help!!!!

2

Replies

  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
    I have it on lightly active, just reset it to 0.5lb a week and its given me 1600 calories a day

    If you wear your fitbit all day and add those calories you should set it to sedentary, otherwise you're counting some of your activity twice.
  • sugaraddict4321
    sugaraddict4321 Posts: 15,894 MFP Moderator
    Your food logging doesn't look too bad. However your exercise burns look a bit high.

    Double-check your fitbit settings for your age, height, weight, and stride length. It sounds like you use a Flex or similar? Try wearing it on your wrist instead of your ankle. Set it to dominant wrist but wear on the non-dominant. I think you'll see that by wearing on your ankle you're getting really crazy numbers.

    A lot of people forget that your body burns calories even if you're not moving...so they end up double-counting burns. I'll give you an example. My body burns about 68 calories per hour even if I'm sleeping. If I then do 30 minutes of walking and my fitbit says I burned 150 calories, well only 82 of those were due to the exercise ...so I should not count all 150! I literally cut every fitbit burn in half, and then try to eat back only part of that half.

    Finally, don't focus too much on the number. Your body might be perfectly happy at 10.8 and want to stay there. If your clothes fit well and you are feeling good, focus on that. :)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Just to compare, i have a fitbit zip and 20,000 steps gets me close to 1000 calories. I eat most, sometimes all of them back and am maintaining my weight. So as far as that goes, fitbit is pretty spot on for me.
  • skwytt
    skwytt Posts: 24 Member
    I looked at your diary and your are intaking more calories than your daily calorie goal. Disregard the calorie burn from your exercise and just focus on your daily calorie goal. For example yesterday your calorie goal was around 1400 yet you consumed food around 1900 cals, don't try to eat back that calories you have burned from your exercise. Just focus on your daily caloric goal of 1400.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    skwytt wrote: »
    I looked at your diary and your are intaking more calories than your daily calorie goal. Disregard the calorie burn from your exercise and just focus on your daily calorie goal. For example yesterday your calorie goal was around 1400 yet you consumed food around 1900 cals, don't try to eat back that calories you have burned from your exercise. Just focus on your daily caloric goal of 1400.

    what's the point of having a fitbit, and having it synced to mfp if op should ignore the extra calories it gives her?

  • m4n1x
    m4n1x Posts: 65 Member
    No you continue to do your exercise as normal...

    Now, I will confess that it's a little controversial (as it creates a LARGE calorie deficit) but it is how I have lost around 3 stone since Feb.

    Obviously, as you are doing this, should you feel faint, ill, dizzy etc... Eat something more. By no means make yourself ill but this is a short term 'jump start' to help you get over your plateau

  • vickiebeese
    vickiebeese Posts: 24 Member
    I will have a look on my fitbit dashboard and redo my details, i havent set stride length as im not sure what that is, i also dont log any exercise its only what fitbit sends to mfp, do i need to set the calorie burnt part? Its set on 2340 since i had it, im not brilliant at technical things, i have the charge :) thanku
  • skwytt
    skwytt Posts: 24 Member
    skwytt wrote: »
    I looked at your diary and your are intaking more calories than your daily calorie goal. Disregard the calorie burn from your exercise and just focus on your daily calorie goal. For example yesterday your calorie goal was around 1400 yet you consumed food around 1900 cals, don't try to eat back that calories you have burned from your exercise. Just focus on your daily caloric goal of 1400.

    what's the point of having a fitbit, and having it synced to mfp if op should ignore the extra calories it gives her?

    Eating back the calories that you have burn through exercise will get you back to your maintenance calories. For example if i burn 300 cals and i eat extra 300 cals for the day, i pretty much wasnt on a deficit at all..
  • m4n1x
    m4n1x Posts: 65 Member
    skwytt wrote: »
    skwytt wrote: »
    I looked at your diary and your are intaking more calories than your daily calorie goal. Disregard the calorie burn from your exercise and just focus on your daily calorie goal. For example yesterday your calorie goal was around 1400 yet you consumed food around 1900 cals, don't try to eat back that calories you have burned from your exercise. Just focus on your daily caloric goal of 1400.

    what's the point of having a fitbit, and having it synced to mfp if op should ignore the extra calories it gives her?

    Eating back the calories that you have burn through exercise will get you back to your maintenance calories. For example if i burn 300 cals and i eat extra 300 cals for the day, i pretty much wasnt on a deficit at all..

    I agree with skwytt
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    skwytt wrote: »
    skwytt wrote: »
    I looked at your diary and your are intaking more calories than your daily calorie goal. Disregard the calorie burn from your exercise and just focus on your daily calorie goal. For example yesterday your calorie goal was around 1400 yet you consumed food around 1900 cals, don't try to eat back that calories you have burned from your exercise. Just focus on your daily caloric goal of 1400.

    what's the point of having a fitbit, and having it synced to mfp if op should ignore the extra calories it gives her?

