Does anyone use FitBit calories to lose weight?

armydreamers
armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
edited December 4 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm logging food on MFP and using the numbers generated here. I told the MFP calculator that I want to lose a half pound a week so it gave me 1740 kcal based on that. Now, I have my FitBit Charge synced to MFP and based on my activity it keeps giving me extra calories. I *also* told my FitBit I want to lose a half pound a week (-250kcal/day), so it takes that into account when giving me extra cals.

Question is, should I go with MFP's lower number or FitBit's higher number? FitBit says my TDEE is around 2200 (on regular days that I don't exercise), so if I eat less than 1950 it says I'm under. I wouldn't mind eating 1950 instead of 1740 but I'm not sure if I should!

Hope this makes sense. :)

Replies

  • Clawsal
    Clawsal Posts: 255 Member
    My fitbit tends to overestimate calories burned so no I don't use those. Maybe start by eating 80%-90% of the fitbit number and see how that goes... if you are losing too fast then you can eat more. Or go the other way and eat the fitbit calories and if you don't lose fast enough lower your calorie intake.
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    edited October 2016
    I am syced with my Fitbit.
    Pick one- or the other.
    Fitbit collects the activity data *and adjusts MFP- where you log your food- so go with MFP and see how you progress over a few weeks.

    I like to leave a few in the green each day based off what my Fitbit gives me just to be on the cautious side and it has worked really well.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    I sync my fit bit to MFP. I sync my Runtastic runs to MFP. I wear both my phone and fit bit when I run. Somehow between the three of then they figure it out and don't double count. At the end of the day I apply those calories to scotch, wine and beer. Works for me! :D
  • louise5779
    louise5779 Posts: 82 Member
    I only use mfp to log my food. I eat the calories that my Fitbit app tells me to in the app not here. The Fitbit app is my actual tdee so today for example up until now I have over eaten 90 cals as per my Fitbit app where as my fitness pal is telling me that I still have 800 cals left to eat. Mfp always seems to be way generous.
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    louise5779 wrote: »
    I only use mfp to log my food. I eat the calories that my Fitbit app tells me to in the app not here. The Fitbit app is my actual tdee so today for example up until now I have over eaten 90 cals as per my Fitbit app where as my fitness pal is telling me that I still have 800 cals left to eat. Mfp always seems to be way generous.

    Fitbit tells you the calories you have burned up to the time you look at it. MFP estimates a full day. So, for instance, right this minute my Fitbit says I'm over by 40 calories and MFP says have around 1000 left for the day (I haven't eaten lunch or dinner yet). By the end of the day, they usually come up within 50 calories of each other.
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
    RAinWA wrote: »
    louise5779 wrote: »
    I only use mfp to log my food. I eat the calories that my Fitbit app tells me to in the app not here. The Fitbit app is my actual tdee so today for example up until now I have over eaten 90 cals as per my Fitbit app where as my fitness pal is telling me that I still have 800 cals left to eat. Mfp always seems to be way generous.

    Fitbit tells you the calories you have burned up to the time you look at it. MFP estimates a full day. So, for instance, right this minute my Fitbit says I'm over by 40 calories and MFP says have around 1000 left for the day (I haven't eaten lunch or dinner yet). By the end of the day, they usually come up within 50 calories of each other.

    See for me I find that by the end of the day, if I stick with just MFP calories and don't use any Fitbit adjusted calories, I'm in the yellow.

    I guess I'll try to stay in the green zone for a few weeks and see what happens...

    (Sorry just noticed this question has been asked before!)
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    At the end of the day I know the approximate number of calories I need to eat as sedentary with no exercise, to lose 1lb per week. I know that I need a deficit of 500 calories per day, period.
    The sync takes the guess work out of it. Id rather trust the algorithms and see what happens over a few weeks vs trying to disprove or second guess this math. Whats the point of having it if you cant use it for its purposes?This goes for linking accounts too.

    My FitBit and MFP both show that I have the same amount calories left for the day.
    It calculates that Ive burned 1758 thus far. Which seems decent enough given the time of day and exercise Ive done.
    But Ill be honest that I dont blindly assume its as high a burn as it says - for my own benefit and no discredit to the set up. So I give or take 100-200cals- leaving some uneaten cals at the end of the day.

