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

[FrannieMa]

I don’t believe you burn the same calories on work out days compared to non work out days.  Just by the nature of the statement, you have to burn more when you are active.  I know just cutting the grass burns more than 3,000 calories for me.  I make sure I walk/run/elliptical for at least 10,000 steps a day and usually get the rest of 5,000 to 8,000 steps just living.  I don’t sit around and watch tv for very long...I make sure I get at least 250 steps and hour.

[FrannieMa]

Just sitting around you burn calories, but you have to know that every movement you make burns calories.  You just have to burn more than you take in.  Push the water.

[mdowlinus]

Got my Fitbit 67 days ago, and I have lost 35 pounds since at a pace of 3.65 pounds per week.  B.F, before Fitbit, I had lost 60 pounds in 358 days, or at a 1.17 pounds per week rate.  Part of the reason for the increase in weight loss rate is because I'm now able to exercise 8 hours per week.  I couldn't do 20 minutes of continuous exercise at the beginning, and that's why the weight loss was slow at first. The Fitbit has also been an important factor, I love the dashboard and it keeps me motivated!

[Alazio]

---

---

I'm curious, how did you come to that conclusion?  I ask because on a non-workout day, say last Sunday, I only burned 2,303 calories, however, on a full workout day, say yesterday, I burned 4,206 calories; pretty much a completely different ball game.

Hi Shipo! Maybe we just have very different workouts and daily activites? My last workout day (I did orange theory fitness 60 minute HIIT) I burned a total of 2471 cals for the day. Then yesterday, I didn't do a workout, but I was running around all day getting baked goods ready for a school fair, walking the dog, chasing my kids, etc. I burned 3019 cals (16000 steps!). I think the bottom line is you workout harder than me, lol 🙂  

[Alazio]

---

@reuelwrote:

Fitbit is a tool .... ultimately, its still on us.

and yes, i have been losing weight before fitbit, and i have been losing weight a lot better with fitbit. i never knew my non workout days burn more calories than my gym days. and that is because i fidget/walk 3x as much with those non-workout days... those really add up!

---

I should mention that my previous post about being surprised by the similarity in calorie burn between workout and non workout days was meant to be a reply to the above post from ages ago 🙂 New to message board and didn't see the quote button, ha! Was not meaning to imply that in a general way workouts do not add to one's calorie burn. Simpy in my life, the way I work out and my activity level on off days, it turns out this way. Perhaps encouraging to busy-but-somewhat-gym-phobic folks like myself.

[shipo]

---

@Alaziowrote:

Hi Shipo! Maybe we just have very different workouts and daily activites? My last workout day (I did orange theory fitness 60 minute HIIT) I burned a total of 2471 cals for the day. Then yesterday, I didn't do a workout, but I was running around all day getting baked goods ready for a school fair, walking the dog, chasing my kids, etc. I burned 3019 cals (16000 steps!). I think the bottom line is you workout harder than me, lol 🙂  

---

On days where I feel like being a lump (like last Sunday), I don't log very many steps or anything else for that matter.  On active days like earlier this week, I take care of 11 horses, work a full time job, and go for a ten mile run at lunch.  It isn't unusual to exceed 30,000 steps, and on days with longer runs it isn't unusual to exceed 5,000 calories.  For me at least, shoveling horse poop and running makes a HUGE difference in my calorie burn.  🙂

[Ginikramer]

I got my FitBit in September. Since then, I have lost 12 pounds. I find that the data I get through FitBit - whether it's the number of steps, calories or weight - to be invaluable. It really keeps me on track. Now, here's the thing...from what I've read, you can't lose weight by just by exercising more. The number of calories you burn through exercising is relatively small. The majority of your calorie burn (60-80%) is due to your metabolism (roughly your weight X 10), which is the number of calories your body expends keeping you alive. You'd burn that many calories if you were in a coma. About 20% of the calories you take in goes to the digestive process. You need to restrict the number of calories you eat every day. And that's where FitBit is great. I enter my caloric intake every day, and as long as I stay within or below the target, I'm fine. I eat whatever I want, just not a lot of it. And it's working.

[shipo]

---

@Ginikramerwrote:

I got my FitBit in September. Since then, I have lost 12 pounds. I find that the data I get through FitBit - whether it's the number of steps, calories or weight - to be invaluable. It really keeps me on track. Now, here's the thing...from what I've read, you can't lose weight by just by exercising more. The number of calories you burn through exercising is relatively small. The majority of your calorie burn (60-80%) is due to your metabolism (roughly your weight X 10), which is the number of calories your body expends keeping you alive. You'd burn that many calories if you were in a coma. About 20% of the calories you take in goes to the digestive process. You need to restrict the number of calories you eat every day. And that's where FitBit is great. I enter my caloric intake every day, and as long as I stay within or below the target, I'm fine. I eat whatever I want, just not a lot of it. And it's working.

---

Long story short, what you've read is incorrect.  Back in 2013 I was able to make a lifestyle change in that I traded in two 30+ hour per week jobs (plus 150 miles per day of commuting) for one 40 hour week job (with only 40 miles per day of commuting).  With all my spare time I started running; I ended up losing over 60 pounds in six months and not only did I not cut my food intake, I significantly increased it.

