Calorie Deficit Help?

[els6246]

I've been watching my calories more closely because I'm trying to lose weight, and I'm also walking a lot to 1) help with the weight loss and 2) help condition myself for an upcoming hike. My problem is trying to stay within the calorie deficit, and I'm concerned that I'm creating too large a deficit...

For example: I walked about 10 miles today on top of just everyday walking around (total of almost 12 miles) and burned 4,582 calories and eaten around 1,600... from what I've read on here the calories burned tend to be a little high, so I guess the deficit isn't quite as bad as it looks but idk?

Is this fine, or should I try to burn less? (trying to eat the difference is harder than I though it'd be, LOL)

It case it matters: I'm a guy, 30, 5'9", 215 lbs. I have my Fitbit profile set for a 1,000 calorie deficit

Thanks for any help!

[WavyDavey]

Hi @els6246,

Are the numbers you mentioned accurate? Eating 1500 calories and burning nearly 5000 doesn't sound right. Usually a deficit is around 500 calories a day. You're reporting 3500 a day deficit, which would equal 7 pounds lost per week.

Are you losing that much weight? If not, one of the two numbers is not accurate. Ultimately, the weight scale is the judge of calories deficits.

Assuming you are burning 5000K calories per day, I would go with a deficit of no more than 1000. Just my opinion.

[Dominique]

@els6246: for how long have you been following this regimen (exercise + diet)? I agree with @WavyDavey that the scale should be able to let you assess whether the deficit is what you think it is. If you’ve only been doing this for a short period (a week or so), it may not be fully reliable (daily fluctuations due to water), but if it’s several weeks, it should already give you a good idea. Hence my question.  

[els6246]

Thanks for the response.

I'm not really sure how accurate those numbers are; I log everything I eat as best I can, and as far as calories burned I'm just going by what my Charge 2 records. I've read that the Cals burned is usually a little higher than what it actually is with the Fitbits.

I've only been doing this for 2 weeks, and I don't have a scale, but I'm pretty certain I'm not losing 7 pounds/week.

[els6246]

Quick Update: I just ran up to the grocery store to get some veggies for dinner; they also have a scale at the entrance, so I weighed myself...

I weighed there last week on 8/17 and came in at 215 lbs

Today (8/25) I came in at 210 lbs

So I guess my numbers aren't too far off... I suppose I should limit my exercise a bit to reign in that calorie deficit; I typically walk 3-5 miles in the morning and maybe 3-5 in the evening (usually a nice brisk walk to keep my heart rate up)

[Grudgie]

Hi,

What is your height and how much do you weight? 

And how much calories do you eat each day?

Because if you walk alot or do alot off exercices dont forget to eat more, because your body needs it. And then you will see you will still lose weight.

For example if you burn 2500 calories a day , eat for 2200 calories. If you eat like 1500 calories for a period you wont lose any weight. 

[DavidSchneier]

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@els6246 wrote:

I've been watching my calories more closely because I'm trying to lose weight, and I'm also walking a lot to 1) help with the weight loss and 2) help condition myself for an upcoming hike. My problem is trying to stay within the calorie deficit, and I'm concerned that I'm creating too large a deficit...

For example: I walked about 10 miles today on top of just everyday walking around (total of almost 12 miles) and burned 4,582 calories and eaten around 1,600... from what I've read on here the calories burned tend to be a little high, so I guess the deficit isn't quite as bad as it looks but idk?

Is this fine, or should I try to burn less? (trying to eat the difference is harder than I though it'd be, LOL)

It case it matters: I'm a guy, 30, 5'9", 215 lbs. I have my Fitbit profile set for a 1,000 calorie deficit

Thanks for any help!

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You walked a total of twelve miles and burned nearly 5,000 calories? No way, even if you ran instead of walked. I typically only crest the 4k calorie mark on days I workout, run for at least 4-6 miles and accumulate over 20K steps total (which happens infrequently). A good general guideline is that we burn approximately an additional 120-150 calories per mile of walking/jogging over the standard BMR burn rate. Unless there is something missing in the information provided, your burn rate was probably at least 1k lower than estimated.

[Dominique]

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@els6246 wrote:

I've only been doing this for 2 weeks, and I don't have a scale

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@els6246: two weeks is still relatively short, but if you haven’t been weighing yourself regularly during that time, it’s hard to assess the extent of your real deficit, and compare it to your calculated deficit.

I understand opinions about using scales and weighing frequency vary, but I personally believe you should definitely get a scale of your own and weigh yourself regularly. The best time to weigh yourself is first thing in the morning and naked, so doing it during the day in front of a grocery store may get you into trouble .

[els6246]

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@DavidSchneier wrote:

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@els6246 wrote:

I've been watching my calories more closely because I'm trying to lose weight, and I'm also walking a lot to 1) help with the weight loss and 2) help condition myself for an upcoming hike. My problem is trying to stay within the calorie deficit, and I'm concerned that I'm creating too large a deficit...

For example: I walked about 10 miles today on top of just everyday walking around (total of almost 12 miles) and burned 4,582 calories and eaten around 1,600... from what I've read on here the calories burned tend to be a little high, so I guess the deficit isn't quite as bad as it looks but idk?

Is this fine, or should I try to burn less? (trying to eat the difference is harder than I though it'd be, LOL)

It case it matters: I'm a guy, 30, 5'9", 215 lbs. I have my Fitbit profile set for a 1,000 calorie deficit

Thanks for any help!

