Food Plan and Calorie Counter Questions

[CoffeeAddikshun]

This feature doesn't make sense to me... the allowable calories per day seems to be changing throughout the day.  I log my lunch and go into the afternoon and dinner thinking I'm planning appropriately, then I go over the alotted amount.  

I just noticed that I went for a short walk, and the allowable amount changed right after that.  Then I logged a smoothie I made and it changed again.  Is there some secret calculation the site does based on your activity and food log?  This seems highly misleading to me and not very useful if it's chaning all the time.  I don't want it to be counterproductive, but I'm hoping there's a method to the madness because I'm still new to my fitbit.

If someone could explain why this is happening (or if it even should), I'd appreciate it.

[136daysafter]

I Didn't Understand Much of This Either at First

I soon found out that there is, indeed a reason as to why the suggested number changes everyday. Once you log how many calories you have had so far, the amount of calories you are supposed to eat will change. The more active you are, the number of calories you're allowed to eat will increase because you are more active.

To conclude, the more active you are, the more calories you will be allowed to consume. For all the calories/foods you entre, the less amount of calories you will be able to consume. Basically, the number changes through the day as you become more active and consume more.

Hope I helped!

[CoffeeAddikshun]

This helps... I'll need to get used to this because I traditionally have a set calorie goal at the beginning of the day I try to stay under, but since the goal number changes, it's throwing me off a bit.  

I'm still wondering something though... when it increases the total allowed calories after activity, does the new number take into account your weight loss goals?  Or does it simply tell you a general number you should be staying under to maintain?  Thanks for the info!

[136daysafter]

Indeed, the counter does take into account of your weight loss goals.






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[wineczar]

It appears to me that the way the system works is the following:

The bar on the left is showing the calories you are consuming.  The bar on the right are the burned calories.  The difference between the two is then compared to the goal setting you have set in your food plan. 

For example if you set your food plan goal to lose 1 lb per week (Medium food plan goal), then my daily calorie deficit shows 500 calories.  If I eat 1000 calories and burned 2000 calories during the day, I am still allowed 500 calories to still reamin within my daily goal (2000 - 1000) - 500.  The calculation will change throughout the day as you burn calories and eat food but the deficit calculation between the two and your food goal is what you should focus on.