How can fitbit help me with a weight gain goal, specific question around calorie calculatin

[Dutchguy71]

Hello out there!  I'm using Fitbit for a few months now first an HR and now a Charge 2 (adding the awesome HR function). I also have the ARIA 2 which I also love.  Next, to that I log my food intake. 

The data from these 3 areas's  (Aria 2, Charge 2 and Food log) combined in an intuitive app has finally helped me get control over my weight and helping me meet my goals. I wish I could have all this 10 years ago. 

I have struggled for over 10 years to find the right formula for losing fat (lowering my fat %) by doing cardio in the gym (daily) and be in a calory deficit. This typically went well but took ages to meet my set weight loss goal.  And then when I met my goal I would start to do weight training in the gym with a calory surplus. Weight training 4 times a week in evening + 5 times cardio in fat burn zone early morning before breakfast) 

I was using generic formulas to calculate my needed intake (Harriss-Benedict formula and others).

Anyway long story short. In a weight gain goal (actually increasing lean muscle mass goal combined with keeping my body fat % stable).  I failed miserably tie after time.

I did gain muscle mass but also gaining fat percentage too quick for my liking. Again and again, I went through these cycles and this was affecting my motivation as I could not get it to work for me. 

Now it seems to work well. I went through a cycle of weight loss (lowering fat% - maintaining my lean mass as much as possible) which was very successful and the supporting data really helped me to focus and know where I was at any time. So for this part I could not be more happy. It's just perfect! 

Now I'm on a weight gain goal (or actually increase lean mass and keep or lower fat%).  I'm on it now for 2 weeks and I'm not sure if I'm on the right track the same way as I felt in control on my weight loss goal.

So here some question for you all!  Hope you can give me some extra insights. 

Can someone share the specifics on how fitbit calculates the calories in number when I'm on a gaining goal?  How is the calory surplus calculated needed and over what set timeframe?   

I don't remember giving an input on how quick I like to gain  (1kg per week for instance).  So I'm very interested to get more info on how this is calculated by fitbit.   The more detail you could share the better.

Next to this question above I have some suggestions I like to see become available through the app. Or maybe there already is but I can't seem to find it.

- Why can't I not set a goal to increase my muscle mass?  The aria 2 can measure this so it's a more specific goal to track. As in reality I'm only looking to increase my weight with muscle mass and not with fat as I worked hard to get that off in my previous goal.

- Would be great if Fitbit can coach me more based on my data. For instance: We see you are on your way to meet your weight increase goal and this is where the gains come from:   X % from increasing lean mass and X% from fat increase.  And then anadvicee on how to correct his using my data (in my case what could I do to let the lean mass increase be higher and lower the fat % increase. 

Anyway maybe I'm going to much into detail but I see so many extra value fitbit could give me with analysing the data I generate. 

Any feedback on this is much appriciated. If this question has been asked many times before then I apologize I did spend quite some time trying to find anyting relating to this but was unsecsesful retrieving it from the existing content. 

Have a good day!

PS I also do LOVE the sleep analysis function of titbit. If it was only that I would still buy it and love it to death!  But it's the whole package combined that has really upgraded my quality of my health.  Awesome! 

[Daves_Not_Here]

@Dutchguy71 - welcome.  I could be wrong, but I don't think Fitbit has a Food Plan for gaining weight.  I just tried experimenting with my own Plan to set a weight gain goal and the app hung.

I'd suggest connecting directly with @Dominque and others here who have a lot of knowledge around cutting and massing.

As to ideas for additional functionality that Fitbit could implement, you can post these to the Feature Suggestions forum.  Searching that forum, you may find the features have already been suggested.

[elderwanda]

If you want to put on muscle mass, you need to do a strength training program that has you lifting progressively heavier weights.  I suggest taking a look at the articles and forums on startingstrength.com .   (Their focus is building strength, not looking like a bodybuilder, but either way involves increasing lean mass.) 

 I don't think you can just put on lean mass by eating a certain way, unless you happen to be young, male, and genetically gifted.  Most people will need to lift heavy weights, regularly and with a progression in load, so the body knows it has a reason to spend its resources building more muscle.   

[bikerhiker]

@Dutchguy71

A human body has 2 kinds of muscle groups, Type 1 muscle fibres and Type 2 muscle fibres and both of them serve different functions.  Type 1 muscle fibres, known as slow twitch muscles are slow to fire, but does not tire easily.  This is used mainly for endurance events like Ironman, running marathons etc..  Whereas Type 2 muscle fibre are quick to fire (focused on speed), but tire easily.  These muscles are used for quick explosive workouts, like working out in the gym with weights or doing HIIT.

