Confused by Fitbit added cals

drockncrisso
drockncrisso Posts: 49 Member
edited November 28 in Food and Nutrition
I’m just curious about this bad math:
I know I need to have a 3500 cal deficit a week to lose 1 pound a week.
I have a Fitbit. When I walk at ALL.. it starts adjusting how many cals I can add to (supposedly) still reach my goal. However- on an average work day I’ll burn 1800 cals by the end of the day according to my Fitbit .. MFP will have added 250 extra cals “exercise” ... if my regular cal intake is 1200- and I burned 1800 by the end of the day -THAT is a 600 cal deficit- but if I were to eat that extra 250 - I’d only be at a 350 cal deficit. Why is MFP telling me to eat more -throwing off the 500 a day deficit??

Replies

  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    edited August 2018
    That means that you have set your activity level incorrectly in MFP. MFP can only guess how many calories you burn based off of the information you give it. Fitbit regularly updates how many calories you have *actually* burned. If you're getting more exercise calories it is because you are moving more than you told MFP you do.

    Also... 1200 calories is really low, and is typically a flag for most of us that you have set too aggressive a goal.

    Edit to fix bad grammar.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    How much weight are you trying to lose? What are your stats? What is your activity level set at and how many steps do you average?

    My guess is that you’re relatively close to goal weight, and that means that MFP estimates your NEAT to be around 1600-1650, so the 1 lb/week deficit takes you below the 1200 cal minimum, and MFP defaults to 1200. When your FitBit predicts you’re going to exceed that MFP NEAT estimate then you start seeing a positive adjustment.

    Logging accurately and eating back a portion or even all of those calories should not derail your progress but if you have less than 20 lbs to lose them 1 lb/week may not be appropriate for you.
  • drockncrisso
    drockncrisso Posts: 49 Member
    edited August 2018
    The NEAT numbers make sense. It looks like it’s aiming for 1600 instead of 1700 (500 cal deficit with 1200 intake)... NEAT makes sense. Yeah, it just means I’m not set up to safely lose 1lb a week. I was just curious about the fact that the numbers don’t add up to 500 deficit cals a day. I’m actually doing pretty well weight loss wise.
    I’m 5’4” currently 141lbs, MFP set to the lowest sedentary setting..and I’ve been losing a steady average of 0.5lb a week for the last 6 mos. I mean 12 pounds is pretty good! :) To do this, I’m eating up to 1300 a day- regardless of what MFP says to eat extra - unless I burned a TON of extra cals with a big workout. If I keep up this slow steady 2lbs loss a month, I’m happy with that. I was just curious why the numbers don’t add up.
    Side note- I was diagnosed hypothyroid 6 mos ago and started on meds- that’s when my diet exercise habits started actually working (after a 4 month plateau when I started wondering if there was something wrong wth me-why the diet and exercise that SHOULD be resulting in SOME weight loss was doing literally nothing) my thyroid levels have normalized, but I assume my thyroid might also be part of the reason my weight loss is so slow. Like I said, slow and steady is fine with me.. as long as I’m seeing progress. 🤗
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