Are fitness trackers just a hindrance to my weightloss.....

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  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,085 Member
    For me, something like a Fit Bit or similar would just be an annoyance. The real tell is the scale/my clothing/what I see in the mirror.

    Granted, I enjoy working out, and while I may have to force myself to get out of bed, after that, I have no issues heading to the gym. Extra activity during the day I know will just help my TDEE, but I don't need some other little thing tracking everything I'm doing. And yes, those "extra" calories "earned" would haunt me, even if I knew (like you are finding out) that I really can't have them when the scale says otherwise!
  • nehaad88
    nehaad88 Posts: 159 Member
    Xkmaf2018X wrote: »
    I know lots of people don't eat back or maybe just eat back a percentage but when I see the "extra" calories there in front of me it kinda just makes me eat more (I believe) and I'm literally getting no where whereas before fitbits I was losing steadily and felt really good, now I just feel fat! Plus I love the gym and do classes such as Step, Fatburn, Running, StairMaster, Bodypump but as soon as I'm done working out I'm like "quick, sync the fitbit and lets see what I earnt", I was never like this before.

    So should I maybe unsync my fitbit from MFP? and just logg my exercise via MFP?

    I have it unsynced. I like my fitbit to play around. I like to see the heart rate zones i hit with my activities and my daily active time. I also like to compete with my fitbit friends.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited May 2018
    That’s odd! The fitbit worked really well for me. I found it to be very accurate as far as how many calories I was burning. If you feel like it’s not helping then stop wearing it. Different things work for different people. I stopped using my fitbit close to a year ago because I just got tired of wearing the thing every day.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    hesn92 wrote: »
    That’s odd! The fitbit worked really well for me. I found it to be very accurate as far as how many calories I was burning. If you feel like it’s not helping then stop wearing it. Different things work for different people. I stopped using my fitbit close to a year ago because I just got tired of wearing the thing every day.

    Or wear it, but don't sync it with MFP. That is what I do. i still find the sleep, heart rate and activity data interesting.
  • ElC_76
    ElC_76 Posts: 3,054 Member
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    Xkmaf2018X wrote: »
    I literally just obsess over calories burnt/earnt etc and I'm still not bl**dy losing, I clearly (know) must be eating way more than I should but its beginning to drive me nuts now.

    I literally fluctuate between 11st 8lb and 12st and have done since around Feb. Before fitness trackers I lost a normal 0.5-1.5lb per week by logging my exercise via just MFP and eating them back. In fact logging via MFP only made me go to the gym everyday because I'd save my workout calories for the weekend....Now with the fitbit I earn around "300" extra calories just by walking plus any on top through gym workouts which clearly means I must be eating more than what I should.

    So say today I've "earnt" an extra 250 calories via fitbit and I haven't even been to the gym so I see that as "oooh an extra 250 to eat" whereas before fitbit I wouldn't log my steps and would still have my 1290 daily calorie intake and I would lose.

    I'm going to try it for a few weeks and see if it helps me by only logging actual proper workouts via MFP and not relying on my fitbit.

    Have anyone else found fitness trackers to be a hindrance to weight loss as opposed to being positive to they're weightloss journeys.



    Most fitness trackers give you more calories than you actually are burning in my experience. I think the rule of thumb is to only eat back half of your exercise calories.

    The main purpose of fitness trackers is to motivate you to be more active, not just to be able to eat more.

    This is interesting. Itd b more accurate than adding it in manually.
  • ElC_76
    ElC_76 Posts: 3,054 Member
    edited May 2018
    I guess they give u somthing to work with. I actually think its funny when, and I've known others doing this.. lol, that when my watch is flat i feel i cant anything until its charged.. :D u guys here probably arnt that crazy... lol
  • Amo_Angelus
    Amo_Angelus Posts: 604 Member
    Set your activity level higher and you'll need to walk more before you start earning calories for it. Adjust your activity levels until you stop "earning" for regular activity.
  • Saaski
    Saaski Posts: 105 Member
    Amo_Angelus wrote: »
    Set your activity level higher and you'll need to walk more before you start earning calories for it. Adjust your activity levels until you stop "earning" for regular activity.

    Is that how it works?! I've been trying to figure this out for ages. I've had my activity set as sedentary and my Garmin was giving me a ridiculous amount of calories back. If I raise my activity level, will things even out a bit?

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