Calorie Deficit confusion

[Miss-Velma]

I have a two-fold question, I suppose.

Part one is this: I recieved my weekly summary from FitBit and I am confused about the math involved. According to my week, I burned 23,232 calories (for the week) and then ate 12,656 calories (for the week). But it says in "calories in vs out": -3576 calories. Where does *that* number come from, because my math has it at -10,576 calories (which is more than it should be, I know. See the second half) My plan goal is -7000/week so is there something I am doing wrong here? 

Part two: I recently (as in, about 6 weeks ago) began a new job that has me a LOT more active than my previous job -- basically I went from working at a register to working a labor-intensive factory job. Around that time is when I started wearing and using my FitBit. At this new job, I average 15k steps a day and about 3000-3500 calories burned/day. I should be eating up to 2500 calories a day? That seems like such a lot when I am trying to lose weight, especially since most days I have not done more exercise than what I get at work. I find it really difficult to eat so much, especially because I don't have as much time to eat full meals. I end up eating protein and meal bars at work but maybe I should try some of those shakes? (I plan to work out more steadily when my schedule becomes straightened out, but I'm afraid if I do more exercise I'm going to have to eat way more!) If stats are important, I'm at 242 pounds/5'3", female. 

I guess I would just like an explanation of some kind from somebody who understands this stuff ^^ 

(Also, I'm headed to work shortly, so I apologize if you reply/offer an answer and I don't respond right away. Thank you in advance for any help or guidance). 

[DHoll · Accepted solution]

Great question.  As far as the calorie consumption goes you don't want to go too low with your calorie consumption.  The more active and exercise you do your body is going to need more fuel.  Your body takes the food/calories you eat and converts it into energy.  For those that don't eat enough or are on a serious calorie or carb restriction they tend to be much more lethargic/tired. 

The -3576 is the diffence between your weekyl total and your goal.  For example, if you take the difference of -10,576 calories for the week and your weekly goal of -7,000 calories you will end up with -3,576 calories for the week over and above your goal.  That is an answer in a nutshell.  I hope this helps.

[Miss-Velma]

Thank you so much! Your answer makes perfect sense, and I feel much better now that I understand what's going on. So ideally I'd want that number to be closer to 0 so I'm on target with my goals, rather than if it's so far into the negative where I'm not eating enough. I'm going to do what I can to round out my calories eaten to match up with the work I'm doing. Thank you again 🙂

[Megara9]

Yeah my understanding is that you don't want to run more than a 1000 calorie/day deficit. That will put a lot of strain on your body and could lead to a dangerous rate of weight loss. If you're having trouble consuming 2500 calories a day (which I totally understand!) while eating healthy (all those veggies, whole grains, etc can really fill you up) then I'd say go ahead and let yourself have a little bit of dessert to get up to your 1000 deficit threshold. Indulging a little might even help you stick to the program longer because you won't get burnt out or feel deprived 😃 

Good luck at the new job! It sounds challenging! 

[RedHairDontCare]

Ok So I'm still confused! I've been trying to google this for DAYS!!!!!!!

Here's my example.....

8/2- 2,458 cals out, 3,742 cals in (1,284)- 😞 this was a bad day lolol

8/3- 2,762 cals out, 1,584 cals in (-1,178)

8/4- 2,603 cals out, 1,591 cals in (-1,012)

8/5- 1,650 cals out, 918 cals in (-732)- So Far

*My weekly deficit as of right now is -1638

Basically I should aim to be as close to -7,000 as i can bu this Saturday? Correct?

I also have a question regarding being under/ in/ over budget, if i have calories remaining to eat, how can i be over bugdet? Not enough calories burned?

[Raviv]

I wouldn't worry about weeks at a time.  You'll drive yourself nuts.  Just take each day as it comes, and if you don't do well that day, just decide to do well the next day and let it go.

In the area where you log your food, do you have a deficit set already?  It will be in the area where the plate is when you click on the Log > Food tab.  If you click on the gray arrow on the left side, it should tell you your plan (easy, hard, etc.), which is also your calorie deficit.

