Fitbit Calories
Tlai84
Posts: 12 Member
Should I eat the extra calories that my Fitbit is syncing into MFP?
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Replies
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If your calorie goal came from MFP, it's designed for you to eat your activity adjustments back.1
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I use a Fitbit & a polar heart rate monitor. I input my calories burned from my polar but then once my Fitbit syncs my steps to MFP it gives me calories for that too. Should I eat my exercise calories that I input & what Fitbit inputs from my steps?0
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Fitbit is giving you extra calories still because even with your workout logged your Fitbit calorie burn is still higher. One reason for this would be that you have your base activity level on MFP is too low.
When you log exercise the fitbit adjustment math changes. Say MFP thinks you burn 1800 befor exercise.
Without exercise logged:
Fitbit burn - 1800 = adjustment
WITH exercise logged:
Fitbit burn - (1800+exercise burn) = adjustment
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Thanks0
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Do you wear both the HRM and the Fitbit when you are working out? If so then you are double-counting the exercise and definitely shouldn't eat back all of the calories.1
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You should NEVER eat back calories you burn through exercise.14
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If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.9
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If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
If you're following MFP correctly, though, you're already set at a deficit which is what you need to lose weight. For instance, my TDEE is somewhere close to 2100 calories and I eat 1500 or fewer, meaning I can lose weight without exercising at all. If losing at 1500 has been successful and I burn 200 more and eat back those calories (still netting at 1500), that's still allowing me to lose at the same rate.
So yeah, it creates a larger deficit but you can still eat back calories and lose if you're already set at a deficit.1 -
If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
@hko718 MFP already gives you a deficit. Someone who set their goal on here to lose 2 pounds per week is under their TDEE by 1000 calories every day. Then if they go out and run (which isn't part of MFP's goal number) they're now under their TDEE by 1000 plus their exercise.
If you have an average female who said she wanted to lose 2 pounds per week MFP set her at 1200 (their lowest setting). Then she burns 300-500 in exercise. Now you're giving her body 700-900 calories to run basic body functions off of. If she's a distance runner you've now successfully helped her destroy lean mass because there's no amount of protein she could eat to fill that kind of void.1 -
If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
Didn't you make a post asking for volunteers that you'd help lose weight for free? If so, then yikes. You have no idea what you're talking about and I hope there were no takers.
Anyway, OP you can eat them back. The amount you choose is up to you. I ate most to all of mine back and continued to lose weight.5 -
Literally nobody who actually knows about nutrition will tell you to eat your calories back. Cardio is a TOOL to lose weight. It goes like this TDEE - 500 = caloric deficit most people use. Some people do this with pure nutrition and some use cardio to reach the deficit. You should not be eating back calories burned if you're trying to lose weight. In reference to destroying LBM, the person shouldn't be at 1200 calories and burning hundreds through cardio.5
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Do you wear both the HRM and the Fitbit when you are working out? If so then you are double-counting the exercise and definitely shouldn't eat back all of the calories.
@mitch16
When you log exercise into MFP, MFP sends the information over to fitbit to overwrite the calories burned during the time you indicated. This prevents double counting. You could log 1 calorie burned for 6 hours if you wanted and your fitbit would recalculate your calories burned to reflect that (even getting rid of BMR calories).
https://youtu.be/8duevx9y9TY 1 -
If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
Didn't you make a post asking for volunteers that you'd help lose weight for free? If so, then yikes. You have no idea what you're talking about and I hope there were no takers.
Anyway, OP you can eat them back. The amount you choose is up to you. I ate most to all of mine back and continued to lose weight.
I had the same concerns. But OP, you'll find plenty of success stories where people have eaten back exercise calories and have had success (myself included). Just make sure you're not logging them twice. My fitbit usually estimates lower than my HRM, so I use the fitbit estimation and log 1 calorie from the HRM so I can track my exercise on MFP. As to how much you eat back, I usually go with somewhere around 75% just because I don't want to overestimate calories out vs calories in1 -
Literally nobody who actually knows about nutrition will tell you to eat your calories back. Cardio is a TOOL to lose weight. It goes like this TDEE - 500 = caloric deficit most people use. Some people do this with pure nutrition and some use cardio to reach the deficit. You should not be eating back calories burned if you're trying to lose weight. In reference to destroying LBM, the person shouldn't be at 1200 calories and burning hundreds through cardio.
@hko718 It's obvious you are new to this site. The way it is set up is that people are supposed to eat back their exercise calories. You're right that they shouldn't be eating 1200 calories and running significant miles, but it happens because someone comes on here and tells them not to eat back their exercise calories and MFP told them they only get 1200 calories. If they were following a TDEE method and already calculated cardio into their average TDEE they wouldn't need to worry about their exercise calories. MFP's method doesn't calculate the cardio into their number.2 -
MFP isn't the best for caloric goals and especially TDEE. I would use other sources. "New" haha I've been counting/tracking macros for 5 years.1
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I didn't suggest you were new to tracking calories or macros, I said you are new to how this site is set up. You're correct that the TDEE method is better, but only for a certain dynamic. If a person is exercising irregularly from week to week their weekly TDEE is going to vary by up to a couple of thousands of calories. It's why MFP is set up how it is, to take into account that not everyone has an established fitness routine.2
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The real problem with TDEE is that people think they are way more active than they actually are. They workout 4-5x a week and don't realize they're barely making a dent into how active they should be. Unless they have an active type job or lifestyle.1
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Forty6and2 wrote: »If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
Didn't you make a post asking for volunteers that you'd help lose weight for free? If so, then yikes. You have no idea what you're talking about and I hope there were no takers.
