Fit bit calories Do I trust it????
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I have the Fitbit Charge and a One. They're great as motivational tools. I'm not convinced that the calorie estimates can be trusted though. For months I ate back the calories given with my activity level set to sedentary and my weight loss goal set at 1 lb per week. I didn't really lose much weight. Certainly not one pound per week. But I walked my butt off. The more walking I did, the more I got to eat. I was averaging close to ten miles a day for a while. And although I didn't lose much, I didn't gain anything and I was eating pretty much all I wanted.
I think Fitbit's calorie estimates are a bit high. Also, your metabolism adapts over time. Increasing your activity level will net you a nice calorie burn for a few weeks, but the effect gradually diminishes as your body becomes more efficient at walking or other steady state cardio exercise/activity.
I've since switched to the TDEE method with a fixed daily calorie intake based on my age, sex, weight, and exercise frequency. When I stick to plan, eating at a 20% deficit, I lose weight consistently. I haven't been all that good at sticking to plan, but I know that the plan works. I also have my Fitbit linked to MFP. I no longer eat MFP's recommended calories, but I like to compare the two figures.
My suggestion is to keep an eye on your results. If you are losing consistently using the Fitbit/MFP calorie allotments, then keep doing what you're doing. If you find that you're eating at a deficit according to MFP but you're no longer losing weight, make adjustments. You might do that by eating 100, 300 or 500 calories below what MFP is telling you, or you might find it easier to switch to the TDEE method.
BTW, when you say that you burned 3143 calories, I'm assuming that you're using Fitbit's number, not MFP's exercise calories, which are calories above and beyond your BMR. 3143 calories sounds too high unless you logged over 30 miles yesterday.0 -
I have the materialistic Charge HR and also the One. They have been excellent motivational tools and I've lost 84 pounds since I started using them and MFP together last July. I've found the calorie burn to be very accurate and corresponds almost to the quarter pound of loss with calories burned vs calories eaten. Most of my activity is from walking with the occasional weekly game of racquetball or a bike ride. I average over 20,000 steps a day with @ 10,000 of those coming from walks @ 4 MPH (according to GPS).0
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Guess I'm materialistic too. Though I received mine as a gift - or maybe that does not matter as it was on my Christmas 'wish list'. Have since bought Fitbits for other family members though. I don't buy shakes, supplements, etc. and I've made a good bit of money in the past 1+ years from Pact, Achievemint, Fitstudio, etc. So I'm ok with this being the materialistic side of me.0
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chivalryder wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »Personally, I wouldn't trust a damn thing that uses formulas and algorithms to calculate your calorie burn.
Instead, I would use something that requires no tools but a way to log your caloric intake. Pic a number of calories to eat that should create a deficit, and eat that amount for a month.
After a month, see how much you've lost compared to how much you've wanted to eat. Lost too much? Eat more. Lost too little? Eat less.
Trial and error.
Over a period of time, you should have it all figured out. No need for all these little things that just make you spend more and more of your hard-earned money. On top of that: What do you do if you lose it or break it? You've grown a dependency on this silly little gadget, so you're going to have to go spend more money on it.
Stop using materialistic gadgets and start using your brain.
I suppose you take the exact same steps, move the exact same way, and do the exact same things month after month. Awesome.
Now get off that materialistic computer and start using your brain.
Someone clearly didn't do their research.
Ever heard of TDEE? You might want to look it up.
Wait, I thought you didn't trust anything that used formulas and algorithms to calculate your calorie burn?
I'll take two approaches to this:
a) As I said, you need to start somewhere. Pulling a number out of the air won't do you any good. Using TDEE is a good place to start, but it is just an estimate. You shouldn't use the number as if it were God. Start with it, eat that amount, see if you've achieved your goals for the month, adjust and keep going. Lather, rinse, repeat.
