Not Understanding Net Calories

goldyray1 wrote: »

According to my Garmin right now, today was slow. It shows I burnt 2641 calories.I didn't walk today and only got 4398 steps. No intensity minutes.

You likely have it setup incorrectly.

Go over your physical settings - confirm using metric if entering metric, imperial of using lbs and inches.

While the all day Garmin numbers sound a bit high for sub 5k steps given the op's stats, they would not be impossible for a taller heavier person.

That said, the op is undereating regardless of whether the broccoli would weigh 1.1 or 1.5 times the eyeballed cup measurement.

The goal is not to eat the least amount possible in order to lose as fast as possible and who cares about the consequences

You better goal would be to figure out the best way to both lose weight and keep it off over the next few years and be as happy and healthy as possible while you're at it

If you're counting your calories in accurately, and if your calories out are counted accurately, you're severely under-eating.
If you're not counting your calories in accurately, and if your calories out are not counted very accurately, you're PROBABLY severely under-eating.

You will do what you will do and you ARE doing whatever it is you want to do but none of what you're doing has anything to do with what the various metrics you're telling yourself you're trying to use. You're just ignoring the metrics.

You've set yourself a goal to eat ABCD number of calories that includes a reasonable deficit to lose some weight.
You're eating XYZM number of calories that is apparently calibrated to create multiples of the deficit you chose.

Best of luck.

In case you are truly not understanding what you're SUPPOSED to be trying to do: you're supposed to be trying consume calories till your remaining calories are zero. If you were truly doing that, then a discussion as to whether ALL the calories you're told to eat are actually available to be eaten may enter into the equation. But between where you're at and there... there's a large distance.

goldyray1 wrote: »

I went to Garmin Connect and studied how they got their figures. This is what I found out:

Total Calories Burned:
Active Calories 722
Resting Calories 1281
Active + Resting Calories = 2003 Total Calories Burned

Adjusted Goal:
Daily Goal 1200
Active Calories 722
Daily Goal + Active Calories = 1922 Adjusted Goal

Calories Remaining:
Adjusted Goal 1922
Consumed 1362
Adjusted Goal - Consumed = 560 remaining calories

I did over eat today. I consumed 1362 calories. (Coworkers birthday cake)

My Garmin calculates my calories burned thoughout the day. The total calories it shows up until the moment is 2033. So they are subtracting the calories used at rest (BMR) and subtracting it from the days' total calculation of calories. 2033 - 1281 - 722. The 722 is considered active calories no matter what you do, exercising, walking or whatever.

Is this miscalculating? If it is, please tell me what I need to do.

Why are you trying to follow 2 roads to the same destination?
Don't you find it confusing, possibly annoying?

I thought you were using MFP for your eating goal?


Garmin did NOT implement correctly what MFP says it is doing with base eating goal, and then extra activity over the MFP selected activity level.
You can NOT follow their eating goal, when they pull figures from MFP.

Garmin does send to MFP what MFP needs to correct your eating goal.

If Garmin is good on that Total Calories Burned figure - that's all that is sent, along with any workouts.

But you said you saw on Garmin less than 5K steps and daily burn approaching 2700 mid-day. That's a red flag for your stats.

I suggested confirming your physical stats are correct so Garmin is estimating the daily burn correctly.
Or is that day with 5K steps and 2700 daily burn something else - can you find that day?
Did it have self-logged workouts, or any workouts for that matter?

IF Garmin was having a decent estimated daily burn, then what is synced to MFP allows your daily eating goal on MFP to be reasonable - if you selected a reasonable rate of loss.

lgfrie wrote: »

This is all so confusing.

Unplug the Garmin. Put it in a drawer. It is not helping you.

Go to the MFP Goals tool. Enter your age, gender, height, weight, etc. Tell it you want to lose a pound a week.

It'll probably tell you 1200 calories, because your maintenance level (break even) is around 1600 cals/day, so to lose a pound a week you'd have to eat 1100 (a deficit of 500/day = 1 lb per week lost) but 1200 is the lowest it will give you.

Eat that 1200 every day. NEVER less.

If you work out - meaning an intentional 30 or 60 or 90 minutes of weight lifting or cardio - either get a calorie estimate for that or just assume it's 200 calories per 30 minutes, and eat every single one of those calories, in addition to the 1200.

That's all you have to do. The weight loss will follow. That Garmin has you tied up in knots and is not helping you at all. Jmho.

This.

The problem is the Garmin is tracking things in different categories than MFP does.

So I think the confusion is because MFP and the Garmin calculate the cals differently. Using the Garmin for other purposes rather than cals makes sense.

If your BMR (which basically means the amount of cals you would burn daily if you didn't move at all) = 1281, then your sedentary maintenance cals would be around 1.2x1281, or 1537. MFP calculates your calorie goal from that, if you told it you are sedentary, and that's why you get 1200 (1200 is the minimum).

What the Garmin seems to be saying is that you burn around 256 (or an average person of your height, weight, sex, and age) would, if sedentary. The remaining 466 (772-256) is what it is giving you for other movement, either walking around beyond a sedentary amount or intentional exercise (and again it is an estimate).

MFP counts additional exercise beyond whatever you tell it when you set it up (sedentary or lightly active or whatever) toward your calorie goal, so when you logged exercise you will get more than 1200. That's important, since most women will get 1200 if they say sedentary and want to lose 1 lb/week (or more), but eating 1200 and ignoring significant exercise (like say I run an average of 5 miles a day) would be extremely unhealthy. Ignoring extra cals from logged exercise is not using MFP as intended, although many will reduce the exercise cals to make sure they are not overstated.

As I read your Garmin numbers, it is saying your actual TDEE (that's the total amount of cals you burned) on the day you showed us is 2003 cals. Therefore, if you wanted to lose 1 lb/week, you would want to eat about 1500 cals on that day. Eating 1200-1300 would be more like 1.5 lbs/week, which could be okay if you have a good bit to lose, but can be too aggressive a goal if you don't. At 67, one risk of an overly aggressive goal (in addition to just burn out or having it all hit you at once later) is more muscle loss than you otherwise would have.

The best way to tell if you are undereating is how much you are losing weekly going forward, so I'd keep an eye on that.

The EASIEST thing to do, if you don't want to log exercise in MFP or use it's adjusted cal goal would probably be to use a Garmin cals per day (the 2003) - 500 (a one lb loss goal).

It looks to me that you originally told Garmin that you wanted to lose 1.5 or 2 lb/week, and that's why it's giving you 1200. Again, if you have more to lose, that can be okay, but based on your 1281 BMR I am guessing you might not.