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New to the Fitbit community. Advice on calorie intake

‎04-05-2016 11:19 - edited ‎04-05-2016 11:21

‎04-05-2016 11:19 - edited ‎04-05-2016 11:21

Hi! I've had my Fitbit Charge HR for almost 2 months now and I llove it! I enjoy getting my steps in everyday as well as participating in the challenges. I struggle with eating the most. I have no problem with working out though. I currently have my calories set at 1580 on My Fitness Pal (Fitbit confuses me) based on my calculated BMR but I was wondering if it was too high. I currently weigh 177 lbs and my goal weight is 125. I am 5'2. 

 

As far as health issues I have PCOS, IBS, GERD, and I struggle with emotional eating/binge eating. Last year I lost 18 lbs (from 180 to 162) by working out 3 times a week as well portion control but ending up gaining it all back once I started slacking off from the gym and started back overeating.

 

I want to reach my goal weight by early September.

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2 REPLIES 2

‎04-05-2016 11:58 - edited ‎04-10-2016 00:22

‎04-05-2016 11:58 - edited ‎04-10-2016 00:22

OK, so you want to go from BMI 32.4 to BMI 22.9 in six months time. That’s (177-125) = 52 pounds in 6 x 4 = 24 weeks, a little more than 2 pounds a week. That’s a lot IMO. Using the 3500 calories = 1 pound rule (which may or may not be valid in the case of such an aggressive weight loss), you would need an average weekly deficit of 7000 calories, i.e. a 1000 calorie daily deficit.

 

You didn’t mention your age, but let’s assume you are 30 (I hope I’m not offending you, I’m not very good at guessing people’s age!). Your current BMR would be 1476 calories (I’m using this online calculator, which relies on more or less the same formula as Fitbit). Let’s assume (based on your profile) you are moderately active and burn 810 calories on top of that. Your TDEE would therefore be 2288 calories. With a deficit of 1000 calories, you would only have 1288 calories left. That’s not much, and it will require a lot of willpower to stick to it for six months straight. Even if that were the case, some metabolic adaptation will take place along the road, so eating the same amount of calories and doing the same amount of exercise will no longer create the same deficit (because your BMR will have decreased).

 

Based on the above, I would either settle for a smaller weight loss, a longer time frame, or (better) both. This would make dieting much more bearable and reduce the risk of rebounding back to where you started.

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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‎04-09-2016 17:08

‎04-09-2016 17:08

Hey. Finally got a chance to reply. I'm actually 27 (so you were close 😄 ) I want to aim for 125-130 but I guess I'll aim for a smaller weight loss.

My activity level varies depending on my schedule. Sometimes I'm sitting down for most of the day then some days I'm on my feet for most of the day.
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