ETA: TDEE is not *actually* a formula, but a theory. People have created a formula so you can calculate an estimate for the theory. TDEE is simply what you burn in a day. What I mentioned in the above paragraph is you can use the formula to calculate an estimate on what your TDEE might be. The trial-and-error system I spoke of earlier is the only way to truly find what your real TDEE is, though is is subject to change as you increase/decrease your weight and your level of activity throughout the seasons.
But then, that's the magic of it all. You're constantly changing yourself, but you're also monitoring how your diet affects your weight. Therefore, you're constantly making adjustments to everything.
After a while, you'll have a solid idea of how much you need to eat based on how active you are. You wouldn't need a gadget to do it for you, you don't even need to think much about it. You'll slowly get a better understanding until it becomes second nature.
That being said, it would still be a good idea to log, because guessing calorie intake never works.
/ETA
See, if you thought about it, you could have figured that out for yourself.
b) Stop fracking trolling.
a) Click on thread with no "interest" in topic.
b) Accuse those interested in said topic of not using their brain; preferably with inconsistent statements.
c) When called out, accuse ignorance.
d) When further called out, accuse trolling.
You do understand that everything you keep talking about relates to Calories In and the fitbit is designed to measure Calories Out, right?
You also realize that your statement "though is is subject to change as you increase/decrease your weight and your level of activity throughout the seasons." is the exact reason why an activity tracker can be useful to a lot of people, right?
No of course you don't. Because you'd rather waste weeks and weeks of your time figuring it out instead of being materialistic.
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I have the Charge HR and I think its pretty accurate...although I don't go by the calories left to eat. I still just use MFP and log my calories and don't eat back any exercise calories, unless its a "cheat day." I LOVE it....it makes me so much more active and competitive. Even if it wasn't totally accurate with calorie counts, I'd still love it and use it every day. I'm lost without mine.0
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You also realize that your statement "though is is subject to change as you increase/decrease your weight and your level of activity throughout the seasons." is the exact reason why an activity tracker can be useful to a lot of people, right?chivalryder wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »Personally, I wouldn't trust a damn thing that uses formulas and algorithms to calculate your calorie burn.
Instead, I would use something that requires no tools but a way to log your caloric intake. Pic a number of calories to eat that should create a deficit, and eat that amount for a month.
After a month, see how much you've lost compared to how much you've wanted to eat. Lost too much? Eat more. Lost too little? Eat less.
Trial and error.
Over a period of time, you should have it all figured out. No need for all these little things that just make you spend more and more of your hard-earned money. On top of that: What do you do if you lose it or break it? You've grown a dependency on this silly little gadget, so you're going to have to go spend more money on it.
Stop using materialistic gadgets and start using your brain.
I suppose you take the exact same steps, move the exact same way, and do the exact same things month after month. Awesome.
Now get off that materialistic computer and start using your brain.
Someone clearly didn't do their research.
Ever heard of TDEE? You might want to look it up.
Wait, I thought you didn't trust anything that used formulas and algorithms to calculate your calorie burn?
I'll take two approaches to this:
a) As I said, you need to start somewhere. Pulling a number out of the air won't do you any good. Using TDEE is a good place to start, but it is just an estimate. You shouldn't use the number as if it were God. Start with it, eat that amount, see if you've achieved your goals for the month, adjust and keep going. Lather, rinse, repeat.
ETA: TDEE is not *actually* a formula, but a theory. People have created a formula so you can calculate an estimate for the theory. TDEE is simply what you burn in a day. What I mentioned in the above paragraph is you can use the formula to calculate an estimate on what your TDEE might be. The trial-and-error system I spoke of earlier is the only way to truly find what your real TDEE is, though is is subject to change as you increase/decrease your weight and your level of activity throughout the seasons.
But then, that's the magic of it all. You're constantly changing yourself, but you're also monitoring how your diet affects your weight. Therefore, you're constantly making adjustments to everything.
After a while, you'll have a solid idea of how much you need to eat based on how active you are. You wouldn't need a gadget to do it for you, you don't even need to think much about it. You'll slowly get a better understanding until it becomes second nature.