    Eating back the calories that you have burn through exercise will get you back to your maintenance calories. For example if i burn 300 cals and i eat extra 300 cals for the day, i pretty much wasnt on a deficit at all..

    if i have my calories set at 1540, and i burn 460, i can then eat 2000 calories of food, but still net 1540.



  • skwytt
    skwytt Posts: 24 Member
    I will have a look on my fitbit dashboard and redo my details, i havent set stride length as im not sure what that is, i also dont log any exercise its only what fitbit sends to mfp, do i need to set the calorie burnt part? Its set on 2340 since i had it, im not brilliant at technical things, i have the charge :) thanku

    I say just focus on your calorie goal for the day. you have it set at 1680, Dont eat more than that disregard whatever your fitbit tells you as far calorie burned but keep your exercise regimen the same. Just focus on your calories for that day then in a week assess through the scale. If you lost lbs then keep everything the same till you plateau. If you gained then reduce calorie goal by 60 cals only then assess again in a week and repeat as needed..
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited June 2015
    If you have your calories set at maintenance calories and eat all of your exercise calories back, then of course you'll maintain. But if you have you calories set at a deficit, and eat your calories back and still remain at that net deficit, you will lose. This is assuming that your exercise calories are correct obviously.

    I'm also talking the NEAT method, not TDEE

    Somebody help!! Trying to explain things in written form is not my forte'
  • skwytt
    skwytt Posts: 24 Member
    If you have your calories set at maintenance calories and eat all of your exercise calories back, then of course you'll maintain. But if you have you calories set at a deficit, and eat your calories back and still remain at that net deficit, you will lose. This is assuming that your exercise calories are correct obviously.

    I'm also talking the NEAT method, not TDEE

    Somebody help!! Trying to explain things in written form is not my forte'

    If she's not losing weight, then obviously she's not on a calorie deficit. If you look at her diary you can tell right off the bat that she's eating more than her calorie goal. She's not consistenly eating the same cals everyday and therefore its hard to track where her maintenace calories is.
  • jorinya
    jorinya Posts: 933 Member
    Hope you have a food scales? Some of the calories on here in the food are inaccurate. Reduce your exercise and stick to your calorie goal. Stop increasing and decreasing your calorie intake cos it confuses your body too much. Try sticking to your calorie intake, possible reduce it by 400 cal for a week or two and then increase back to your MFP goals.
  • skwytt
    skwytt Posts: 24 Member
    If you have your calories set at maintenance calories and eat all of your exercise calories back, then of course you'll maintain. But if you have you calories set at a deficit, and eat your calories back and still remain at that net deficit, you will lose. This is assuming that your exercise calories are correct obviously.

    I'm also talking the NEAT method, not TDEE

    Somebody help!! Trying to explain things in written form is not my forte'

    Btw this is how i track my calories even when im on my precontest diet. I dont focus on calorie burned just my calorie goal for the day. For example if my goal is 2000 cals for the day then thats all i eat even if i did 1hr of weight training and 45 min fasted cardio. I dont eat any calories back, but then again im no expert. Just ur typical bodybuilder here.
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
    @skwytt What Christine is trying to say (I think) is that MFP calorie goal is what you should NET a day. So for me mine is 1480. I should NET that to lose 1lb a week. If I exercise and then eat NO calories back my net would be something like 1100 which isn't healthy.

    If you follow the MFP way you should always NET your calorie goal not meet it and ignore exercise calories. If you follow TDEE then yes you already have exercise factored in and shouldn't eat extra calories back.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    skwytt wrote: »
    If you have your calories set at maintenance calories and eat all of your exercise calories back, then of course you'll maintain. But if you have you calories set at a deficit, and eat your calories back and still remain at that net deficit, you will lose. This is assuming that your exercise calories are correct obviously.

    I'm also talking the NEAT method, not TDEE

    Somebody help!! Trying to explain things in written form is not my forte'

    Btw this is how i track my calories even when im on my precontest diet. I dont focus on calorie burned just my calorie goal for the day. For example if my goal is 2000 cals for the day then thats all i eat even if i did 1hr of weight training and 45 min fasted cardio. I dont eat any calories back, but then again im no expert. Just ur typical bodybuilder here.

    I get where you're coming from, in that she's not in a deficit. It's where those extra calories are coming from is the question. She's either underestimating calories in, or overestimating her burn.
    The calories her fitbit gives here are pretty much on par with what mine gives me. However I'm 140lbs, 43 and 5"8.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    aimeerace wrote: »
    @skwytt What Christine is trying to say (I think) is that MFP calorie goal is what you should NET a day. So for me mine is 1480. I should NET that to lose 1lb a week. If I exercise and then eat NO calories back my net would be something like 1100 which isn't healthy.

    If you follow the MFP way you should always NET your calorie goal not meet it and ignore exercise calories. If you follow TDEE then yes you already have exercise factored in and shouldn't eat extra calories back.

    yes lol Thankyou Aimee :flowerforyou:

  • vickiebeese
    vickiebeese Posts: 24 Member
    Thanku very much for ur help, my plan is not to eat exercise calories and weigh everythin to a t
  • FatMoojor
    FatMoojor Posts: 483 Member
    @OP. Are you having all your cereals, protein powders etc with water? For instance just today you have logged special K for breakfast, but nothing with it.
    In fact I have just gone back a few days on your diary and there are no drinks at all logged.

