Calories burned way too high?

[Thunderdog]

Hello all, 

I've been using my fitbit HR for about a year.  I've always liked it, but seem to be questioning the amount of calories I'm burning.  I've searched and read through a variety of posts and I'm curious if someone can help me on this.

Here it goes:

Age: 37

Weight 232 lbs.

5'9"

I've calculated my BMR at 2136.  According to Fitbit, I'm burning 7 calories every 5 minutes.(I checked this in the activities>calories burned section)  So, that means 7 x 12 = 84 per hour.  84 x 24hours =2016 calories in a day.  I can accept that in relation to the online BMR calculator result of 2136.

Here is where it gets nuts.  Fitbit is reporting on average 3500-4000 calories burned in a day with steps roughly around 9k-11k.  Wouldn't that mean insane weight loss in a week?  I have been logging calorie intake which has been around 2900-3000. That's a 1000 calorie deficit per day.  Yet, I'm doing NO exercise.  Just walking around at my job.  Maybe I'm just frustrated because I've been watching everything like a hawk and can only account for 3 lbs lost over the past 4 weeks.  But, if you follow the fitbit numbers I should be shedding the lbs.

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

Which calculator did you use? Asking, because with Mifflin St Jeor, your BMR would be 1968. With the moderate activity level (3 out 5), your TDEE would be 3050, which would confirm the 3500-4000 reported by your Fitbit would be on the high side. I’m using this calculator, btw. A 3 lb loss in 4 weeks equates to an average (calculated) deficit of 375 calories. If you say your intake has been 2950 in average, your actual TDEE would have been  2950 + 375 = 3325. Not too far away from the lower end of your bracket of 3500-4000 as per Fitbit, nor from the calculator’s TDEE at moderate activity level. Three weeks is still a short period, and 0,75 lb per week isn’t that bad: if you could increase it to 1 lb, you would be down to 207 in six months time, and 181 in a year.

[BOEScott]

Only second day of using my Fitbit

It told me yesterday that I used 5,314 calories. I walked 14,364 steps.

That can't be right.

I read what you said but I am still confused.

According to the site you put my numbers are:

BMR: 2,946

TDEE: 4566

15% Cut: 3881

20% Cut: 3653

25% Cut: 3424

Can you explain this to me in a way for me to understand? I am 445 pounds and need to start losing weight. How can my calories burned be so high? It also told me I burned 1,700 calories sleeping. How?

[A_Lurker]

@BOEScott- if you don't mind me stepping in I'd like to say that your numbers are probably valid.  I started this latest stage of my weight loss at 360lbs.  My highest recorded (mainly because I wouldn't step on a scale) is 407, but it was probably higher.  Here's the thing - when you weigh a lot to start with you can do it in a couple of different ways.

1) Eat a lower calorie diet

2) Cut back somewhat on what you're eating now

1) for me doesn't work well - I drop weight quickly at first, then I stop losing weight.  This leads to me cutting calories more and exercising more.  I've done this a couple of times and twice I've ended up with serious illnesses.  However, if you read lots of things it will tell you 1200 calories for women, 1500 for men.  I've come to believe that this is the wrong approach for someone with a lot of weight to lose.

2) Eat fewer calories than you burn (within limits that I'll get to in a minute) trying to keep your calories as high as possible for as long as possible.  As you lose weight you will eventually have to lower your calories, but not as drastically.  Here's the thing though, I don't always practice what I preach.  I'm actually eating more calories now (a year later) even though I'm 100 pounds lighter.  I found it very hard to eat more calories, but at some point I had a week where I'd burned say 4000 calories and day and only eaten 1500 calories a day and actually went up a pound.  I remembered all the things I promised myself, ate a little more, then went back to losing.

Now, having said that, I'm not suggesting that you eat 4314 calories for the day.  I found working with about 6 months of data that a HR enable tracker (for me) was off by around 10%.  It could also have been a function of poor fitness where my heart rate would go into the peak zone walking back to our shipping docks. Now I'd have to do it at a fair clip to even push into the cardio zone. Remember, the calories burned is an average, some people will burn more, others less.

