Calorie burn?

[Bartlit]

I'm trying to set up my target calorie burn but need to check something. I don't want to track calories by inputting food so do I just add the calorie deficit to my bmr eg 500 + 1529 = 2029 where 2029 would be my daily target?

[Dominique]

What's wrong with using the default calorie burn target set for you by Fitbit? It's quite challenging, meaning that when you have reached the other default target goals (eg. 10,000 steps), you most likely haven't reached the calorie burn target at the end of the day. In other words, you literally have to "go the extra mile" to reach it.

If you are not tracking your calories in, you don't really have a way to know about any deficit. Only your scale will tell, afterwards.

[Bartlit]

I didn't know it included a deficit, I thought it was just my bmr *insert embarrassed face here!*
So I can just leave it as is then?

[Heybales]

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@Bartlit wrote:

I'm trying to set up my target calorie burn but need to check something. I don't want to track calories by inputting food so do I just add the calorie deficit to my bmr eg 500 + 1529 = 2029 where 2029 would be my daily target?

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If you aren't going to input calorie taken in, then what is burned is pretty meaningless.

Well, if fat loss is the goal.

I know many manually set their daily burn goal to be an amount so that when Fitbit removes the deficit when you hit it - the eating level is where they want it.

Say they have found through experience that they adhere best to a diet and exercise is actually able to cause improvements when they get to eat 2000 calories.

The want to lose 1 lb weekly. Or deficit of 500 daily.

So you set the daily burn goal to 2500 to accomplish both goals.

I'm still not sure what Fitbit bases initial burn goal on, I must have changed mine early on without trying to do any math on how they got theirs.

[Dominique]

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@Bartlit wrote:
I didn't know it included a deficit, I thought it was just my bmr *insert embarrassed face here!*
So I can just leave it as is then?

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No, the default calorie burn target set by Fitbit is not your BMR. It's your BMR + a hefty calorie amount. You should definitely need more than 10,000 steps a day to reach that total calorie goal.

In my case, I noticed the calorie burn target set by Fitbit was the TDEE obtained with the Mifflin-St Jeor formula (which is what Fitbit uses) and Every day (*intense) or twice daily as the exercise level, using this TDEE calculator.

Calories burned are calories burned, they neither include a deficit, nor a surplus. Whether you'll have a deficit or a surplus depends on how much you eat, compared to how much you burned.

I don't count calories in either, but I do find the calorie burn target useful (because it's challenging).

[Colinm39]

@DominiqueThanks for that TDEE Calculator. The first two options uses the 1.20 and 1.375 multipliers as used by Mifflin when it estimates our activity. I have had Premium since day one and I'm trying to establish what Fitbit established for a new user on day one so that we can help then set a realistic calorie burn.

Yopu probably have these factors for adjusting your BMR calorie burn goal, and these seem to be the standard adopted around the Web.

Sedentary.  Little to no regular exercise. 
(factor 1.2)

Mild activity level: Intensive exercise for at least 20 minutes 1 to 3 times per week. This may include such things as bicycling, jogging, basketball, swimming, skating, etc.  If you do not exercise regularly, but you maintain a busy life style that requires you to walk frequently for long periods, you meet the requirements of this level. 
(factor 1.375)

Moderate activity level: Intensive exercise for at least 30 to 60 minutes 3 to 4 times per week. Any of the activities listed above will qualify.    (factor 1.55)

Heavy or (Labor-intensive) activity level: Intensive exercise for 60 minutes or greater 5 to 7 days per week (see sample activities above).  Labor-intensive occupations also qualify for this level.  Labor-intensive occupations include construction work (brick laying, carpentry, general labor, etc.). Also farming, landscape worker or similar occupations.     (factor 1.7)

Extreme level: Exceedingly active and/or very demanding activities:  Examples include:  (1) athlete with an almost unstoppable training schedule with multiple training sessions throughout the day  (2) very demanding job, such as shoveling coal or working long hours on an assembly line. Generally, this level of activity is very difficult to achieve.  (factor 1.9)