Logging calories eaten question.

[jennasue]

HI all. I'm still new to fitbit and so far have found it very motivating both to do extra activites and also to keep a lid on my food consumption and eat healthier generally. My question is related to the fact that I have found, probably on most days (I have only been logging in food for the last 8 days or so) that I come in under my calorie allowance for food. Is this a bad thing do you think?  Is my body likely to maybe hold onto some of the extra fat I want to shed to make up for it - starvation mode type of thing?. I have lost some weight but since I have been recording my food intake not as much as I would have thought. Also added in was the female "time of month"" thing for a few days. Hope this makes sense. Also I know it is hard to give a general answer as we are all so very different by maybe someone can advise a bit please? Thanks in advance. Jenna

[WendyB]

Starvaton mode is a Myth.

But you really do need to eat to lose weight. Add Avacado, nuts, oil to up the calorie intake. These are all good fats to have. Make sure to weigh theAvacado as you get a lot more than you think. I avacado

[danae]

I have read that most "average" people underestimate their calories by anywhere from 10-25%. I don't do much weighing and measuring so I am okay if my intake says I am a bit low just because I figure if I was really accurate it would most likely be higher. It really is up to you- how accurate do you think you are? If you are pretty confident in your numbers you might want to take in more. If you are just making good educated guesses keep it where you are and figure it gives you some math wiggle room.

[Ukase]

I don't think anyone really needs to worry about starvation mode kicking in. That being said - if you feel hungry - drink some water - and then if you still feel hungry, eat something.

Always weigh your food. At least until you have a basic understanding for how much you can eat and still lose weight. The basic problem with FitBit - or is the problem with us, lol - is that it can only guess what your basic metabolic rate is. It generates a number based on figures you enter in. The taller you are, the higher it will be. (the more you can eat without gaining weight). At a certain age, your BMR begins to decline. As your weight gets lighter - you need to enter the lighter weight - so your BMR will adjust downward. No good success goes unpunished! As you lose weight, you now need less energy to do the same things, so your BMR goes down. Less food for you!

You'll come across a lot of people in the internet (a land ruled by kittens and llamas) that say things like they know it all. Assume they don't. There's only one steadfast, tried and true rule of dieting. Eat less, move more. If your energy out doesn't exceed your energy in, you will not lose weight.