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meredithgir199 wrote: »maybe, but yesterday fitbit reported I had a 1000+ excess calorie deficit so not entirely confident its working as I expect
I'm trying to figure out what to do with those cals as well. I just got my Fitbit for Christmas and it produces much higher calorie burns than my polar HRM did when I wore it. This morning my gym session consisted of a mix of cardio and weights and for 92 minutes, and it's giving me 1100 exercise calories. At 6ft tall and about 90 lbs overweight, MFP is set to lose 1.5 lbs at 1870 cals per day. I always thought that I should just focus on eating within my calorie goal MFP established and disregard the exercise calories.
What is your activity level on MFP? If you have it on sedentary, MFP is assuming you won't get exercise at all and your calories are based on your assumed BMR. That's where the 1870 comes from. Even if your activity level is not on sedentary, fitbit only adjusts your MFP calories after you hit the specified activity level you've set for yourself. At 6 feet and 90 pounds overweight, you absolutely can eat more and lose. I'm 5'3.5" and 115 and I lose on more than 1870. I get around 12,000 to 16,000 steps per day and my workout sessions are only 40 to 60 minutes. If you ignore your exercise calories, it could be extremely detrimental in the long run.0 -
meredithgir199 wrote: »maybe, but yesterday fitbit reported I had a 1000+ excess calorie deficit so not entirely confident its working as I expect
I'm trying to figure out what to do with those cals as well. I just got my Fitbit for Christmas and it produces much higher calorie burns than my polar HRM did when I wore it. This morning my gym session consisted of a mix of cardio and weights and for 92 minutes, and it's giving me 1100 exercise calories. At 6ft tall and about 90 lbs overweight, MFP is set to lose 1.5 lbs at 1870 cals per day. I always thought that I should just focus on eating within my calorie goal MFP established and disregard the exercise calories.
What is your activity level on MFP? If you have it on sedentary, MFP is assuming you won't get exercise at all and your calories are based on your assumed BMR. That's where the 1870 comes from. Even if your activity level is not on sedentary, fitbit only adjusts your MFP calories after you hit the specified activity level you've set for yourself. At 6 feet and 90 pounds overweight, you absolutely can eat more and lose. I'm 5'3.5" and 115 and I lose on more than 1870. I get around 12,000 to 16,000 steps per day and my workout sessions are only 40 to 60 minutes. If you ignore your exercise calories, it could be extremely detrimental in the long run.
Thank you for the information, @synacious. I have MFP set to sedentary because I have a desk job. On the days that I can't get to the gym, I only get about 5000-6000 steps in. My goal is to get to the gym about 3-4 times per week for at least an hour.
I will say there were a few times this week that I only ate about 1600 cals and felt satisfied. There are obviously other days that I'm hungrier or are eating out. I suppose on those days I can eat more and it will all equal out?
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meredithgir199 wrote: »meredithgir199 wrote: »maybe, but yesterday fitbit reported I had a 1000+ excess calorie deficit so not entirely confident its working as I expect
I'm trying to figure out what to do with those cals as well. I just got my Fitbit for Christmas and it produces much higher calorie burns than my polar HRM did when I wore it. This morning my gym session consisted of a mix of cardio and weights and for 92 minutes, and it's giving me 1100 exercise calories. At 6ft tall and about 90 lbs overweight, MFP is set to lose 1.5 lbs at 1870 cals per day. I always thought that I should just focus on eating within my calorie goal MFP established and disregard the exercise calories.
What is your activity level on MFP? If you have it on sedentary, MFP is assuming you won't get exercise at all and your calories are based on your assumed BMR. That's where the 1870 comes from. Even if your activity level is not on sedentary, fitbit only adjusts your MFP calories after you hit the specified activity level you've set for yourself. At 6 feet and 90 pounds overweight, you absolutely can eat more and lose. I'm 5'3.5" and 115 and I lose on more than 1870. I get around 12,000 to 16,000 steps per day and my workout sessions are only 40 to 60 minutes. If you ignore your exercise calories, it could be extremely detrimental in the long run.
Thank you for the information, @synacious. I have MFP set to sedentary because I have a desk job. On the days that I can't get to the gym, I only get about 5000-6000 steps in. My goal is to get to the gym about 3-4 times per week for at least an hour.
I will say there were a few times this week that I only ate about 1600 cals and felt satisfied. There are obviously other days that I'm hungrier or are eating out. I suppose on those days I can eat more and it will all equal out?
