I am so lost!!!! Please help me!! These numbers are so different
brentsgurl
Posts: 40 Member
I know alot of what you do is based off your BMR. MFP is telling me to eat 1,200 a day. I just recently got a fitbit flex and my dashboard is telling me i'm only burning 1,314 a day with no exercise. I up to this point used the pacer app that counted my steps. I have my profile set as sedentary and pacer was adding calories for my steps. Pacer was saying i burned about 1700 calories a day doing nothing. Why are these things so off? I'm concerned that if I'm only burning 1,300 on a bad day and eating 1,200 it will take me forever to lose any weight. Can anyone direct me on what I should go by?
I do have MFP and Pacer both set to sedentary, so i'm not sure why the counts are so different. Thanks
I do have MFP and Pacer both set to sedentary, so i'm not sure why the counts are so different. Thanks
0
Replies
-
I just used a BMR calculator and it says my BMR is 1339. That is if i don't get out of bed right? So if i do anything i burn more? Why is it that my fitbit is only allowing me 1080 calories a day in for a deficit of 250 a day?0
-
Actually, a lot of what you do is based off your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), not your BMR.
Your BMR is the rate at which you would burn calories if you were in a coma and in bed all day. Your TDEE is based on actual movement and steps taken. Even if you work a completely sedentary job, you're going to burn more than your BMR.
I like to use this tool to confirm my TDEE every once and a while: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
It gives you your difference between your BMR and TDEE. If you'll notice, your TDEE is likely 1600 or above (assuming you're not exceptionally short or petite). This number is what you should be counting your deficit back from.
Example:
My TDEE is 1750 calories per day
I eat 1250 calories per day if I don't exercise
My deficit total is 500 calories, so I'm set to lose 1 lb of fat (3500 calories) every 7 days.0 -
Okay so it says
TDEE is 1608
I eat 1200 a day
so I'd have a deficit of 400 calories a day based on being sedentary.
so if i work out i'd have a bigger deficit.
Question is why is my fitbit only telling me to eat 1080 calories a day? I have my profile set to .5lb loss a week so that's a deficit of 250 a day. That's what has me confused. Thanks for your help!!
0 -
brentsgurl wrote: »Okay so it says
TDEE is 1608
I eat 1200 a day
so I'd have a deficit of 400 calories a day based on being sedentary.
so if i work out i'd have a bigger deficit.
Exactly.brentsgurl wrote: »Question is why is my fitbit only telling me to eat 1080 calories a day? I have my profile set to .5lb loss a week so that's a deficit of 250 a day. That's what has me confused. Thanks for your help!!
This, I don't know. Sorry. It sounds like a technical glitch or an administrative error somewhere in your height/weight because your goal should not be so low. Only someone who was exceptionally short and light would have a calorie goal that low.0 -
Check fitbit that you have set it to lose 0.5lb not 5lb per week....
0 -
I'm 5'2" so I am short but not to short. lol I don't know why it's set like that either....it throws everything off on my fitness pal too. Guess I'll just stick to eat 1200 and anything i do above and beyond that is good. My issue is I don't know the difference between when i'm being sedentary and lightly active. I do walk about 5000 steps a day on a normal day...and pacer was giving me about 75 calories for that because i had my stat set to sedentary. i guess fitbit will never give me calories lol....oh well0
-
I'm only 5ft and get more than that on fitbit.0
-
I just upped my loss to 1.5 pounds and now I have even less calories. Look0
-
-
even when i eat 1157 it tells me i'm over for the day....what gives?0
-
my settings on fitbit (flex) on the app go into settings, nutrition and body - I have mine set to a 500cal deficit. In activity I set my step target at 9k and 2,000 calories burned per day with 30 active minutes. I normally am doing over 9k steps per day averaging normally 11-12k. I march while watching tv, dance with toddler, march while reading my kindle anything to get my steps up and active minutes in. I am just under 10k now for the day and have earnt just under 300 calories on MFP from that. x0
-
None of those toys are anywhere NEAR accurate!0
-
Mine is set exactly like yours but i have steps set at 5k. It gave me 841 calories for the day. Doesn't make sense0
-
Something is wrong with your Fitbit setup or there is a glitch. Double check all your "stats" you entered. If they are correct contact Fitbit support. You are correct that it's not right!0
-
You're getting too hung up on numbers which are being estimated by a machine - the machines work for us remember? lol
BMR, TDEE are all pretty pointless. They are places to start and absolutely nothing else.