That being said, it would still be a good idea to log, because guessing calorie intake never works.
/ETA
See, if you thought about it, you could have figured that out for yourself.
b) Stop fracking trolling.
You're right. I forgot that people would rather spend money on something so they don't have to do the work to figure it out for themselves.0 -
chivalryder wrote: »
You also realize that your statement "though is is subject to change as you increase/decrease your weight and your level of activity throughout the seasons." is the exact reason why an activity tracker can be useful to a lot of people, right?chivalryder wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »Personally, I wouldn't trust a damn thing that uses formulas and algorithms to calculate your calorie burn.
Instead, I would use something that requires no tools but a way to log your caloric intake. Pic a number of calories to eat that should create a deficit, and eat that amount for a month.
After a month, see how much you've lost compared to how much you've wanted to eat. Lost too much? Eat more. Lost too little? Eat less.
Trial and error.
Over a period of time, you should have it all figured out. No need for all these little things that just make you spend more and more of your hard-earned money. On top of that: What do you do if you lose it or break it? You've grown a dependency on this silly little gadget, so you're going to have to go spend more money on it.
Stop using materialistic gadgets and start using your brain.
I suppose you take the exact same steps, move the exact same way, and do the exact same things month after month. Awesome.
Now get off that materialistic computer and start using your brain.
Someone clearly didn't do their research.
Ever heard of TDEE? You might want to look it up.
Wait, I thought you didn't trust anything that used formulas and algorithms to calculate your calorie burn?
I'll take two approaches to this:
a) As I said, you need to start somewhere. Pulling a number out of the air won't do you any good. Using TDEE is a good place to start, but it is just an estimate. You shouldn't use the number as if it were God. Start with it, eat that amount, see if you've achieved your goals for the month, adjust and keep going. Lather, rinse, repeat.
ETA: TDEE is not *actually* a formula, but a theory. People have created a formula so you can calculate an estimate for the theory. TDEE is simply what you burn in a day. What I mentioned in the above paragraph is you can use the formula to calculate an estimate on what your TDEE might be. The trial-and-error system I spoke of earlier is the only way to truly find what your real TDEE is, though is is subject to change as you increase/decrease your weight and your level of activity throughout the seasons.
But then, that's the magic of it all. You're constantly changing yourself, but you're also monitoring how your diet affects your weight. Therefore, you're constantly making adjustments to everything.
After a while, you'll have a solid idea of how much you need to eat based on how active you are. You wouldn't need a gadget to do it for you, you don't even need to think much about it. You'll slowly get a better understanding until it becomes second nature.
That being said, it would still be a good idea to log, because guessing calorie intake never works.
/ETA
See, if you thought about it, you could have figured that out for yourself.
b) Stop fracking trolling.
You're right. I forgot that people would rather spend money on something so they don't have to do the work to figure it out for themselves.
abso-fecking-lutely
cars
computers
phones
microwaves
ovens
kettles
zips
buttons
sewing machines
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Boy some people can be just nasty.
To each there own.0 -
The fitbit in my experience is pretty darn close, especially if you have the one which monitors heartrate etc. If you were very active a calorie burn of 3143 is possible. To be safe I try not to eat all my calorie allowance but do find it handy for those days when I am a little bit more hungry than usual
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I agree & trust my FitBit for all activity calories. Don't log any from the MFP.0
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I use a fitbit (the flex) because it motivates me to move more (I like getting lots of steps and beating either friends or myself).
I also have spent several months very accurately tracking intake and how much I lost. I do exercise that the fitbit doesn't log well like weight lifting; I also do exercise that it does log the steps right like using the elliptical. I also have had it hit 10,000 steps when driving and when washing my face in the shower.
However, it appears that what it under counts and what it over counts is pretty much a wash. Accurately tracking, I found my TDEE is about 2800 calories. A 30 day average of my fitbit says I burn about 2800 calories per day. So...0 -
Does the Fitbit Charge HR add random steps or subtract random steps... randomly? Absolutely.
