malibu927 wrote: »

Eat back your total calorie adjustment. You may want to play around with how much at first, since some people do find a bit of an overestimation from it.And even if you end the day exactly at your goal, that adjustment could change overnight due to less movement and you could end up overeating.

Good point.
I lose around 60 calories, i think... by midnight, especially if i have a very sedentary afternoon/evening. I used to lose a couple hundred when i had myself set to lightly active, mostly because i turn into sloth mode at 4-5pm.
So don't forget to go back and check your previous day when you get up in the morning.

tuxmomoftoo wrote: »

So do y'all give any consideration to the Fitbit calorie in vs calorie out graph for each day? It tells me I'm over when Fitbit says I'm not. Should I just pay attention to MFP?

Yes, just pay attention to MFP. Fitbit and mfp should closely match up at midnight. If you go back and check your fitbit dashboard tomorrow, and you've stuck to the correct calories for your deficit, you should be "in the zone" or "under".

Right now i have 237 calories left to eat on mfp, but i am over on the fitbit page. This is because fitbit calculates up to the minute in real now time, whereas mfp gives a full day projection.

Fitbit's calorie goal can be confusing. It expects you to eat a consistent amount of calories throughout the day.

Ignore Fitbit's calorie stuff. Just eat what MFP says you should eat.

What should happen is yesterday's graph on Fitbit should show you were at or under target. Do previous days look good, or are they over target as well?

~Lyssa

Hmm. Is Fitbit set for the same weight loss goal as MFP? Does it have your correct current weight?

~Lyssa

Does the 1299 for Fitbit gradually increase throughout the day or stay the same?

If you set both for 0.5lb/week, what calorie goals do you get? I wonder if something funny might be going on if your MFP goal is too low...

~Lyssa

tuxmomoftoo wrote: »

macgurlnet wrote: »

Does the 1299 for Fitbit gradually increase throughout the day or stay the same?

If you set both for 0.5lb/week, what calorie goals do you get? I wonder if something funny might be going on if your MFP goal is too low...

~Lyssa

MFP gives me 1250 for 0.5lb loss

Should I have Fitbit set to personalized or sedentary?

1250 for 0.5 lb/week means you would need less than 1200 for 1lb/week, and MFP won't go lower. I would switch both MFP and Fitbit to 0.5lb/week for now and see if that helps with being over target. If, after a few days, you're still going over, set Fitbit to sedentary also.

~Lyssa

tuxmomoftoo wrote: »

They seem to be in kahoots now. So I can't set my deficit any greater than half a pound?

The combination of being short and having ~20ish pounds to lose, along with leaving your activity level at Sedentary on MFP, means you won't get a goal any lower than 1200 calories. 1200 is the minimum number of calories for women - this is to help ensure we get proper nutrition. It's harder to get enough protein, fat, fiber, vitamins, etc on low calories.

So, 1250 for 0.5lb/wk means you need 1000 for 1lb/wk, which is lower than MFP's minimum, so you get 1200.

If you changed your activity level, you would see an increase in calories and might be able to lose 1lb/week for a little while, but I think the general recommendation is to be at 0.5lb/week when you have 20 pounds or so to lose.

Depending on what you do for exercise, you might be able to get away with not eating back all the calories from your exercise adjustment, too.

For example: I get 1200 calories when I set MFP for a 0.5lb/wk loss. I then earn 400 calories from my Fitbit adjustment, but only eat 200. That gives mean additional 200 calorie deficit, on top of the 250 MFP has calculated. It also means my net calories are below 1200, which is not always a good idea.

If your main activity is walking and you have a nutritious diet, creating that additional deficit might be OK.

But, honestly, I would go with 0.5lb/wk and settle in for the long haul.

~Lyssa