Fitbit accuracy and advice

[C702]

My first post, I'm guessing this is a common query so I hope no one is annoyed by this topic.

The reason I ask is, I am a very active person as I am a plasterer.  Today I did 11 hours on 2 ceilings, usually not a long day but they were artex and needed a huge amount of prep.  They were also very high so I was up and down 3 stage steps.  

my stats are around 113.7kg (very overweight though some muscle as a biproduct of my work and past when I was very fit) 34 male and 5ft10

Today being quite an active day I measured:
12800 steps
5296 calories
5.25 miles 
34 floors

I struggle to believe that is accurate because even though I have had an atrocious almost self destructive diet for about 4 years and only retrained into this position after night shift job (where I put on about 3 stone the majority of my bad weight and probably lost most of my muscle mass) I am amazed that after a couple of months of looking after my diet I haven't started losing weight anyway.  

Is it possible I messed up my body so badly that I have had an extremely low BMR and that only by sorting out nutrition and rebuilding my muscle mass will I begin to start losing some of the probably 35-40% fat of my body.

And does anyone really believe I burned over 5k calories because that seems super inflated.

If anyone does reply, thank you, and sorry if this has been asked before again.

[rancidelle42]

As unbelievable as it seems your results don't seem too inaccurate. Although I'm not sure how it gauges how many floors you scale. You could have a thyroid condition that's causing you to not lose even as active as you are. Are you calorie counting your meals?

[betpchem]

I think those numbers seem reasonable. If you were up and down a ladder all day, that's how you got all those floors.

Remember that the calories on Fitbit aren't just exercise calories, but also the calories you burn just by being alive (BMR). Here's a site where you can calculate your BMR:

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

[SunsetRunner]

You'll use around 2,300 cals just by sitting a breathing based on those stats, so the remaining 3000 are down to activity.

The basic fitbits will just use your step count to estimate calorie burn, so based on around 100 steps per minute when walking (my rate), your step count is around 2 hours of activity at around 23 cal / minute burn - which is quite high to be fair.

Does your fitbit have a HR monitor on it? If so, that would explain the difference - if you look at my chart from this mornings walk, you'll see what when my heart rate goes up, so does the calorie burn. When I'm struggling to get my backside up the hills for example.

If you've been up and down ladders, working with your arms above your head, your heart will have had a pretty healthy workout I expect and that could account for the difference. 

You could try tracking the plastering as an 'activity' on the fitbit to force it to capture and display the steps / HR data on the dashboard for a room and see for yourself

[GershonSurge]

The calories sound about right for the work you are doing. If you have a Zip or a One, the estimate is likely about 10% low. If you have a device with a heart rate monitor they are probably a little high. The error is usually consistent.

It's unlikely you have messed up your body to the point it is in starvation mode. If you had, you would most likely have difficulty being so active.

The culprit is most likely the food you are eating. Somehow, you are eating around 5,000 calories a day. This is easy to do by starting out with a large fat-filled breakfast including bacon, fried potatoes, eggs, and bread with butter. With large servings, this can easily be about 1300 calories. The typical fast food meal is also around 1300 calories. Add in some between meal snacks of junk food, and 5,000 calories isn't too difficult to achieve. Have a few beers after a hard day's work, and it gets worse.

[SunsetRunner]

Unless you wear your fitbit on your ankle, the steps are based on arm movements. It may not be entirely accurate. It's only an estimate. The reason why you aren't losing weight is simply you are eating too much. Regardless if you are counting calories and are sure you are within your calorie budget, you are eating too much. You have to remember they are only estimates. Nutrition labels can be off by, I think it's 100 calories, which is the reason I stopped counting calories -- It's all a guessing game. The types of foods can also be part of the culprit like if you are eating a lot of sodium filled foods. Too much sodium can cause you to hold on to water weight.

I will weigh myself before I go to bed and again when I wake up. I've done it enough time to determine I loose approximately 2 pounds overnight. This gives me an idea of how much I will weigh in the morning when I step on the scale. The reason I do this is because I can determine if I ate too much during the course of the day. If I am higher in weight or the same weight as the night before, I know to eat a little less the next day. If you are new to calorie counting, you may want to establish a record of what the calorie approximations are for certain foods and portion sizes. Once you have an idea of calorie approximations for the foods you most commonly eat, you can eliminate calorie counting. If you are not losing any weight you know you need to eat a little less.

[C702]

Thanks folks should have mentioned I am using a blaze and it's on my left hand which remains static so isn't swinging around like a lunatic as my right hand does 

[creepingjennie]

I can't believe this thing is tracking my calorie output accurately either. If it were, I would be losing weight instead of slowly gaining it. And no, it's not my thyroid. My levels are fine. 