---

You walked a total of twelve miles and burned nearly 5,000 calories? No way, even if you ran instead of walked. I typically only crest the 4k calorie mark on days I workout, run for at least 4-6 miles and accumulate over 20K steps total (which happens infrequently). A good general guideline is that we burn approximately an additional 120-150 calories per mile of walking/jogging over the standard BMR burn rate. Unless there is something missing in the information provided, your burn rate was probably at least 1k lower than estimated.

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I don't know what I'm truly burning, I can only go by what my Charge 2 is telling me. I know that around 1,900 of my total calories burned comes from the BMR, so if I subtract that number from yesterday's total I'm left with 2,928 calories burned from activit (roughly). Also, when I walk I really push myself to keep my heart rate up as high as possible (I hate running, haha), so I'm not just taking a stroll when I say walked.

[Dominique]

You could have a look at the 2001 Compendium of Physical Activities (google it): it’s a long list of standardized activities like "walking at xx mph". Pick up the activity that best matches what you are doing and multiply the METs for it by your BMR per minute (BMR for the day divided by 1440, since there are 24 x 60 = 1440 minutes in a day), and by the length of your activity in minutes. You can then compare this to what your Charge 2 says you burned during that activity (if you recorded it as a separate activity).

Keep in mind that a large part of your energy expenditure (TDEE) is NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), which is the fancy name for all the non-formal activity you’re doing, e.g. moving around or standing instead of lying on your couch. Fitbits are pretty good at accounting for this.

[WavyDavey]

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@Dominique wrote:

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 The best time to weigh yourself is first thing in the morning and naked, so doing it during the day in front of a grocery store may get you into trouble .

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@Dominique, now you tell me! I actually prefer to weigh myself with underwear on. That way, if I come in a bit heavy, I have an excuse! 🙂

[els6246]

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@Dominique wrote:

You could have a look at the 2001 Compendium of Physical Activities (google it): it’s a long list of standardized activities like "walking at xx mph". Pick up the activity that best matches what you are doing and multiply the METs for it by your BMR per minute (BMR for the day divided by 1440, since there are 24 x 60 = 1440 minutes in a day), and by the length of your activity in minutes. You can then compare this to what your Charge 2 says you burned during that activity (if you recorded it as a separate activity).

Keep in mind that a large part of your energy expenditure (TDEE) is NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), which is the fancy name for all the non-formal activity you’re doing, e.g. moving around or standing instead of lying on your couch. Fitbits are pretty good at accounting for this.

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So, say my BMR is 1,925. I divide that by 1,440 to get 1.337, right? Then multiply that by the value given for walking about 5mph (8) to get 10.694, then multiply that by number of minutes walked?

I walked, roughly, at that speed for 95.5 minutes, so 95.5 x 10.694 = 1,021.28 calories burned... Fitbit is telling me I burned 1,226 calories. Could the discrepancy here be coming from the fact that Fitbit is also using heart rate to calculate calories burned? I mean everyone's heart rate is different depending on level of fitness, right? A fat guy's (like me) heart would have to work harder to walk at 5 mph than someone in peak physical condition, and I've always heard that burning calories is about keeping your HR as elevated as possible for as long as possible... right?

[Daves_Not_Here]

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@els6246 wrote:

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I walked, roughly, at that speed for 95.5 minutes, so 95.5 x 10.694 = 1,021.28 calories burned... Fitbit is telling me I burned 1,226 calories. Could the discrepancy here be coming from the fact that Fitbit is also using heart rate to calculate calories burned? I mean everyone's heart rate is different depending on level of fitness, right? A fat guy's (like me) heart would have to work harder to walk at 5 mph than someone in peak physical condition, and I've always heard that burning calories is about keeping your HR as elevated as possible for as long as possible... right?

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@els6246 -- we think alike -- I believe that a person who is less fit and consequently has a more elevated heart-rate during exercise will burn more calories than someone who is more conditioned and whose heart rate elevates less.

As to your original question about limiting your exercise or increasing your consumption to stay within a 1,000 calorie deficit, I don't think you should force yourself to eat beyond satiety.  And I think the benefits of strenuous activity outweigh any supposed "metabolic slowdown" that might arise from occasionally running a large caloric deficit.

[Dominique]

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@els6246 wrote:

So, say my BMR is 1,925. I divide that by 1,440 to get 1.337, right? Then multiply that by the value given for walking about 5mph (8) to get 10.694, then multiply that by number of minutes walked?

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Yes, that’s the idea. I’d say walking at 5 mph (8 km/h) sounds extremely fast, especially to be sustained for 1.5 hours by someone carrying extra weight. I personally can’t walk much faster than 7 km/h: if I need to move faster, I’d rather start jogging.

Walking at 5 mph on flat ground is 8.3 METS:

If you look at other activities in the Compendium of Physical Activities, there aren’t that many that are as intense. One such activity is "marching rapidly, military, no pack", which should provide a clue 😉

I walked, roughly, at that speed for 95.5 minutes, so 95.5 x 10.694 = 1,021.28 calories burned... Fitbit is telling me I burned 1,226 calories. Could the discrepancy here be coming from the fact that Fitbit is also using heart rate to calculate calories burned?

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I think it’s close enough we don’t really need to consider it as a discrepancy. Estimating energy expenditure with a fitness tracker isn’t exact science anyway. The other thing is even 95 minutes of walking is just 1.5 hours out of the 24 hours there are in a day. What matters from the point of view of your weight loss is your total energy expenditure (TDEE), which includes all other activity. For me, Charge 2 seems to overestimate my expenditure, but as said before, the best way to determine if it’s the case for you is to compare actual weight changes on the scale to the predicted changes in Fitbit. For that, getting a scale would be more important IMO than overthinking the impact of your HR on energy expenditure.