Part 4: Tips for Fitbit Weight Loss Success

[SebringDon]

Table of Contents

Part 1: Fitbit Food Plan Basics

Part 2: Fitbit's Food Plan In-Depth

Part 3: Fitbit's Food Plan Tracking Tools

Part 4: Tips for Fitbit Weight Loss Success

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Tips for Fitbit Weight Loss Success

The first key to success is sensible eating. Learn a little about the difference between carbohydrates, fats and proteins and how those three macronutrients should be balanced. There are many different approaches, and you'll want to find the one that works for you.

Secondly, everybody is a little different. The Food Plan is dead-on for my metabolism, but it may not be for yours. Watch your results for a week or two, and if you find you're losing weight faster than you expected based on the plan, either adjust your plan downward to the next easier level or eat a little more than the plan allows. If you're losing weight slower than expected, either notch your plan up a level or leave some calories on the Daily Calorie Estimate each day. After a few weeks you'll find the right combination to consistently hit your weight loss target.

Next, step away from the junk food. I discovered very quickly that if I kept filling up with empty calories like carbonated drinks, fatty processed foods, alcohol, candy and other sweets, I was hungry all the time if I tried to stay on my budget. After I started shifting my diet to more nutritous foods, I found I was rarely hungry, sometimes left food on the plate, and had far more energy to spend burning activity calories, which meant I had even more to eat. It was a positive circle to be trapped in, rather than the negative one I experienced with unhealthy foods.

One thing to remember is that proteins and carbs contain about 4 calories per gram, while fat contains about 9 calories per gram. That means that ounce for ounce, an ounce of fat takes more than twice as long to work off as an ounce of protein or carbs. Something to keep in mind when you're reaching for that candy bar. (ETA: As @Dominique pointed out in a comment, alcohol, at 7 calories per gram, and with almost no nutritional value, is also well worth keeping in mind.)

Another tip concerns the ever-popular "cheat" days or meals. My advice: Don't. One day of cheating can mean a week or more of healthy eating to make up for it. Instead, I practice what I call "earning my cheats." If I want to take my wife out to dinner, or munch down on a pizza one evening, I start early in the day working to burn off enough activity calories that I can properly log whatever I'm planning to eat that evening and still stay within my deficit budget. I recently spent a weekend at an RV show, munching on midway vendor food during the day, including a corn dog, and feasted on pizza one night and dinner at Outback the next. But I kept my feet moving, hard, both days, and ended both days within budget. It can be done, and the long-term benefits are worth it. I may not have eaten the healthiest foods those days, but neither did I overeat a bunch of calories that ended up on my waistline.

My final tip is a nicer one. Some days you'll find it getting late in the day with a lot of calories left to eat. I'm not a fan of eating much at night, so I'll occasionally log something I don't eat on one day and leave myself a "gift card" allowing me to eat that food the next day without logging it. I don't do it for garbage, though. Generally I leave myself something like a banana or a protein bar. I find it a nice way to reward myself occasionally for not eating all I'm allowed, and over the two days it evens out in total calories consumed anyway.

Well, that's it; Fitbit's Food Plan, Demystified. There's still a lot to be learned about logging food and activities, but you've got the basics for how to set up and maintain a healthy weight loss program using your Fitbit and the Fitbit Dashboard.

Happy Fitbittin'!

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Table of Contents

Part 1: Fitbit Food Plan Basics

Part 2: Fitbit's Food Plan In-Depth

Part 3: Fitbit's Food Plan Tracking Tools

Part 4: Tips for Fitbit Weight Loss Success

[SebringDon]

Thanks to @ErickFitbit and the Fitbit team for reviewing this to make sure I had the basics down pat.

[JoAllIn]

Great information Don - thank you.  I am new with my fitbit Charge HR and really appreciate the overview and tips.  Have an awesome day!

[Dominique]

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@SebringDon wrote:

One thing to remember is that proteins and carbs contain about 4 calories per gram, while fat contains about 9 calories per gram.

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Thanks again, @SebringDon, great post!

Another thing you may want to mention is alcohol (7 calories per gram, hardly any nutritional value).

