Brand new Fitbit Flex

[PennyKay]

I'm new to Fitbit and I'm trying to lose 60lbs.. I was on bed rest for 6 months and I packed on the lbs with my 3rd baby. So, I want to figure out what I need to be doing - calorie wise and walking wise. My goal is to lose 2-5 pounds a week with proper ex cerise and diet. I currently have it set to 10,000 steps a day or should I set it 15,000 - I'm 35 years 5, 4 - 189 lbs and I'm consuming around 1500 calories a day ..HELP... Hope this makes sense.. Thanks for the help in advance

[HillySuze]

First, welcome to Fitbit! I find the Flex really motivating to make my daily step goal.

I think your goal to lose 2-5 lbs per week is excessive. It is said to lose weight in a healthy manner, you should lose between 1-2 pounds per week, otherwise you are at risk in consuming too few calories which may actually cause weight to stick.

I know its annoying when you can't lose as much as you want but don't forget it didn't take a day to put on the extra pounds, its not going to take a day to lose the extra pounds.

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[OldButActive]

Welcome to the fitbit community!

I recommend you go join MyFitnessPal.com as that site and this site work hand-in-hand.  MFP does a great job for food entry.  This site does a good job of activity/sleep entry.  The two together is a dynamic duo of data for monitoring.  🙂

[kgc]

Hi! Welcome to fitbit. You are gonna love it! I get where you are coming from. Thirteen years ago I was pregnant with twins and gained, well, enough that the doctor said "um, this weight gain has got to slow down". Yeah, whatever, it didn't. They were 7 lb each; it's amazing what three Big Mac Meals in one sitting can accomplish. And I was WAY overweight. Over the course of a year, I counted EVERY morsel that went into my mouth. This was pre-smartphone, so I used a pen and paper. I lost about 1.5 pounds a week on average. Slow and steady really is the key. If you try for too much (and 2-5 lbs per week is too much), you most likely will fall off the bandwagon at some point. I couldn't manage 2 lbs per week; I got too hungry. Hang in there, count your calories, exercise (truly key for me), and it will work! BTW, it took me a year to lose all the Big Macs from my backside, so it's slow but worth it!

[Spang]

One thing that can help is to record what you eat in the log. This has helped me to have accountability for my eating. For a woman  of weight loss per week is recommend 1 to 2 pounds. If you can cut you caloric intake to 1200 but don't go much lower as you will go into starvation mode. I have also found that I need to make sure that I get a great mix of veggies and fruit with an increase in protein.

Hope  this helps.  

I am a cyclist so I will plug riding a bicycle for exercise. I started with 5 miles a day and now I do 12 to 20 miles when I ride. In the winter that is on the weekends in the summer I will ride 4 to 6 time a week with one ride of 30 plus miles. If you get into cycling be sure to hydrate:)