Calories left vs Under Budget

[SunsetRunner]

I'm new to the Fibit app.  Trying to understand the meter reading on the "Cals in vs out" screen and the icon to log the food.  Both indicate I have calories left yet they're different numbers.  Which one do I stick to if I'm trying to lose weight and on the weight loss program set up by Fitbit? TIA 🙂

[SunsetRunner]

Calories in is how much you can eat calories out is how many calories you have burned 

you should stick to the calories in number to make sure you eat the proper amount of calories 

[gtg947h]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

I'm new to the Fibit app.  Trying to understand the meter reading on the "Cals in vs out" screen and the icon to log the food.  Both indicate I have calories left yet they're different numbers.  Which one do I stick to if I'm trying to lose weight and on the weight loss program set up by Fitbit? TIA 🙂

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The number on the "homepage" of the app will show your total remaining for the day.  Note that if you go to bed significantly before midnight that number will be a bit high (in my case, I have to take about 200 calories off of what it shows).

If you have the iphone app, the number inside the food log page will be the same.  On the android app, the number inside the food log page will be the difference between the red and blue lines below.

The meter attempts to show whether you're "on pace" to hit your target or not.  However, it's less than useful, because it assumes you are eating linearly throughout the day and it assumes you never log food until you've actually eaten it.

The app will show under, over, or "in the zone" depending on the difference between the red line and the blue line.

My opinion:  ignore the over/under/in-the-zone reading and look at your total number remaining for the day.  Plan your food early.  If you want to eat more, do more.

[RachelShrinks · Accepted solution]

I'm with @gtg947h : I've been working with the Fitbit app for a couple of years, and I plan my day's food in the morning, chart it in the app, and then make sure I burn enough to stay ahead of it by the end of the day. I have my app set up for a 500 cal deficit everyday, so if I plan to eat 1650 calories, I need to burn at least 2150. 

If you try to keep in the "green zone" all day, you'll drive yourself nuts and won't eat when you're hungry, but instead, when the app tells you to.