The “live” FitBit calorie tracker does not allow breakfast?

[ArtistAlane]

Maybe I’m just not understanding how the “live” calorie tracker works, but it really seems to me that it does not allow me to eat breakfast, possibly because it tries to put my whole calorie deficit at the very beginning of the day. It’s not a bit deal, but it is kind of annoying, because as someone who does eat most of my calories earlier in the day and doesn’t like to eat at night, I can never actually follow FitBit’s calorie plan.

For example, when I first wake up in the morning, I eat breakfast around 9am, and immediately go over my calorie target into the red zone by eating a 300 calorie breakfast. One I’m finally in the green zone by about 1:00pm, I eat lunch, and I’m way over the target again. Dinner is the same way. By the evening, however, I have a ton of calories left over and I’m in the blue “under target” zone, but I don’t want to eat another meal at like 11pm right when I’m going to bed.

Does anyone else run into this issue? Again, it’s not a huge deal because I can just space out my daily calories myself— it just seems like it’s set up in a really weird and unrealistic way. 

[ArtistAlane]

Just realized this should possibly be posted in the "manage weight" forum -- sorry, first-time poster here. There's no way for me to move it as far as I can tell, but if it does need to be moved, and an admin could do that, that would be great.

[SebWotan]

Hello @ArtistAlane 

I moved the post for you to Manage Weight

I do not use that features this much, as I do not stick to a plan, but here is a link that should help you:

https://blog.fitbit.com/fitbit-calories-in-vs-out/

[emili]

Hey there and welcome to the community. I do think you are overthinking it. You know what your daily intake should be. Don't worry about the graph or the time of day. Eat what you have as your planned meals. When they are planned. Don't "catch" up on calories because all of a sudden you are under. Eat to what your ideal is everyday and track to make sure you don't go over at the end of the day- not while the day is in progress. If you are losing- cheers to your progress! if you are gaining- make adjustments.. 

[ArtistAlane]

Thank you both for your answers! Sounds like in your experiences as well, the "live" tracker just isn't very practical, so I'll disregard it and continue to plan out my calories on my own. Thanks again!

[sailorSaturn35]

There is a setting on the desktop in the foodloger section to "Change your Daily Calorie Estimate Setting" from Sedentary to Personalized

that may help with how it shows/tracks your calories in vs out

it advises for Sedentary - Starts out low and lets you earn calories as you are active throughout the day. Note: with this setting you can start the day with a very low calorie estimate.

and Personalised - Uses your past activity history to estimate your calorie burn for the day and increases or decreases if you're more or less active than usual.

I switched and found it tracked alot better as I workout in the evening