[SebringDon]

@Dominique

Thanks again for your comments. I've inserted an ETA: (Edited to Add) noting the problems with alcohol to that paragraph.

[roc56]

Thank you SebringDon for the detailed expanation and tips.  Also, congrats on your wieght loss!

[Trish26]

Thank you very much for the detailed info you provided!  Really helped me to understand, as I was struggling understanding the "Calories In vs. Calories Burned" graphs & tracking tools!  And I've been using a fitbit since 2012!  Now let's see if I can make some adjustments and get better results! 

[FiaBa]

Fantastic explanation! Thanks for taking the time to do this 

[BunnyHop]

Great post!  Thanks for taking the time to write all this up.  

I really like your "gift card" idea and thoughts on cheat days.  

PS I did not know alcohol was 7 cal/gram... I thought it counted as a carbohydrate and scored it 4 cal.  

Wishing you continued success on your plan!  

[WendyB]

Thanks @SebringDon 

[VTtammy]

This was excellent.  I had so many questions and this just answered every one of them.  I love fitbit I have tried so many diets and nothing has worked and now it is working it helps keep you on a healthy path!

[Drs3333]

Thank you @SebringDon ! I started fitbit with the flex last July 2015, and in those 9 months I've searched numerous times for answers like yours in this guide. At one point I even wrote a rather sharp feedback email to Fitbit, berating them for not providing any kind of guide. They have provided info about how to click the buttons and handle the hardware, but nothing like a guide. One example is the question of how does fitbit calculate the default calories burned goal? Your guide is the only place I've seen a real answer. Fitbit help moderators always answer how to change the number, but give no guide or advice to determine what the number should be/could be, or potential impact on any other settings (turns out no impact to other settings). So thank you so much for taking the time to write this guide that helps fill in the background behind the plans, settings, and tools provided.

I figured out that by linking my fitbit and MyFitnessPal apps together I could go to MFP's exercise area and find out what fitbit was telling MFP the total estimated daily calories burned was. I never found this number on the fitbit web version back then, until now. If fitbit would find a place to put this number in the mobile app it would help a lot.
Deb

[mantababe]

wow thank you for taking the time to write all of this really useful info. brilliant 

[EarthAware33]

Thank you for the very informative posts! I am grateful for the work you've done to help all of us understand the Fibit process better. I started using the meal plan tool about 6 weeks ago and I love it! It's better than any other "dieting" plan I've ever used. Especially if you're a data-junky kind of person who likes to monitor all of this detailed stuff (like me)! Thanks again!

[Kbz]

Has anyone lost weight following what fit bit says to eat? I recently gained weight I think from undereating. Cause I always eat in a calorie deficit. Maybe I need to follow what fit bit says. Cause I'm always under budget.

[EarthAware33]

I started using the 1,000 calorie deficit in May, and slowly but surely
lost almost 20 pounds by September (and I'm ok with slow, it's much more
sustainable change, rather than quick unsustainable changes). However, I
started to plateau and I realized that 1,000 cal was too much of a deficit
for me, since I workout a lot, so I recently switched to a 750 calorie
deficit - and things are picking back up again, and my system is a lot
happier now and I'm losing weight again. If you are continually eating
"under budget" your body will go into starvation mode (ketosis too) and
won't want to let go of the weight. I know it may seem counter-intuitive,
but you really need to consume the recommended calories, otherwise your
body's stress response will get the final say, and you won't experience the
weight loss you want.
I hope this is helpful!

[Kbz]

Thank you so much

[DeloresBootz]

Thank you @SebringDon 

As a new owner of a Fitbit Charge 2 the food plan makes much more sense to me now i have read your guidance and tips.

[Katrina65]

Thank you Don for this info.  I just got my first Fitbit (Charge 2) yesterday.  I've been food tracking with MyFitnessPal for some time, and wanted to consider changing over to the Fitbit tracker, but right away, the calories in vs. calories out were making me confused.  As an Accounting Professor, I was really bothered how the numbers don't seem to add up.  This has helped.  Thank you.

[TravellingSunny]

I just love your "gift card" tip.  Thanks for sharing!