    Data is your friend. So is trial and error. As you lose weight you will have to switch it up anyway so its an evolving method for a while. You can go back and review the data from both sources to see calories in and out and see if they match up and furthermore see if it shows on the scale.

  • kathakraz
    kathakraz Posts: 65 Member
    I haven't been eating all my fitbit calories and lose a bit faster than expected, so I think I can eat pretty much all of them and still lose. But I only know because I have the data. Now that I'm entering normal bmi territory, I really want to lose around half a pound a week. I will eat them all and see if I'm right.

    Basically, try mfp or fitbit for at least a month, see what happens, and adjust if you are losing at a faster or slower rate than is desired.

  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    armydreamers wrote: »
    RAinWA wrote: »
    louise5779 wrote: »
    I only use mfp to log my food. I eat the calories that my Fitbit app tells me to in the app not here. The Fitbit app is my actual tdee so today for example up until now I have over eaten 90 cals as per my Fitbit app where as my fitness pal is telling me that I still have 800 cals left to eat. Mfp always seems to be way generous.

    Fitbit tells you the calories you have burned up to the time you look at it. MFP estimates a full day. So, for instance, right this minute my Fitbit says I'm over by 40 calories and MFP says have around 1000 left for the day (I haven't eaten lunch or dinner yet). By the end of the day, they usually come up within 50 calories of each other.

    See for me I find that by the end of the day, if I stick with just MFP calories and don't use any Fitbit adjusted calories, I'm in the yellow.

    I guess I'll try to stay in the green zone for a few weeks and see what happens...

    (Sorry just noticed this question has been asked before!)

    Sorry - guess I wasn't very clear. I have my Fitbit synced to MFP with negative calorie adjustments enabled. So throughout the day Fitbit is syncing and telling MFP how much I've moved.

    I'm maintaining, but I have found the Fitbit calorie adjustment to be pretty dead on perfect for me.
  • daniip_la
    daniip_la Posts: 678 Member
    My Fitbit One calorie adjustment is perfect. I tested it over a few months and the numbers matched.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I never sync'ed it but I ate 20% under what fitbit gave me and it worked.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    I synced my accounts and I eat the number that MFP gives me -- which includes the activity adjustment from my Fitbit. But at the end of the day, they're about the same number.

    I think the important thing is to choose one and stick with that.

    ^^^^this
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
    Ok, thanks everyone! Before I kept deleting the extra calories that my FitBit was giving me on MFP but I'll try it this way. :)
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
    I'm still confused. Ugh. Right now MFP is telling me I earned extra calories today (based on fitbit) and I now have a new goal of 1978 calories today. However, looking at my fitbit I've only burned 1914 so far (it's 8:49pm here). Why is my goal higher than I've burned if I want to have a 250 deficit? Is it just because fitbit is assuming that I'll burned at least 250-300 more before the day is done?
  • daniip_la
    daniip_la Posts: 678 Member
    armydreamers wrote: »
    I'm still confused. Ugh. Right now MFP is telling me I earned extra calories today (based on fitbit) and I now have a new goal of 1978 calories today. However, looking at my fitbit I've only burned 1914 so far (it's 8:49pm here). Why is my goal higher than I've burned if I want to have a 250 deficit? Is it just because fitbit is assuming that I'll burned at least 250-300 more before the day is done?

    Yes, Fitbit generally assumes you're going to keep up your current activity until midnight. Which is kind of ridiculous, but that's how it calculates.
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    I use my fitbit exclusively to make sure I'm getting an accurate Activity Level for MFP, as well as to avoid having to enter exercise calories manually. I try not to eat them all back, but usually fail, and it's worked out pretty good so far (1 yr in, 30 lbs down). I wouldn't want to use fitbit for the food or calorie alotment. That's a little less tested and supported by people's MILLIONS of success stories the way MFP is. Although realistically, you could count calories on a piece of paper and still lose weight, I just think MFP is more convenient and if you update your stats regularly, it does all the adjusting for you, which is nice. My fitbit can't seem to figure that out without multiple disconnects and reconnects...
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
    CoffeeNCardio wrote: »
    I use my fitbit exclusively to make sure I'm getting an accurate Activity Level for MFP, as well as to avoid having to enter exercise calories manually. I try not to eat them all back, but usually fail, and it's worked out pretty good so far (1 yr in, 30 lbs down). I wouldn't want to use fitbit for the food or calorie alotment. That's a little less tested and supported by people's MILLIONS of success stories the way MFP is. Although realistically, you could count calories on a piece of paper and still lose weight, I just think MFP is more convenient and if you update your stats regularly, it does all the adjusting for you, which is nice. My fitbit can't seem to figure that out without multiple disconnects and reconnects...

