a moment gaining myself a little extra unintended exercise. :) Thank you to everyone who has helped clarify the topic for me. This weight loss stuff can be some crazy confusing stuff. ;)

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