Do I eat 500 calories less than calories allowed or is that figured in.

[DMaxwell]

My plan says I should have 500 calorie deficit everyday to lose 1 lb a week. Is this figured in my allotted calories or should I eat 500 less?

[Sqweezl · Accepted solution]

The deficit is calculated by fitbit, you can eat up to the number of calories alotted on your dashboard/ app. For example: if at the end of the day you still have 500 calories worth of food that you are allowed to eat, then you actually have a deficit of 1000 calories for that day ( on track to lose 2 lbs per week).

To give you an idea, the general rule is that 3500 calories is 1 lb of weight. Therefore, a daily deficit of 500 cal will add up to a weekly deficit of 3500 cals. 7 (days) x 500 (calorie deficit) = 3500 (1 lb).  

I have digressed, the answer to your question is that you can eat the number of calories alotted on your dashboard because fitbit has calculated your desired deficit based on your food plan.

[ac7ss · Accepted solution]

Another thing to watch is if you are losing the weight or not. If you notice a downward trend, you are doing it right. If not, double check your ACTUAL intake (Weigh your foods) and check your BMR, some formulae are different. If you are truely under your BMI (real burn) and not losing, try a lower calorie count.

[DMaxwell · Accepted solution]

Thank you. I thought that was right. I have been losing steadily.

[SMARTgal]

Good for you!!!   Congratulations.  Gaining is easy, however, losing is hard.

[BurdsNest]

I get everything that all of you have said, calories in, calories out.  I have a 500 calorie deficit also.  When I get up in the morning, my daily caloric intake is 1493.  This includes my deficit.  I understand that your calories alloted changes throughout the day based on your calories out.  I'm a gym rat so I'm in the gym Sunday through Thursday, double classes and a mile on the treadmill.  So I see my calorie allowance go up.  Here's where it gets confusing.  When I go to "log in" the one graph tells me that for example I have 330 calories left to eat. I move the right arrow to another graph and it tells me I'm "in the zone".  Which I believe means, I'm on track to lose 1pd a week.  If I add an item in for only 110 calories (remember my one graph says I still have 330 calories to eat), the second graph takes me out the zone in the red?????????  What the hell am I missing?  The numbers just don't jive!  

[Heybales]

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@BurdsNest wrote:

I get everything that all of you have said, calories in, calories out.  I have a 500 calorie deficit also.  When I get up in the morning, my daily caloric intake is 1493.  This includes my deficit.  I understand that your calories alloted changes throughout the day based on your calories out.  I'm a gym rat so I'm in the gym Sunday through Thursday, double classes and a mile on the treadmill.  So I see my calorie allowance go up.  Here's where it gets confusing.  When I go to "log in" the one graph tells me that for example I have 330 calories left to eat. I move the right arrow to another graph and it tells me I'm "in the zone".  Which I believe means, I'm on track to lose 1pd a week.  If I add an item in for only 110 calories (remember my one graph says I still have 330 calories to eat), the second graph takes me out the zone in the red?????????  What the hell am I missing?  The numbers just don't jive!  

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You are misreading what that gauge means - it does NOT mean you are on track to meet daily deficit or lose 1 lb weekly.

Go to your food plan tab and it'll tell you what it is showing. Most find it useless and confusing as you are discovering.

[Knowledge]

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@BurdsNest wrote:

I get everything that all of you have said, calories in, calories out.  I have a 500 calorie deficit also.  When I get up in the morning, my daily caloric intake is 1493.  This includes my deficit.  I understand that your calories alloted changes throughout the day based on your calories out.  I'm a gym rat so I'm in the gym Sunday through Thursday, double classes and a mile on the treadmill.  So I see my calorie allowance go up.  Here's where it gets confusing.  When I go to "log in" the one graph tells me that for example I have 330 calories left to eat. I move the right arrow to another graph and it tells me I'm "in the zone".  Which I believe means, I'm on track to lose 1pd a week.  If I add an item in for only 110 calories (remember my one graph says I still have 330 calories to eat), the second graph takes me out the zone in the red?????????  What the hell am I missing?  The numbers just don't jive!  

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As the above poster said, all the Zone graph gives you is basically how much calories are you eating that day and how much have you burned. The idea is if you ate more calorie than you burned so far, you will be more likely to overeat and not meet your daily allowance (that doesn't mean you went over your allowance however!). I find that for me it doesn't really matter as long as I stay under my allowed calories amount (the other graph) than I will be fine!