Ideally, a human body will have 50% Type 1 and 50% Type 2, but most of the time though most of us are predominantly Type 1 biased, whereby we do ok in endurance events, but not as gifted as some like Usain Bolt who sprints like a rocket!

Having said that, a human body needs a certain amount of fat% content and this is used to allow proper absorption of certain fat-soluble vitamins and minerals and can relate to what your training regimen is/are (focused on which muscle groups).  Fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamin A, D, E and K can only dissolve with the presence of fat.  Some Whey protein has Vitamin D3 and K2 (both are fat-soluble vitamins) and are needed, in addition to its own fat DV, so if you are unable to get enough sunshine (UV B from the sun and D3 cholecalerferol made from the skin), you can get them from Whey infused vitamins supplement to promote strong and healthy bones in addition to having strong and healthy muscles if you're progressively lifting heavy weights!  So it could be that your body may require more fat% in order to function properly, due to your unique personal lifestyle and your unique environmental factors as you build more lean mass.  A human body is very individualistic; meaning that what works for you may not work for others.

As I said earlier, you need FAT in order to dissolve fat-soluble vitamins and absorb certain minerals into your body.  But you need to understand what sort of FAT is dangerous to have.  The kind of fat that is not desirable is "VISCERAL FAT", the fat that coats around your organs.  Visceral fat is a largest contributor to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, so I would be more concerned about that.  Your Aria 2 scale can not reliably measure the amount of visceral fat you have as bioimpedance measurements have certain limitations.  You need to go to your doctor to have some blood work done, especially on your cholesterol level, your LDL and HDL levels, your BFS, Hemoglobin A1c and your blood pressure to make sure you are not a risk candidate for any cardiovascular diseases.

So to summarize, your Fat% may not be a concern to you if you are trying to build lean muscle mass.  If you are concerned about it, then you might consider adding  a longer slow steady cardio workout to  supplement your shorter power workouts in the gym and consider having your blood work done to give you a baseline measurement of your bio vitals.

[emili]

@Dutchguy71 hey there. So as Dave pointed out Fitbit is not designed to give you data for bulking. You would need to manage the data it does give and manipulate it to what you need. As far as building muscle, I like this guy. He tells it how it is, it is backed by research and sited sources if you want to do your own research and he's easy to understand. He is kind of sarcastic which to me is a plus, but for some not so much. If you are ever in the mood to read a bit.. check out his site. 

[Dominique]

@Dutchguy71: I’m in a similar game, as mentioned by @Daves_Not_Here: trying to improve body composition by losing fat and gaining muscle. Like you, I understand it’s very hard / almost impossible to do both simultaneously (especially if you’re already relatively lean and no longer new to resistance training), so I cycle between phases of fat loss (caloric deficit) and muscle gain (caloric surplus), as well as phases of maintenance. I try to spend more time in a surplus (because gaining muscle is slow, especially at my age): for instance, I’m about to end a 12-week fat loss phase, before which I had a 20-week muscle gain phase.

I don’t use Fitbit to track my intake. In fact, I don’t track my total intake at all, only protein. I use Fitbit to track my activity (steps + calories burned) as well as my weight (I have an Aria scale that I use every day). I understand why Fitbit is geared towards weight loss, not gain: that’s where the demand from users overwhelmingly is. I do the tracking (weight) in a spreadsheet using weekly averages and graphs. You can see an example here (I like the Weekly Weigh In topic for accountability).

I’m surprised you engage in resistance training only while in a caloric surplus, or was it earlier on? My understanding is it make sense to lift weights both in a surplus and in a deficit: when in a surplus, the focus will be on gaining muscle, when in a deficit, it will be on minimizing loss of lean mass.

With such an approach, you have to accept there are short-term trade-offs: you may feel too skinny for your taste at the end of a fat loss phase, and too fat at the end of a muscle gaining phase. That’s what it takes to reach your longer term goal, so it’s just a question of trusting the process.

As to visceral vs. subcutaneous fat and fast-twitch vs. slow-twitch muscle (as mentioned by  @bikerhiker), I don’t bother too much about it. Fat distribution varies between individuals. If you’re eating a healthy diet and living an active lifestyle, maintain a healthy weight and don’t carry too much weight in your mid-section, visceral fat shouldn’t be a problem, and lowering your overall fat mass should take from both categories. Likewise, muscle type is individual to a large extent and no amount of training will turn Usain Bolt into an elite long-distance runner, or Mo Farah into a top-level sprinter. Any well-thought resistance training program should let you become more muscular, within your genetic limitations.

All the best in your endeavour, and let us know how  you’re doing!