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[sierradreamin17]

My sister has been using her Charge for 2 weeks and I am thinking of it but don't understand a few things.  I'd really like some help.

The BMR they choose seems high to me.  Is it just me?  If it is over 100 calories high, won't that throw things off?  Hmm..now I can't find it at all.  Is it adjustable manually?

Thanks a lot

[SunsetRunner]

The calories burned is a estimation based on your height, current weight,.. 

Be aware that if logging foods it's a estimation to as it's possible to underestimate or overestimate food intake, logged more than eated, or logged less than eated.. it can be used as guidance, to make healthier choices overall and change where desired to reach your goal.

If feeling needing to force feed yourself regardless of calories left to eat, listen to your precious body to (it will tell when wanting more nourishment with increasing appetite / hunger signals).. if ignoring hunger signals, eventually the desire to eat is so strong the thoughts of food not going away, and the desire to eat being so intense, needing to eat.. 

See which foods you love to eat, which leave you satisfied the most.

When possible eat what you truly desire in the moment instead of eating something to eat (even if not really wanting), if eating what you truly desire first, possible being satisfied with having what you truly desired, not needing the other food.. (if having what you don't like first, then going to have what truly desired anyway even if not hungry anymore)..

For more information about how fitbit estimates how many calories your precious body uses:

http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1381

[USAF-Larry · Accepted solution]

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@sierradreamin17 wrote:

The BMR they choose seems high to me.  Is it just me?  If it is over 100 calories high, won't that throw things off?

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The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is, at best, a guestimate of your caloric burn rate. The definition of BMR is:  The amount of energy expended while at rest in a neutrally temperate environment.

So, if you are not in a "neutrally temperat environmnet", is your caloric burn rate higher or lower than your estimated BMR?  A hundred calories higher or lower than "normal" probably won't have much effect one way or the other on weight management.  You estimate calorie intake, and you estimate on calories burned, and you live with the averages.

[sierradreamin17]

@@USAF-Larry  Thanks.  So, say I want to lose 2 pounds each week.  I'm thinking I would eat about 1500 calories daily.  If my bmr is 1350-1450, I'd like to see how much I am burning through activity.  I'm not going to change my eating that much, except to be healthier, so where would I see how much I have burned from exercise and how much more I need to do?  I know some people have found other ways to track activity burn, but I don't know how.  I can't even find where the bmr is!  (I'm just taking my first look at this to see if I want to get fitbit).  What is the easiest way to track all of this?

If my math is right, I'd need to do roughly 1,000 calories burn of activity daily.  Is that even possible?

I'm an older woman, and I have been sedentary for years.  But I am highly motivated and will do what it takes.

Thanks again

[USAF-Larry]

If you want to lose 2 pounds per week, @sierradreamin17, you would have burn approximately 7,000 more calories per week than you consume. That would be a calorie deficit of approximately 1,000 calories per day. Can you do that?  Of course you can, but it will require journaling your food intake so you know exactly how many calories you are consuming, as well as increasing activity levels gradually and continuously.  Do you know what your BMR is?  If not, go to a BMR Calculator, such a This One to calculate it.

The Fitbit tracker uses your profile information - age, height, sex, and weight - to calculate both your BMR and your calorie burn by activity.  Remember, your dashboard will show calorie burn while you are doing nothing but breathing - that is your BMR usage of energy - as well as your calorie burn by activity. The dashboard will show you total calorie burn for the day.  If you track an activity such as a Walk, that activity will show how many calories you burned based on your BMR, Activity Level, and Heart Rate. If you walk casually for one mile, it may show that you burned 100 calories. But, if you power walk one mile, it may show that you burned 300 calories. It is important to watch your activities so that you will learn what activities burn how many calories.  The Fitbit dashboard gives you a wealth of information regarding activity levels, calories burned, etc.  That is where you get the information you need on activities & calories.  I hope that helps answer your questions.

[sierradreamin17]

@USAF-Larry Thanks so much.  You have been a great help.  I don't see my BMR on my dashboard but I think it had said 1450.  If that is true, and I eat 1450 calories, any amount I exercise will lead to a loss.  There is no excuse for me to keep gaining!  

[USAF-Larry]

Hover over the Calories icon on the Dashboard, @sierradreamin17, and it will show your recommended calorie intake (BMR?).

[shipo]

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@sierradreamin17 wrote:

If that is true, and I eat 1450 calories, any amount I exercise will lead to a loss.  There is no excuse for me to keep gaining!  

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Well, kinda-sorta; the thing is, estimates of calories burned and calories consumed are just that, estimates.  For some folks said estimates are pretty spot on, for other folks they aren't even close.  If you track all your food and all you do for a while, you should get a pretty good idea if the estimates are good for you, and if they're not, adjust accordingly.

