calories over budget explanation

[jojomontyjohn]

newbie to this and not getting why it consistently tells me im over my calorie budget at the same time as it says i have a couple of hundred calories left?my output is way over my input too.any thoughts?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[tawneeannee]

@ericfitbit when you set up your fitbit you selected a deficit in order to lose weight and a weight loss goal. For example I selected that I wanted to lose 2lbs per week with a deficit of 1000 calories per day. This is based on my TDEE which is the amount of calories I burn in a 24hr period without exercise. My TDEE is 1800 calories and fit bit figured that part out based on my age, gender, height and current weight. This is only an estimate though. Since a pound of fat is 3500 calories and I want to lose 2lbs per week my deficit is set at 1000 calories per day and 7000 for the week. (1000 x 7)
So...now let's look at how much I get to eat per day. If I eat 1400 calories and my body normally burns 1800 that means I already have a 400 calorie deficit for that day....but it's not the 1000 calorie deficit so fit bit will tell me I'm over budget because I haven't hit that 1000 calorie deficit yet, however it will still tell me that I have 400 calories left because I still have a 400 calorie deficit. The amount of calories left over are only what you have left to still have a deficit.
I can either choose to eat less than 1400 calories (not recommended) to create the 1000 calorie deficit or I can choose to excercise (recommended). So..If I eat 1400 calories and exercise to burn 600 calories that will give me my 1000 calorie deficit. You don't have to worry about being over budget as long as you still have calories left over to create the deficit. This means you're still losing weight...just at a slower pace. You can adjust your deficit and goal at any time. I hope this helps! It sure helped me once I finally understood it 🙂

[NancyPat]

Not to make this more complex - we can reset how much of a calorie deficit we have each day... there is an option to make if hard or very hard, depending on your goal and how fast you want to get there.  on the dial which shows you your zone (calorie deficit vs burned) chose the gear icon change your settings.  Don't get too strung out on if you are in the zone or not. This product is meant to keep you honest, get off the couch, log your food/water intake if you want to and monitor your weight/BMI.  Why not us it as a diary for water, food and activity for a week, and then consider changing your settings?  Happy stepping!

[Goldysmith]

No app should be this difficult to understand. You should see only the information you need with an easy running total:
Daily calorie allotment
- calories consumed
+ calories burned
= calories awarded.
ie. 1750 allotment - 750 eaten + 300 burned = 1300 remaining.
Fitbit could learn a lot from Myfitnesspal.I am glad I downloaded this app to try, I'm rethinking a fitbit purchase.

[Goldysmith]

Still not sure why fitbit made this so difficult but you have presented the best explication I've heard so far Tawnee. Thanks

[tawneeannee]

Thanks! It took me a little while to understand it too! 😊

[Goldysmith]

I don't fully understand it, but your comment made the most sense. There
are a lot of numbers going on in this app.😨

[JesseinDenver]

I've read this entire thread and I'm still not clear on how this works. The two tiles in question -- the "guage" and calories left to eat -- often provide conflicting info (e.g., I'm over budget yet am told I can eat 500 more calories). I believe Fitbit can do better and should update the tile(s) to better simplify this. I hold two masters degrees and am a successful entrepreneur, but can't seem to grasp this information 😞 It shouldn't be this difficult. 

[tawneeannee]

JesseinDenver It's really not as difficult as you think. The guage is measuring your chosen weight loss deficit and the calories left to eat is measuring your overall deficit. If the guage tells you that you're over budget that means "at that moment" you have eaten past your chosen weight loss deficit. When it tells you that you still have calories left it's because you still have an overall deficit. In your example 500 calories left means that you still have a 500 calorie deficit for the day. It truly is just measuring calories in vs calories out. In order to lose fat we have to have some kind of deficit for the day meaning more calories out than in.

[BabyAyy113]

On this same note, I'm noticing (set up for maximum weight loss at 1000 deficit per day) that at one point during the day, I only have about 600 calories left. Then a few hours later, I have 1300 calories left! I assume the allowance updates based on exercise, but I'm confused by how drastic the change is. For instance, if I stick to my original 600 calorie leftover, will I meet my goal of calorie amount plus deficit, OR with the additional exercise I get to eat 1300 more calories and STILL meet my goal for loss and deficit?

Thanks!

[tawneeannee]

BabyAyy113 the 1300 calories left is the 600 plus additional excercise. That doesn't mean you actually get to eat 1300 calories. If you want to still have a 1000 calorie deficit for the day you would only be able to eat the extra excercise calories. It all depends on your TDEE though. I would need to know what your BMR plus your excercise plan is and then what your daily calorie goal is. For example: My BMR is 1700 which means that I burn 1700 calories automatically every day without any additional exercise. If I ate 1700 calories every day with no exercise I would maintain my current weight. I want to lose 2lbs a week though. I know that a pound of body fat is 3500 calories so that means that I need a calorie deficit of 7000 calories for the week to lose the 2lbs. 3500+3500. I can break that down to a 1000 calorie deficit per day (1000x7) So if my body burns 1700 per day and I want a deficit of 1000 that means that I could eat 1400 calories with no excercise and still have a deficit of 300 calories. You need to burn more than you eat. Fit bit would show me that I have 300 cals left. That means 300 cals left of my deficit...not 300 left to eat. Especially if I want a 1000 cal deficit. Now if I excercise and burn 1000 calories that would mean I have a 1300 calorie deficit and Fitbit will tell me I have 1300 calories left. Keep in mind that sometimes this is an estimate and it can change throughout the day. Since I only want a 1000 calorie deficit that means I can chose to eat the extra calories burned or keep the deficit...as long as it's safe. You really shouldn't go below a 1000 calorie deficit without professional guidance. Hope this helps!

