Question on Exercise VS calorie count

greenetaylor27
greenetaylor27 Posts: 12 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
I just wanted to make sure i don’t have some setting screwed up, but I have the under armour fitness tracker, and on a typical day I’m allowed approx 1400 calories.. yet on the days I work out or walk lots of steps it deducts from my allowable calories. For instance i just ate lunch (skipped breakfast due to busy morning), and i had 1,199 calories remaining. Then it synced my 4,500 steps so far today and now my remaining calories are around 775?? Is that normal? I’m new to fitness/diet world so I’m trying to learn as much as I can that will contribute to my success! Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • greenetaylor27
    greenetaylor27 Posts: 12 Member
    Also i am 5’5” about 175, trying to get down to 140, I’ve lost about 3 pounds in the past 2-2.5 weeks.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,084 Member
    I have no experience with that app, but my only thought would be that your actual steps vs what you set your activity level at are rather different, so it's cutting calories to match a lowered activity level.
  • greenetaylor27
    greenetaylor27 Posts: 12 Member
    Thank you! The under armour fitness tracker is like a fit bit, it’s linked with My fitness pal
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I have no experience with that app, but my only thought would be that your actual steps vs what you set your activity level at are rather different, so it's cutting calories to match a lowered activity level.

    This would be my first thought too . . . that your activity setting would lead MFP to think you're more active than that, so you're getting calories deducted.
  • greenetaylor27
    greenetaylor27 Posts: 12 Member
    I don’t set my activity level the steps sync right from my under armour fitness band right to MFP periodically throughout the day
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I don’t set my activity level the steps sync right from my under armour fitness band right to MFP periodically throughout the day

    When you set up your account on MFP, you choose an activity level. I don't think there is any way to bypass this step -- it's how your initial calorie goal is calculated prior to any adjustments.
  • greenetaylor27
    greenetaylor27 Posts: 12 Member
    Oh jeez is there a way to see what it’s set at? It was so long ago
  • greenetaylor27
    greenetaylor27 Posts: 12 Member
    I just changed it from active to lightly active ( which i think is a little underestimated because i have two young kids and workout), and it took me from 700 something calories left down to 429??
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Oh jeez is there a way to see what it’s set at? It was so long ago

    Yes, if you go back into goal settings, you should be able to see it. But if you set it up a while ago and this is just an issue today, that probably isn't it. Are you seeing that it works fine on all previous days but it's only today that it's behaving oddly?
  • Joanna2012B
    Joanna2012B Posts: 1,448 Member
    Yes you can. Go to settings/Update Diet Profile.
  • greenetaylor27
    greenetaylor27 Posts: 12 Member
    e3b9fu83vybp.jpeg

    This is what my dashboard currently looks like with my activity level set at “Active”
  • greenetaylor27
    greenetaylor27 Posts: 12 Member
    Oh jeez is there a way to see what it’s set at? It was so long ago

    Yes, if you go back into goal settings, you should be able to see it. But if you set it up a while ago and this is just an issue today, that probably isn't it. Are you seeing that it works fine on all previous days but it's only today that it's behaving oddly?

    I feel like i just noticed it today, I figured with the activity level (steps) factored in, plus not even eating breakfast (not on purpose), my calories remaining would be higher
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    Oh jeez is there a way to see what it’s set at? It was so long ago

    Yes, if you go back into goal settings, you should be able to see it. But if you set it up a while ago and this is just an issue today, that probably isn't it. Are you seeing that it works fine on all previous days but it's only today that it's behaving oddly?

    I feel like i just noticed it today, I figured with the activity level (steps) factored in, plus not even eating breakfast (not on purpose), my calories remaining would be higher

    What I think you're seeing: 4,000ish steps isn't enough to justify an activity goal of "active." Fitbit would expect you to move *more* with that activity level, so you're getting calories subtracted to ensure you don't eat too much.

    This. 4000 steps is just on the edge of sedentary. The negative adjustment is reflecting that your MfP setting is too high.
  • greenetaylor27
    greenetaylor27 Posts: 12 Member
    Oh jeez is there a way to see what it’s set at? It was so long ago

    Yes, if you go back into goal settings, you should be able to see it. But if you set it up a while ago and this is just an issue today, that probably isn't it. Are you seeing that it works fine on all previous days but it's only today that it's behaving oddly?

