Calorie defecit confusion

[Kdb1845]

I am beyond confused right now. Can come one please tell me if the calorie defecit is supposed to be a positive or negative number? I have been tracking everything that I eat and I am walking about 3 miles a day, yet I keep gaining weight and I can't figure out why. The calories on my dashboard keep jumping everywhere and when I click on the online dashboard, not the app, sometimes the meter gage is yellow then not even an hour later it is red and I haven't eaten or drank anything with calories in it. Any help would be appreciated. I'm beginning to lose my drive because the scale is going the wrong way. Getting very discouraged.

[trainer]

I try to keep it simple myself. I look at calories in vs calories out. I try to keep that ratio the same so that I always burn about 500 calories more than I eat. Regardless of any other piece of information, as long as I burn 500 calories more than I eat I am in a calorie deficit.

[Kdb1845]

How do I know if I've eaten 500 less than I burn. Sorry I'm new to this

[zvmbubbles]

Try not to get too discouraged.  Our bodies aren't computers, you don't always get the same result from the same input.  First, are you losing inches?  That is a sign that you are really going in the right direction.  Keep in mind, muscle is heavier than fat.  So, you may not be seeing the scale go in the right direction, but you are getting in better shape and raising your metabolism.  That will help you lose more fat.  Also, be careful not to cut back on caloric intake so much that you're body goes into "starvation mode".  I've made that mistake in the past.  That really screws up your metabolism and will stop the weight loss no matter how much you work out.  In all, remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.  You'll have successes and set backs, you have to be patient and listen to your body, not just the numbers.  Good luck!

[Trooper]

Today, I can still eat:1020 out of about 2049 cals. I copied this from my own Log. This will tell you if you have any calories left to eat. How many you took in,  are have taken in, and how many you have burned. If you are vey active you will be able to eat more calories. If your sitting in front of the TV you will not able to eat as much. Most of us try to always have calories left over that we did not use.By burning more than we use on a daily basis, it helps us to take the weight off. One pound is 3,500 calories. If you eat more than your burn, you will lose weight. If you normally take in 1200 a day, that means that 2300 calories extra were burned up. When you burn up 3500 calories you lose a pound.Think of it as a bank account. Start out with 300, spend 299.00 at Kroger and your account, like your waist line gets smaller. Now add more than you spend about 25 dollars a day, and your account gets fat.

[DominicJ]

I couldnt make sense of the fitbit app and went with My Fitness Pal, it speaks to fit bit to get your steps, and I found the interface easier to go with.

[josephz2va]

I'd focus on Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Not the In vs Out. The only way In vs Out works for real is if you're more athletic.

My BMR is 1774 calories but my actual is 1,200 to 1,774 calories a day. And I burn 3,500 to 4,500 depending on how active I am. I focus on 30 to 99 minutes of burning nightly on HR Interval Rate between 130-147 warmup for 15 minutes then 130-170 as long as I can sustain my power. My ultimate goal is 130-184 my age limit. But I have to build up to the maintain method nightly in order to win.

[Heybales]

Get rid of the meter - it's going to be nothing but trouble for you, and it's not really useful anyway.

It is merely that instant in time for eating level and daily burn level. But the day is more than that moment in time.

Find the tile for how much you have burned daily so far looking at past day that is completed.

Now find your eating goal - which is based on what you are expected to burn before the day is over, no matter what time it is right now.

It does indeed adjust as the day goes on and Fitbit's estimate is improved.

That eating goal on past day is lower than your burn goal.

You selected that in your Profile setup, do you remember what weight loss plan you selected.

Oh - deficit means, literally, negative, less, subtract, ect.

It obviously can be displayed as a positive, and then used as a negative in a formula.

Like projected daily burn 2000 - 500 cal deficit = 1500 eating goal planned.

And if you are just starting exercise - side effect ot exercise is weight gain, not loss. You gain water weight for all kinds of reasons.

Weight loss happens because you eat less than you burn by a reasonable amount, and Fitbit is giving good estimate of what you burned - with a few caveats based on your model and what your exercise is. Walking is great estimate.