Fitbit and MFP logging

There used to be a Fitbit group here on mfp that explains the difference that might explain it better than I can.

When you set up the Fitbit did you set up a food plan that specifies a deficit of off what the Fitbit records?

I have the same issue. The data conflicts. MFP says I have close to 500 left in my day, Fitbit says 87. I don't know which to believe, but as long as I'm seeing a loss I ignore it.

JMBird wrote: »

shadow2soul wrote: »

JMBird wrote: »

I've been logging my food on MFP for about 45-ish days now.. It syncs with my fitbit (charge hr 2.) The fitbit carries over adjustments which is adding calories I can eat that day. So, I eat about 300 more, keeping me in a 1000+ deficit on a mostly daily basis.

The problem?
I check fitbit and apparently they don't seem to agree. I started looking at the information that transfers over and I am over budget on a near daily basis.

Using the fitbit logging before wasn't preferable to me. I like the interface and ease of use with this app, but I think it is over-estimating what I'm allowed to eat.

Is anyone else having this problem? I feel like I should've lost more than ten pounds by now (based on past experience.)

Thanks!

Do you have the same rate loss goal selected on Fitbit’s Food Plan and on MFP?

Is your goal to NET 1200 calories on MFP? If yes, than you probably do not have the 1000 calorie deficit you want. That’s not necessarily a bad thing either. This happens when your weight loss goal is too aggressive for your stats and activity level. My max deficit on Sedentary is 500 a day and about 700 a day if I set it to lightly active. However if I go by the NIH recommendation of losing 10% body weight over 6 months, I’m looking at only about a 250 calorie a day deficit.

Honestly, as much as I've tried I have never wrapped my head around what net really means. I know that fitbit info will add anywhere from 700-1500 calorie adjustments through to the app every day. I don't know what lightly active actually qualifies as, but it's what I have set and I get no less than 10k steps/day. Usually 13-17k.

My goal is always 2lb. a week, everywhere on every app I've ever used lol.

Is your calorie goal before exercise 1200?

Net = Intake - exercise

Not everyone can create a 1000 calorie deficit in a healthy way. Once you reach a certain point in your weight loss aiming losing 2 lbs per week can also mean losing lean body mass loss.
Example:
If I set myself to Sedentary on MFP.
MFP thinks my maintenance is 1700 without exercise.
That translates too:

0.5 lb per week: 1700-250 = 1450 NET
1lb per week: 1700 - 500 = 1200 NET
1.5 lb per week: 1700 - 750 = 1200 NET
2lb per week: 1700 - 1000 = 1200 NET

MFP doesn’t care that I told it I wanted to lose 2 lbs per week. MFP won’t go below 1200 calories which is what it would have to do to get the desired deficit. To actually lose 2 lbs a week I would have to eat 700 a day plus exercise, but that wouldn’t be healthy. Plus I would definitely be losing lean body mass as 2 lbs per week exceeds 1% of my body weight.

If you want mostly fat loss, than you don’t want to aim for more than 1% body weight loss per week (along with adequate protein intake and progressive strength training).

~~~~~~

Anyway I think what you are seeing is that MFP’s deficit is smaller than Fitbit’s.

JMBird wrote: »

shadow2soul wrote: »

JMBird wrote: »

shadow2soul wrote: »

JMBird wrote: »

I've been logging my food on MFP for about 45-ish days now.. It syncs with my fitbit (charge hr 2.) The fitbit carries over adjustments which is adding calories I can eat that day. So, I eat about 300 more, keeping me in a 1000+ deficit on a mostly daily basis.

The problem?
I check fitbit and apparently they don't seem to agree. I started looking at the information that transfers over and I am over budget on a near daily basis.

Using the fitbit logging before wasn't preferable to me. I like the interface and ease of use with this app, but I think it is over-estimating what I'm allowed to eat.

Is anyone else having this problem? I feel like I should've lost more than ten pounds by now (based on past experience.)

Thanks!

Do you have the same rate loss goal selected on Fitbit’s Food Plan and on MFP?

Is your goal to NET 1200 calories on MFP? If yes, than you probably do not have the 1000 calorie deficit you want. That’s not necessarily a bad thing either. This happens when your weight loss goal is too aggressive for your stats and activity level. My max deficit on Sedentary is 500 a day and about 700 a day if I set it to lightly active. However if I go by the NIH recommendation of losing 10% body weight over 6 months, I’m looking at only about a 250 calorie a day deficit.

Honestly, as much as I've tried I have never wrapped my head around what net really means. I know that fitbit info will add anywhere from 700-1500 calorie adjustments through to the app every day. I don't know what lightly active actually qualifies as, but it's what I have set and I get no less than 10k steps/day. Usually 13-17k.

My goal is always 2lb. a week, everywhere on every app I've ever used lol.

Is your calorie goal before exercise 1200?

Net = Intake - exercise

Not everyone can create a 1000 calorie deficit in a healthy way. Once you reach a certain point in your weight loss aiming losing 2 lbs per week can also mean losing lean body mass loss.
Example:
If I set myself to Sedentary on MFP.
MFP thinks my maintenance is 1700 without exercise.
That translates too:

0.5 lb per week: 1700-250 = 1450 NET
1lb per week: 1700 - 500 = 1200 NET
1.5 lb per week: 1700 - 750 = 1200 NET
2lb per week: 1700 - 1000 = 1200 NET

MFP doesn’t care that I told it I wanted to lose 2 lbs per week. MFP won’t go below 1200 calories which is what it would have to do to get the desired deficit. To actually lose 2 lbs a week I would have to eat 700 a day plus exercise, but that wouldn’t be healthy. Plus I would definitely be losing lean body mass as 2 lbs per week exceeds 1% of my body weight.

If you want mostly fat loss, than you don’t want to aim for more than 1% body weight loss per week (along with adequate protein intake and progressive strength training).

