Question about calories to burn, consume

[Bobbinyc]

I'm not clear about the calories the Fitbit says I still need to consume over the course of the day.

I would like to know what I can eat re:calories in advance so I can plan meals.  I know they are taking into account the level of exercise, but I also know I am not burning off major amounts of calories.  Is there any way to see exactly what they have as my BMR and what it has set as my calories to consume?  I know when I was setting it up I decided how much weight I wanted to lose and how quickly, but I don't see that now and might want to change it.

Thanks.

[JohnRi · Accepted solution]

There is no clear way of knowing this inside your fitbit.  You can visit this site, http://fitcal.me and enter your numbers to get your BMI, BMR, and your TDEE. 

There is a setting that helps, but it can cause you to over eat.  Right now by default your Daily Calorie estimate is probably set to Sedentary.  Which means you have to burn it before you can eat it.  So at 8:00 AM you have 500 calories you can eat.  As the day goes on, you can eat more calories that day.

The other setting, which I prefer, is Personalized.  On this setting, if you typically burn 3000 calories ever day, and eat around 2000, at 8:00 AM, it will tell you need to eat 2000 calories.  As the day progresses it might lower this, or raise this based on your activity level.  So personalized is based on your daily habits.

To change this, go to fitbit.com, and the log tab.  Under food, you will see a section called Food Plan, and there is a gear with a arrow.  Click on this and you can change the setting.

[Bobbinyc]

Thanks, JohnRi.  I guess I was hoping to do the math myself in a clear way.  ie This is how much I want for a deficit each day, this is how much I have consumed, - then I decide how much I can still eat or how much I have to exercise.

I am still stuck on the fact that exercise really doesn't burn that much.  So, I'm not sure how this can work.  They don't know if my 5,000 steps was a slow walk in a museum or an aerobic jog.  Or do they?

[philly78]

I used an online macro calculator a couple of months ago. Worked out well for me. The calculator is for those who do flexible dieting

http://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

[Bobbinyc]

@philly78 what is the benefit of that program?  I just looked and it looked similar to what any program has - plug in the weight to lose, and choose how much of two macros and it fills in the third.  Which gets obvious even without these programs.  This one would have me eating way way more protein than is healthy.  It also says ketogenic is Atkins, and it's not.  Ketogenic is high fat, not high protein.  

[philly78]

I'm not sure why they have keto diet as same as Atkins. I used the site to help me figure out how many calories to eat and I adjusted the macros on my own. It was a good starting point because it factors in your activity level and how often you exercise. I found it easier and more accurate than going by my Fitbit. As for protein, it has protein set to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight which has worked out well for me but I'm very active. I actually eat a bit more than the 0.8 grams per pound.

[Muddydogs]

There is an option to set your own calorie number instead of letting Fitbit add calories. I used a couple online calorie calculators to figure out what I should be consuming each day to lose the weight I want then put this number into the Fitbit site so now the site shows what I have consumed and how many I have left from my set number. The online site won't show the calorie deficit from extra calories burned but the app on the phone still does. I stay under my predetermined calorie number but if I have an extreme day where I burn a bunch of extra calories I know that I could go over some if I need to. I didn't like the idea of Fitbit telling me i could consume however many calories extra just because I walked up a flight of stairs. I have read some people complaining that there Fitbit is making them fatter and I can see why if one doesn’t take Fitbit adding calories into your day into consideration.

[hannahbebrave]

@Muddydogs I'm interested in doing that but can't see how to.  I think adding in our resting metabolic calories and then using them is distracting.  I also think fitbit greatly exaggerates the number of calories burned.  I'd much rather come up with my own numbers.  Of course, that might just turn this gadget into an expensive pedometer.  Thanks.

[A_Lurker]

@Bobbinyc - I'm not sure which tracker you're using, but how fast you do your steps would likely affect calories burned on a non-HR tracker.  On a tracker that takes HR into account it will add that into the mix.  I did a post in the weekly weigh-in thread on Sunday that showed 4 different days for me at ~10,000 steps and the difference between the lowest and highest (~16% calorie difference).  @RubyH added her info below mine, and although at her weight her calories burned are lower the same basic difference showed.  She burned about the same % more on a day she did 300 steps fewer.  So, how you do the steps is getting picked up and used in the calculations.

I switched mine to sedentary as well recently as my days aren't always consistent.  I didn't want to find myself eating too much during the day and then having little to eat at dinner if I got stuck at my desk all day.  I still don't do a great job of balancing when I eat my calories, but that's nothing new for me.

[Bobbinyc]

I guess I would find it helpful if calories burned was just about activity.  If the amount I burn being sedentary is close to the number of calories I eat, I still have to work off about 500 calories to lose a pound each week.  Every day.

That is really tough to do.  I just walked hard for 30 minutes and found I only burned about 100 calories, depending on what site you use.  There is no way I can do 5 times that every day.  Or, since the numbers are approximate, even 4 times that.  Even if I do another hour of something, like using weights or Pilates, that still won't add up (then it will be about another 300).  

So, as the day goes on and Fitbit add in what I burn just by breathing, I can't tell how far behind I am.

Am I missing something?

[shipo]

@Bobbinyc, I haven't read through this entire thread, but have you considered running as a form of exercise?  I ask because, depending upon your weight and abilities, you can definitely (and relatively easily) burn well over 500 calories in an hour by running.

To illustrate my point, I just looked at my shortest (from a time and distance perspective) and slowest paced run in the last few weeks; 4.83 miles in 49:51, total calorie burn 696.

[Bobbinyc]

@shipo Thanks but I am recently had foot surgery and am thrilled I can now walk fast.  With that and my age and weight, I'm not sure running is in the cards.

