Had calories remaining last night, now i'm over?!
BetzPod
Posts: 30 Member
I just can't get my head around these calorie adjustments, I thought last week i'd finally got it but I don't at all.
Last night I clicked "finish logging" and had about 23 remaining calories for the day or thereabouts. I'd synced with my fitbit etc so that was the last of my exercise.
Then I wake up today and enter my breakfast and it said that last night I was now 61 calories in the red?!
How does it work the damn stuff out. How can it say i've burned 250 calories that day then say actually no it's only 180.
I'm so worried about majorly going over my calorie count ><
Last night I clicked "finish logging" and had about 23 remaining calories for the day or thereabouts. I'd synced with my fitbit etc so that was the last of my exercise.
Then I wake up today and enter my breakfast and it said that last night I was now 61 calories in the red?!
How does it work the damn stuff out. How can it say i've burned 250 calories that day then say actually no it's only 180.
I'm so worried about majorly going over my calorie count ><
0
Replies
-
Click on the adjustment to see the math MFP used to calculate it.
Make sure you've set MFP & Fitbit to the same time zone:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/timezone
https://www.fitbit.com/user/profile/edit
My adjustments were wonky at first but they got better—as if MFP was "learning" my routine. So don't panic. Look at your nutrition for the past 7 days, not just today. (It's easier in the app.)0 -
Check your time zone settings. Some people who have had things change significantly overnight find that they're not set to the same time zone in MFP as they are in Fitbit.
However, yours changed by <100 calories. It could just be that you're going to bed early. MFP assumes that you'll burn at a constant rate throughout the day, based on your activity level. After going to bed, you'll instead be burning at your BMR, which is lower than MFP's assumed constant rate (even the Sedentary setting assumes a rate of calorie burn higher than BMR), so you'll always lose a few calories between bedtime and midnight. The earlier the bedtime, the more calories you lose. The higher your MFP activity level, the more calories you lose. So, a "Very active" person who goes to bed at 8 PM is going to see a much bigger difference than a "Sedentary" person who goes to bed at 11:30.
So, for the time being, start leaving yourself a "cushion" of a few calories at the end of the day. If you're really trying to hit that calorie goal exactly, you'll need a few days of "typical" bedtimes to determine exactly how many calories you need to leave.0 -
editorgrrl wrote: »Click on the adjustment to see the math MFP used to calculate it.
Make sure you've set MFP & Fitbit to the same time zone:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/timezone
https://www.fitbit.com/user/profile/edit
My adjustments were wonky at first but they got better—as if MFP was "learning" my routine. So don't panic. Look at your nutrition for the past 7 days, not just today. (It's easier in the app.)
Got them set at the same time, will see how it pans out over the coming weeks. Just when I thought I had the hang of it too
Check your time zone settings. Some people who have had things change significantly overnight find that they're not set to the same time zone in MFP as they are in Fitbit.
However, yours changed by <100 calories. It could just be that you're going to bed early. MFP assumes that you'll burn at a constant rate throughout the day, based on your activity level. After going to bed, you'll instead be burning at your BMR, which is lower than MFP's assumed constant rate (even the Sedentary setting assumes a rate of calorie burn higher than BMR), so you'll always lose a few calories between bedtime and midnight. The earlier the bedtime, the more calories you lose. The higher your MFP activity level, the more calories you lose. So, a "Very active" person who goes to bed at 8 PM is going to see a much bigger difference than a "Sedentary" person who goes to bed at 11:30.
So, for the time being, start leaving yourself a "cushion" of a few calories at the end of the day. If you're really trying to hit that calorie goal exactly, you'll need a few days of "typical" bedtimes to determine exactly how many calories you need to leave.
Ahh yeah the bedtime thing makes sense
thanks!
0 -
It could just be that you're going to bed early. MFP assumes that you'll burn at a constant rate throughout the day, based on your activity level.
It's a technicality, but if this is the problem, it's the Fitbit, not MFP creating the situation.
MFP does an entire day estimate at the beginning of the day, and does not update it unless you manually add exercise (at which time it adds exactly the amount of calories you gained from that exercise).
The Fitbit works the way you describe, and it ultimately adjusts the MFP value throughout the day based on your activity.
0 -
I have to leave myself 80 to 100 calories every day because it always adjusts down after I've gone to sleep. I've had my fitbit for over a year and it has always done this.0
-
It could just be that you're going to bed early. MFP assumes that you'll burn at a constant rate throughout the day, based on your activity level.
It's a technicality, but if this is the problem, it's the Fitbit, not MFP creating the situation.
MFP does an entire day estimate at the beginning of the day, and does not update it unless you manually add exercise (at which time it adds exactly the amount of calories you gained from that exercise).
The Fitbit works the way you describe, and it ultimately adjusts the MFP value throughout the day based on your activity.
Eeehhhh.
2nd section of the FAQ shows exactly how the math works.
It is MFP actually causing that to happen.
After a Fitbit sync of new data, MFP assumes rest of the hours of the day will be burned at the rate of your MFP selected activity level.
But when you go to bed 3-4 hrs before midnight, those hours is not being burned at even Sedentary rate that MFP is using, but rather BMR rate. Which MFP discovers the next morning upon first sync of the rest of prior days burn.
If set to Lightly Active so your daily adjustment is lower, the effect is even worse.
Or going to bed early.0
This discussion has been closed.