My calories in vs out

[nonnamama]

My calories in vs out says I'm over, but I've eaten less than I've burned

[smhermione · Accepted solution]

It may be that you selected a weight loss goal.  To lose weight you have to eat less calories than you burn for the day.  If you've chosen a goal to lose weight fitbit will be expecting you to eat a certain amount of calories less than you burn based on the plan intensity that you chose.  If you want to change your plan intensity click on the setup button on the weight tile on the dashboard. 

[goldenessence]

Thanks!

But it was actually that on my dashboard it was calculating how close I was for the week and on the log page it was for the day. 

[keithbarrows]

Hopefully this thread is pretty active as I did not want to start another thread.

I am trying to figure out how to read parts of my dashboard correctly.  Mainly the calories burned, calories consumed and calories in/out.  For instance, I opened my dashboard last night and my in/out said I was over.  Since I want a 1,000 cal/day deficit to lose weight and my deficit was 850 that made sense.  I then clicked on the tile and saw my weekly stats.  All of them were listed as being under!  When I look on my driod, it is *always* under.  I've never seen it move to on target or over budget.  How am I supposed to trust the stats when I look at the stats in 3 different areas and I have differing results at the same time?

[SunsetRunner]

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@keithbarrows wrote:

Hopefully this thread is pretty active as I did not want to start another thread.

I am trying to figure out how to read parts of my dashboard correctly.  Mainly the calories burned, calories consumed and calories in/out.  For instance, I opened my dashboard last night and my in/out said I was over.  Since I want a 1,000 cal/day deficit to lose weight and my deficit was 850 that made sense.  I then clicked on the tile and saw my weekly stats.  All of them were listed as being under!  When I look on my driod, it is *always* under.  I've never seen it move to on target or over budget.  How am I supposed to trust the stats when I look at the stats in 3 different areas and I have differing results at the same time?

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Don't look at the droid. Mine does the same thing. Once in awhile I get lucky and it says I am in the zone.

Are you able to figure your meals out beforehand? That's what I do. I created my own meals such as a Cardio Breakfast, a Weightlifting Breakfast, etc etc etc........   I essentially eat the same things w/ some deviations weekly.

That being said, I can pretty much gauge my how much food I need in a day. As the day wears on (I work an off shift) food is deleted or added to my food plan. Typically I add a little most days. 

Take care,

Andy

[keithbarrows]

Thanks for your input!  My wife and I are in this together, together, and since we are more generalized in our goals we have never gotten to the point of a body builders diet.  Because of our business we eat out sometimes, and that could be any meal time.  

We have both gotten to the point where we just ignore the In-vs-Out guage and do it ourselves.  So far it seems to be working for us.  🙂

[Heybales]

Here's the description from Fitbit as to how to read the guage. And this is based on you having set a weight loss goal, and the level of difficulty to reach it. So you want to be in the green zone to reach that goal - which already has the deficit in it.

Calories in vs Out

This view is a real-time calculation of your calorie deficit and shows whether you're in the goal zone set by your Food Plan. Your plan's deficit is pro-rated over the entire day.

You will be in your goal zone as long as you are within 50 calories of your deficit goal for the current time of day.

[JR1964]

Can you use 2 devices on the same computer ?

[SunsetRunner]

I don't see why you couldn't. Each device has to be registered so each time you sync your device to a computer it should be able to differentiate between the two.

[kkkwilliam]

I am never in my target zone- always in the blue and always about 1400 calories under for the day and nothing is happening....eating about 1400 calories a day, but exercising/walking a lot- am I eating too little? (57 female- that may say it all....)- had the fit bit for 6 weeks and been religious recording

[Heybales]

@kkkwilliam -

If you have 200 lbs to lose, no a 1400 cal deficit is appropriate.

If not, you are eating in total 1400 calories with a whole bunch of exercise?

Ouch, that's not the way for continued success and a nice maintenance.

You will lose weight, feel like having less muscle mass as you get older? Keep going on that route.

Dieted much in the past?

If not this is great way to start yo-yo dieting, because with less muscle mass, then slower metabolism (you are actually causing what usually happens when you get older anyway for exact same reason), less to eat to maintain or lose weight, easier to eat too much and gain fat back, harder to lose next time.

How much to lose actually?

And if not losing about 2.5 lbs weekly at this point, your body as already adapted down and is no longer burning what the Fitbit is estimating. Don't count initial 3-5 lbs water weight in first week either.

[ddr_74]

Glad I found this conversation...

