Fitbit/MFP - basic basic basic question!

CeeBeeSlim
CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,347 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello. I've been enjoying my Fitbit charge hr for a few weeks now but I need to really learn more so I can get the most out of the Fitbit/MFP data. I'm honestly a bit confused going back and forth between the two (the negative calorie adjustment thing, exercise calories, etc). So, until I get it all sorted out - if I wanted to lose weight, are the ONLY TWO data points i need to look at on my Fitbit are "calories eaten" (which I log into MFP) and "calories burned"? And as long as "calories eaten" is 500 or less per day than "calories burned", I should lose weight, right - theoretically?

Replies

  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
    Set your activity level in MFP to sedentary and enable negative adjustments.... then you will earn more calories as you move but on low activity days you will have a lower number. Set your MFP to the desired rate of loss, then eat the calorie goal for the day. Easy peasy. I trust my Fitbit/MFP, I lose consistently if I eat the daily total (or just shy of that number). Hope that helps!
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,347 Member
    @karahm78 - thanks! I followed your instructions. I think I need more help! :(

    So right now MFP says goal (1250) - food (1088) + exercise (594) = 756 Remaining.

    Right now, Fitbit is saying 1952 calories burned (it's 9:45pm where I am) and 1184 calories eaten. (That 1184.is an error. On a side note, Fitbit doubles certain food entries, not sure why. It should read 1088).

    So if I wanted to, I could eat almost 800 (756) more calories acc to MFP.

    But wouldn't that make my calories eaten very very close to my calories burned acc to Fitbit? Too close for a 500 calorie deficit for the day?

    Thanks again. Hope i was clear in describing my confusion!

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Yes, if your total day calories burned is more than your total day calories eaten, you should lose weight. Keep in mind 'calories burned' will continue to increase thru the day, even if you are not active, because Fitbit assumes your BMR.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Ps-have noticed that about Fitbit bringing in some entries twice. If you press and hold on the Fitbit app, you can delete the dupe entry.

    For your example above, I don't know your BMR, but you'll end the day at 1952 + BMR burn for 2 hours, 15 minutes. For me that is ~53/hour. Depending on your height/weight/gender/age - yours is likely more.
  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
    What is your weight loss goal per week in MFP?
  • ACSL3
    ACSL3 Posts: 623 Member
    edited May 2016
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »

    But wouldn't that make my calories eaten very very close to my calories burned acc to Fitbit? Too close for a 500 calorie deficit for the day?

    Thanks again. Hope i was clear in describing my confusion!

    That's because Fitbit will continue to give you calories, even after you go to bed at night (until midnight) based on your activity level (even a sleeping person burns calories). When I look at the previous day then I find that Fitbit and MFP are very very close. I eat what MFP tells me to and I have been losing weight at the expected rate for my calorie deficit. Hope that helps :)
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,347 Member
    @karahm78 Hi. It's .5 a week.
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,347 Member
    @ACSL3 Right. I assumed my Fitbit would give me the still burning calories which eventually ended at 2091 calories for the day. Had i eaten the 756 calories which mfp said I could eat,I would've ended the day at 1800 or so calories. Just a 200-300 calorie deficit. Not the 500 I was going for. Am I missing something?
  • shed77f
    shed77f Posts: 41 Member
    Funnily enough I was wondering this just a bit ago. Mine is the same, at the moment (according to mfp) my charge hr is assuming I will burn 1500 for the entire day, based on 900 ish burned up to now. However, the calorie adjustment on mfp has given me an extra 100 Cals. This takes my intake to 1300 & reduces my deficit to less than the 0.5lb than I'm set to.

    Glitch in the equation maybe?
  • rachelr1116
    rachelr1116 Posts: 334 Member
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »
    @ACSL3 Right. I assumed my Fitbit would give me the still burning calories which eventually ended at 2091 calories for the day. Had i eaten the 756 calories which mfp said I could eat,I would've ended the day at 1800 or so calories. Just a 200-300 calorie deficit. Not the 500 I was going for. Am I missing something?

    In an earlier post you said you have a .5 lb per week goal. A .5 lb per week goal is a daily deficit of 250 calories so it sounds like your Fitbit is pretty accurate.
  • shed77f
    shed77f Posts: 41 Member
    I think I've worked out what it's doing for me .... Maybe you too OP?