[shipo]

---

@Bobbinyc wrote:

@shipo Thanks but I am recently had foot surgery and am thrilled I can now walk fast.  With that and my age and weight, I'm not sure running is in the cards.

---

Funny you should say that; folks around here who've read my posts before will probably want to skip the rest of this post as they've seen the information before.

Back during the first week of January 2003 I was doing something completely irresponsible and wreckless; I was picking my kids up at daycare, and stepped up out of a parking lot into a puddle of water.  The problem was, there was a layer of glass smooth ice below the water; my left foot slipped forward with enough velocity to try and take the rest of me with it.  My right foot, still down in the parking lot, wasn't up to speed on that plan and when my body came forward, my toes caught on the curb, tore the foot off, and spiraled fractured the fibula and snapped off the end of the tibia.  I heard the bones snap while I was still vertical and on my way down my brain said, "Yup, it's broke."

Early the next morning a surgeon squeezed me in between two other patients and screwed and sewed me back together.  When he met me in recovery later in the morning he told me I'd walk with a limp for the rest of my life (that was the good news), but I'd never run again.  I spent 6-months non-weight-bearing and an additional 3-months in a walking boot (during which time I did a lot of PT), and when finally cleared to lose the boot, I started trying to run again; FAIL!  I spent over five years in a vicious cycle of trying to run, getting hurt (knees, back, ankles, feet, hips, even an issue with a nervous spasms of the calf muscles while running which would tear the muscle apart), recovering from the injury, and trying to run again.

During the spring of 2009, right at the height of the economic melt down, both my wife and I got "restructured" out of our jobs, and I needed an outlet to work off the anger.  Just shy of my 52nd birthday (and nearly 100 pounds heavier than I was when I broke the leg in 2003) I found a 19th Century rail line long since converted to an ATV/Snowmobile trail, and started running on it; beginning with a quarter of a mile at a shot.  My total combined miles run during April of that year was a whopping 8-miles.  By May I had upped my mileage to a half mile at a crack and logged 18-miles, and in June I logged over 40.  The good news is I have since logged nearly 8,000 miles, the vast majority of which was done on dirt or grass.

Curious about my success, I did a lot of research covering everything from running on different surfaces through different philosophies on training, and have since started coaching beginning runners for both my company running club as well as a local community club.

I told you the above to tell you this; if you want to run, and if you approach it v-e-r-y gradually and sensibly, there is a very good chance you will be able to run, regardless of your age, weight, and issues with your surgically repaired foot.

Sorry for the long winded post, just trying to give you some hope for the future.

[FitBeforeFifty]

---

@Bobbinyc wrote:

@philly78 what is the benefit of that program?  I just looked and it looked similar to what any program has - plug in the weight to lose, and choose how much of two macros and it fills in the third.  Which gets obvious even without these programs.  This one would have me eating way way more protein than is healthy.  It also says ketogenic is Atkins, and it's not.  Ketogenic is high fat, not high protein.  

---

I agree, that calculator isn't that useful. 

First of all, it gave me a maintenance calorie intake of 2170 even though I said I exercise 7 days a week for 60 minutes per day. My actual calorie intake to maintain is about 2800.

Second, it recommends 0.8 grams of protein per LB of body weight which is about twice the amount generally recommended.  0.8 - 1.0 grams per KG is the recommended daily allowance for sedentary or recreational athletes, not LB.

[Muddydogs · Accepted solution]

To set your own calorie goal number so the Fitbit doesn't add burned calories back into your daily figures go to your internet Fitbit.com page.

From the Dashboard click the "see more" link under the food tracker icon, the icon with the knife and fork. The second block down is the food plan block, in this block you can click the arrows on the side of the block to move left or right. Arrow to the left once and the title of this block should say "Plan Summary”.

In the plan summary box choose the edit plan button at the bottom right corner of the box. You should now see a box that has two tabs, one for weight goal and another for food plan. Hit the next button in this box to move from the weight goal tab to the food plan tab.

Once in the food plan box you will see the preset plans, easier, medium, kinda hard and harder. Look below these labels and at the bottom of the box dead center there’s the words "set my own calorie target". Click on the words and you will get a box to enter your calorie number. Click done and it's done.

[Bobbinyc]

Thanks to all.  I find that the number changing all day doesn't work, esp. if I need to do something to improve it late in the evening.  I'd rather know where I stand all day and do what I need to when it is more convenient for me.  

I'm hoping this works.

Now I just need to figure out how to burn off 1000 calories daily!  ok, even 500.  

[Rona1117]

Hi,

I lost 30 pounds since January 1, by using my own formula and ignoring Fitbit's calories burned and how many I can yet consume each day.  If I followed the Fitbit plan, I'd actually gain weight now--after reaching my goal.  On January 1, I used the internet and did the calculations for my age (63), height (6'4"), gender (male), and current weight (218), found what caloric intakes would maintain my current weight, subtracted 500-700 and began there.  After carefully tracking of calories in, and several adjustments, I settled on 2300 every day.  My goal was to hit and then maintain a range of 185-188 pounds--my weight all through my younger years.) This also required that I exercise (walk, or bike, or lift weights) every day. After several months, I lost the 30 pounds, hit 187, and the graph line gradually leveled off and has stayed level since I reached my goal.  This means that 2300 calories/day along with some daily exercise maintains my new weight.  However, Fitbit keeps telling me that after I hit 2300 at the end of the day (last evening snack), I can still consume several hundred (sometimes even up to a 1000) more.  This is based on Fitbit's calculations of calories burned. So, again, if I followed Fitbit's calorie burned plan, I'd start gaining again.  

Everyone is different.  Fitbit works off of averages.  I needed to find my own formula, and it took about 7 months--4 to lose the weight, and 3 months to learn how to maintain.  

I don't know if this is helpful to anyone, but it sure worked for me!