Actually, its a little quirk of the MFP math that your activity level is NOT included in the calorie calculation, even though it asks you to input that. I think that's a little odd, but that's the way it works. It uses a TDEE calculation based on a sedentary lifestyle, and the number of pounds a week that you want to lose, to figure out what deficit will get you there. That's why people are often advised to add back some of those exercise calories into their diet. But it would be different if you're relying on the fitbit to calculate your daily calorie burn.0 -
sheermomentum wrote: »meredithgir199 wrote: »meredithgir199 wrote: »maybe, but yesterday fitbit reported I had a 1000+ excess calorie deficit so not entirely confident its working as I expect
I'm trying to figure out what to do with those cals as well. I just got my Fitbit for Christmas and it produces much higher calorie burns than my polar HRM did when I wore it. This morning my gym session consisted of a mix of cardio and weights and for 92 minutes, and it's giving me 1100 exercise calories. At 6ft tall and about 90 lbs overweight, MFP is set to lose 1.5 lbs at 1870 cals per day. I always thought that I should just focus on eating within my calorie goal MFP established and disregard the exercise calories.
What is your activity level on MFP? If you have it on sedentary, MFP is assuming you won't get exercise at all and your calories are based on your assumed BMR. That's where the 1870 comes from. Even if your activity level is not on sedentary, fitbit only adjusts your MFP calories after you hit the specified activity level you've set for yourself. At 6 feet and 90 pounds overweight, you absolutely can eat more and lose. I'm 5'3.5" and 115 and I lose on more than 1870. I get around 12,000 to 16,000 steps per day and my workout sessions are only 40 to 60 minutes. If you ignore your exercise calories, it could be extremely detrimental in the long run.
Thank you for the information, @synacious. I have MFP set to sedentary because I have a desk job. On the days that I can't get to the gym, I only get about 5000-6000 steps in. My goal is to get to the gym about 3-4 times per week for at least an hour.
I will say there were a few times this week that I only ate about 1600 cals and felt satisfied. There are obviously other days that I'm hungrier or are eating out. I suppose on those days I can eat more and it will all equal out?
Actually, its a little quirk of the MFP math that your activity level is NOT included in the calorie calculation, even though it asks you to input that. I think that's a little odd, but that's the way it works. It uses a TDEE calculation based on a sedentary lifestyle, and the number of pounds a week that you want to lose, to figure out what deficit will get you there. That's why people are often advised to add back some of those exercise calories into their diet. But it would be different if you're relying on the fitbit to calculate your daily calorie burn.
Unless I'm misreading something in your post, MFP DOES adjust the calorie allowance you're allowed based on the activity level you choose in the guided setup. When I choose sedentary I get an allowance of 1520 per day but when I choose very active it changes to 2190 per day.0 -
sheermomentum wrote: »meredithgir199 wrote: »meredithgir199 wrote: »maybe, but yesterday fitbit reported I had a 1000+ excess calorie deficit so not entirely confident its working as I expect
I'm trying to figure out what to do with those cals as well. I just got my Fitbit for Christmas and it produces much higher calorie burns than my polar HRM did when I wore it. This morning my gym session consisted of a mix of cardio and weights and for 92 minutes, and it's giving me 1100 exercise calories. At 6ft tall and about 90 lbs overweight, MFP is set to lose 1.5 lbs at 1870 cals per day. I always thought that I should just focus on eating within my calorie goal MFP established and disregard the exercise calories.
What is your activity level on MFP? If you have it on sedentary, MFP is assuming you won't get exercise at all and your calories are based on your assumed BMR. That's where the 1870 comes from. Even if your activity level is not on sedentary, fitbit only adjusts your MFP calories after you hit the specified activity level you've set for yourself. At 6 feet and 90 pounds overweight, you absolutely can eat more and lose. I'm 5'3.5" and 115 and I lose on more than 1870. I get around 12,000 to 16,000 steps per day and my workout sessions are only 40 to 60 minutes. If you ignore your exercise calories, it could be extremely detrimental in the long run.
Thank you for the information, @synacious. I have MFP set to sedentary because I have a desk job. On the days that I can't get to the gym, I only get about 5000-6000 steps in. My goal is to get to the gym about 3-4 times per week for at least an hour.
I will say there were a few times this week that I only ate about 1600 cals and felt satisfied. There are obviously other days that I'm hungrier or are eating out. I suppose on those days I can eat more and it will all equal out?
Actually, its a little quirk of the MFP math that your activity level is NOT included in the calorie calculation, even though it asks you to input that. I think that's a little odd, but that's the way it works. It uses a TDEE calculation based on a sedentary lifestyle, and the number of pounds a week that you want to lose, to figure out what deficit will get you there. That's why people are often advised to add back some of those exercise calories into their diet. But it would be different if you're relying on the fitbit to calculate your daily calorie burn.
