Told to eat 966 calories a day…

[RedheadSteph]

Hello! I recently changed my diet goals on Fitbit (have never paid much attention to it before) and I chose that I’d like to follow the “hardest” option and lose 2 lbs a week. 

It’s got data from consistent wearing to understand how many calories a day I burn including my workouts everyday. 

so in order to lose 2 lbs a week it says I should only eat 966 calories? And that’s IF I walk 2 miles in addition to my working out! If I don’t workout that day, the allotment is even lower. 

I thought that the basic calorie intake should never be below 1200?  

I struggle to lose even the slightest amount of weight. I am wondering if I really should be eating that little. 

[JohnnyRow]

I don't know any of your details, but it sounds to me that's just saying you shouldn't be trying to lose 2 pounds a week.

But, saying your eating allotment is lower if you don't work out makes me think you are not interpreting the data correctly.  But I haven't done any Fitbit weight plan so I can't help with details, just common sense.  My mistake - sorry.

[RedheadSteph]

How would the data be interpreted incorrectly? Work out = more calories to eat…?

[RedheadSteph]

 

[JohnnyRow]

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@RedheadSteph wrote:

How would the data be interpreted incorrectly? Work out = more calories to eat…?

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But you said " If I don’t workout that day, the allotment is even lower. "  I thought you meant allotment of calories you could eat. My mistake - sorry.

[RedheadSteph]

Yes, it tells me how many calories I get to eat based on how many calories I burned that day. If I workout I get allotted about 966. If I don’t workout that day, I get allocated even less by the end of the day. 

[JohnnyRow]

I'm sorry.  My fault.  I was getting confused and was getting things backward.

[alexthecat]

@RedheadSteph it sounds like 2 pounds per week is a little too ambitious for you. The way Fitbit calculates it, 2 pounds per week is equivalent to a 1000-calorie deficit per day. In your case, that will push your food intake into an unhealthy range. A more realistic and attainable rate of weight loss would be 1 or 1.5 pounds per week.