So, take your 4314 and divide it by 1.1 = 4620

This is closer to what the calculator that @Dominique gave you.  So try eating ~3620 on that 5314 day.  One thing you didn't mention is if that's a high or average day.  To make things simpler what I decided is that I would eat -1000 calories up to 2500 each day (my average burns at the time were ~4000).  So if I burned 3000, I ate 2000.  However, if I burned 4000 I stopped at 2500.  I'm working on a slightly different system at the moment.  Don't be afraid to start your calories higher as there will be a time when they have to come down.  If your 5314 is average then maybe try stopping at 3500 or 3750.  The trick now is to try and eat that many calories without it being junk food. 

Try this for 3-4 weeks and see how you do.  Then adjust your strategy based on results.  Once you're on your way please ask about diet breaks.  Although important to maybe all dieters, they may be more important when you have a lot to lose.  Again, I don't always practice what I preach, but I do take them and I believe that the metabolism reset is good for you.

Best of luck, and welcome.  I should mention that my current weight is 259.4 (update every Sunday) so you can start above 400 and make progress.

[BOEScott]

Thanks. I just cant believe I am burning that many calories in a day.

I started a new job working as security in a wearhouse so I will be walking two hours a day 5 days a week.

[A_Lurker]

@Thunderdog- I'm a numbers person, so I need to ask:

average 3500-4000 = 3750

average 2900-3000 = 2950

I see an average of 800 between them  

Anyway, same type of advice I gave in the previous post.  I know from 6 months of numbers that the HR enabled tracker is about 10% off from my actual.  I should also add that although I weigh/measure a lot of things I don't always.  I generally take 3 clementine oranges in the morning when they're available.  They log in at 34 calories I believe.  Here's the thing - sometimes they are small, sometimes much larger.  I don't bother to differentiate between them.  So when I say that the tracker is 10% off there could be some inaccuracies in logging.  On more calorie dense items (oils, nuts, etc.) I do measure and/or use a food scale.

So, assuming an average deficit of 800 calories per day x 28 days you would expect to see a loss of 6.4 lbs.  You've seen 3 lbs, which is still a loss remember.  Maybe try capping your eating at 2500 for the next few weeks and see if that makes a difference.  Oh, and if you have a super lazy day and don't burn 3500 calories... well eat less (ie. 3200, then eat 2200).

One last comment.  Even with the best data collection weight loss is not completely linear.  If it were that simple we could have a 1000 calorie deficit today you would be .3 lbs lighter the next day.  Water retention, weight of food (ie. no bowel movements), muscle soreness (this is also water retention) can all affect it.  I've also see lack of sleep affect it as well.

[BOEScott]

So I guess my main question is this:

Im an EMT, but I dont understand the whole calorie burn thing. 

If its telling me, like yesterday that I burned 5,600 calories, I would have to assume from my understanding that our body always burns calories, no matter what we do. So when a doctor is saying "Cut down to 2,000 calories" they are not factoring in that our body burns calories normally or at least not explaining it to us as patients. 

So that could explain how I could eat 4,000 every day some week and still lose weight, whereas I can do the same another week and lose nothing or even gain. It all depends on how active I am?

Am I understanding this right?

[Thunderdog]

Dominique's response filled the mental "gap" when he mentioned TDEE. I've never heard of that acronym until now.  I plugged in my info on www.mytdee.com and that helped me understand.  Simple, but just needed it spelled out for me.

I calculated the last 38 days and here is where I'm at:

Avg. Intake is 2629

Aug Calories per day is 3748

Obviously that's over 1000 deficit per day.  Thus far in 2017, it's been regular life with no exercise.  That's going to change, but the minimal weight loss is frustrating.  Just need to keep the mindset that it's more of a long game than a short game approach to healthy lifestyle.

[A_Lurker]

@BOEScott- A lot of doctors have minimal experience with obese patients.  The idea is that you should lose as much weight quickly so fewer calories is better.  Sadly, for very few is this the answer.  Put your details into this caculator:

http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/

Set you target weight to 400 and just look at your BMR.  This is the calories you burn doing nothing all day.  As a rule you shoudn't eat under this number (one day okay, permanently no).  I'm going to assume that your BMR is over 3000 calories.  There is some thought that BMR calculations aren't as accurate for higher body fat, but hey, you have to start somewhere.

[A_Lurker]

@Thunderdog- okay, those are good specific numbers.  I always hesitate when I see ranges.  So, at this point I'd drop the calories in down a couple of hundred calories and see what happens.  Oh, and if you're not using trendweight.com then consider it.  The site is free and links to your fitbit account.