Okay, so let's say you have your plan set to a 500 calorie deficit.  Ignore the tile on the dashboard that looks like a fuel gauge and tells you whether you're on track or not.  It's useless and confusing.  Just look at the amount of calories remaining either on the food logging page or the "calories left to eat" tile on the dashboard.

The number of calories there is the number you have left to eat and already takes into account the caloric deficit you chose on the food logging page.  So if you are trying to eat 500 calories less than you burn, set the food plan for 500 and then leave it alone.  Then, when you log your food for the day, eat until the calories remaining are zero, not 500.  If you leave 500 calories, you'll actually be at a 1,000 calorie deficit, and that may not help you lose weight, depending on how much you have to lose.

If you chose a different deficit, the same thing applies, just with the different numbers.

So let's take today's data.  You ate 918 calories so far and you burned 1,650 so far.  Both numbers will change as the day progresses, but let's say you were done with any activity for the day and were ready to figure out dinner.  If you had a 500 calorie deficit set up in the Food Logging area, it would show you have 232 calories remaining.  You would eat those 232 calories and get within 50 calories of zero.  Then the display says "Nailed it!" and thinks you're everything awesome.

If you think 232 calories is completely unreasonable for dinner, you can either burn more calories during the day (which will give you more to work with) or spread out the number of calories you eat for breakfast and lunch so you have more when dinner rolls around.  But you should always try to get near to zero calories remaining or over by the end of the day IF you have a deficit set up in the Food Plan area.

[RedHairDontCare]

This was so helpful!

Thank you for taking the time to respond in such a detailed manner, this really was awesome.

Thank you so much! Ok ok, i can do this lmao

[pcobb8]

I am interested in the idea that a greater than 1000 calorie deficit would be bad.  I understand that if the body does not get enough fuel, it will burn muscle.  I am eating healthy, and maintain a deficit of 1500 a day.  Average intake of 2500  average burn of 4000.  I feel great and am losing about .075-1% of my body weight a week.  I eat small portions often and am never hungry anymore.   I tried to do some research but the only thing that I can find is about minimum calorie intakes. 

[Raviv]

The more weight you have to lose, the greater your caloric deficit can be and still work.  But as you get closer to your goal weight, you'll usually start to stall out and need to increase calories.  You're still working with a caloric deficit, just a smaller one.

When your body has a lower amount of fat stores to draw on and a large reduction in caloric intake, it will start protecting itself.  You won't be burning fat, you'll be slowing down processes.  Think of bodyfat as your brain's security blanket.  When it's stressed, it clings to it for dear life.

Your brain prioritizes things, and fat loss is absolutely not a high priority.  Self preservation is, and that isn't accomplished (as far as your brain is concerned) by depleting your fat stores.

[DawnLordy]

Hi. I was reading your question and I am sort of in the same deboccal !! I am a mail carrier and according to my tracker I burn well over 3000 calories per day and it wants me too eat over 2500?? I usually dont!! But knowing that I actually CAN has made me over eat!!! I am stuck and can't lose any weight, as active as I am!!! 

[pardog]

I too am mail carrier and my tracker tells me I burn over 4000 cai per day yet take in approx. 2850,a deficit of over 1200 per day!My doc suggested that their may be some problem wiyh yhe info being trackedas well because my average per day walking is btween 11 and 12(25000 to 30000 steps) milesper day yet am losing no weight.Answers

[nursenancy]

So I've been using a Zip every day and logging food every day for a month, I want to lost 30 lbs so I set the plan at 2 lbs a week. My work outs are moderate, some days 30 min cardio, some days 45 min walk, occasionally 90 min walking on the weekend, nothing hugely caloric. I like entering food on the food log but the calories for the day is driving me crazy! It kept telling me I should be eating about 700 calories, one day is said 544 calories! (By the way, this is daily, not looking at the week and this is total amount, not left over for the day.) Well, as a nurse I know that is way too low and eating about 1200 average I've actually been losing 3 lbs a week (go me!) so ok.

But all of a sudden today it tells me I'm going to burn 3200 calories (I set it to sedentary to try to fix this but that's the lower amount!) and to eat 2210 calories. I was rather fairly sedentary over the weekend, just walked 45 min yesterday and did 15 min cardio, 25 min calisthenics/weights this morning, also my weight was actually up one pound on Sunday and the same today. What gives? How can I fix this? My work-around is just to knock 1000 calories off and eat 1210. But it would be nice if it was accurate.

