Calories burned way too high.

[MerlinskiRuns]

Ive been exercising doing light weights and cardio followed by a walk after breakfast. I then usually do a more intense cardio at night for 30 minutes.  my activity says ive burned 4k calories daily. My daily base in calories is about 1750. Ive read that fitbit also underestimates calories. Ive eat between 2200 and 2500 calories a day. Ive experienced no weight loss in the 3 weeks ive tracked. Should i reduce activity or increase intake to lose weight? I realize too that i have developed more strength and endurance and have felt generally great. I have however wake up after only 4-6 hours of sleep unless i eat a snack immediately before sleeping. Thanks for any help!

[Dominique]

Is what you call your "daily base in calories" your BMR? What is your BMR according to this calculator?

If your BMR is 1750, then  a TDEE of 4000 indeed sounds high with the description of your activities. What Fitbit model do you have?

[MerlinskiRuns]

Fitbit model is HR charge. The calculator gave me a BMR of 1756.

[MerlinskiRuns]

I usually walk ~3 miles after breakfast (calculated from google maps, comes to 2.9 miles on fitbit). I get an average of 9 miles day (mostly on my feet at work but its a lab job)

[Dominique]

9 miles is a decent distance (although keep in mind distance with any Fitbit that doesn’t use GPS is just number of steps x stride length), should probably result in at least 3000 calories, given your BMR. How many steps do you get in average per day? How confident are you about your intake being 2200-2500? If you can’t get a full night of sleep without eating something right before going to bed, maybe you should rethink the content of your dinner (include items that provide of a lot of satiety). Maybe the intense 30-minute cardio session late in the evening isn’t such a good idea: why not go to bed earlier and perform it in the morning? 

[MerlinskiRuns]

I work nights. I do lifting first thing around 3pm and then cardio at around 530pm. I work 7pm-7am.

I average around 22k steps. I have it set to dominant hand but its on my non-dominant hand. Im on my feet most of the night but its lab work. 

[emili]

My two cents, I think you need to figure out your calories in first and then figure out your calories out. Only because you can control in more than out. Your tracker is going to take your HR into consideration when calcing your calories out- but mainly its looking at the number of steps. With your steps being so high every day- its more than likely what is giving you the higher out. On the weekends, I always make my calorie out goal- because after the 8 miles at the gym, I go shopping or sight seeing or something that takes steps. During the week I sit and work. Way fewer steps overall, but same at the gym. I am also not running through the mall- so its not an increase in overall activity.

If you know what your daily caloric intake should be, plan your meals- when and what to ensure you are choosing healthy, low calorie, high nutrition options. I am always hungry after cardio- oatmeal saves me each time. 100 calories of fiber, protein and good carb- the answer to feeling full. I know its really difficult with nights being your days, but I think if you space out your food differently and choose items that will give you the biggest bang- you can stay in your calorie zone and not feel hungry. Of course this means weighing and measuring your food....

[Malme84]

Do you track your BF% as well? Tracking your BF% along with your weight can give insight into what is going on during periods of no weight loss. For example, muscle gains can offset fat losses resulting in a decline in BF% but no change in weight. I had a period of 4 weeks where either my weight stayed the same or slightly increased, but my BF% was steadily declining. My gains in muscle were offsetting my losses in fat, resulting in little to no net change on the scale. Just make sure you track your BF% with a calculator that requires measurements, and not the inaccurate simple height/weight formulas.