I'm new.. lost 7 lbs so far... was really optimistic! Go me, right? I thought so, anyway. So here I am, still burning more calories than I am consuming, still logging every single bite, exercising with cardio and some resistance every other day, and getting way more than my 10K steps. And water... well, let's just say I get most of my steps in by trekking to the bathroom.

My weight is not going down any further.

I've lost more than the water weight at this point, and my goal for weight loss isn't technically until the beginning of July, but I'm 7 lbs away, and I thought I had the art of weight loss mastered LOL! Burn more than you consume and stay active, it's a no-brainer.

Or is it? Have I plateaued? Do I need to already shake up my exercise routine by doing something else (aka something I don't enjoy as much). Has my body adjusted already??

Should I change my goal to consume even fewer calories? I find it takes less food to feel full now, which I think is a huge plus!

I guess I should be more patient but the goal is within my reach... I just want to get there! I am happy to lose two lbs a week, and I've lost more than that in the two weeks I've had the Flex... but should the weight loss be halting already?

Anyone else been in this boat? What did you do about it?

Thanks ladies and gents!

[Heybales]

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@ddr_74 wrote:

Glad I found this conversation...

I'm new.. lost 7 lbs so far... was really optimistic! Go me, right? I thought so, anyway. So here I am, still burning more calories than I am consuming, still logging every single bite, exercising with cardio and some resistance every other day, and getting way more than my 10K steps. And water... well, let's just say I get most of my steps in by trekking to the bathroom.

My weight is not going down any further.

I've lost more than the water weight at this point, and my goal for weight loss isn't technically until the beginning of July, but I'm 7 lbs away, and I thought I had the art of weight loss mastered LOL! Burn more than you consume and stay active, it's a no-brainer.

Or is it? Have I plateaued? Do I need to already shake up my exercise routine by doing something else (aka something I don't enjoy as much). Has my body adjusted already??

Should I change my goal to consume even fewer calories? I find it takes less food to feel full now, which I think is a huge plus!

I guess I should be more patient but the goal is within my reach... I just want to get there! I am happy to lose two lbs a week, and I've lost more than that in the two weeks I've had the Flex... but should the weight loss be halting already?

Anyone else been in this boat? What did you do about it?

Thanks ladies and gents!

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7 lbs to go.

If you want to succeeed without stressing your body having to fight it, and likely lose (not weight though) - set your goal to 250 cal deficit at this point - that's reasonable.

That will encourage just fat loss, unless you feel like less muscle would be useful for some reason.

Then log food eaten accurately - weigh it.

Meet your daily goal.

Just because you feel full, doesn't mean your body is fully fed. Two entirely different things. Reread several of the posts above to understand better.

2lbs weekly is just asking for failure, and as you have proven - it's not working anyway.

Don't forget the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

The fact you have screwed up your hormones that control hunger already isn't a sign of victory, but impeding doom.

You don't need to mix up exercise, because if you were moving less, you'd be burning less, and that would be reflected in your daily burn. It would only effect your eating level.

[ddr_74]

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Heybales wrote:

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If you want to succeeed without stressing your body having to fight it, and likely lose (not weight though) - set your goal to 250 cal deficit at this point - that's reasonable.

That will encourage just fat loss, unless you feel like less muscle would be useful for some reason.

Then log food eaten accurately - weigh it.

Meet your daily goal.

Just because you feel full, doesn't mean your body is fully fed. Two entirely different things. Reread several of the posts above to understand better.

2lbs weekly is just asking for failure, and as you have proven - it's not working anyway.

Don't forget the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

The fact you have screwed up your hormones that control hunger already isn't a sign of victory, but impeding doom.

You don't need to mix up exercise, because if you were moving less, you'd be burning less, and that would be reflected in your daily burn. It would only effect your eating level.

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Thank you for the insight.. I did skim some previous messages before I posted my question, and will continue to do so. I also looked at my weight loss goal and toned it down to a lb a week, which is a little more reasonable, given how much I have lost already. I don't think I've screwed anything up, TBH.

So here is another question... the calories left at the end of the day... Would I need to consume all of those in order to get to where I'm trying go? I try not to eat when I'm not hungry.

Thanks again.

[Heybales]

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@ddr_74 wrote:

Thank you for the insight.. I did skim some previous messages before I posted my question, and will continue to do so. I also looked at my weight loss goal and toned it down to a lb a week, which is a little more reasonable, given how much I have lost already. I don't think I've screwed anything up, TBH.

So here is another question... the calories left at the end of the day... Would I need to consume all of those in order to get to where I'm trying go? I try not to eat when I'm not hungry.