    I feel like i just noticed it today, I figured with the activity level (steps) factored in, plus not even eating breakfast (not on purpose), my calories remaining would be higher

    What I think you're seeing: 4,000ish steps isn't enough to justify an activity goal of "active." Fitbit would expect you to move *more* with that activity level, so you're getting calories subtracted to ensure you don't eat too much.

    Ohh ok that makes sense! No i wasn’t saying my 4,000 steps is active, I haven’t worked out or anything yet today that was just this mornings errands lol! I just noticed it and was like hmmmm... but thanks for clearing it up. Like i said I’m very much a newbie!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,296 Member
    edited March 2018
    How much of a deficit are you dialling in? Click on the adjustment and read what is says, is your watch set identically to MFP?

    Looks like your tdee is not over 2500, thus 500Cal deficit is probably the largest you should be aiming for.

    10k step a day should put you in active category.

    4500 by 14:00 (2pm) is compatible with lightly active and I don't see why you would have a negative adjustment at 14:00 (based on a setting of lightly active on MFP) unless the updates are not yet synchronized btw the devices
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Oh jeez is there a way to see what it’s set at? It was so long ago

    Yes, if you go back into goal settings, you should be able to see it. But if you set it up a while ago and this is just an issue today, that probably isn't it. Are you seeing that it works fine on all previous days but it's only today that it's behaving oddly?

    I feel like i just noticed it today, I figured with the activity level (steps) factored in, plus not even eating breakfast (not on purpose), my calories remaining would be higher

    What I think you're seeing: 4,000ish steps isn't enough to justify an activity goal of "active." Fitbit would expect you to move *more* with that activity level, so you're getting calories subtracted to ensure you don't eat too much.

    Ohh ok that makes sense! No i wasn’t saying my 4,000 steps is active, I haven’t worked out or anything yet today that was just this mornings errands lol! I just noticed it and was like hmmmm... but thanks for clearing it up. Like i said I’m very much a newbie!

    So as you move more today, you should seek more calories available. The thing about starting out as "active" is that it will take you longer to balance out your day and see your calories available, especially if more of your activity is later in the day. You will get the same end result eventually, it will just look different earlier in the day.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Oh jeez is there a way to see what it’s set at? It was so long ago

    Yes, if you go back into goal settings, you should be able to see it. But if you set it up a while ago and this is just an issue today, that probably isn't it. Are you seeing that it works fine on all previous days but it's only today that it's behaving oddly?

    I feel like i just noticed it today, I figured with the activity level (steps) factored in, plus not even eating breakfast (not on purpose), my calories remaining would be higher

    What I think you're seeing: 4,000ish steps isn't enough to justify an activity goal of "active." Fitbit would expect you to move *more* with that activity level, so you're getting calories subtracted to ensure you don't eat too much.

    Ohh ok that makes sense! No i wasn’t saying my 4,000 steps is active, I haven’t worked out or anything yet today that was just this mornings errands lol! I just noticed it and was like hmmmm... but thanks for clearing it up. Like i said I’m very much a newbie!

    Take a look at a couple historical days, to see if it balances out in general.

    That will be the best way to determine.

    But yes, syncing early and often is definitely going to give you confusing results.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I get -80 calories from sedentary when I wake up. I think that's what's happening here, your actual activity is lower than what you set up on MFP.

    I start getting a positive adjustment from sedentary at 4000 steps or so.
  • izzyred9400
    izzyred9400 Posts: 1,091 Member
    Hi,I had the same when I synced Map my walk,you can turn off negative adjustments in Diary settings on the MFP website.It is linked to your activity settings as others have said.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Hi,I had the same when I synced Map my walk,you can turn off negative adjustments in Diary settings on the MFP website.It is linked to your activity settings as others have said.

    If OP has set her activity level to "active," turning off negative adjustments may result in her eating more than she needs. I'm not sure how much more she is planning to burn today (or how much she is burning in an average day), but "active" isn't right for everyone.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I'm set to sedentary and have disable the negative calorie adjustments. I don't log casual steps as anything, only purposeful workouts and it balances perfectly for me.
  • BattyKnitter
    BattyKnitter Posts: 503 Member
    This thread helped me so much! I kept worrying that my calories were set too high but now that I know that my Fitbit will adjust down if I'm not meeting my setting of "lightly Active" makes me much less worried! I prefer having it set to lightly active and not log my workouts because I'm really not sure how to log them lol.
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