Does it still manage to accurately calculate most people's TDEE? Based on posts and my own experience. YES.
Do you still have to evaluate over time how well it works/continuous to work for you? Absolutely.
After using the Charge HR for a few months now, I have decided to introduce a 5% adjustment to the TDEE it indicates.
In other words I will be subtracting my deficit from 95% of my Fitbit TDEE as opposed to the 100% I previously used. This could be because of Fitbit's calculations, or my own adaptation, or my own logging. Regardless, the results argue that I am expending about 95% of what Fitbit thinks I am.
To the OP. You probably got an exercise adjustment and are wondering what % to eat.
Click on the info icon of the adjustment and look at the Fitbit TDEE used in the calculation.
Check the time.
The calculation is based on you continuing to be active at the same rate you've been so far till midnight.
If you don't continue to be so, the Fitbit TDEE will reduce as time goes on.
Then go ahead and assume that the TDEE number is mostly correct (subject to the time adjustment and maybe an extra 10% factor to be conservative---i am only using 5%/personally) and decide what % of the remaining you feel comfortable eating.
BTW. If all this "burn" was generated by extra or new exercise, regardless of whether you eat more or not, you will probably weight more over the next few days due to your muscles retaining water to repair themselves. So on a one time basis you will not be able to know if your Fitbit was accurate.
But if you have your Fitbit for a month, comparing your actual results to what it says should allow you to form your own opinion as to its accuracy.
(and use something like weightgrapher.com to average out the noise that is introduced by daily scale fluctuations)
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Yes I trust mine. I've had mine for awhile. The Zip and Flex models were under by about 200 calories on average (I had each for approx 10 months). I am currently using the Surge and it seems to be spot on.
I'm a little shorter at 5'4.5". I'm approximately 140lbs right now. I average just under 10,000 steps a day.
Current 30 Day average Burn: 2548
Current 30 Day average Intake: 1936
Expected 30 Day loss: 5.2xxxx lbs
Actual 30 Day Scale loss: 5.4 lbs
^That works out to be pretty darn accurate for me. However, I can't guarantee that everyone will have the same results. Some people have discovered after 4-6 weeks careful logging (weigh food when possible/ect) that Fitbit was up to 10% to high. Even if you discover it estimates too high, you can use that information to your advantage to find what is actually a safe number to eat.
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I use my fitbit and use my brain! GO ME!
I also don't assume the calorie burn they state is accurate. I agree with the rough estimate of counting about half of what they say. The other thing I have been doing since I synced my fitbit with MFP...when I add in either running or treadmill or elliptical, etc....I take the calorie counter out since fitbit is already counting it, etc.
So you count half of the Fitbit's TDEE?
Or you count half of the exercise adjustment?
And is your activity setting setup correctly in MFP?
Because the concept of exercise adjustment if your activity setting is incorrect...
In reality there is no exercise adjustment.
Fitbit is making a guess as to your TDEE.
It is called exercise adjustment for convenience; but it doesn't really represent exercise.
Exercise "eat back" rules don't quite apply to TDEE0 -
I have the FitBit One and generally eat back all my exercise and still lose but a friend of mine (of similar weight) has the Charge HR and sometimes gets 3 times as many exercise calories for a lower mileage. This has put me off upgrading because it's the adjustment here I bought it for.0
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Hey this seems right... It basically means you burned all your calories the body usually burns by resting (for me that's usually 2200ish (and I'm 5'5 160) THEN you earned an additional 1000+ calories from working out. If you did take 23000 steps then yes, this seems perfectly right. I've had days where I run and go for a long walk, get to that amount of steps, and get about 1000 calories added. I don't usually eat them all because that's a lot of food, but no judgement and eat what you want! I find the fitbit super accurate,0
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1) Trial and error is your friend. See what happens after a month or so to your weight and inches.
2) I wouldn't rely too heavily on calorie burn trackers. I used to use one, but my calories burned were pretty from week to week so I saw no need for it.