[Dominique]

@creepingjennie: estimating (stress on estimating) energy expenditure with a fitness tracker is not exact science, for a number of reasons. The same applies to estimating the caloric content of your intake (also a number of reasons). What you need to do is "calibrate" your Fitbit against actual weight changes. If you had a calculated daily deficit of 250 calories, but found you actually gained 1 pound after one month, then you would know your Fitbit overestimated your calories by about 370 (assuming you were 100% accurate tracking your own intake). During the next month, you can make an adjustment accordingly.

Your Fitbit may not be 100% accurate in absolute terms, but it should be consistent: if one day it says you burned 1500 calories and the next day 2000, then you can be pretty sure your energy expenditure really was higher on that day. 

[creepingjennie]

It's not even close. I have it set to the "hardest" setting, meaning the
highest calorie deficit, and have been 100% honest about calorie intake.
Yet my weight is creeping up.

I'm sure you will say it's my fault, though, right?

[Dominique]

Impossible to say since we know nothing about you and your setup. We don’t even know what Fitbit model you’re using. For estimating BMR (onto which energy expenditure is based), Fitbit uses the Mifflin St Jeor equation, which almost everyone else is using. If you don’t trust Fitbit, you can use a standard multiplier for your activity, together with an online calculator such as this one.

[creepingjennie]

That's all fine and good. I'm just saying that from my experience, my
device appears to be GROSSLY inaccurate. If I have to calculate the
difference for every activity, then why bother spending money on a FitBit?

[Dominique]

Can you provide us with some more info: what is your calculated BMR (according to the calculator I mentioned earlier)? How many steps and active minutes have you had in average during the past month? How many calories did your Fitbit say you burned in average? What has been your average intake, as counted by you? What Fitbit model are you using?

[creepingjennie]

Look at my profile; it's all public.

[Dominique]

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@creepingjennie wrote:

Look at my profile; it's all public.

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@creepingjennie: yes, your Fitbit stats for the past 30 days are public. However, they don’t say what Fitbit tracker you’re using, nor your age/height/weight. The reason why I’m mentioning the Fitbit model is several people have reported HR-enabled Fitbits tend to overestimate calories burned, so if you have such a tracker, that could be one explanation. Age/height/weight affect your BMR and energy expenditure during activity. You may want to input your data in an online calculator such as this one and compare the numbers you’re getting (TDEE) to what your Fitbit says you’re burning. Based on your step count & very active minutes for the past 30 days, I would put your activity level somewhere between "moderate" and "high" (levels 3 and 4 on the scale of 5). 

Your Fitbit says you’ve been burning 2465 in average during the past 30 days. Even if it overestimated that number by 500 calories, you would still have been in a deficit according to the intake logged by you (highest intake 1613, everything else under 1500). My guess is your BMR is not less than 1400-1500 and with your activity level, you’re probably burning at least 500 on top of that. If so, the only explanation I can find to your lack of weight loss is you’re underestimating your intake. Though I’m sure you’re adamant you’re logging everything with 100% accuracy, so it has to be Fitbit being a complete failure at estimating your expenditure.

Or then energy balance (calories in vs. calories out) simply does not work, or at least does not apply to you. If so, I’m at a loss to suggest an alternative approach that would work. 

[Dominique]

Oh, one more thing: sleep. You only have 7 days out of 30 when you’ve been sleeping more than 6 hours. Lack of sleep (especially quality sleep) can result in chronically elevated cortisol (stress hormone), that could hinder weight loss.

[creepingjennie]

So basically you're saying that I'm lying about my intake? Nice.

Maybe I should get rid of this thing and get a different device from a
competitor.

[creepingjennie]

I have narcolepsy, so if you can figure out how to fix that, then the
entire narcolepsy community would appreciate it.

[Anniesusie]

Back to the original post:

I get "stairs" counted if I walk uphills. I think your calorie usage sound about right. I was OBSESSED with stats and counts when I first got it.  The sleep log just worries me and I find the bracelet uncomfortable to sleep with. I feel for you @creepingjennie. Sleep disorders are so difficult and upset everything physically, emotionally, mentally. I have always been a light sleeper and wake up more times than I want to see on a tracker. My kids both had disorders also. 

[Dominique]

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@creepingjennie wrote:
I have narcolepsy, so if you can figure out how to fix that, then the
entire narcolepsy community would appreciate it.

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This study suggests that "patients with narcolepsy tended to have a lower basal metabolism than controls". That would be one explanation why energy expenditure as estimated by your Fitbit is wrong (in your case): Fitbit uses a standard formula (Mifflin St Jeor) that doesn’t take into account medical conditions like hypothyroidism, narcolepsy etc.