~~~~~~

Anyway I think what you are seeing is that MFP’s deficit is smaller than Fitbit’s.

You seem to know what the deal is here. Can you explain something else to me?

If the idea is that the net goal is 1200, because that's the minimum... Why would it add calories to keep me from the selected deficit? That's the thing I don't get. It's boosting me by 400+ calories a day. But I'm seeing that days I actually consumed that I went out of my range? I really hope I'm making sense here.

If it didn’t you wouldn’t be NETTing 1200.

MFP’s minimum is to NET 1200 (so calories consumed minus exercise equals 1200).


If we look at my numbers above, I would have to burn an extra 500 calories and not eat them to reach a 1000 calorie deficit. However doing that would have me NETTING 700 calories not 1200.

1200 consumed - 500 exercise = 700 NET

JMBird wrote: »

shadow2soul wrote: »

JMBird wrote: »

shadow2soul wrote: »

JMBird wrote: »

I've been logging my food on MFP for about 45-ish days now.. It syncs with my fitbit (charge hr 2.) The fitbit carries over adjustments which is adding calories I can eat that day. So, I eat about 300 more, keeping me in a 1000+ deficit on a mostly daily basis.

The problem?
I check fitbit and apparently they don't seem to agree. I started looking at the information that transfers over and I am over budget on a near daily basis.

Using the fitbit logging before wasn't preferable to me. I like the interface and ease of use with this app, but I think it is over-estimating what I'm allowed to eat.

Is anyone else having this problem? I feel like I should've lost more than ten pounds by now (based on past experience.)

Thanks!

Do you have the same rate loss goal selected on Fitbit’s Food Plan and on MFP?

Is your goal to NET 1200 calories on MFP? If yes, than you probably do not have the 1000 calorie deficit you want. That’s not necessarily a bad thing either. This happens when your weight loss goal is too aggressive for your stats and activity level. My max deficit on Sedentary is 500 a day and about 700 a day if I set it to lightly active. However if I go by the NIH recommendation of losing 10% body weight over 6 months, I’m looking at only about a 250 calorie a day deficit.

Honestly, as much as I've tried I have never wrapped my head around what net really means. I know that fitbit info will add anywhere from 700-1500 calorie adjustments through to the app every day. I don't know what lightly active actually qualifies as, but it's what I have set and I get no less than 10k steps/day. Usually 13-17k.

My goal is always 2lb. a week, everywhere on every app I've ever used lol.

Is your calorie goal before exercise 1200?

Net = Intake - exercise

Not everyone can create a 1000 calorie deficit in a healthy way. Once you reach a certain point in your weight loss aiming losing 2 lbs per week can also mean losing lean body mass loss.
Example:
If I set myself to Sedentary on MFP.
MFP thinks my maintenance is 1700 without exercise.
That translates too:

0.5 lb per week: 1700-250 = 1450 NET
1lb per week: 1700 - 500 = 1200 NET
1.5 lb per week: 1700 - 750 = 1200 NET
2lb per week: 1700 - 1000 = 1200 NET

MFP doesn’t care that I told it I wanted to lose 2 lbs per week. MFP won’t go below 1200 calories which is what it would have to do to get the desired deficit. To actually lose 2 lbs a week I would have to eat 700 a day plus exercise, but that wouldn’t be healthy. Plus I would definitely be losing lean body mass as 2 lbs per week exceeds 1% of my body weight.

If you want mostly fat loss, than you don’t want to aim for more than 1% body weight loss per week (along with adequate protein intake and progressive strength training).

~~~~~~

Anyway I think what you are seeing is that MFP’s deficit is smaller than Fitbit’s.

You seem to know what the deal is here. Can you explain something else to me?

If the idea is that the net goal is 1200, because that's the minimum... Why would it add calories to keep me from the selected deficit? That's the thing I don't get. It's boosting me by 400+ calories a day. But I'm seeing that days I actually consumed that I went out of my range? I really hope I'm making sense here.

Basically, it's that it's not healthy to net below that number unless you're extremely short and very light. Your body needs a certain amount of nutrients per day, and 1200 calories per day is considered to be the bare minimum amount that you can meet those nutrient needs. But calories are also something that you need--If you eat 1200 and exercise 300 away, you've basically eaten 900 calories, which isn't enough to maintain health in the long-term.

Within the syncing algorithm, though, it's just math. The Fitbit algorithm doesn't know that your deficit is supposed to be 1000 calories, it just knows the deficit that MFP has actually given you, which is the difference between your maintenance calories and 1200 calories.

Hope that helps!