Eating my Fitbit calories back?

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parrothdphan
parrothdphan Posts: 3 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I can’t decide on if I should eat my Fitbit calories back? If I don’t eat then back I sometimes end the day with a bit of hunger but then again if I do eat some or most but never all of them back I end the day feeling really full. Additionally if I don’t eat some of the calories back my ending diary for the day predicts even further weight loss. I have recently reached my goal weight after losing 42 lbs and I want to maintain weight. Please help!
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Replies

  • Trex5009
    Trex5009 Posts: 171 Member
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    Just eat them back..
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    If your goal is to maintain your weight than further loss isn't what you want.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,023 Member
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    If you used mfp to get your calorie goal then you should be eating back the fitbit adjustment. If not you will be eating at a deficit and will continue to lose weight, not maintain.
  • Sunnybrooke99
    Sunnybrooke99 Posts: 369 Member
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    What about moving to more of a weekly mindset? That’s kinda what I have to do anyways. I calorie needs are low, and I work out a lot. I follow a high volume low cal diet, mostly bc I like it, and I believe in the micronutrient thing. The deficit I usually have allows me to do stuff like enjoy a burge if my boyfriend grills, or go out to dinner and have some ribs and bread, and makes life a lot easier for me.

    Right now, I’m counting and trying to trim up some bc I had a major lifestyle change that messed w my routine, and I need to get into a new one, but this method worked for me for years, and allowed me to have fun date nights and stuff again.
  • parrothdphan
    parrothdphan Posts: 3 Member
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    Rachelmilloy wrote: »
    I know what you mean about ending the day feeling "really full" - in my case, I can't help associating feeling that full with weight gain... however, I have been pleased and gratified to discover that a deficit is a deficit and leads to weight loss no matter how full I may feel. Sounds like you're wondering to what degree you can trust Fitbit's assessment of your daily calorie burn - in my case, I have been trusting my Fitbit and eating my extra Fitbit calories for more than 4 years now. You can always test the figures your Fitbit gives you by gradually eating more and more of the extra Fitbit calories, and watching how they affect your weight over time...
  • parrothdphan
    parrothdphan Posts: 3 Member
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    Exactly
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Order of trust/distrust.

    Trust MFP's estimate of daily burn - based on self selected activity level from 4 choices.

    MFP tries to correct itself to what it knows is a better estimate with infinite levels (well ok, down to 1 calorie levels).

    Distrust Fitbit.

    Distrust what MFP is trying to do.

    But still eat at MFP guidance because ........ you trust it?
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
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    Was your Fitbit accurate during your loss phase? If yes, trust it for a month and see what happens. For myself, mine was/is off by around 200-300 cals a day, which I determined from having to net under 1200 cals to lose weight, and because eating at expected maintenance caused me to gain weight beyond glycogen restoration.
  • mjglantz
    mjglantz Posts: 501 Member
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    I don't eat them back although I will go slightly over my calorie goal. I tend to eat more on the weekends so it all balances out.
  • birgitkwood
    birgitkwood Posts: 486 Member
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    mjglantz wrote: »
    I don't eat them back although I will go slightly over my calorie goal. I tend to eat more on the weekends so it all balances out.

    Exactly what I do!
  • always_smilin_D
    always_smilin_D Posts: 89 Member
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    I don't have my fitbit sinc'd to MFP but I do use it to track solely my exercise burn - I will eat back some of my exercise burnt calories. HRs are only a guide - if you are feeling hungry - truly hungry - you might not be fueling correctly and/or eating enough to satiate the hunger.
  • TristaJ80
    TristaJ80 Posts: 13 Member
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    I don't eat back my fitbit calories. I have a job where I'm on my feet all day and I'm walking for most of it. So I average 12-14,000 steps just at work. Fitbit calories was giving me like 2,200 to eat for the day. I tried that for a little bit and I consistently gained. So I don't have my fitbit synced to myfitnesspal. I think maybe because that's my normal every day activity?
  • beaglady
    beaglady Posts: 1,362 Member
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    I do eat them back, but my base calories are set based on being sedentary due to an office job. I have negative calories enabled, and have found that some days when I’m tied to my desk, I need those steps just to get back to base calories.

    On weekends I’m a whole lot more active and want to be able to eat more than 1300.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    TristaJ80 wrote: »
    I don't eat back my fitbit calories. I have a job where I'm on my feet all day and I'm walking for most of it. So I average 12-14,000 steps just at work. Fitbit calories was giving me like 2,200 to eat for the day. I tried that for a little bit and I consistently gained. So I don't have my fitbit synced to myfitnesspal. I think maybe because that's my normal every day activity?

    It is - so MFP should be set for an appropriate activity level of Active - that's what it was trying to correct itself to, better estimate from Fitbit.

    But if like Fitbit stride length is wrong for all that walking - then inflated calorie burn is likely.

    2200 sounds very reasonable for all day walking, actually under estimated.
    The fact you do it all the time means it's not a workout or hard for your body anymore, so HR may not go up much, and it's mainly fat burn.
    Doesn't mean it doesn't burn the same calories if moving the the same mass the same pace - that stays the same.

    How much did you gain - because if you think it was fat - fat is not fast, lost or gained?
    Likely was water weight, and that would have stopped and topped out.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    Ideally you should be eating calories back to fuel your activity. Ideal also means you need to be as accurate as possible with logging as well as ensuring your FitBit data is providing accurate data.

    Experiment with this and make the necessary tweaks to your data points, just keep an eye on the scale, body measurements, and/or whatever metric you track.
  • jkm49
    jkm49 Posts: 27 Member
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    Since beginning of March '16 when I restarted reducing I have always eaten my calories back earned from activity and managed to lose 2lbs per week. 2lbs was my target loss per week. I do enjoy every bite of food that enters my mouth.
  • yskaldir
    yskaldir Posts: 202 Member
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    Fitbit overestimates calories burnt during exercise, so no.

  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,023 Member
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    cheldadex wrote: »
    Fitbit overestimates calories burnt during exercise, so no.

    Fitbit does not always overestimate calorie burn. My fitbit underestimates my calorie burn by about 250 calories per day. OP I would recommend eating them back. If your weight starts to trend up then you know that your fitbit is overestimating and you need to eat less of your fitbit adjustment. If you keep losing weight (like I did) then you know that you can even eat a little more.

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