Fit Bit Question

Babyglass13
Babyglass13 Posts: 27
in Fitness and Exercise
I have my settings set at one step below active and add my exercise as it happens. My typical day includes a 3-5 mile run and an additional 8,000-10,000 steps. I believe that my 8,000-10,000 additional steps qualifies me for just under active. I have been eating back my exercise calories. I joined on Jan. 9 of this year and have been very successful (26 pounds) with these settings. I received a fit bit for Mother's Day and now that I have it synced, I feel like I'm losing ground.

Should I change my settings to sedentary and let the two sites determine what I should be eating? Or should I keep my settings the same and just let my total step count (without indicating when I'm exercising) determine the outcome?

I know that I should probably try it out for a week or two in each category, but I'm simply not patient enough to backtrack after I've been doing so well.

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • Babyglass13
    Babyglass13 Posts: 27
    Bumping for some help.
  • Riptide8
    Riptide8 Posts: 1
    This is a great question and one that I just submitted to the company. It would seem to me that use of the fit bit and having set the appropiate activity level do not adjust for each other. I am compelled to reduce my settings down to the lowest activity level if I am using the fit bit to track my caloric expenditure throughout the day.
  • Raddichio
    Raddichio Posts: 163 Member
    Do you have MFP synced with Fitbit, so that they communicate with each other? When you record you exercise at MFP, do you enter the start time and length of time exercised so that it overrides the CALORIE credit you're getting for the steps from Fitbit for the same period of time? If not, then you could be getting double credit for the exercise.

    I'm not sure about what level you should be set at for each site. I just set myself as sedentary at MFP and manually entered the number of calories to eat each day (my BMR). I eat more than my BMR, but I base it on my appetite that day, as well as the numbers I'm getting from Fitbit. At Fitbit, I just set myself as sedentary and chose 1/2 pound per week weight loss. Because we are all so different and unique, I don't necessarily eat exactly the number of calories MFP or Fitbit says I should. I use the info from each and how my body is responding to set that amount.

    How many calories were you eating daily when you were losing? How many are you eating now? Since getting the Fitbit, have you been eating more? There are several variables: You could have lost enough weight that you need to adjust your calories down slightly, or you could have reached a plateau and need to change things up, or you could have been undereating for a long time and reached a plateau and need to increase calories.

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