Calorie burn and health issues

[CindyNMNB]

I have COPD (I use supplemental oxygen) and some mobility issues, and I've become obese, to boot. I log food calories consumed and let my Inspire 3 track calories burned. I sometimes wonder if the Fitbit calories shown are accurate, though; moving and breathing is difficult, so I huff and puff a lot, and my heartrate almost doubles. According to all the readings, my daily food intake is at least 500 calories less than calories burnt, but I'm not losing weight as I should be. In fact, I've gained a bit. It's a roller coaster. To clarify, my calorie intake is always less than my TDEE (BRM: 1717, TDEE: 2060), usually by at least 500 calories – sometimes more, sometimes a little less, and ALWAYS within fifty or so calories plus/minus of my BRM, sometimes more. I do NOT weigh my food, but even if my calorie count is off, it's not by much. If anything, I overestimate the numbers somewhat. I drink lots of water. I move as much as I can (I tend to be lazy LOL), but because of my weight and breathing problems, it's difficult. To make a long story short, I'm not whining here, or fishing for sympathy. I'm just wondering if there's something I should be doing, or be aware of. Are the calories burned that Fitbit is showing accurate, considering my health problems and obesity? Should I cut calorie intake more? It's currently right at my BMR. (and yes, I entered age, weight and activity level correctly even though there should be a designation with less movement than Sedentary)

[RiekoC]

Hello & welcome @CindyNMNB 

It sounds like you have quite a lot on your health issue plate.

I take it that you're under the care of a health professional. Have you had a chance to discuss a weight management program with them? If not, that's a good place to start. They would be the best person to advise you since they know your history and would monitoring your progress.

I understand that it's quite a challenge to do activities with your health issues. If you haven't thought about it, you might want to consider trying chair workouts. There are a number of YouTube channels that offer chair workouts. One of my favorite channels is yes2next (<-- click link). The workouts are done by a daughter & her 80+ year old mom. The daughter is a personal trainer with senior fitness and functional training specialist certifications from the American Council on Exercise and The Biomechanics Method for Corrective Exercise. They have short 5 -10 minute workouts as well as chair workouts that you could try.

Sending you lots of positive vibes and looking forward to reading about your progress.

[CindyNMNB]

My GP uses LoseIt, as I do, and fully approves. He's pushing me to eat more protein; I'm working on that. My real question is about the accuracy of the calories burned Fitbit is showing. Because of my health conditions, my heart rate and breathing accelerate walking across the room -- when I do something strenuous, like changing the bed linens, I rack up MAJOR Fitbit calorie burn. Are these readings accurate? If so, I should be dropping weight, but I'm not. THAT's my question.

[RiekoC · Accepted solution]

Hello @CindyNMNB 

This Fitbit article describes how it calculates calories burned (<-- click link). Based on the article, it would seem to me that the calories burned would be accurate as long as one's personal information in the app is correct.

That said, I haven't seen any information on how Fitbit's calorie calculating algorithm compares to other fitness trackers in regards to accuracy.

[CindyNMNB]

I think I'm retaining a lot of water, too. Maybe I'm just being impatient. 😐 I'll just keep plugging along.

[RiekoC]

Hi @CindyNMNB 

I can totally relate to wanting to see progress much faster than it's going. Like you, I am often way to impatient to see results. There's been plenty of times when I want to get on the scale after a workout to see how much my weight has decreased.

Believe in yourself and continue to follow your doctor's advice, as you have. It's going to be a journey, but one that I believe you can do, one step at a time.

If there's any other help we can provide, please let us know. We're here to support you.