Calories burned vs calorie intake

sherry0101
sherry0101 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been researching this topic and thought I would ask for some thoughts on the matter here. I want to know if anyone has found this to be correct . For example: Fitbit says I have burned 2100 calories for the day and mfp says i have taken in 1500 calories that would be a difference of 600 calories .. so if the weight lose formula of creating a 3500 calorie deficient for the week was so and this was my general calories in/calories out ratio I would lose at least 1 lb per week.

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    sherry0101 wrote: »
    I've been researching this topic and thought I would ask for some thoughts on the matter here. I want to know if anyone has found this to be correct . For example: Fitbit says I have burned 2100 calories for the day and mfp says i have taken in 1500 calories that would be a difference of 600 calories .. so if the weight lose formula of creating a 3500 calorie deficient for the week was so and this was my general calories in/calories out ratio I would lose at least 1 lb per week.

    yep
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    These are estimations, but yes you are correct. Trackers are a great starting point. Take that data over several weeks though. Also keep in mind water weight fluctuations can mess with the scale.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Yep... that's the way the math works out.

    Just be aware that there are a lot of estimates, approximations, and assumptions in all this... so sometimes the math doesn't line up just exactly how we think it should. Some tweaking can be necessary.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Yep... that's the way the math works out.

    Just be aware that there are a lot of estimates, approximations, and assumptions in all this... so sometimes the math doesn't line up just exactly how we think it should. Some tweaking can be necessary.

    and water weight.... :laugh:
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    edited September 2017
    sherry0101 wrote: »
    I've been researching this topic and thought I would ask for some thoughts on the matter here. I want to know if anyone has found this to be correct . For example: Fitbit says I have burned 2100 calories for the day and mfp says i have taken in 1500 calories that would be a difference of 600 calories .. so if the weight lose formula of creating a 3500 calorie deficient for the week was so and this was my general calories in/calories out ratio I would lose at least 1 lb per week.

    In theory, this would be a lb every 6 days, 3500/600 - 5.8 days, but cals burned are estimates and can change day to day.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    yup that is how CICO works...
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    Yes. I just want to add that for me (not for everyone) fitbit overestimates my burns by 300cals per day.
  • sherry0101
    sherry0101 Posts: 6 Member
    I think mine over estimates also and I'm sure I eat more calories than I estimate because of portion sizes so I try to burn more for those reasons
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    sherry0101 wrote: »
    I think mine over estimates also and I'm sure I eat more calories than I estimate because of portion sizes so I try to burn more for those reasons

    Get a food scale to help with the intake estimations, just knowing the numbers will never be perfect. But yeah, you've got the general gist of it.
  • sherry0101
    sherry0101 Posts: 6 Member
    a food scale would stress me out to much...I'd rather judge calories as close as possible and burn extra calories to make up the difference
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited September 2017
    sherry0101 wrote: »
    I've been researching this topic and thought I would ask for some thoughts on the matter here. I want to know if anyone has found this to be correct . For example: Fitbit says I have burned 2100 calories for the day and mfp says i have taken in 1500 calories that would be a difference of 600 calories .. so if the weight lose formula of creating a 3500 calorie deficient for the week was so and this was my general calories in/calories out ratio I would lose at least 1 lb per week.

    If you track your weight against your estimated calories in and out for a while you should start to notice patterns that will help you figure out your average daily burn (or TDEE) and general caloric intake. I've been able to work out an equation based on my personal numbers that is extremely accurate, which means I can also estimate water weight pretty accurately as well (although I've been logging for 14-15 months now so it certainly took some time). Fitbit and MFP are great places to start, but they are just estimates and won't take into accounts personal deviations from the norm. It's not a big deal that you're not weighing your portions so long as you recognize that it adds a little more uncertainty to the calories-in side of the equation.

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