Is this the right way to lose weight with my Fitbit?

[davidralger]

If I understand this process correctly, the Fitbit provides an estimation of my actual TDEE based on my movement for that day.

I subtract my deficit from the daily TDEE.

SO this means the my actual calorie intake would vary?

In the past when on a diet the daily calorie goal I had was usually fixed.
So with FITBIT it changes to match my expenditure?

Or
Monday calories burned 2800. So if my goal is -500 I shoot for 2300 calories consumed.
Tuesday calories burned 2200. So I shoot for 1700 calories consumed (-500 deficit).

Is this correct? 

SO if I exercise more, I can eat more as long as I am still below my daily TDEE?

[BNAbandit]

I too wish this was made clearer.

[HZlauer · Accepted solution]

That is how I understand it to work. I don't generally eat all of the exercise calories though. 

[Glenda]

This theory or your interpretation of it may be fine, but I disagree.  I think you would be way ahead and have better results  by multiplying your weight  by 10 and figure that is a maintenance number of calories for you.  Subtract 500 from that.   Thinking you can eat more if you exercise is a mistake.  It isn't logical.  If it were true, our ancestors who were chasing around after animals to eat would have starved to death.  You could multiply the amount you want to weigh by 10 and eat that number of calories.  That is the number you will need to eat to weigh that amount after you achieve it.    What do you think @BNAbandit 

[BNAbandit]

Hi Glenda. Thx for your reply. I have heard that theory before and it seems like a good one. I guess I just don’t know which theory to go with. It’s all confusing. 

[TR51]

Hi Glenda. I'm curious where you got the 10 times your weight theory? I was just at the Mayo Clinic Calorie Calculator, which estimates the number of daily calories your body needs to maintain your current weight based on your activity level. I just lost 11 pounds over the past 36 days, which was my goal. I currently weigh 163 lbs. Based on your ten times your weight theory, I should consume just 1630 calories a day to maintain my weight -- if I'm reading your theory correctly. However, the Mayo Clinic Calorie Calculator states that as an "active" person (I walk a minimum of 3 to 5 miles a day), I need 2250 calories a day to maintain my current weight. 1630 calories a day would be closer to my BMR (Base Metabolic Rate), i.e., absolutely zero activity. And according to the Mayo Clinic calculator, even if I was generally inactive, I would still need 1900 calories a day to maintain my weight.

[Glenda]

@TR51 Wow!!  You lost so much so fast.   Good job.!   You did exactly the right thing googling to see what they said to figure out the calories you need to eat.  Multiplying by 10 or 11 always worked pretty well for me.   I'm 78 and don't remember where I read to do that but they say everyone MUST eat 1200 calories a day and I gain weight on that much.  I don't want to weigh 120.   I'm wondering how many you were eating to lose so fast and what happened at the end of the month.   You said you are at you goal and if you suddenly added back a bunch of calories I'll bet you gain weight.    Hope I'm wrong but would be interested to know.

[TR51]

Glenda, thanks for the reply.

I lost the weight simply by doing the same thing I've successfully done in the past. I set a caloric deficit goal of 1,000 calories a day -- eating 1,700 calories and burning at least 2,700 calories. I actually averaged 2,948 calories burned over those 36 days. And I didn't do anything fancy. I just walked. In addition to my normal daily steps, I walked at a brisk (125 steps per minute) pace for at least an hour each evening.

Fitbit makes it incredibly easy to track my caloric deficit (other than the far less than optimal Fitbit food log, which is why I've now started using MFP and synced it over to Fitbit), but I always get myself into trouble when I stop diligently tracking my calories. The Fitbit food log is part of the reason I've fallen off the wagon at times, but I'm hoping the much more user friendly and accurate MFP will help me stay on track this time.

Now that I've reached my goal, I'm planning to take it very slow, adding perhaps 100 calories every few weeks and seeing how my body responds. Today, I walked about 3.5 miles -- 7,750 steps, which is way below my current average but still considered "active" by the Mayo Clinic Calorie Calculator. I burned 2,264 calories according to my Fitbit, which is almost perfectly inline with the 2,250 calories projected by the Mayo calculator to maintain my current weight at that activity level. If I just multiplied my weight (163) by 10 = 1630 and just consumed that many calories, I would end up with about a 600 calorie a day deficit at that activity level and more than a pound a week weight loss. I don't think that calculation would work for me.

[Glenda]

@TR51   I thought you might have said how tall you are but I can't find that on here.  Are you 5 ' tall or 5'11" ?  At 163 pounds a woman needs to be 5' 11" tall.  What weight is it that you want to reach or maintain?  I'm confused.  I looked at the Mayo Clinic calorie Calculator.  They say most people under count the calories they eat and that may be true of me.  But their inactive calories suggestions  look much more reasonable to me than anything more than that.    I hate it that the charts for what people should weigh according to height are in kilograms  but 163 # is 73.94 kg.  

[TR51]

Glenda, I'm a 5' 9" male. 163 pounds is just below the top of the normal BMI range for my height with a little wiggle room. That's where I want to be. I have a lot of muscle mass which is well known to distort BMI. When I get down into the 150s, everyone tells me I look too thin.

BTW, if you're getting metric units from the Mayo Clinic Calorie Calculator, there's a little switch just to the right of "Age" that says "Switch to U.S. Units."