3) Make sure your calories IN are in check. Be sure to weigh all of your solids with a food scale and choose the correct database entries. If these measurements are off, you won't be able to tell if your Fitbit is close or way off.
ETA: when I entered in my calories burned from my HRM, I would add back in 75-80% of the calories just to be safe (I like to eat as close to goal as I can). When I entered in an activity using the MFP database, I would add it in with half the time. For example, If I walked around the park for an hour, I would log 30min. One hour of walking would give me 400 calories and a half hour would give me 200. I would add the 30min/200 calories and add that to my normal "no exercise" calorie goal (1700) for a total of 1900 calories to eat for the day (I prefer to have less than 50 calories remaining when I close my diary for the day).0 -
I have had a Fitbit Charge HR since Jan and for a long time I did double measurements. That is I wore a Polar HR chest band/watch monitor while I wore my Charge HR and did both vigorous workouts and less vigorous workouts. For me they were very close together, meaning the Charge was pretty darn close to the Polar HR. This relates to Heart Rate and the Calories Fitbit gives me back each day. Where I have found the Fitbit Charge HR not so good is when I am on the elliptical it doesn't measure steps or distance accurately. I get maybe 20-30% of actual there. I tend to get lots of calories "back" from Fitbit each day, but I am marked as "Sedentary" since I have a desk job. Most days I get between 1200 & 1500 extra calories from FitBit of which I eat most back, and I have been pretty much consistently losing 2 lbs per week. The last couple of weeks I have been mostly relying on long daily walks for my calories, averaging about 18-20K steps per day but on Monday May 11th I had a pretty active day and burned a total of 5K calories that day (according to my Charge HR) which gave me back in MFP about 2500 calories. But this was a day I had over 10 miles in steps and lots of other general activity.
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I use my fitbit and use my brain! GO ME!
I also don't assume the calorie burn they state is accurate. I agree with the rough estimate of counting about half of what they say. The other thing I have been doing since I synced my fitbit with MFP...when I add in either running or treadmill or elliptical, etc....I take the calorie counter out since fitbit is already counting it, etc.
So based on this post you have connected your Fitbit to MFP and are using it to calculate your burn.
This means that you are using Fitbit's TDEE calculation and having MFP compare it to MFP's own TDEE calculation.
MFP then shows the results of this comparison to you as a positive or negative "exercise adjustment".
Which you then, as per the above, treat as an exercise as opposed to a TDEE adjustment, and you eat back half of your "exercise" calories (which they aren't) as opposed to eating to your chosen deficit from TDEE (or 95% or 90% adjusted TDEE if you don't feel, like I don't, that the Fitbit TDEE is 100% accurate FOR YOURSELF)
Then you post and say:It's great those who use the TDEE assessment. I use the MFP calculations and exercise adjustments. I choose to eat back at most half my calories since almost all of those indicators overestimate the calorie burn IMO. Using the app as it is designed works for me. Nothing wrong with that. Thanks for your concern.
OK. Let me know when you decide which method you're using!
Because even though it is called an exercise adjustment, it is actually a TDEE adjustment. Therefore the "rules" of exercise being overestimated don't quite apply. And you only get the exercise adjustment IF your MFP activity level is under-estimated in the first place. Which would be pointing to a potential error in choosing your MFP activity level.
In the meanwhile, glad it is working out for you.0 -
loridebacker wrote: »i am afraid to trust my Fitbit calorie allowance. I have a charge hr so it monitors heartrate and steps. I was very active yesterday and worked out. It says I burned 3143 calories and gave me 2100 calories to eat. I have it set at 2 lb weightloss. I am a female 5 5' 165 lbs.
It just seems like a lot of food! Do I trust it??
MFP has a Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE (aka your maintenance calories). If you eat at a reasonable deficit from that, you will lose weight. The only way to gauge the accuracy is to trust your Fitbit for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress.
I, too, was shocked how many calories Fitbit gave me. But I lost the weight & have maintained for ten months. Trust your Fitbit!0
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