fit bit and gaining

Chasity6
Chasity6 Posts: 183 Member
edited November 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I have had a fit bit for 3 weeks now I have MFP and fit bit linked. I am eating what MFP give me as a calorie adjustment to Fit bit and not losing but gaining same couple of pounds back. Getting frustrated I know I am walking a little more but how long would it take for excess water to be lost from exercise if muscles retain. Thanks.

Replies

  • RMCottonRPh
    RMCottonRPh Posts: 41 Member
    What is your MFP set to? If it is not on sedentary, some of the calorie MFP gives you overlaps with what fitbit gives you, so you may be eating too many calories. Also, it's a good idea not to eat all your Fitbit calories back to accout for some possible errors.
  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
    I only eat back about 1/2 of the calories that MFP gives me as an adjustment from my Fitbit.

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  • LovingLife_Erin
    LovingLife_Erin Posts: 328 Member
    I find mine pretty accurate too. Maybe double check that both fitbit and mfp are set for the same deficit? Otherwise wait a bit longer (few more weeks) to see what your weight trend is as you could have water weight issues.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Chasity6 wrote: »
    I have had a fit bit for 3 weeks now I have MFP and fit bit linked. I am eating what MFP give me as a calorie adjustment to Fit bit and not losing but gaining same couple of pounds back. Getting frustrated I know I am walking a little more but how long would it take for excess water to be lost from exercise if muscles retain. Thanks.

    How much are you talking about? Is it possible that it just a coincidence that with the gain (maybe close to that time in your cycle where you experience temp water retention)?

    Other than that, make sure you have negative adjustments enabled and give it another week or 2. A good time frame to judge a trend is 4-6 weeks (so that water weight from hormone fluctuations doesn't impact the average too much).

    If your not weighing food with a scale, then you also might want to cut back to only eating 50% back. I find my fitbit Surge to be fairly accurate, but only when I'm accurate with my log. When my food logging is laid back, it looks like it's overestimating, but as soon as I tighten up I lose as expected or slightly faster.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    Make sure you have everything set up correctly. And have you calibrated your Fitbit to your stride? There's a Fitbit group if you have questions.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users

    Also, as @shadow2soul pointed out, it could just be water retention.
  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
    Chasity6 wrote: »
    I have had a fit bit for 3 weeks now I have MFP and fit bit linked. I am eating what MFP give me as a calorie adjustment to Fit bit and not losing but gaining same couple of pounds back. Getting frustrated I know I am walking a little more but how long would it take for excess water to be lost from exercise if muscles retain. Thanks.

    You might try ignoring your MFP calorie recommendations and just look at your calories out on the fitbit program, thats basically your TDEE and stay whatever you need to below that if you are looking for 2lbs/wk loos you need 1000 calorie a day deficit, 1lb/wk would be 500 per day deficit. Focus on that and ignore the MFP exercise calories because they are completely inaccurate. If ate the calories back that the MFP/fitbit combo said I should I would have next to no deficit at all.

  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    jeepinshawn wrote: »
    Chasity6 wrote: »
    I have had a fit bit for 3 weeks now I have MFP and fit bit linked. I am eating what MFP give me as a calorie adjustment to Fit bit and not losing but gaining same couple of pounds back. Getting frustrated I know I am walking a little more but how long would it take for excess water to be lost from exercise if muscles retain. Thanks.

    You might try ignoring your MFP calorie recommendations and just look at your calories out on the fitbit program, thats basically your TDEE and stay whatever you need to below that if you are looking for 2lbs/wk loos you need 1000 calorie a day deficit, 1lb/wk would be 500 per day deficit. Focus on that and ignore the MFP exercise calories because they are completely inaccurate. If ate the calories back that the MFP/fitbit combo said I should I would have next to no deficit at all.