    Yes! I agree and I do only use MFP for my logging as well. :)
  • louise5779
    louise5779 Posts: 82 Member
    RAinWA wrote: »
    louise5779 wrote: »
    I only use mfp to log my food. I eat the calories that my Fitbit app tells me to in the app not here. The Fitbit app is my actual tdee so today for example up until now I have over eaten 90 cals as per my Fitbit app where as my fitness pal is telling me that I still have 800 cals left to eat. Mfp always seems to be way generous.

    Fitbit tells you the calories you have burned up to the time you look at it. MFP estimates a full day. So, for instance, right this minute my Fitbit says I'm over by 40 calories and MFP says have around 1000 left for the day (I haven't eaten lunch or dinner yet). By the end of the day, they usually come up within 50 calories of each other.

    Yes, i know but after while it works out your pattern. When i check back the day after or after midnight it still will say over eaten. The 90 cals i was talking about yesterday now says 75 over and that day is finished.

    Yesterday my total burn was 2853, fitbit gave me 2103 to eat where as MFP gives me 2603, I would gain weight i'm only 5'3". I have lost 12.3 lbs in 12 weeks steadily following Fitbit app not MFP. Why would you follow MFP which its based on a calculation of your tdee over fitbit which is actually heart rate and steps etc.

    MFP is great for logging food and macros but hen creating a calorie deficit Fitbit is easier to follow.
  • kidrow21
    kidrow21 Posts: 67 Member
    I use polar M400 with HBM
  • coffeethencardio
    coffeethencardio Posts: 27 Member
    I had to stop using my FB Surge. It was wildly inaccurate and it's been replaced by FB twice. It now lays on my bedroom dresser unused. A complete waste of money. I track everything manually now and I've started losing again. I've been stuck in the same place and I think the FB played a part in that. Good luck figuring it out. I hope it works for you.
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    louise5779 wrote: »
    RAinWA wrote: »
    louise5779 wrote: »
    I only use mfp to log my food. I eat the calories that my Fitbit app tells me to in the app not here. The Fitbit app is my actual tdee so today for example up until now I have over eaten 90 cals as per my Fitbit app where as my fitness pal is telling me that I still have 800 cals left to eat. Mfp always seems to be way generous.

    Fitbit tells you the calories you have burned up to the time you look at it. MFP estimates a full day. So, for instance, right this minute my Fitbit says I'm over by 40 calories and MFP says have around 1000 left for the day (I haven't eaten lunch or dinner yet). By the end of the day, they usually come up within 50 calories of each other.

    Yes, i know but after while it works out your pattern. When i check back the day after or after midnight it still will say over eaten. The 90 cals i was talking about yesterday now says 75 over and that day is finished.

    Yesterday my total burn was 2853, fitbit gave me 2103 to eat where as MFP gives me 2603, I would gain weight i'm only 5'3". I have lost 12.3 lbs in 12 weeks steadily following Fitbit app not MFP. Why would you follow MFP which its based on a calculation of your tdee over fitbit which is actually heart rate and steps etc.

    MFP is great for logging food and macros but hen creating a calorie deficit Fitbit is easier to follow.

    I think picking one and sticking with it is probably the best way to go. I log all my exercise on Fitbit, food on MFP and just follow the MFP calories. My Fitbit is a One so it just counts my steps. I do have to periodically check Fitbit to make sure it is the same as MFP - for some reason Fitbit sometimes changes my stats. All the sudden I'll be taller or male even though I have the same stats set in both.

    Whichever way you go, I think consistency is the key.
  • Bearbo27
    Bearbo27 Posts: 339 Member
    I have my activity level set to sedentary, but generally do between 7,000-10,000 steps a day. My calorie goal starts at 1200 but With my activity level, I am usually given about 300-500 more to eat. I've had days where I eat them all and some where I might leave a few hundred based on my hunger level. I'm losing weight consistently. The amount of calories given is pretty spot on with what mfp gave me before my Fitbit when my activity level is set to active.
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