Solved: Am I doing this wrong? Calorie counts.....

MsJulie · ‎11-20-2014

So, I got my shiny new fitbit almost 2 weeks ago. I am on a mission to lose my 25lbs of quit smoking weight. I read that if I stuck to 1200 calories a day, I should lose weight. I didnt account for the calories I burn by doing exersize, and what my bod burns normally. I just eat 1200 or less a day, no matter what.

Ive lost 5 pounds (yay!)

But should I be doing some kind of math? Ive read here about people tinkering with calories in vs calories out.......

Is there a better way to do this? A healthier way?

Im trying to pack as much healthy food into my 1200 calories as possible. (veggies, fruit, eggs, cheerios, chicken, tuna, beans) and Im at the gym at least 4-5x a week, doing moderate exersize (30ish minutes of treadmill, maybe 10 minutes on a bike, and some light weight training). Should I be taking in more calories?

Heybales · ‎11-26-2014

@MsJulie wrote:
'Eat what I earn'
Here is where my confusion is.
So if I plan on a 1200 cal/day
But I also burn 1800cal/day
I should be adding that 1800 to my plate??
That doesn't seem right.....
That's 3000 cal/day. How can I lose weight while consuming that many calories?
I
I wouldn't say I was 'sedentary' but I'm not extremely active.
This is only my 3rd week....I don't want to hurt myself! Lol
I get in at least 10,000 steps/day
Some of those steps are at the gym where I also ride a stationary bike for 10-15 min, get on the elliptical for 10 minutes, and do a circuit of weights every 2-3 days.
Yoga 2x a week (20 min)
Whew.
Pretty good for a grandma!
🙂
I've lost roughly 6-7lbs.

Actually, you are using the tool wrong.

Fitbit is telling you you burn, in your example, 1800 calories for the day in total. You aren't getting that burn just from under-reported exercise you do. That's your basic metabolism and steps and under-estimated exercise.

You merely need to eat less than that by a reasonable amount to lose weight.

Fitbit should be set to 500 cal deficit daily, or 1 lb weekly. Or if using other site synced, same thing happens.

Fitbit will then set eating goal correctly for what you actually do, in this example 1300.

But you are eating at bare minimum recommended 1200 for a sedentary woman - and obviously you aren't sedentary because you are exercising. Sedentary on sites like MyFitnessPal refer to your day outside of exercise, work or home time, exercise is added on when it really happens. Sedentary on some sites is your total day including exercise, so you better do what you said you planned to do.

Fitbit is neither, because it attempts to make the day whatever it happens to be.

Also, that daily burn including exercise is way low. Why?

Because Fitbit is badly underestimating non-step based exercise, of which your bike, elliptical, weights, and yoga don't have the calories right, based on steps it sees. How many steps you take doing yoga or weights, but how hard is the workout?

You burn way more than 1800.

And if you have 15 lbs or less to lose, actually 250 would be more reasonable.

You gained fat slow, be willing to lose it slow, so it's just fat. If you attempt fast, it will be some muscle. It'll create stress for the body. You'll have a fight on your hands to keep losing.

Good job with 6-7 lbs in 3 weeks. Of course some of that is water weight, always is. Body stores less carbs in muscle, that has attached water. Most watch sodium better when logging food, that's less water, ect.

So approaching 2 lbs weekly, and if you have over 60 lbs to lose, that could be reasonable.

If you don't, say goodbye to some muscle mass that will be very difficult to get back.

If you do have a lot to lose, remember that as you move around less weight, you burn less calories in movement and in metabolism. So to keep losing you must keep eating less, or keep doing more.

If already at 1200, how low do you plan to go? Or how much more time you going to spend to make up the difference? What happens if sick or injured or vacation and not nearly as much exercise can be done, now gotta eat way less.

But if you start out eating at reasonable deficit, probably closer to 1500 or more right now based on corrected Fitbit daily burn, you actually have room for movement, besides making the deficit 250 when you get within 15 lbs left to lose.

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SunsetRunner · ‎11-20-2014

Hiya MsJulie!!!

Well, you'll likely get a smattering of opinions on your question.

Here's mine....

What you're after is a sustainable lifestyle..and in my opinion, one that is a bit free-er from rigid counting this and that. But more about familiarity with your body, your needs and food. Not all calories are equal...so counting them, while helpful -- isn't all there is to do.

Congrats on kicking smoking! And on marching towards your goals! Get moving, watch what goes in your body and the rest will take care of itself! Void processed foods as much as possilbe, focus on from the earth, unmessed with yummies. Sounds like so far you're off to a good start. What you'll want to watch is not just the scale, but also the mirror and how your clothes fit. As you change the shape of your body, weight becomes less of a good measure. You'll tone up, firm up, and as muscle weighs more than 'non-functional' mass, expect to lose, then kinda level out. Check out mirror and clothes. Toning up and level out...okay. Still a bit less than what you want and level out, then either need to tweak your food, or your exercise, or a bit of both. Small changes...