[sierradreamin17]

Yikes, I looked up calorie burns for a number of activities.  1/2 hour aerobics is 258 calories! (I averaged several sites, they were all pretty close).  l/2 hour weights is 146 calories.  So an hour at the gym is 403 calories!  My BMR is (again, averaged out) around 1400.  I can eat less than that  but not by much.  So maybe, maybe I can lose 1 pound weekly if nothing goes wrong.  Even if I gradually increase it, that isn't much at all.  I still need to work and take care of a family.

How do people burn more?  Or, how do middle aged women who have been raising families and not working out burn more?  This looks discouraging.

[shipo]

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@sierradreamin17 wrote:

Yikes, I looked up calorie burns for a number of activities.  1/2 hour aerobics is 258 calories! (I averaged several sites, they were all pretty close).  l/2 hour weights is 146 calories.  So an hour at the gym is 403 calories!  My BMR is (again, averaged out) around 1400.  I can eat less than that  but not by much.  So maybe, maybe I can lose 1 pound weekly if nothing goes wrong.  Even if I gradually increase it, that isn't much at all.  I still need to work and take care of a family.

How do people burn more?  Or, how do middle aged women who have been raising families and not working out burn more?  This looks discouraging.

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I'm pretty sure my wife and I no longer qualify as middle aged (we both turn 60 next year), however, the way we maintained our weight while raising our kids (as well as now with them both out of the house) is to run.  Depending upon the length of our daily, or almost daily, run, she typically burns between 600 and 1,000 calories, and my calorie burn stats are about half again higher.

The beauty of running is you can burn a lot of calories in a relatively short amount of time; doubly so if you can run directly from your home or office as opposed to having to take time out to drive to a club or gym.

[sierradreamin17]

@shipo  Thanks so much for your response.  Any suggestions besides running?  I had knee surgery and am finally able to walk but was told to forget about running.  I know it would wreck my knee and back now, but also believe...well, you never know what you will be able to do later on .  For now, I gained way too much weight following illness and surgeries and really am determined to get healthy.  Any other way to burn 1000 daily?  Without spending all day on it?  I am trying to build up muscle at the same time - not a tremendous amount yet, but enough to be strong.

[shipo]

@sierradreamin17, if you have a club available with an elliptical machine that might be a good start; they help you mimic a running style motion without all of the pounding.

A few comments about running after surgery (in no particular order):

• After my second broken leg (and partially torn off foot), the surgeon who screwed me back together (literally) told me I'd walk with a limp for the rest of my life and I'd never run again.
• For the nearly six years after I got out of the cast it looked like he was going to be correct; not only could I not walk very well, I couldn't run, and on top of it all, I gained 100 pounds.
• I discovered a converted 19th century rail bed since converted for ATV and snowmobile usage, and the ATVs kept the dirt nice and soft; I started running again, a quarter of a mile at a time.  I managed a whopping grand total of 8 miles my first month.
• Over the next six months I worked my way back into running; crossing the 100-mile month threshold after only seven or eight months.
• Now seven years later I'm on track for my second consecutive 300-mile month (last month was the first time in my life to cross the 300-mile threshold).

I told you the above as a way to loop back to your comment:

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@sierradreamin17 wrote:

...but also believe...well, you never know what you will be able to do later on.

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If you ever want to try running again, I'd be happy to help you get out there and give it a try.

[sierradreamin17]

@shipo I love your story.  Thanks for sharing it.  I am fully aware that docs have no way of knowing what we can do, and they can't predict the future.  I think the human spirit is an amazing thing (despite what is in the news the last 2 weeks).  

I guess I just want to start taking off the weight I gained while out of commission and I am impatient to do it.  I hate the way it feels and how it limits me.  I can't run, but there must be some way to burn 1000.  I will definitely try the elliptical.  Maybe I'll try swimming too, though it is not my thing.  Well, it hasn't been my thing.  I guess everything changes now.

Thank you again.

[Debk1945]

I might need your help to fix my Fitbit charge up again please thanks Debra Kallin

[Dominique]

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@sierradreamin17 wrote:

The BMR they choose seems high to me.

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BMR isn’t displayed explicitely anywhere in the Fitbit user interface AFAIK, so how can you know it’s high? Has your sister spent time in a metabolic lab, so you know for sure what the "correct" value is for her?

There are several formulas that can be used to estimate BMR. My understanding is Fitbit uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor formula, which is generally considered the most accurate for most people. It depends on age, sex, height and weight. You can see the actual formula here.