    All the calculation does is add / subtract the difference in your estimated Fitbit burn and your mfp burn.

    This is great if mfp allows you the full deficit but not if it doesn't e.g as it would take you below 1200. For example for me;

    I want to lose 0.5lb per week and I burn (estimated by mfp) 1400 per day. Maths wise I should be eating 1150, but for health reasons etc mfp gives me 1200 which is a 200 deficit per day & therefore not quite 0.5lb.

    When the calorie adjustment is done Fitbit estimates 1500 calories for today for me, mfp the 1400. All the calculation does is add the 100 Cals difference. It doesn't take into account the fact that the deficit from mfp is not the full goal deficit.

    Hopefully that makes some sense OP, apologies if I'm stating the obvious. Looks like I can't eat the additional calories without first doing a tiny bit of maths for myself ...
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    not sure if Fitbit works like Jawbone but I can put a weight loss goal in my Jawbone same as the one in MFP so the calories to eat between the two is usually quite similar.

    The only thing I do now is ensure I net 1200.
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,347 Member
    Thanks, All. I'm gonna fiddle with it some more. As I learn, I guess that's why Im thinking its best - for now - to make sure my that - on my Fitbit - calories burned is always at least 250 calories more than calories eaten a day. That guarantees me at least 1/2 pound a week weight loss.
  • bronx3140
    bronx3140 Posts: 4 Member
    The double calorie entry is because if you have Fitbit and MFP synced, any food entry that you log in MFP automatically goes into Fitbit as well. After I figured that out I started to just log food in MFP. It will shortly thereafter appear in Fitbit, or appear after you next connect/sync your Fitbit.
    Hope that makes sense.
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,347 Member
    Hi @bronx3140 Thanks! While they are linked, I only log in food on mfp. Here's an example of the error I see more than often:

    vjp15elmt43b.png

    Hope it shows up, but there's two summaries for 5-8 pm. I only ate 121 calories. Where's the 95 coming from?
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    If you make any changes to any entry after a sync, you will usually get errors like this. I prelog everything except dinner and my evening snack most times. There are always slight changes through the day, partially with weights changing or if I didn't have that second cup of coffee or added a third one. Because of this, I see this a lot in fitbit. I ignore it or just go in and delete the wrong entry.
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,347 Member
    @capaul42 - I think that may be it - the syncing issue. Sometimes I think I'm done eating, sync, and then eat something more. I'll keep an eye out for that. No biggee - was just wondering if something was broken. Thanks!!
  • bronx3140
    bronx3140 Posts: 4 Member
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »
    Hi @bronx3140 Thanks! While they are linked, I only log in food on mfp. Here's an example of the error I see more than often:

    vjp15elmt43b.png

    Hope it shows up, but there's two summaries for 5-8 pm. I only ate 121 calories. Where's the 95 coming from?


    Yeah that's really strange. It's not duplicating it's, like, doing its own thing. If I'm able to figure that out I'll let you know.
  • tiffkittyw
    tiffkittyw Posts: 366 Member
    The same thing happens to me daily because I pre-log my entire week and then make changes depending on what I feel like eating, or if I put 70 grams of yogurt on the scale instead of 50 like I originally logged. I can't delete it sometimes because instead of Fitbit adding a duplicate entry for dinner it will just have some crazy number like 1,000 calories for dinner instead of 400. Usually by the next morning when I sync my calories out matches what MFP says.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    Most likely it synced during your logging. By any chance are any of your foods in 5-8pm 95 calories or 26? This happens to me all the time when I adjust my meals (I pre-log) to actual weights or add something to a meal. Just delete the one you know is wrong
  • Pam_1965
    Pam_1965 Posts: 137 Member
    I only go by what MFP says as far as calories to eat because Fitbit constantly adjusts until midnight. In the morning both MFP and Fitbit match up.
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,347 Member
    @capaul42 - yes, actually. WITHIN the 121 summary is a 95 calorie food. Sync problem?
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »
    @capaul42 - yes, actually. WITHIN the 121 summary is a 95 calorie food. Sync problem?

    Yup. Like I said, happens all the time when I prelog. Like today I decided to add some shredded chicken to my lunch. I'll no doubt need to go delete a lunch entry later because I logged my lunch hours ago and synced a few times since then. Since I don't pay much attention to fitbit's calories in (wish I could turn that off), I sometimes just leave it.

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