Sustainable lifestyle vs yo-yo dieting is the goal. Then you'll learn to not beat yourself up, and what your trades are when it comes to treats and the other 90% of your day.

Try to eat something like 5x during the day...keep the body cranked. Meal, healthy snack, meal, healthy snack....etc.. and eat for either what you just did (replenish) or for what you are going to do (fuel up).

Just 2 weeks in...I'd stick with what you have for not. Then in about another 2 weeks, see how you're doing. If you still tracking to your desired weight cool. If energy is lacking during your workouts, then think about not just changing what/how-much you're eating but when. Drink lots of water.

You got this!!!!

hollyg · ‎11-21-2014

Congrats on quitting smoking! I'm not an expert, but some basic things I've learned along the journey are...The science of losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume. 500 calories = 1 pound, so if you reduce your calorie intake by 500 cals per week, you will lose 1 pound. Depending on your weight, height, etc. your body burns a certain amount of calories on its own (BMR), which for you sounds around 1200 calories. So technically, if you're working out, you're adding more burnt calories, which means you can eat a little more and still burn more than you've consumed.

The easiest way for me to track what I can and can't eat is with the app MyFitnessPal. You can link your fitbit to it and you basically enter all the food you eat and it tracks your calories/nutrition. It will automatically calculate the amount of calories you burnt from the steps your fitbit tracked, and it will add those calories to the amount of calories you can eat without going over your goal. I don't use it everyday, but it is a nice tool to learn what you can eat and how many calories you're burning on average! good luck!

carl669 · ‎11-21-2014

just a quick correction, 1lb = 3500, not 500.

LCHF since June 2013

Heybales · ‎11-21-2014

@MsJulie wrote:
So, I got my shiny new fitbit almost 2 weeks ago. I am on a mission to lose my 25lbs of quit smoking weight. I read that if I stuck to 1200 calories a day, I should lose weight. I didnt account for the calories I burn by doing exersize, and what my bod burns normally. I just eat 1200 or less a day, no matter what.
Ive lost 5 pounds (yay!)
But should I be doing some kind of math? Ive read here about people tinkering with calories in vs calories out.......
Is there a better way to do this? A healthier way?
Im trying to pack as much healthy food into my 1200 calories as possible. (veggies, fruit, eggs, cheerios, chicken, tuna, beans) and Im at the gym at least 4-5x a week, doing moderate exersize (30ish minutes of treadmill, maybe 10 minutes on a bike, and some light weight training). Should I be taking in more calories?

1200 is considered bare minimum to get all needed nutrients in by average sedentary woman.

You sedentary?

You want minimum results from your minimum intake?

Don't do bare minimum and expect a healthy body to work with you for fat loss. The unhealthy body you'll get will be burning muscle mass too - you will NOT like that later.

You bought a tool - now use it correctly. A tool used wrong at best may not work well, may do nothing, at worst may hurt you.

Set a weight loss goal of 1 lb weekly, which means a 500 calorie deficit to what you burn. That may be 1200 if really lazy day, it will likely be more than that. That's reasonable with only 25 lbs to go.

When at 10 lbs to go, change to 1/2 lb weekly, or 250 cal deficit.

Meet your daily eating goal.

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karenstl · ‎11-22-2014

Congrats, Julie! I'm in the same boat as you. I quit smoking 1 month ago and am also looking to lose 25lbs.

As far as calorie counting goes, the links below are a must read and will totally set you in the right direction.

Calorie Counting 101 (excellent article)

Calorie Counting 101 Video (video made by the author of the above article. He's got a great Youtube channel that addresses pretty much every question you could have on this matter - and more!)

How to calculate your macros (another helpful video by the same guy)

Hope the above helps - it really did for me when I was trying to figure out my macros, etc....Good luck!

HelenaFitbit · ‎11-25-2014

1,200 calories is the lowest you can consume, if you do less than that; your body will be severely affected.

Check your hair, nails, skin and periods; they get affected when you have a restriction of nutrients.

Tip 1: don't restrict food groups, variety is what helps your body work its magic.

Tip 2: Eat what you earn, you are getting a caloric balance to help you lose weight even without exercise; so leaving a higher caloric deficit and an extremely low and restrictive diet will affect your body and stall your weight loss.

Helena A. | Community Moderator, Fitbit

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MsJulie · ‎11-26-2014

'Eat what I earn'
Here is where my confusion is.
So if I plan on a 1200 cal/day
But I also burn 1800cal/day
I should be adding that 1800 to my plate??
That doesn't seem right.....
That's 3000 cal/day. How can I lose weight while consuming that many calories?
I
I wouldn't say I was 'sedentary' but I'm not extremely active.
This is only my 3rd week....I don't want to hurt myself! Lol
I get in at least 10,000 steps/day
Some of those steps are at the gym where I also ride a stationary bike for 10-15 min, get on the elliptical for 10 minutes, and do a circuit of weights every 2-3 days.
Yoga 2x a week (20 min)
Whew.
Pretty good for a grandma!
🙂
I've lost roughly 6-7lbs.

Heybales · ‎11-26-2014