[josephz2va]

It's best to do three things:

 - Have your meals planned accordingly for 7 days

 - Put your credit cards in a safe for the week

 - Fight the hunger to the end and drink tons of water when you're hungry

Me I have a spending habit. Credit Cards = Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Subway, Cafeteria, Snack Bar. On top of my planned foods. I gained 50 pounds in that habit. Ditch the cards, Keep the Meals Planned, I'll lose that 50 pounds.

[nursenancy]

For the first time ever I planned and entered most of my food for today last night. Maybe that's the issue. But I love your idea about the planning and credit cards, definitely! Also, plan your work route to NOT go by Sonic (or Starbucks or whatever your weakness is)!

[Elenita]

I don't have an answer for you about how to input the stats in the computer cause I'm terrible with computers.  But...I can tell you that 2500 calories a day is too much.  I would try to to stick to 1500 a day and spread it out into 5 300 calorie meals.  Good luck!

[SunsetRunner]

It looks like your BMR is 1900 calories. I would use this as a starting point for how many calories to eat each day. Fitbit tends to over-calculate calories burned, and we as individuals tend to undercount calories consumed. When I weighed 270 lb's I started by eating 1600 calories a day and exercised on an eliptical for 1 hour. I ended up loosing about 2-3 lb's a week. What has worked for me consistently is setting a calorie goal based on my BMR(mine is currently 1330 a day at my weight of 195) and then looking at any exercise I do as bonus fat loss. Acording to fitbit I am burning aproximently 2000 calories more than I consume which would mean that I should be loosing 4 lb's of fat a week, but I am loosing between 1.5 and 2lb's. I rigourously measure my food intake to the point of absurdity(I weigh pre packaged food that is 1 serving because often time it is off by a margin of 5-10%) so this tells me that fitbit is over calculating my calorie expenditures.

TLDR don't eat back your calories and eat less than your BMR. If you are trying to loose weight, don't force yourself to eat more. Trust me if you are eating too few calories your body will tell you in no uncertain terms that you are(hunger pains and serious cravings(mild cravings and hunger are expected on any diet)). If you are at or under your calorie goal and feel good then more power to you. 

[SharonH123]

Nancy, I didn't see what your current weight is if you shared it but for 30 lbs left to lose, a 2lb/week goal is very aggressive and can result in losing too much lean body mass versus fat. 

I've cycled on/off steroids and with it have weight cycled as much as 80 lbs in either direction. The last time I lost, it was my 4th and I was impatient so did it faster than was safe. The result was that my tested RMR dropped 400+ calories due to losing almost 30 lbs of lean body mass! This go, it's much harder for me to lose because of a lower RMR.

If your settings have your weeks starting on Monday, Fitbit likely adjusted your targets based on last week's numbers.  If you know around 1200 has been working for you and you're fine with that, as long as your deficit isn't going too high, I'd stick with it.

I'm dealing with the low numbers from Fitbit which sucks. 1300-1600 a day works for me but Fitbit is giving me 800-1000 intake a day. That's neither sustainable nor realistic for me.

[catfan]

Hi Mykaelous,

sorry for my lack of knowledge on acronyms....to ensure I understand your points, BMR is?  TLDR means?

Thanks in advance, this will help me to understand your points more clearly.  I am new with my fitbit flex and I'm trying to make it a success.

[Raviv]

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@catfan wrote:

Hi Mykaelous,

sorry for my lack of knowledge on acronyms....to ensure I understand your points, BMR is?  TLDR means?

Thanks in advance, this will help me to understand your points more clearly.  I am new with my fitbit flex and I'm trying to make it a success.

---

BMR is Basal Metabolic Rate.  It's basically the rate at which you burn calories when you're at rest.

TLDR is Too Long, Didn't Read.  It's also sometimes written as Teal Deer.  So if someone writes a long post that they know some people won't want to read, at the bottom or the top, they'll write "TLDR" or "TL/DR" and then a sentence or two that sums up the post.

[catfan]

Great this is helpful.  I should probably write TLDR at the beginning or end of many of my work emails.