Unless I'm misreading something in your post, MFP DOES adjust the calorie allowance you're allowed based on the activity level you choose in the guided setup. When I choose sedentary I get an allowance of 1520 per day but when I choose very active it changes to 2190 per day.
Interesting. I had done this before, and it didn't cause a change. But I just tried it again, and it did. So I guess you're right
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sheermomentum wrote: »sheermomentum wrote: »meredithgir199 wrote: »meredithgir199 wrote: »maybe, but yesterday fitbit reported I had a 1000+ excess calorie deficit so not entirely confident its working as I expect
I'm trying to figure out what to do with those cals as well. I just got my Fitbit for Christmas and it produces much higher calorie burns than my polar HRM did when I wore it. This morning my gym session consisted of a mix of cardio and weights and for 92 minutes, and it's giving me 1100 exercise calories. At 6ft tall and about 90 lbs overweight, MFP is set to lose 1.5 lbs at 1870 cals per day. I always thought that I should just focus on eating within my calorie goal MFP established and disregard the exercise calories.
What is your activity level on MFP? If you have it on sedentary, MFP is assuming you won't get exercise at all and your calories are based on your assumed BMR. That's where the 1870 comes from. Even if your activity level is not on sedentary, fitbit only adjusts your MFP calories after you hit the specified activity level you've set for yourself. At 6 feet and 90 pounds overweight, you absolutely can eat more and lose. I'm 5'3.5" and 115 and I lose on more than 1870. I get around 12,000 to 16,000 steps per day and my workout sessions are only 40 to 60 minutes. If you ignore your exercise calories, it could be extremely detrimental in the long run.
Thank you for the information, @synacious. I have MFP set to sedentary because I have a desk job. On the days that I can't get to the gym, I only get about 5000-6000 steps in. My goal is to get to the gym about 3-4 times per week for at least an hour.
I will say there were a few times this week that I only ate about 1600 cals and felt satisfied. There are obviously other days that I'm hungrier or are eating out. I suppose on those days I can eat more and it will all equal out?
Actually, its a little quirk of the MFP math that your activity level is NOT included in the calorie calculation, even though it asks you to input that. I think that's a little odd, but that's the way it works. It uses a TDEE calculation based on a sedentary lifestyle, and the number of pounds a week that you want to lose, to figure out what deficit will get you there. That's why people are often advised to add back some of those exercise calories into their diet. But it would be different if you're relying on the fitbit to calculate your daily calorie burn.
Unless I'm misreading something in your post, MFP DOES adjust the calorie allowance you're allowed based on the activity level you choose in the guided setup. When I choose sedentary I get an allowance of 1520 per day but when I choose very active it changes to 2190 per day.
Interesting. I had done this before, and it didn't cause a change. But I just tried it again, and it did. So I guess you're right
Maybe it depends on how close to 1200 your allowance is based on your rate of loss. So if you actually get less than 1200 at sedentary, MFP rounds it up to 1200, but choosing something like lightly active would only bump you up to exactly 1200, so it looks like it stays the same. Maybe that's what happened the first time around?0 -
I got a Fitbit specifically to get a better activity/calorie burn estimator than MFP uses (which is limited to 4 activity levels and for some, overly "ambitious" exercise calories). The whole point for me was that I could and would get a closer, more accurate number.
So, I eat them all (averaged over the week). I like to bank calories for dining out and social occasions...mmm fried chicken and cake yesterday, lol. In my mind, not eating what Fitbit says just makes my device an expensive bracelet.
Oh, and I've always eaten back all exercise calories for the 18 months I've had a Fitbit. It worked for my weight loss period, through maintenance /recomp, during my bulk, and now it will work for my cut.0 -
I saw several comments above that sound like there is a belief that the Fitbit calorie adjustment that happens to be included on the Exercise diary is the amount of calories from exercise.
It is NOT. It is merely the difference between what Fitbit reports to MPF that you burned so far that day, and what MFP estimated you'd burn based on the activity level you selected.
You could have big workout and especially lazy and have negative adjustment.
You could have no workout and especially active and have big positive adjustment.
The amount of the adjustments will be bigger when you pick sedentary compared to Lightly Active or Active - but at the end of the day the math works out the same for your eating goal.
Actually, read the 2nd half of the FAQ - because depending on your end of day routine - sedentary is usually better because of the fact most are indeed sedentary, if not sleeping, several hours at end.0 -
As Heybales said the "exercise" calories that MFP comes up with to account for Fitbit's input is mislabelled.
It SHOULD be called: "caloric adjustment to account for what Fitbit measured".
it is usually pretty darn accurate. Like in the 95% range.0 -
As Heybales said the "exercise" calories that MFP comes up with to account for Fitbit's input is mislabelled.