[BabyAyy113]

Thanks for responding so quickly. Some parts of this make perfect sense to me! Other parts are still a little confusing. Also, will Fitbit automatically keep me updated to this? For instance, will Fitbit keep track of my deficit for me and factor that in when telling me how many calories I have left for the day?

Maybe this will help:

BMR: 1,554

TDEE: 2033 

My weight loss goal is the maxium calorie daily deficit of 1000 per day, and I'm shooting to lose 2 lbs per week. I'm almost completely lost as to how many calories per day I should be shooting to eat. Would it be correct to say that I'd only eat 554 calories a day if I don't exercise at all? 

I'm hoping to understand this, because I am not understanding this versus the calculator in fitbit. Right now it says my estimated calorie burn for the day will be 2,334, and it says it factors in the deficit, leaving me to be able to eat 1,334 total. Is this incorrect, considering the fitbit calculator is not using my BMR? Thanks for your help. 

[AndreaDance]

Yeah i'm finding it hard to understand also, even with all the explanations....granted it's been set up for only about an hour.

I set my weightloss goal and synced to my fitness pal. (which says for the same goal i can eat 1200 calories per day and that is considered my rationed caloric intake)

Today I have eaten 1 apple, a very small piece of low fat cheese, 1 coffee and 1 veggie omlette...a total of 603 calories (Busy day).  It's 9pm.
It's telling me i'm 208 calories over budget..... Seriously, to loose weight i can only eat 400 calories between 8am and 9pm.  Seriously if I would be so undernourished it's rediculous.

[AndreaDance]

Plus, i haven't eaten anything, a few minutes later, my calories out went up by 31 calories, and my calories over went up by 10 calories.... Breathing i guess?.....you would think the callories overbudget would be going down....not up.

[Ohsuzanna]

If it is so complicated for so many, fitbit definitely needs to make this user friendly.
This is an important for those wanting to lose weight. It's discouraging to see OVER BUDGET when you are working so hard.

[AndreaDance]

It makes sense to me now since I've been using it. I managed to lose 5lbs
in two weeks after months of trying.
I just have to get used to only checking at night. I have to eat 1000 less
then I burn (around 1200), so in the morning, when I've only burned 600,
but I eat a 300 Cal breakfast, it says over budget... Which is annoying but
I get it.
At the end of the day, I'm under budget.
It would be great if they could estimate percentages for the day, so I'm
not dissuaded to eat a 300 Cal nutritious breakfast. Like at 9 am, I could
have an approx percentage budget for breakfast, then same thing at lunch
etc.

[Shelly08]

Something is still off for me, I have the same issue as others (seeing that I am over budget but still have calories to eat) so I eat those calories but make sure I burn as many more as I can. I am set at a 2lb loss per week so far I am on day 5 of the week (however I am not new to exercise) and so far I have lost 5.8lbs)

[Shawneewestbury]

Is over budget a good thing or bad thing? That's all I am not getting!

[SparksA85]

This is the easiest way to explain it. You add your calorie deficit (@ 1.5 lbs per week mine is 750) to your calories consumed. If that number is higher than calories burned, you are over budget. Fitbit needs to show calories in with this added deficit for a quick and easy view.

[SparksA85]

How many calories does it say you burned? And what weight loss goal did you set for yourself? If you try to lose 1 lb a week, you start down 500 calories before you eat anything.

[SairaMA]

Your explanation has been the most helpful I've read so far. But you didn't explain how the 1,400 calories food intake was determined. Is that your own choice or suggested by Fitbit? Nonetheless, sadly I need this broken down further so I understand which part on the dashboard is being referenced. 

The "SCALE" indicating being under, in the zone, or over budget:

This is where it will tell me if I have met my calorie deficiency? So using your numbers you had a food intake of 1,400 calories (number on left side with fork) vs. 1,800 calories burned (number on the right side with flame). The difference between these numbers (400 calories) is the deficiency for the day. So in my own scenario, I want the difference here to be my goal deficiency of whatever I set my goal at i.e. 1,000 calories (2 pound loss per week), 750 (1.5 lb loss), etc., correct? So for this section of the dash board, am I correctly understanding this… the difference between the fork number vs the flame number should be my goal deficiency (ex. 1,000 difference with the flame being the higher number by 1,000) to be within the zone?

The “FORK” calories over and under:

This is where it will tell me the calories I have not yet burned off (over) or have burned off which gives me the option to eat more (under).

Of course these two separate parts of the dashboard are intertwined and work together BUT I still don’t understand the relationship. Maybe if I better understand which each section is telling me I will get the relationship between all the numbers.

Dear Fitbit,

On the scale part of the dashboard, the only thing that makes sense to me (although other areas need to be revamped too) is “the week deficit” number that I can only see when I click on the icon. I know this number needs to meet my goal number of -7,000 cals for the entire week to lose 2 pounds. This is really useful and clear - it's nice to see what's been accomplished. Can it be made an option to be shown as an icon on the dashboard? Maybe "the week deficit"/Goal deficit. Example, it's only Friday and so far I have -3,858/-7,000 (for a 2 pound loss).