Anyway, OP you can eat them back. The amount you choose is up to you. I ate most to all of mine back and continued to lose weight.
I had the same concerns. But OP, you'll find plenty of success stories where people have eaten back exercise calories and have had success (myself included). Just make sure you're not logging them twice. My fitbit usually estimates lower than my HRM, so I use the fitbit estimation and log 1 calorie from the HRM so I can track my exercise on MFP. As to how much you eat back, I usually go with somewhere around 75% just because I don't want to overestimate calories out vs calories in
@Forty6and2 See video I posted above, by logging 1 calorie you are probably wiping out your exercise burn on Fitbits side as well.
If it's wiped out on Fitbit s side then your adjustment is only for the calories you burned before and after the workout.1 -
If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
Hmm, that's funny. I guess the 25 lbs I've lost so far using MFP's NEAT calorie estimate + eating exercise calories back were a lie.
It was all smoke and mirrors!2 -
Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
Hmm, that's funny. I guess the 25 lbs I've lost so far using MFP's NEAT calorie estimate + eating exercise calories back were a lie.
It was all smoke and mirrors!
I think hko is muddying the waters - but not on purpose. Of course you can eat back your exercise calories if you like. However, if they are already accounted for then you can't because then you would be eating them back twice.0 -
If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
Nope, I do not do cardio to create a larger deficit. I do cardio for cardiovascular health. That's its primary purpose (it's in the name). Undereating and overtraining (what you are suggesting) is a recipe for fatigue and injury at best, dangerous at worst.
ETA: I'm another special snowflake who eats their exercise calories and lost exactly at the rate I told MFP I wanted.4 -
ncboiler89 wrote: »Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
Hmm, that's funny. I guess the 25 lbs I've lost so far using MFP's NEAT calorie estimate + eating exercise calories back were a lie.
It was all smoke and mirrors!
I think hko is muddying the waters - but not on purpose. Of course you can eat back your exercise calories if you like. However, if they are already accounted for then you can't because then you would be eating them back twice.
Exactly, which is would be the case with the TDEE method. Using the NEAT method, you're supposed to eat them back, and that's what I've been doing. I don't eat all of what MFP/Fitbit estimates, because I feel the burns are high, but I do eat 50-75% and I'm losing fine.
He said originally that you should "NEVER" eat your exercise calories back. Which is what I was disputing.2 -
Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »ncboiler89 wrote: »Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
Hmm, that's funny. I guess the 25 lbs I've lost so far using MFP's NEAT calorie estimate + eating exercise calories back were a lie.
It was all smoke and mirrors!
I think hko is muddying the waters - but not on purpose. Of course you can eat back your exercise calories if you like. However, if they are already accounted for then you can't because then you would be eating them back twice.
Exactly, which is would be the case with the TDEE method. Using the NEAT method, you're supposed to eat them back, and that's what I've been doing. I don't eat all of what MFP/Fitbit estimates, because I feel the burns are high, but I do eat 50-75% and I'm losing fine.
He said originally that you should "NEVER" eat your exercise calories back. Which is what I was disputing.
I have a fitbit. MFP shows the calories added due to me not being a lazy *kitten* (or shows the negative number in cases where I am a lazy *kitten*), and I gobble those *kitten* up every chance I get and hit my target weight loss rate over a long enough period of time.1 -
So yesterday I did a workout & burned about 354 calories. By the end of the day MFP gave me about 400 based off of my 11,000 steps. Is that right?0
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If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
As people said, *if you use MFP*, you should eat your exercise calories back. If you're using TDEE, obviously not. The problem with not eating calories back is that there's a serious possibility of undereating. If you eat 1200 but burn 400 calories a day from exercise... you're basically surviving on 800 calories... not that great. And being able to eat more is not 'just spinning wheels' as far as I'm concerned. Those 400-600 calories I get back from being active every day are the only reason I haven't gained 30 lbs back in the last 3 years. I'd be completely miserable on 1500 calories (my sedentary maintenance).The real problem with TDEE is that people think they are way more active than they actually are. They workout 4-5x a week and don't realize they're barely making a dent into how active they should be. Unless they have an active type job or lifestyle.
I totally agree with you on that. Even 4 hours of exercise in a week... out of 168 hours... it's kinda a joke.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »
For example today I burned 312 calories in a workout. When I logged it into MFP my Fitbit had already synced & said about 404 calories so when I put my workout in at 312 Fitbit adjusted & gave me 92. Now I’m at like 280 with Fitbit. I just want to make sure if I eat those Fitbit calories they are accurate.
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janejellyroll wrote: »
For example today I burned 312 calories in a workout. When I logged it into MFP my Fitbit had already synced & said about 404 calories so when I put my workout in at 312 Fitbit adjusted & gave me 92. Now I’m at like 280 with Fitbit. I just want to make sure if I eat those Fitbit calories they are accurate.
We have no way of knowing if they're accurate, but many people do find their adjustments are accurate.
The best way for you to determine if they're accurate is to look at your long term results and adjust from there.2 -
If you're trying to lose weight you're doing cardio to create a larger deficit. You shouldn't be eating back these calories. You might as well not do cardio if you eat it back. Outside of cardiovascular health you're just spinning wheels basically.
Lol @ "outside of cardiovascular health." Because that's definitely not worth your time or effort!3
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