    I'm curious as to your settings? What MFP tells me to eat with my adjustment and my TDEE-500 via Fitbit is extremely close, within 5 calories.
  • youdontknowwhatyousaw
    youdontknowwhatyousaw Posts: 221 Member
    I, also, find my Fitbit to be rather accurate. I have MFP set to sedentary and have negative adjustments turned on. I eat back everything the Fitbit gives me.
  • PrizePopple
    PrizePopple Posts: 3,133 Member
    Are you weighing all your solid food? That's likely the error - inaccurate logging - not the FitBit being incorrect. Weigh all your solids, measure your liquids, and log EVERYTHING.

    I have myself set at "lightly active" on MFP so my FitBit adjustments are not quite as insane as I move quite a lot at work (I get 10,000 steps without doing any intentional exercise). I do not have negative calories on though as my MFP calorie goal is set properly for my non-work activity level to lose 1 pound per week.
  • Abby2205
    Abby2205 Posts: 253 Member
    RMCottonRPh wrote: »
    What is your MFP set to? If it is not on sedentary, some of the calorie MFP gives you overlaps with what fitbit gives you, so you may be eating too many calories. Also, it's a good idea not to eat all your Fitbit calories back to accout for some possible errors.

    There is no overlap. The Fitbit adjustment just reports how many calories it predicts you will consume that day. The activity setting in MFP doesn't matter, the end result should be the same.
    For example (these are my own numbers):
    MFP estimates TDEE at 1500 calories at sedentary. I choose 0.5 lbs/week, my calorie goal is 1250 per day at the start of the day.
    I walk 9000 steps and Fitbit estimated I will burn 1700 calories. It pushes the 1700 to MFP, MFP adds 200 calories (1700-1500) to my calorie allowance, so I can eat 1450 that day.
    Or, MFP estimates TDEE for me at 1700 at lightly active and gives me 1450 calories at the start of the day. Fitbit pushes the same 1700 burned, MFP adds zero calories, I can eat 1450 that day.
    There would be overlap if one linked their Fitbit and also entered walking into their MFP exercise diary.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Abby2205 wrote: »
    RMCottonRPh wrote: »
    What is your MFP set to? If it is not on sedentary, some of the calorie MFP gives you overlaps with what fitbit gives you, so you may be eating too many calories. Also, it's a good idea not to eat all your Fitbit calories back to accout for some possible errors.

    There is no overlap. The Fitbit adjustment just reports how many calories it predicts you will consume that day. The activity setting in MFP doesn't matter, the end result should be the same.
    For example (these are my own numbers):
    MFP estimates TDEE at 1500 calories at sedentary. I choose 0.5 lbs/week, my calorie goal is 1250 per day at the start of the day.
    I walk 9000 steps and Fitbit estimated I will burn 1700 calories. It pushes the 1700 to MFP, MFP adds 200 calories (1700-1500) to my calorie allowance, so I can eat 1450 that day.
    Or, MFP estimates TDEE for me at 1700 at lightly active and gives me 1450 calories at the start of the day. Fitbit pushes the same 1700 burned, MFP adds zero calories, I can eat 1450 that day.
    There would be overlap if one linked their Fitbit and also entered walking into their MFP exercise diary.
    @Abby2205 - If they logged it with the correct start time, then not even then would it over lap. The log would be sent to Fitbit and it would overwrite whatever fitbit thought you burned for that time frame.

    video example:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8duevx9y9TY&feature=youtu.be

  • Chasity6
    Chasity6 Posts: 183 Member
    Thanks guys. I guess I will start eating back only 1/2 of the calories back and see if this helps. I weigh everything with a food scale. I plug in recipes I weigh each ingredient before cooking and weigh final amount in grams and that way I know what the amount of grams I eat to ensure I eat a serving not 2 or 3. I am not sure about the time of cycle had partial hysterectomy so not sure about hormone fluctuations. Muscles have bee extremely sore so I thought possible water retention there. I will be patient I guess as long as eating less, moving more eventually it will work out in the end.
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