    In regards as to what to eat back and not eat back, in essence Skwytt is correct here. If you have your settings in MFP set as lightly active then your daily total calories it gives you already takes in to account that you are up and about on your feet. Therefore, the calories you burn on the walk in to town and back for instance are all ready calculated and you don't eat them back.

    I don't know how fitbit works, but can you take note of the calories you burn just while doing your 5k lesley samson dvd thing. use half of the calories your burned during JUST that exercise as your adjustment to your daily total.

    Also make sure you are drinking enough water each day, start logging all liquids!
  • skwytt
    skwytt Posts: 24 Member
    aimeerace wrote: »
    @skwytt What Christine is trying to say (I think) is that MFP calorie goal is what you should NET a day. So for me mine is 1480. I should NET that to lose 1lb a week. If I exercise and then eat NO calories back my net would be something like 1100 which isn't healthy.

    If you follow the MFP way you should always NET your calorie goal not meet it and ignore exercise calories. If you follow TDEE then yes you already have exercise factored in and shouldn't eat extra calories back.

    Actually i dont follow mfp. I use it as a tool. it just gives you a general estimated based on the info you put in it when you first start. The way i started was i took my weight in lbs then multiplied it by 15. Then i followed this calories for 7 days and *kitten* my results, until i found my actual maintenance cals. If i lost an lbs then i added 60 cals. if i gained, then i decreased 60 cals until i find my actual maintenance cals. To me this is the most accurate way to do it. Im not here to debate but to help. In my opinion she needs to stick to her calorie goals for the day despite whatever calorie burn she has on her exercises.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    You reckon you burn 3000-3500 calories a day, just from walking 10 miles?
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
    hi hun, my experience of fitbit is that is over estimates calories big time, you need a Heart rate monitor to enter your statistics and see the calories you burn, through whatever exercise you fancy. too be honest the exercse is a bit on the high side, i exericse 3-4 times a week which for me is plenty you shouldnt be doing ti to exhaustion x
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited June 2015
    999tigger wrote: »
    You reckon you burn 3000-3500 calories a day, just from walking 10 miles?

    That would be her bmr including exercise . For example I burned 2097ish today which includes 790 exercise calories.

  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    skwytt wrote: »

    Eating back the calories that you have burn through exercise will get you back to your maintenance calories. For example if i burn 300 cals and i eat extra 300 cals for the day, i pretty much wasnt on a deficit at all..

    Wrong because the deficit is already included based on food consumption alone, assuming she is using the NEAT default method set by MFP.


    I havent looked at your diary and thats where you should start at checking whether you are weighing and logging accurately. Then you need to look at your calorie burns because it sounds like fitbit isnt set up correctly or you are simply misled by the size of your burns. I kind of disagree with skywtt, but can see where hes coming from. Its not wise to run large deficits, if you are on MFP then use it as intended. Its likely your calorie burn is incorrect.

    Way less than 1000.
  • vickiebeese
    vickiebeese Posts: 24 Member
    I have 250ml semi skimmed milk a day and the rest is water or green tea so will log it all, fitbit sais calories burnt 3000-3500 by time i go bed at 10.30pm ish, i have also just got over exhaustion from exercise and do not intend to go back there
  • skwytt
    skwytt Posts: 24 Member
    I have 250ml semi skimmed milk a day and the rest is water or green tea so will log it all, fitbit sais calories burnt 3000-3500 by time i go bed at 10.30pm ish, i have also just got over exhaustion from exercise and do not intend to go back there

    Look at my profile pic and look at theirs. Who would you rather listen to? Lol.. jk.. everyone here has a good advice, pick one and start it asap..
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    40000 steps a day ? More than a half marathon - can't be wise doing that every day.
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
    I have 250ml semi skimmed milk a day and the rest is water or green tea so will log it all, fitbit sais calories burnt 3000-3500 by time i go bed at 10.30pm ish, i have also just got over exhaustion from exercise and do not intend to go back there

    do you work out your bmr from them 3500 calories? there is a site online to do this its called shape sense, thats how i accurately logged calories burnt through my hrm, as id be burning calories sitting on the sofa or sleeping or just living, so i deduct them then add them to mfp

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited June 2015
    skwytt wrote: »
    I have 250ml semi skimmed milk a day and the rest is water or green tea so will log it all, fitbit sais calories burnt 3000-3500 by time i go bed at 10.30pm ish, i have also just got over exhaustion from exercise and do not intend to go back there

    Look at my profile pic and look at theirs. Who would you rather listen to? Lol.. jk.. everyone here has a good advice, pick one and start it asap..

    yeah, I just noticed your pic. You obviously know what you're doing :smile: :+1:

    you're in a different league to most of us average folk.

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