I am going crazy trying to figure out the calorie adjustments and settings

Little_BigT
Little_BigT Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

okay so I just got a fitbit blaze from a friend because I started a very sedentary job and I don't want to gain anymore weight then I have.

I have been trying to link my fitbit with MFP all day and Im going nuts. This may sound silly but Can someone please in a simple way, tell me what settings I need both apps on. I am so confused and I would really love to use my activity tracker along with MFP.


okay so on both apps I have set that I would like to eat 1300 cals a day. I am set to sedentary on MFP. I really only do circuit training and HIIT or walks/hikes. which my blaze all has settings for. So I can use to start and stop timer on the blaze to record my workouts right? Then enter my food in MFP.

So my blaze right now says I have taken 4,791 steps today.
and the calories say I have eaten 585 and have 715 left.

MFP tells me 1300-585+ (fit bit calorie adjustment) 331 = 1,046 left

how come my fitbit doesn't say the same thing as MFP?
should it say the same thing, or should I just allow the calorie adjustment and ignore Fitbits dashboard for food intake.


I have negative calories enabled as well.

I just need someone to tell me if I am doing something wrong, or if I'm looking too hard into this and everything is set correctly.

please don't link me to another blog post, I promise you i've read them all and I think my head is going to explode :disappointed:

Replies

  • Little_BigT
    Little_BigT Posts: 10 Member
    Thank you so much, I was getting so overwhelmed and upset because I was so excited about this gizmo and than couldn’t figure out anything!
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    It can be confusing. Then they throw the number of steps on the adjustment line-even though that has nothing to do with it.

    One other thing...the negative adjustments..

    If you’re less active than you would be as sedentary (I work a desk job at home; sometimes it happens), and you don’t burn 1800 calories (or whatever mfp has as your setting), then the adjustment amount will be negative instead of positive. But it will never result in a total calorie goal of less than 1200 (no matter how little you move).

    And you can always check what’s actually being used for the calculation on the Mfp side by clicking the “i” by the entry (on the website), or clicking that line on your diary then clicking again (on the app).
  • Little_BigT
    Little_BigT Posts: 10 Member
    So now fitbit is giving me a calorie adjustment of +501, and that includes my circuit training workout I did today. So its okay to eat that back ?

    sorry if I am being aggravating. I just want to be sure
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    In theory, yes it’s fine to eat those calories.

    THe adjustment amount will change throughout the day based on what is estimated to be your total burn for the day.

    However, since you just started using the Fitbit, and especially since it might have some “learned” movement patterns from your friend, you may want to eat just a portion of The calories for now.

    Then in a few weeks, if you’re losing more than expected, eat more or the adjustment (or less if you’re losing less than expected).
  • Little_BigT
    Little_BigT Posts: 10 Member
    Okay great ! Thank you!
  • prehistoricmoongoddess
    prehistoricmoongoddess Posts: 1,002 Member
    @Duck_Puddle

    I am interested to know whether you think my thoughts on this subject are correct

    I understand the calculations you have shown in the above posts but in my case I am limited to no less than 1200 calories. These are the details that I have on MFP where my activity level is set at sedentary.

    Garmin Connect Calories Burned
    Full Day Projection
    (Based on 1575 calories burned as of 11:59 pm) 1575
    MyFitnessPal Calories Burned
    1495
    Garmin Connect Calorie Adjustment
    80

    According to what I have read, I need a deficit of 500 calories to lose a 1lb a week

    My calorie intake for the day is now shown as 1280. If I eat all calories including the exercise calories, I will have a deficit of only 295 calories for the day. I'm thinking I should ignore the exercise calories unless they take me over the 500 deficit
  • LynnJ9
    LynnJ9 Posts: 414 Member
    Your fitbit calculates how many calories you have burned so far each day, so it increases all day including after you fall asleep until midnight. Then it starts over. MFP calculators how many calories you will burn all day based on your settings then adds additional calories if you go above the steps that is calculated for your setting.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    prehistoricmoongoddess wrote: »
    @Duck_Puddle

    I am interested to know whether you think my thoughts on this subject are correct

    I understand the calculations you have shown in the above posts but in my case I am limited to no less than 1200 calories. These are the details that I have on MFP where my activity level is set at sedentary.

    Garmin Connect Calories Burned
    Full Day Projection
    (Based on 1575 calories burned as of 11:59 pm) 1575
    MyFitnessPal Calories Burned
    1495
    Garmin Connect Calorie Adjustment
    80

    According to what I have read, I need a deficit of 500 calories to lose a 1lb a week

    My calorie intake for the day is now shown as 1280. If I eat all calories including the exercise calories, I will have a deficit of only 295 calories for the day. I'm thinking I should ignore the exercise calories unless they take me over the 500 deficit

    You should never consume fewer than 1200 calories a day. That is the minimum number of calories required to get all the nutrients your body needs to be healthy and not malnourished, etc. That 1200 as a minimum also assumes a pretty “ideal” and very nutrient dense diet. So you should never eat less than 1200 (probably more unless your diet is absolutely “perfect”).

    And you should also be fueling your activity because additional activity means you need MORE nutrients (and calories) to stay healthy.

    As such; mfp will never set you net calorie goal to anything below 1200. It shouldn’t.

    Sadly-I am in the same situation where a 500 calorie deficit would take me slightly below 1200 calories.

    What that means is that it’s not reasonable to try and lose a pound a week.

    You need to eat enough to get all the vitamins and macronutrients that you need as a human and to fuel whatever activity you’re doing.

    I know it seems like it stinks to not be able to lose quickly (or even what seems like a reasonable rate), but it’s just not healthy.

    As a very general guideline - you should be aiming to lose 0.5 to 1% of your bodyweight per week (with 1% as the absolute MAX and more likely for larger, younger, more to lose, etc. and 0.5% much more reasonable as a max rate of you’re smaller, older, don’t have a lot to lose, etc.).




  • prehistoricmoongoddess
    prehistoricmoongoddess Posts: 1,002 Member
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »

    You should never consume fewer than 1200 calories a day. That is the minimum number of calories required to get all the nutrients your body needs to be healthy and not malnourished, etc. That 1200 as a minimum also assumes a pretty “ideal” and very nutrient dense diet. So you should never eat less than 1200 (probably more unless your diet is absolutely “perfect”).

    And you should also be fueling your activity because additional activity means you need MORE nutrients (and calories) to stay healthy.

    As such; mfp will never set you net calorie goal to anything below 1200. It shouldn’t.

    Sadly-I am in the same situation where a 500 calorie deficit would take me slightly below 1200 calories.

    What that means is that it’s not reasonable to try and lose a pound a week.

    You need to eat enough to get all the vitamins and macronutrients that you need as a human and to fuel whatever activity you’re doing.

    I know it seems like it stinks to not be able to lose quickly (or even what seems like a reasonable rate), but it’s just not healthy.

    As a very general guideline - you should be aiming to lose 0.5 to 1% of your bodyweight per week (with 1% as the absolute MAX and more likely for larger, younger, more to lose, etc. and 0.5% much more reasonable as a max rate of you’re smaller, older, don’t have a lot to lose, etc.).

    Thank you

    I'm 5ft, and in my 60s. I currently weigh 162 pounds, and have a target of 126 pounds. 1% of my bodyweight would be 1.5lb a week but I know that's not reasonable for me and MPF puts me at 1lb as a maximum even if I ask to lose at 2lb a week. So slow and steady it is, even though I sometimes gain on 1200 a week. I'd be happy at .5 a week if it was a steady loss.



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