Fitbit and weekly goal

emmas434
emmas434 Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,

I recently changed my weekly weightloss goal from 1 to 2 lbs per week, and assumed that by syncing my Fitbit the goal would transfer over automatically. However I'm starting to doubt as my calorie adjustment is roughly the same as what it was at 1 lb. Does anyone know if it does do it automatically, and if not what should I do to correct it?

Thanks

Replies

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,227 Member
    edited February 2018
    Your adjustment depends on your base activity setting on MFP, not on your goal.

    MFP includes your complete deficit in your goal. Your goal is given to you based on your stated activity.

    The Fitbit adjustment corrects your MFP activity that was pre-guessed by you when you chose it in guided setup based on what your Fitbit detects.

    If you're getting consistently getting large adjustments and if MFP is reaching the base minimum 1200/1500, you might want to look into increasing your base MFP stated activity level.

    Whether 2lbs a week is suitable for everyone is a completely different story.

    If you're not defined as obese and if your daily TDEE does not exceed 4000 Cal a day, chances are very much increased that a 1000 Cal a day deficit is too aggressive.
  • emmas434
    emmas434 Posts: 29 Member
    edited February 2018
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Your adjustment depends on your base activity setting on MFP, not on your goal.

    MFP includes your complete deficit in your goal. Your goal is given to you based on your stated activity.

    The Fitbit adjustment corrects your MFP activity as guessed by you based on what your Fitbit detects.

    I had set my activity level to sedentary, so I am accustomed to Fitbit adjusting my calories. What I'm concerned about is Fitbit giving me an adjustment thinking I am on a 1 lb weightloss goal, when i want it to tell me for 2 lbs.

    The calorie goal I've been given by MFP is 1200 calories per day without any modifications, which is what I expected.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    emmas434 wrote: »
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Your adjustment depends on your base activity setting on MFP, not on your goal.

    MFP includes your complete deficit in your goal. Your goal is given to you based on your stated activity.

    The Fitbit adjustment corrects your MFP activity as guessed by you based on what your Fitbit detects.

    I had set my activity level to sedentary, so I am accustomed to Fitbit adjusting my calories. What I'm concerned about is Fitbit giving me an adjustment thinking I am on a 1 lb weightloss goal, when i want it to tell me for 2 lbs.

    The calorie goal I've been given by MFP is 1200 calories per day without any modifications, which is what I expected.

    That isn't how the Fitbit adjustment works. Fitbit doesn't "know" what your MFP weight loss goal is, for Fitbit's purposes it is irrelevant what you set your MFP weight loss goal to.
  • KWlosingit
    KWlosingit Posts: 122 Member
    You have to go set your goal in fitbit to the same as MFP.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    KWlosingit wrote: »
    You have to go set your goal in fitbit to the same as MFP.

    You don't have to do this in order for the adjustment to work properly. The adjustment is based on the difference between the activity detected by Fitbit and the activity predicted by MFP (based on the activity level you input).
  • KWlosingit
    KWlosingit Posts: 122 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    KWlosingit wrote: »
    You have to go set your goal in fitbit to the same as MFP.

    You don't have to do this in order for the adjustment to work properly. The adjustment is based on the difference between the activity detected by Fitbit and the activity predicted by MFP (based on the activity level you input).

    but your totals will be off between the two and then people get all confused about how come MFP is not doing the same as fitbit.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    KWlosingit wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    KWlosingit wrote: »
    You have to go set your goal in fitbit to the same as MFP.

    You don't have to do this in order for the adjustment to work properly. The adjustment is based on the difference between the activity detected by Fitbit and the activity predicted by MFP (based on the activity level you input).

    but your totals will be off between the two and then people get all confused about how come MFP is not doing the same as fitbit.

    None of that has anything to do with the calorie adjustment within MFP.

    You don't need the totals to match between the two in order for them to work properly.

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,227 Member
    edited February 2018
    KWlosingit wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    KWlosingit wrote: »
    You have to go set your goal in fitbit to the same as MFP.

    You don't have to do this in order for the adjustment to work properly. The adjustment is based on the difference between the activity detected by Fitbit and the activity predicted by MFP (based on the activity level you input).

    but your totals will be off between the two and then people get all confused about how come MFP is not doing the same as fitbit.

    The original question was about the Fitbit adjustment. Not the eating goals. The OP should re read my first answer (which I have slightly expanded) as it explains what is happening.

    Short answer is that the adjustment is working correctly and is not affected by the weight loss goal.

    It is an adjustment of how much you actually spent in terms of calories for the day. The size of your deficit plays no role in that calculation.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Example for you:

    MFP estimates at Sedentary I maintain at 1710.
    For 1/2 lb per week, MFP would say 1460.
    For 1 lb per week, MFP would say 1210.

    Okay, let's use Saturdays Fitbit burn of 2558.

    2558-1710= 848

    1/2 lb per week becomes 1460+848= 2308 (2558-250= 2308)
    1lb per week becomes 1210+848= 2058 (2558-500= 2058)

    My adjustment is the same because my activity level is the same. What is different is the deficit I started with before the adjustment.

    Same applies to you. You decreased your MFP goal by 500 to get the 1000 calorie deficit. Even though Fitbit is adding the same amount, you are still 500 calories lower than you were before.

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