Eating back Fitbit calories vs not

[Bsmith404]

So I track my food using MFP. I eat my given calories and what I burned. I never eat back what my Fitbit says I burned just with steps as it’s always so much. Well I decided to experiment and eat some back and I gained a pound this week when I’ve been losing, slowly but losing. How are people eating back all of their fitbit calories and still losing? Also I went for a 1 hour and 40 minute walk with a friend today and we were walking to the point where we were struggling to talk a bit. And Fitbit said I burned 1042 calories. That seems like a lot. My feet do hurt though:) 

So far today I am at 15,000 steps and MFP states that’s 1,582 exercise calories and I’m given 1390 so I’m supposed to eat almost 3,000 today because with MFP your supposed to eat back your exercise calories.

Any help is appreciated. 

[dadsafrantic]

stick with a deficit.

[lavabelle]

You do not want to eat all of the calories Fitbit says you have burned if you want to lose weight. You would eat those calories if you were trying to maintain your weight. And as you have experienced, it's not always accurate, and eating what Fitbit says you have burned might be too much for your body.

If you are trying to lose weight, create a deficit, eat less than you burn. If you are trying to gain weight or bulk, you would need to eat more, and if you are trying to maintain, you would eat about the same you burn.

I hope this answers your question.

[Dominique]

If you’ve only had your Fitbit for a short period of time, you first want to see how accurate it is at estimating your energy expenditure. It’s not uncommon for activity trackers to overestimate calories burned (and for humans to underestimate their intake). I’ll therefore agree with other contributors: don’t eat back your Fitbit calories for the time being. After a while, you’ll have a better idea of the accuracy of your Fitbit (by comparing predicted weight change to actual change) and will be able to make a better guess regarding what to do with extra calories (if any).

[Bsmith404]

Ok thanks everyone 

[emili]

hey there @Bsmith404 if you have the answer to your question in any of the replies, please consider marking the one that helped you the most as the solution. Cheers to your continued journey to fitness!

[denswrex]

Hi there!  I know some time has passed since you asked this but I also had the same issue when I had my activity level in MFP set to sedentary.  I changed it to more active and now the calories I earn are much more realistic.  I think if you have it set to sedentary it is counting all of the steps as super  extra.  Hope this helps!

[Mateo21]

You shouldn’t ADD 1390 to your burned Fitbit calories. When you put in your height and weight your Fitbit incorporated your at-rest calories burned. The calories burned on your Fitbit are your TOTAL calories burned, not just step calories. That’s why it shows you’ve burned hundred and of calories while sleeping.