Start with the recommended amount and then experiment from there - 2 weeks of higher calories, 2 weeks of lower calories for example and record your weight and look in the mirror once a week.
Keep protein over 100g per day too.
Experimenting with is the only way you will find out what works for YOUR BODY. Even at 5'2" I'm guessing that 1200 cals is too low. Try starting round 1600-1800 and see what happens. Remember what I said about keeping the protein up too
Good luck
0 -
You're getting too hung up on numbers which are being estimated by a machine - the machines work for us remember? lol
BMR, TDEE are all pretty pointless. They are places to start and absolutely nothing else.
Start with the recommended amount and then experiment from there - 2 weeks of higher calories, 2 weeks of lower calories for example and record your weight and look in the mirror once a week.
Keep protein over 100g per day too.
Experimenting with is the only way you will find out what works for YOUR BODY. Even at 5'2" I'm guessing that 1200 cals is too low. Try starting round 1600-1800 and see what happens. Remember what I said about keeping the protein up too
Good luck
The bolded is needlessly confusing and you literally contradicted yourself two sentences later. Protein can help retain LBM, but it's not going to affect weight loss.
I do agree about testing the waters (which is why your "TDEE is pointless" line is so bewildering.
Start by setting a good deficit from your TDEE, adjust every 3-4 weeks if needed. (The time it usually takes to differentiate between fat loss and water weight fluctuations)0 -
brentsgurl wrote: »Okay so it says
TDEE is 1608
I eat 1200 a day
so I'd have a deficit of 400 calories a day based on being sedentary.
so if i work out i'd have a bigger deficit.
Question is why is my fitbit only telling me to eat 1080 calories a day? I have my profile set to .5lb loss a week so that's a deficit of 250 a day. That's what has me confused. Thanks for your help!!
I believe there are some groups here for users of various devices. You might try asking technology questions there, or in the Fitness & Exercise forum. I think you might be more likely to find more experienced users there.
And a couple non-technology thoughts: It might help if you could figure out which source(s) are closest to right for your values (if any), to know where it's most helpful to focus further investigation.
Some of us might comment on the values themselves if we knew more about you: I didn't see where you mentioned your height & current weight, for example - if you did so you might get some feedback from others who are or have been the same size.
Along that same line, how long have you been eating at 1200? If it's been long enough to tell (3+ weeks), are you in fact losing around that much? If no, are you certain your 1200 eating value is as accurate as it can be (i.e., are you weighing solid foods & measuring liquids routinely)? Are you in fact working out, or not?
I'm not trying to pry: No need to answer questions like that unless you want feedback from folks here about which numbers are most likely to be accurate estimates.0 -
I am 5'3" and if someone is telling me to eat 1200cals a day I am probably going to be ripping some heads off. I agree with your probably somewhere between 1600-1800 to have any energy to go about your day. Just keep those calories good calories and not full of junk and that will be plenty of food to give you all day energy.0
-
brentsgurl wrote: »Mine is set exactly like yours but i have steps set at 5k. It gave me 841 calories for the day. Doesn't make sense
Did you put your weight in the fitbit in KG's but it is set for lbs. that way if you are 140 lbs it thinks you are only 64 lbs?0 -
I have to be honest I don't give a flying fig what fitbit tells me about my food. I log all food on MFP and am on 1260 cals per day based on weight loss goal of 0.5lb per week, sedentary lifestyle, my age and height. I then earn calories for exercise pretty much based only on what fitbit tells MFP I do unless its an activity that fitbit doesn't pick up like bike riding or swimming. Just in the last 2 weeks I have lost 4.8lbs so I need to eat more of my exercise calories to slow loss down or stick with it. Slow and steady wins the race after all and I don't want to end up in a position where I struggle to lose the last few pounds because I have to take my net calories down too low.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.2K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 386 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 895 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.2K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions