Have you lost weight since you got your Fitbit?

[Rnda]

I am the exact same weight as I was when I got my Flex 3 1/2 months ago!

How about you?

I'm hoping with Spring here and Summer around the corner, that my walking will increase. 

Moderator edit: title

[Heybales]

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@JenniferinFL wrote:

I've had mine since April 1, set it for 1000 calorie deficit (I have 100 lbs to lose) and have lost 7.3 lbs so far. 

This has been the easiest diet/exercise plan I've ever attempted. Usually I do something stupid like an 800 calorie a day diet or a 1700 calorie a day diet but I walk 12 miles. You know, something you can only sustain for about a month before crashing. 

My problem has been my variable activity levels. I've gotten 10,000 steps everyday since I got the thing. I work in a library and while a lot of people assume I just sit at a desk all day, I really do spend a lot of time on my feet. Only occasionally do I have to walk around a bit at home to hit 10,000 steps. However, the reason my previous diets failed is I would try to stick to them on a day I walked more than 12 miles. Then, the next day, I would binge. Tomorrow is my first theme park day since I got my fitbit. Looking forward to eating appropriately for my activity level! I'm going to keep eating what the fitbit tells me to eat as so far for me it seems very accurate. I do weigh and measure and log pretty much everything I eat. I have to or I will forget that I've already had a snack. lol 

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Excellent job and pre-planning - very sustainable in comparison to standard way.

You've got a ways to go, just recommend that while speed would be great, keep the road and pace, and when you have about 60 left - move to 1.5lbs weekly, 30 to 1, then at 15 to 1/2 lb weekly pace.

And at last 15 focus more on workouts that will transform the body like resistance training (which should be done entire time actually), and you may discover losing 15 more isn't needed because you are looking where you'd want to be anyway.

Don't be concerned with the fact weight loss isn't linear during the journey, you may have times of difficulty with the scale while the measuring tape is showing loss, but when you get to that last 60, you'll probably have to start looking at accuracy of stride length which has a bearing on daily activity calorie burn outside of exercise which uses HR-based calculations. Less margin of error when you have less to lose.

Great thinking about what will make for success this time.

[DavidSchneier]

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@Heybales wrote:

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@JenniferinFL wrote:

I've had mine since April 1, set it for 1000 calorie deficit (I have 100 lbs to lose) and have lost 7.3 lbs so far. 

This has been the easiest diet/exercise plan I've ever attempted. Usually I do something stupid like an 800 calorie a day diet or a 1700 calorie a day diet but I walk 12 miles. You know, something you can only sustain for about a month before crashing. 

My problem has been my variable activity levels. I've gotten 10,000 steps everyday since I got the thing. I work in a library and while a lot of people assume I just sit at a desk all day, I really do spend a lot of time on my feet. Only occasionally do I have to walk around a bit at home to hit 10,000 steps. However, the reason my previous diets failed is I would try to stick to them on a day I walked more than 12 miles. Then, the next day, I would binge. Tomorrow is my first theme park day since I got my fitbit. Looking forward to eating appropriately for my activity level! I'm going to keep eating what the fitbit tells me to eat as so far for me it seems very accurate. I do weigh and measure and log pretty much everything I eat. I have to or I will forget that I've already had a snack. lol 

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Excellent job and pre-planning - very sustainable in comparison to standard way.

You've got a ways to go, just recommend that while speed would be great, keep the road and pace, and when you have about 60 left - move to 1.5lbs weekly, 30 to 1, then at 15 to 1/2 lb weekly pace.

And at last 15 focus more on workouts that will transform the body like resistance training (which should be done entire time actually), and you may discover losing 15 more isn't needed because you are looking where you'd want to be anyway.

Don't be concerned with the fact weight loss isn't linear during the journey, you may have times of difficulty with the scale while the measuring tape is showing loss, but when you get to that last 60, you'll probably have to start looking at accuracy of stride length which has a bearing on daily activity calorie burn outside of exercise which uses HR-based calculations. Less margin of error when you have less to lose.

Great thinking about what will make for success this time.

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This isn't the first time I've seen someone advocate for bringing a weight loss program in for a soft landing (tapering off as you get closer to your goal). I've had three separate weight loss journeys of note, each about 15 years apart. Once I was able to lock in on an approach that worked for me it was easy enough to plow through to my final weight goal; once there I would scale back to maintenance mode while enjoying the results. It would be very frustrating for me to near a goal and then slow things down, particularly while it was coming so easily to me. 

I'm curious why this advice keeps popping up....

[JenniferinFL]

Davidschneier, the advice crops up because of how very difficult it is to hit and maintain goal. I don't know if it's helpful or not, but, I know it is in response to how hard it is to stay at goal. 

I lost all the weight before, when I was 17 or so using an extreme diet. It was very, very hard to transition from weight loss to maintenance. I think I was eating 800 calories or so for over 6 months to lose the weight. Needless to say, any amount over that my body grabbed and held onto in desperation.. lol I finally gave up, regained about 10 lbs trying to get to a more normal calorie level and then slowly dieted that off at the more reasonable 1200 calorie a day type diet. I kept the weight off for nearly a decade, then I lost my job and my scale was in storage because I was staying with family and I gained all the weight back in around 2 months. 

I will never, ever get to a point where I transition to normal life. That doesn't exist for me. I have to count the calories in and the calories out and do the math everyday of my life. I've finally accepted that and taken steps to make it easier to do. I'm very grateful for technology. Back when I was doing this the first time I could only very vaguely estimate calories out and kept track of everything in a notepad. Smart phones and Fitbits are going to make this whole thing a lot easier I think. 

I will probably stay at 1000 calorie deficit my entire weight loss journey though, simply because I'm sure that eventually I will be at the point where my fitbit is the 10-15% over it seems to be for everyone else and that will naturally make my deficit a bit smaller. I'm sure that my 1000 calorie deficit will eventually look like it's only a 500 calorie deficit on the scale.. Or, as I lose weight and burn less calories that 1000 calorie deficit will just become less sustainable and I'll adjust it down as needed. 

[DavidSchneier]

I agree with most of the logic, though I would be remiss if I didn't point out that maintaining a true 1,000 calorie per day deficit will lead to anorexia and major health issues.

I too need to adjust the FitBit numbers, I'm certain my total burn is 500 calories less (due mostly to a medical condition) and so I adjust accordingly. I also believe that permanent vigilance is essential to weight maintenance; I've managed to lose and maintain weight twice before (now working on the third time) and can relate.

However I'm still not in agreement about slowing down the weight loss towards its end. I found plowing straight through to the final weight goal was insanely rewarding and couldn't come fast enough; once achieved I slowly brought my consumption up until I found a level that worked. But, to each his/her own; whatever works for you (or anyone else) is the right way to go.

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@JenniferinFL wrote:

Davidschneier, the advice crops up because of how very difficult it is to hit and maintain goal. I don't know if it's helpful or not, but, I know it is in response to how hard it is to stay at goal. 

I lost all the weight before, when I was 17 or so using an extreme diet. It was very, very hard to transition from weight loss to maintenance. I think I was eating 800 calories or so for over 6 months to lose the weight. Needless to say, any amount over that my body grabbed and held onto in desperation.. lol I finally gave up, regained about 10 lbs trying to get to a more normal calorie level and then slowly dieted that off at the more reasonable 1200 calorie a day type diet. I kept the weight off for nearly a decade, then I lost my job and my scale was in storage because I was staying with family and I gained all the weight back in around 2 months. 

I will never, ever get to a point where I transition to normal life. That doesn't exist for me. I have to count the calories in and the calories out and do the math everyday of my life. I've finally accepted that and taken steps to make it easier to do. I'm very grateful for technology. Back when I was doing this the first time I could only very vaguely estimate calories out and kept track of everything in a notepad. Smart phones and Fitbits are going to make this whole thing a lot easier I think. 

I will probably stay at 1000 calorie deficit my entire weight loss journey though, simply because I'm sure that eventually I will be at the point where my fitbit is the 10-15% over it seems to be for everyone else and that will naturally make my deficit a bit smaller. I'm sure that my 1000 calorie deficit will eventually look like it's only a 500 calorie deficit on the scale.. Or, as I lose weight and burn less calories that 1000 calorie deficit will just become less sustainable and I'll adjust it down as needed. 

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[EmjayH]

People slow down there weight loss for different reasons. My reason is my skin. I was morbidly obese for easily 10 years and that takes a huge toll on ur skins elasticity. Once I get to a certain weight I will maintain for 6 months before shedding the last 10 kilos or so to give my skin time to adjust to my smaller size. Here's hoping it works 

[GershonSurge]

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@DavidSchneier wrote:

I agree with most of the logic, though I would be remiss if I didn't point out that maintaining a true 1,000 calorie per day deficit will lead to anorexia and major health issues.

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@DavidSchneier,

The anorexia comes before the weight loss, not after. It's a complex disease that shouldn't be stereotyped. Weight is no longer a criteria for diagnosing anorexia. Most people with anorexia have perfect lab work except for slightly low albumin.

As for an actual 1,000 calorie deficit leading to health issues, it's not likely if a person is eating at or above their Basal Metabolic Rate. This is true ONLY if the person is eating high quality calories and gets their essential nutrients. I'm also assuming the person has adequate body fat to act as a food pantry.

My experience only includes losing about 25 pounds from my high weight to get within a few pounds of my optimum weight. Maybe it's different for people who have more to lose.

[Igottalose30lbs]

How much weight have you lost?


Lisa

[EmjayH]

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@Igottalose30lbs wrote:
How much weight have you lost?


Lisa

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31kg. 

[Igottalose30lbs]

That's incredible!  Such an inspiration!  Keep up the great work!

[EmjayH]

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@Igottalose30lbs wrote:

That's incredible!  Such an inspiration!  Keep up the great work!

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Thank you 😊 

[A_Lurker]

@medmom- you can set your carbs/fat/protein targets to a custom number on that page.  When I was counting calories I was never super into my macros, but I just looked and I had set all of mine from 20-50%.  Mainly to make sure I wasn't going too low (or too high) overall on any one item.

[A_Lurker]

@DavidSchneier- I think for people who have been chronically overweight and/or obese, it is about building better habits as you go.  I think if you 'only diet' for whatever period of time you need to it can be more difficult to find what works for you. It's one thing to cut lots of calories out for a period of time, but if you've never had good habits maintenance can be a bigger struggle. 

Others, like myself, have past history with dieting myself to an illness and that derailed me, although never back to my top weight.  Twice I've ended up with medical issues almost certainly aggravated by trying to do too much on too little food.  My primary care physician is happy with the amount of weight I've lost (over 100lbs now) but would prefer that I lose the rest of my weight over a 3 year period.  He's got my records, and he's probably a better judge of what would be good for me.  (My history shows that I'm not good at identifying when I'm in medical distress, although the second time I did technically go to him, but it was way past the point where I should have.)

[Heybales]

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@DavidSchneier wrote:

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@Heybales wrote:

You've got a ways to go, just recommend that while speed would be great, keep the road and pace, and when you have about 60 left - move to 1.5lbs weekly, 30 to 1, then at 15 to 1/2 lb weekly pace.

And at last 15 focus more on workouts that will transform the body like resistance training (which should be done entire time actually), and you may discover losing 15 more isn't needed because you are looking where you'd want to be anyway.

---

This isn't the first time I've seen someone advocate for bringing a weight loss program in for a soft landing (tapering off as you get closer to your goal). I've had three separate weight loss journeys of note, each about 15 years apart. Once I was able to lock in on an approach that worked for me it was easy enough to plow through to my final weight goal; once there I would scale back to maintenance mode while enjoying the results. It would be very frustrating for me to near a goal and then slow things down, particularly while it was coming so easily to me. 

I'm curious why this advice keeps popping up....

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Because a diet is a stress on the body to some degree - determined by genetics and how big of a deficit you cause, combined with how big your daily burn is (so what % is a deficit basically).

You keep that same 1000 deficit from a large amount to lose down to the last 20 say, you could be going from 20% deficit to almost 50% very easily.

To your point about BMR - it would easily cause most to be eating well below their BMR when already almost at a healthy weight.

Talk about a stress to the body.

That big of a deficit can easily make it difficult to recover from good workouts - making them start becoming not so good but just a waste of time except for calorie burn. And since you are moving around less mass, your daily routine is usually not the place you can compensate for it, so workouts need to become better as you burn less doing them, to make them the same usefulness.

That loss of muscle mass that usually happens in most diets (unless someone keeps a small deficit, enough protein eaten, and resistance training) can be made much worse with a bigger deficit.

And even though doing 2 of the 3, but keeping a big deficit, will still lose muscle somewhere.

You'll frequently hear some lifting claim they have lost nothing, but become stronger, because they can now lift 50 more on say squat or deadlift. While at the same time losing 50 off their body.

Guess what - you lost muscle mass, you are lifting exactly the same when you should have been increasing merely because of form improvements and existing muscle activation.

So the advice is fail safe - because it's awfully hard to get that muscle back, and vast majority are in no position to attempt to tweak things so finely that they can avoid it.

If you only have maybe 10 lbs to lose, yeah the 5 weeks at 2 lbs weekly might not hit you as badly if your daily activity and main exercise burn is mainly fat supplied, and you do resistance training.

But even there, seems like the band wagon is cardio of some sort, and those folks will still lose some muscle.

[pleaseeee]

I find now that I am older and have to take medication for neuropathy pain one of the side effects is an increase in appetite.  This is a real battle.  My neuropathy is from degenerative disc disease so that also affects my ability to walk.  Used to be easy to walk off the weight and this helped with appetite too but not anymore.  Getting discouraging.  Now when I see people limping with excess weight I have empathy and say a prayer for them and me.

[medmom]

Pleaseeee:

I also have degenerative disc disease and am overweight.  I find that consistent movement (going to the gym 3-4x/week) helps with my back pain.  It was rough the first week of exercising but after that, it got better.  I had to do lots of stretching to warm up but I do the treadmill and the weight machines.  I feel much better.  Only lost 10 lbs but I only take pain meds about 1-2 days/week now being more active.

[rheashard2]

Have had Fitbit since Nov 2015. Lost just over 50 pounds. I am still depressed with scale. But my clothes size has gone down from 24-26 woman to a COMFORTABLE 16. Muscle weights a lot more then fat. I have been professionally instructed to celebrate my clothes size!

[cyndistepper]

Yes send me the request and I'll add you so we can encourage each other. 😊

Sent from my iPhone

[cyndistepper]

I have a treadmill and I try to get in 4000 steps before I leave for work. Then 2000 on my lunch if the weathers good. It's a challenge some day since I have a desk job


Sent from my iPhone

[cyndistepper]

I have a treadmill and I try to get in 4000 steps before I leave for work. Then 2000 on my lunch if the weathers good. It's a challenge some day since I have a desk job


Sent from my iPhone

[Lil_Ngin]

Yes, almost 20 lbs since March 18.  I'm also using Fitstar and MyFitnessPal, all synced together. Having goals and being able to see my stats in real time has been incredibly helpful and motivating for me. Every morning I use MyFitnessPal to plan out my meals and snacks to make sure I'm getting the right breakdowns to meet my nutritional needs and wants (gotta have my daily square of 86% dark chocolate!) and get about 1,400 calories/day, with a 1,800 calorie "cheat" day once a week.  My doc said if I start feeling tired/not having energy, to increase my calorie intake.  I walk at least 20,000 steps a day now, most days 30,000 since I've been participating in challenges, and for the last 2 weeks I've been running 30 minutes/day, 6 days a week. It was thanks to Fitbit and the cardio stats that I even tried to run.  I'm over 200 pounds, almost 40, and have never ran outside of playing games before. But Fitbit said I was in poor cardio health...so I tried running for 5 minutes, slow but steady, and what do you know, I could do it!  My feet weren't happy with me though, so I bought a pair of good supportive running shoes and have gone 30 minutes a day since, even 40 once.  I listen to Spotify while I jog and it has a cool feature where by searching for running, it provides a bunch of genres of music to run with which you can also adjust by tempo.  I listen and run at 150 beats per minute.  Anyways, with all these healthy changes, not only have I lost weight and feel better already, my doc took me off my blood pressure medicine yesterday!