Thanks again.

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Are you aware of the studies where a mere 25% deficit off a full TDEE resulted in the body adapting slower?

Unless you are aware of what the body can do, you really don't know if you've screwed anything up frankly, but not being hungry eating a lot less is one very good sign you have done it.

Now, when I say screwed up, that's not entirely accurate, as the body is doing exactly what it's supposed to do, dealing with too big a deficit between what it could burn and what you are eating.

So the fact it slows all your systems down so you actually burn less - isn't screwed up, that is working correctly.

But that means you now have to eat even less than you could have in order to lose weight. It also means you have to eat even less just to maintain weight if you reach goal.

So will that be successful, can you indeed eat 300-500 calories less daily all the time compared to what could have been possible? Can you adhere to that. And that's with the level of exercise being done right now too.

If you have a vacation week, working out less, eating more - you will gain fat.

If you get sick or injured for a week, you'll have to eat even less - or you will gain fat.

That's not fun, and usually the reason for failure to maintain.

So the screwed up comment is from the perspective of what could be possible, but it's much less than potential.

Yes you consume your calorie goal, that is total daily burn minus 500 calories to get 1 lb weekly.

You making it a bigger deficit is just going to make your long term success that much more unlikely. Ask the gals that are 50-60 and realize they yo-yo dieted their lives away, and trying to do it smart this time.

Sadly they've already burned off decent amounts of muscle mass making it worse than it could be.

Might see what happens with really bad initial deficit, which it sounds like you did have, and the after effects of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A

[kgc]

Most mainstream sources cite a goal of 2 lbs lost per week as the upper end of a safe and sustainable weight loss rate. Granted, a person attempting this will have a caloire deficit that will make them pretty uncomfortable and thus have a higher chance of failure (midnight Cheetos run, anyone?), but it is not at the threshold of "unsafe". I have found that over the long haul, I could do 1-1.5 pounds much more comfortably. With 2/lb per week, I just had to be too strict with myself. And I am chardonnay-weak!

[TwlightNite]

I eat substanially less, based on Fitbit, than I need yto and all I am doing is gaining weight.  I just don't get it!  I very carefully track my caloric intake and I work out every day.  I do not know what the problem is.  

Also, I did 3.25 miles on the treadmill yesterday, and my Fitbit tells me I have only doen 2.25 miles for the ENTIRE day.  Something is very wrong.   HELP!!!

[OpheliaCollins]

I'm confused by the calories in/out too.  I've eaten all my meals today including two snacks, I feel full, but according to my guage I'm "under" and should eat more.  Not gonna happen!

[OpheliaCollins]

I love my Fitbit, it's actually making me wanna move more.  But if we can't trust the some of the guages on our dashboards how do we know if we can trust the Fitbit?  I hope I'm just missing something here because I really need this thing to help me!

[Heybales]

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@TwlightNite wrote:

I eat substanially less, based on Fitbit, than I need yto and all I am doing is gaining weight.  I just don't get it!  I very carefully track my caloric intake and I work out every day.  I do not know what the problem is.  

Also, I did 3.25 miles on the treadmill yesterday, and my Fitbit tells me I have only doen 2.25 miles for the ENTIRE day.  Something is very wrong.   HELP!!!

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Well, for the distance part - have you manually corrected the stride length to something tested and measured?

That means you got less calorie burn than you really did.

Since you have treadmill, set speed to 3.5 mph (even if this isn't normal workout speed) or less if that's all you can do.

When the distance rolls to 0.4 miles start counting each right food landing.

When it rolls to 0.5 stop counting and note the number. Times 2 for actual steps.

528 feet / steps = foot stride.

Do the same for a normal jogging speed.

Now under preferences, under your weight and height, change the 0 to your corrected stride length.

As far as gaining weight, carefully track means very different things to different people.

But as far as calories goes, calories is based on weight, not volume.

So you must weigh all your food, measure only liquids. Weigh packaged foods too, because "about 2 servings" is not accurate enough, especially with calorie dense food.

So with weighing being only valid method of logging food - are you really carefully tracking it?

If just starting exercise - you will gain water weight.

And suggestion for long term success, your daily eating goal already has a deficit in it to lose weight.

Don't eat substantially under your goal thinking bigger is better.

If you truly think that - then why not stop eating until the weight is gone?

Are you willing to miss your goal weight by 30% and say that's close enough and call it quits?

Don't miss your daily eating goal, which is already underestimated from daily burn.

50 over is better than 100 below.