It SHOULD be called: "caloric adjustment to account for what Fitbit measured".
it is usually pretty darn accurate. Like in the 95% range.
Exactly. People refer to it as "exercise" calories since that's what MFP labels it as on the site, but an adjustment of +600 doesn't mean you burned 600 calories doing exercise. It's simply that whatever your activity level was for that day, any movement + actual exercise(if any), exceeded the activity level that you'd be assumed to have for that day. It's also important to have negative adjustments enabled; without that, it's pointless.0 -
As Heybales said the "exercise" calories that MFP comes up with to account for Fitbit's input is mislabelled.
It SHOULD be called: "caloric adjustment to account for what Fitbit measured".
it is usually pretty darn accurate. Like in the 95% range.
Exactly. People refer to it as "exercise" calories since that's what MFP labels it as on the site, but an adjustment of +600 doesn't mean you burned 600 calories doing exercise. It's simply that whatever your activity level was for that day, any movement + actual exercise(if any), exceeded the activity level that you'd be assumed to have for that day. It's also important to have negative adjustments enabled; without that, it's pointless.
This may be a stupid question but you all have been so helpful, I thought I'd ask
If I turn on my negative adjustments and the value represented is truly a negative number at the end of the day after my adjustment has been made, should I in theory be eating that amount less? For example, if my total cals is 1870 but the negative adjustment represents -105, should I aim to eat 1765 cals that day?
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meredithgir199 wrote: »If I turn on my negative adjustments and the value represented is truly a negative number at the end of the day after my adjustment has been made, should I in theory be eating that amount less? For example, if my total cals is 1870 but the negative adjustment represents -105, should I aim to eat 1765 cals that day?
Yes.
MFP calories are an estimated based on what you told MFP what your activity level was. The FitBit correction is based on what FitBit actually measured you doing.
That's why I bought my FitBit and why I bought a food scale. More accurate estimates of calories in and calories out.0 -
d_thomas02 wrote: »meredithgir199 wrote: »If I turn on my negative adjustments and the value represented is truly a negative number at the end of the day after my adjustment has been made, should I in theory be eating that amount less? For example, if my total cals is 1870 but the negative adjustment represents -105, should I aim to eat 1765 cals that day?
Yes.
MFP calories are an estimated based on what you told MFP what your activity level was. The FitBit correction is based on what FitBit actually measured you doing.
That's why I bought my FitBit and why I bought a food scale. More accurate estimates of calories in and calories out.
Agreed. This is why, in my opinion, it is best to keep your MFP activity level at sedentary and the Fitbit food plan at sedentary instead of personalized. Activity level varies, so I feel it's best to just start myself off with the minimum.0 -
d_thomas02 wrote: »meredithgir199 wrote: »If I turn on my negative adjustments and the value represented is truly a negative number at the end of the day after my adjustment has been made, should I in theory be eating that amount less? For example, if my total cals is 1870 but the negative adjustment represents -105, should I aim to eat 1765 cals that day?
Yes.
MFP calories are an estimated based on what you told MFP what your activity level was. The FitBit correction is based on what FitBit actually measured you doing.
That's why I bought my FitBit and why I bought a food scale. More accurate estimates of calories in and calories out.
Agreed. This is why, in my opinion, it is best to keep your MFP activity level at sedentary and the Fitbit food plan at sedentary instead of personalized. Activity level varies, so I feel it's best to just start myself off with the minimum.
I keep Fitbit at sedentary, but I keep MFP set to lightly active. On days when I do less, Fitbit and MFP match much more closely that way vs. always having a huge number of calories added onto my MFP goal from Fitbit. Negative adjustments will take care of me potentially going down in activity level for the day, but that almost never happens. Actually, I should probably even bump MFP up another level. That way, there's a good, basic goal in place, and Fitbit still works as intended.
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afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »I keep Fitbit at sedentary,
I'm getting a bit old, but I cant find a sedentary setting in fitbit, whereabouts would I find it?0 -
If you go into your log and mouse over the gear icon that is next to Food Plan, it will show the option for personalized vs. sedentary.0
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Oh, and to see your MFP goal vs Fitbit goal (this has probably already been covered in this thread but just in case), go to your exercise log in MFP and mouse over the i symbol to see the info.0
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aaahh ty
Not that I now have any idea which is best, so I'll leave it alone on the 'if it aint broke' basis0 -
My charge HR was incredibly inaccurate in the first few days, but it is close to spot on now. Is the Fitbit burn estimate throughout the day the TDEE?0
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Done, seems the best option"synacious wrote: »Agreed. This is why, in my opinion, it is best to keep your MFP activity level at sedentary and the Fitbit food plan at sedentary instead of personalized. Activity level varies, so I feel it's best to just start myself off with the minimum.
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