Deficit help...

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Kimegatron
Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,
I'm really confused about the deficit... FitBit says I'm "in the zone." Am I supposed to be in the zone? If my daily caloric goal is 1,220, to lose weight, am I supposed to burn a minimum of 2,440 calories? I'm dumb when it comes to this stuff, and thank you in advance!

Replies

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    Burn what you want. You're supposed to eat 1220 plus exercise calories, however Fitbit or MFP are set up to handle exercise. You just want to make sure that you don't overestimate your burn and eat back too much.
  • Angierae75
    Angierae75 Posts: 417 Member
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    If you are using fitbit and MFP, track your food on MFP and pay attention to your numbers there. Let Fitbit add/subtract calories based on how active you are, but worry about the numbers MFP shows.
  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    I'm confused by how much of a deficit I should have for weight loss though. I'm paying attention to what's on mfp, but not quite sure how I'm supposed to know what my deficit is. Like now, just going about my day I've burned 1537 calories, and am at around 900 or so calories eaten. That's okay, right? Would that be like a 600-ish deficit?
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    If those numbers are accurate, it would be a 600ish deficit. 900 is low and you'll keep burning calories, though.
  • PopeyeCT
    PopeyeCT Posts: 249 Member
    edited June 2015
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    You need to pick one or the other and only look at that one.

    The problem is that Fitbit and MFP track calories differently. Fitbit's number includes your base metabolic rate...so you are burning calories right now sitting at your computer. MFP just shows the number you should eat to lose at your chosen rate, adjusted for exercise logged. You'll drive youself crazy if you try to go back and forth. Most people synch the accounts and then just look at MFP.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    First, do you have negative calorie adjustments enabled and is your fitbit hooked to MFP?
    Second, I use MFP for calories and my tracker to track exercise.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Kimegatron wrote: »
    If my daily caloric goal is 1,220, to lose weight, am I supposed to burn a minimum of 2,440 calories?

    Connect your accounts at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/fitbit

    Set your goal to .5 lb. per week for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    Ignore your Fitbit calorie goal & follow MFP's, eating back your adjustments.

    You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    Mine is synced. I just honestly am clueless with this deficit stuff, ha ha! I keep reading in these forums "make a deficit, you will lose!" "what is your deficit?" I just want to make sure I have one... And I know 900 is low, I'm not done eating for the day! That's just what I have so far :D
  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    I don't look at the Fitbit calorie goal. I only look at MFP. I am not sure if I have negative calories enabled. I don't even know what that is :/
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Love my Fitbit but the app can be very confusing. Ignore the In the Zone unless you're looking back at prior days. Its considering what you've burned up until this moment in the day with what you've logged up until this moment. You don't need your deficit to balance at 500/1000 (depending on your goal) at any given moment in the day - just overall. End of day numbers is what counts.

    quote="Kimegatron;10199037"]Hi,
    I'm really confused about the deficit... FitBit says I'm "in the zone." Am I supposed to be in the zone? If my daily caloric goal is 1,220, to lose weight, am I supposed to burn a minimum of 2,440 calories? I'm dumb when it comes to this stuff, and thank you in advance! [/quote]

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Those are mid-day numbers, yes?

    What goal for weight loss do you have Fitbit set to? If 1 pound per week its aiming for 500/day deficit. Pay more attention to the calories over/under part and know that if you move more, you can earn more. :) The over/under (ignore in the zone as I said before) will factor in what you've burned so far and an estimate for the rest of the day* to help you see the big picture.

    *two options for Fitbit and you can choose them from the Fitbit.com site dashboard under food logging. Sedentary assumes you for BMR only for the rest of the day, until you sync with more activity. Personalized looks at past history to estimate how much you will burn for the rest of the day.
    Kimegatron wrote: »
    I'm confused by how much of a deficit I should have for weight loss though. I'm paying attention to what's on mfp, but not quite sure how I'm supposed to know what my deficit is. Like now, just going about my day I've burned 1537 calories, and am at around 900 or so calories eaten. That's okay, right? Would that be like a 600-ish deficit?

  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    I'm going for(trying) 2lbs a week. I'll be happy with 1, or even half, but I'm aiming for 2. I have like 60lbs to lose for my realistic goal, but I would love to actually lose 80.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Kimegatron wrote: »
    I keep reading in these forums "make a deficit, you will lose!" "what is your deficit?" I just want to make sure I have one.

    Deficit means eating fewer calories than you burn. Your default activity goal is activity level minus deficit (250 calories for every .5 lb. per week).

    Your Fitbit burn is TDEE, the calories necessary to maintain your current weight. If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments in your diary settings, eating back your Fitbit adjustments means you're eating TDEE minus deficit.
  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    I have no idea what TDEE is. I'm still learning this stuff. I did enable the negative calorie adjustments. I really meant it when I said that I'm dumb about this stuff. It takes a while for these kinds of things to click. I have never been an active person, or watched my calories. These definitions are completely new to me. I'm like a fitness newborn. Teach meeee lol.
  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    Here is my food diary now:
    158 -1 4 17 1,040 -17
    Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar

    NO I am not weighing, I know this is probably off, but I don't have a scale yet. Have to wait for pay day, as I went a bit spend happy the last week. Don't pay attention to the sugar... I love bananas and I can't help itttt!

    I DON'T understand this under the exercise tab:
    Daily Total / Goal 1 / 20 -20 / 164
    Weekly Total / Goal 1 / 100 -20 / 820

    And according to Fitbit, I have done 2,719 steps and burned 1,813 calories so far. That number will go up because I walk my dog at night after work, for about a mile. I really suck at this stuff...
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Your Fitbit burn is TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), the number of calories to maintain your current weight. If you eat at a reasonable deficit from that, you will lose weight.

    In plain English, you lose weight by eating fewer calories than you burn. Learn to log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Logging works.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Kimegatron wrote: »
    Mine is synced. I just honestly am clueless with this deficit stuff, ha ha! I keep reading in these forums "make a deficit, you will lose!" "what is your deficit?" I just want to make sure I have one... And I know 900 is low, I'm not done eating for the day! That's just what I have so far :D

    MFP has your deficit built in.

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