[FrannieMa]

Hey, guys, it is not a contest.  Just be happy for each other’s accomplishments.  If you can offer a helpful suggestion, great, if not, just let it go.  Don’t take comments so seriously. I really do think we are all just trying to give good ideas and  help to each other.  Keep smiling and walking.
franniema

[shipo]

---

@FrannieMawrote:
Hey, guys, it is not a contest.  Just be happy for each other’s accomplishments.  If you can offer a helpful suggestion, great, if not, just let it go.  Don’t take comments so seriously. I really do think we are all just trying to give good ideas and  help to each other.  Keep smiling and walking.
franniema

---

All I'm trying to do is pour some shade on the thought the only way to lose weight is to diet.

[FrannieMa]

You are right.  Diet is not the only way for some, but it is the only way for me.

[riki3742]

Bottom line, is there is no one way to lose weight for all of us, whether its diet, exercise, or a combination of both.  Find what works for you. Me its a combination of eating and exercise. 

Something to think about when eating, its now so much what you eat, its how and when. I eat when I'm hungry, not because its breakfast, lunch, or dinner time.  Let your body tell you. Eat slow,  put your fork down between bites, drink water.  Don't shovel your food. Takes about 20 mins for your body to tell you its not hungry. Your stomach is roughly the size of your fist, try to use that as a guideline to for how much food to ingest.  Just my two cents. Good luck!

[Ginikramer]

I had a similar experience about twenty years ago. I'd really been packing on the pounds. Around that time, my husband and I started hiking. (We live close to a state park with a lot of hiking trails.) Within a short period of time I'd lost about 18 pounds. I stayed at that weight for a number of years, by which time, I'd moved on from hiking to rock climbing. In 2008, a friend invited me to come along with her to the Alps to climb Mont Blanc. In order to train for that, I hit the step mill every day for about six months. The weight fell off. Without "dieting" I lost almost thirty pounds. That was ten years ago, and I've more or less kept the weight off through a combination of counting calories and exercise. Using the data I get from FitBit really helps me manage both. I think it's great tool. (BTW...I never made it to the top of Mont Blanc. I wasn't able to acclimate to the altitude adequately. Must have come from a lifetime living at sea level.)

[Heybales]

---

@Alaziowrote:

---

---

I also was shocked to learn that my burn was about the same on workout/no workout days! I think I give myself a lot of rest and recovery time after a workout that I normally spend bustin it to get stuff done. I keep the workouts because I think some high intensity cardio and heavy lifting is good for heart health and muscle tone. But still...it's kind of cool to know that I'm burning some real calories just doing good old fashioned work.

---

---

I think this is an excellent point that can hit many people without realizing it - especially at the beginning of starting exercise that may wipe them out.

I think it's at the brunt of those research papers (not studies because they aren't that good) that find exercise adds little extra calorie burn to the day.

If the exercise makes someone think they did enough and they become less active in general - not an increase to daily burn, or minimal. Still health benefits though, and transforming body.

If the exercise knocked you out so bad you become very restful for the rest of the day - not an increase to daily burn or minimal.

If the exercise was shoe-horned into a busy active schedule by just dropping other things - not an increase to daily burn, or minimal.

If the above occurs and you move your skipped things to non-workout day which is more active - not an increase to daily burn, or minimal, over a now busier non-workout day.

On this one though, your avg daily burn has likely gone up.

Now for some of us, a say 3-5 hr bike ride isn't going to be balanced out like that, and even if I am more tired rest the day, it was when I'd be sitting anyway, so no loss. That's a big burn day of fun.

Then again, all the to-do's that got skipped may indeed take away from exercise on other days and get done keeping me more active then compared to otherwise. So overall balance is up.

Shoot, summer with longer days usually increases people's daily burn.

Great point again.

[Heybales]

---

@shipowrote:

---

@Alaziowrote:

I also was shocked to learn that my burn was about the same on workout/no workout days!

---

I'm curious, how did you come to that conclusion?  I ask because on a non-workout day, say last Sunday, I only burned 2,303 calories, however, on a full workout day, say yesterday, I burned 4,206 calories; pretty much a completely different ball game.

---

This could also be the nature of the device in estimating with accuracy the calorie burn of certain types of workouts/exercise.

HR-based calorie burn calculations for interval type workouts is inflated by some degree, depends on the interval time and change of intensity.

A long soccer game would be a good example. You could keep yourself constantly running and it would be a good estimate. You could also do a whole lot of sprint-stop-wait-repeat and be a bad estimate.

[shipo]

@Heybales, the calorie burn calculations made by my Fitbit are pretty much in line with published calorie burn charts for folks my height, weight, and running abilities.

[Jabu]

Very good way to live. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

--
Sent from Gmail Mobile

[oh_suzanney]

Was gifted a FitBit for Christmas 2016, and it really motivated me. I have lost 60lb.

[Ginikramer]

Fantastic! FitBit may have given you the information, but you did the work. Congratulations!

[BethinMD]

I've lost 30 pounds over 2 years. I learned it was tracking what I was eating that made the difference.  That's when the weight started to come off.  I'm continuing to track my steps, activity, and sleep, BUT the food tracking made the difference for me.