[Dominique]

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@BOEScott wrote:

BMR: 2,946

It also told me I burned 1,700 calories sleeping. How?

---

BMR is what you burn in 24 hours by merely staying alive. If your BMR is 2946, you burn 2946/24 = 123 calories per hour when doing nothing (for instance, sleeping). If you’re sleeping for 8 hours, you would burn 123 x 8 = 984 calories. In that respect, 1700 does seem to be on the high side, even if you are very restless while sleeping. What Fitbit tracker are you using and how did you come with that number (1700 calories)? I’m asking as I don’t think calories burned during sleep are displayed explicitly anywhere in Fitbit.

[BOEScott]

I slept 9.5 hours it said and I burned close to 1100

[A_Lurker]

From the numbers above, that makes sense.  It can be a balancing act when you have a lot of weight to lose.  You don't want to eat too little and you don't want to eat too much.  Also, as I said before, it can be hard to take in enough calories without resorting to junk food.  I often use nuts and dried fruit if I'm super low and I couldn't be bothered to make a higher calorie dinner.  I'm not a fan, but peanut butter packs a good calorie level for small bulk.  However, this is where a food scale comes into play.  You can just as easily overeat these items.  I figure out what I can afford* and measure out my portion.

* I say afford because I calorie count and think of my calories as a budget.  I don't exclude any one food, but I often make my choices based on if I want to spend my calories on something.  I'd rather pass up things like the overly sweet white cake they bring into the office for someone's birthday.  But I'm quite willing to use those same calories for dark chocolate/sea salt caramels once in a while.

[JevRuz]

@Thunderdog I have pretty much the exact profile details as you; similar weight, age and height and I also show I burn a LOT more calories than seems correct. I finally got around to really accurately logging my calorie intake for for a week and I show I eat about HALF as many calories as I am supposedly burning which would mean I should be dropping weight like crazy. I am loosing weight but only about 1-2 pounds a week so this surely cannot be accurate. BMR itself is an estimate; we might have sluggish metabolisms or perhaps some other situation.

In any case, I think for me it's the result that counts so I decided to 'change my height and gender' to 5ft 5in and female and it's already adjusted all of my past so show my just barely making it, which is probably about where it should be. Works for me.

[Dominique]

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@JevRuz wrote:

I am losing weight but only about 1-2 pounds a week so this surely cannot be accurate.

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@JevRuz: "only" 2 pounds a week is a daily deficit of 1000 calories.

[JevRuz]

I would always show more than a 1,000 calorie deficit though. In fact, I would struggle to get UP to -1,000 calories. For someone over-eats and is trying to loose weight it didn't make sense that I was being asked to eat more than I normally do.

[LoserE]

I totally agree. However, I read that a fat guy, like me, at 280, burn over 3,000 calories without exercise.

Then there is calorie starvation mode, when you just drink water, thinking fat will be burnt, when in fact muscle is burnt when there is no exercise.

Obviously, the best solution is both lots of exercise, like walk 5 kilometers or more/day. Plus, eat only 1,500 calories.

I did that in 2012, when I biked to work 18 k. Obviously, it takes an hour and half, having to stop at many stop lights.

The beauty, is the more you ride bike, the better one feels. I found, dealing with cars, the biggest hurtle not riding the bike. 

I did not count calories, but my weight dropped quickly. I cut out all carbs.

Now, I am eating lots of fruit and veggies, and feel better with little exercise. I think this is a better diet than high protein. My biggest problem, is I cannot sleep, with all these heart medicine I am taking.

Grant

[randzman]

The numbers are ridiculous ... what is the answer?

I just walked 1.1 miles (correct) and it says I burned 4379 calories. I didn't even burn one - TWENTIETH of that.

The other day I walked 3.3 miles (correct) and it said 3955 calories.

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION????

(Charge 4).

[GavLew79]

I only did 6000 steps (1 mile) and sat watching TV most of the day, and itn reckons I've burned 4200 calories. No way. Absolutely no way. 

My base rate is like 2300. 

Why is it so wrong?

[Kris111]

I'd like to suggest using the tracker as a guideline and maybe listening to your body first, even if only for a day or 2. Sometimes I find I have too much stress weight for fitbits calories after a day or 2 of listening more to my body  fitbit will be more accurate..if that makes any sense.