Understanding calories in calories out

[steve_mc]

I'm new to the whole fitbit weight plan and cant get my head around calories.

Im not over weight never have been but have never eaten healthly.Im 188cm tall and my weight fluctuates around 80-82kg.My job is extremly active and i can walk anywhere from 10-12km per shift.I eat around 950-1200 calories a day And can burn 3800-4200 calories a day according to my fitbit stats.

So the way i see it is if im only eating those 950-1200 calories a day and burning 3800-4200 calories daily then surely i should drastcally be dropping weight.

Some insight knoeledgw from you guys in the know would be appreciated,Thanks.

[Dominique]

Your BMR alone is around 1800, so you would be in a caloric deficit (eating 950-1200) even if you spent your entire day lying on your couch. The question is: why would you want to eat as little as that, given: 1) your activity level, 2) your size, 3) the fact you’re in the normal weight range?

I could understand you’d want to shed a little bit of fat / improve body composition, but if so, this would be best achieved with a moderate deficit.

[steve_mc]

Thanks for the reply.I dont want to lose weight im happy with my body,Im more curious as to why im not loosing weight if i see it that my calories in are way lower than calories out.
My diet calories in has been the same for 20 years or more.I feel great and a great body for a 44yr old but i cannot get my head around it with such a terrible diet and such high burned calories.

[Dominique]

If you have been able to maintain your weight at a more or less constant level over many years, it means your overall energy expenditure has matched your dietary intake. For maintaining weight, the quality of your diet doesn’t matter much. If your concern is long-term health, it’s a totally different matter.

It appears "intuitive eating" has been working well for you with calories, so I don’t really see the point of formally counting them. Since you realize food composition (the kind of foods you are eating) is not optimal (too much junk food, unhealthy snacks, drinking, eating out etc.), focus on that instead.

[Dominique]

---

@steve_mc wrote:
Im more curious as to why im not loosing weight if i see it that my calories in are way lower than calories out.

---

I entered your data in this online calculator. Even the highest activity level ("extreme") would "only" put your TDEE at 3382. With "high", it would be 3071. It’s quite likely the 3800-4200 calories your Fitbit says you burn are overstated. Likewise, I’m not sure where you got your 850-1200 calories: a guy your size and with your activity level would be starving if he ate that little. Bottom line: you probably expend around 3000 calories and also eat that much.

[steve_mc]

Im just going off what fitbit measures.

This is my daily meal routine.

Breakfast. Cup of coffee no sugar,1 banana.

Morning snack 2 Tuna sandwiches 4 peices of white bread.

Lunch. 1 apple,1 protein bar,1 banana

Dinner.varies from pasta dishes to roast meals.

And my diet has been that like i say for atleast 20yrs and sometimes i dont even eat that.And i never feel a point of hunger.

[Dominique]

Just because Fitbit offers a certain feature doesn’t mean you have to use it. Let’s take weight management: Fitbit can help you with that, by letting you create a food plan, estimating your energy expenditure etc. You said you are not interested in losing weight, and you have had no problem maintaining your weight for decades. So why would you bother logging your intake, monitoring calories burned etc. in Fitbit, since you clearly have no need for it? I’m sure there are plenty of other features in Fitbit that would be more useful for you.

[steve_mc]

I use the my fitbit only for running and cycling.But because the feature for watching calories was there i was curious to what and where im at.When i calcualated what i eaten daily to what i was burning it had me very curious as to how this works without having any understanding.With the input you have given it makes some more sense.I just me be one of those lucky people when it comes to food intake and maintaining a weight and fitness that doesnt effect me like alot of others.I thank you for your input 👍

[Baltoscott]

---

@steve_mc wrote:

Im just going off what fitbit measures.

This is my daily meal routine.

Breakfast. Cup of coffee no sugar,1 banana.

Morning snack 2 Tuna sandwiches 4 peices of white bread.

Lunch. 1 apple,1 protein bar,1 banana

Dinner.varies from pasta dishes to roast meals.

And my diet has been that like i say for atleast 20yrs and sometimes i dont even eat that.And i never feel a point of hunger.

---

Hi @steve_mc.  That is a pretty solid eating routine, and for most people your size it would probably result in some weight loss depending on portion size (Some restaurant pasta dinners could easily get you over 2000 calories; a couple of 6 inch tuna subs at Subway here in the US would be around 1000 calories — the 12 inch versions a lot of people get would be twice that;  protein bars run around 200 calories, but sometimes there is more than one bar in a package/serving; bananas are around 130 calories ... it can add up).   Do you eat differently on weekends as compared to weekdays?  Do you drink anything over the course of a day beside the one cup of coffee?  I assume water at least, or you probably would have dehydrated and died long before you got a Fitbit :-).  Soda, juices, milk, cream, sports drinks, alcohol can all add up to a lot of calories, and since they are not filling, we don’t always account for them.   As an aside, not that you need to change what you eat to address weight issues, but moving from white bread to whole grain breads, eating whole grain pasta for those dinners, and adding a variety of veggies would all be worthwhile nutrition upgrades.  

I am curious as to how many steps Fitbit is recording for your daily activity.  Was your daily work-related walking estimate based on Fitbit, or just your best guess of things?

In any event, it is possible that your metabolism is just a couple of standard deviations low of average. We don’t all burn calories at the same rate even when we are the same size, sex, and age.  Some folks are just much more efficient than average at moving through space, pumping blood, digesting food, and doing all the day-to-day things that burn calories.  Fortunately, your lack of hunger combined with long history of weight maintenance means that you’ve hit a great balance.  

[steve_mc]

Thanks for the reply.

i drink 1.5ltrs of water in my 9-10 hour shift and probably drink another litre at home.

My fitbit ionic is whats measuring my steps at work.

My food intake at weekends is worse than through the week.Yesterday (saturday) i only eaten 363 cals.Today ive eaten 1,714 cals and done a 50k ride and burnt 4083 cals.I think im just lazy when it comes to food.

[Scooby80]

Sounds like you are taking in more calories then you think you are.  Remember a lot of calories come from what you are drinking not just what you are eating.  If you normally don't eat healthy then it would be very hard to stay that low in calories.

[steve_mc]

Thanks for your reply.I would love to think that i am taking in more calories but i am not eating anymore than the foods ive mentioned on a daily basis.Literally nothing else ie.no snacks in between and drinks its just a 1.5ltr bottle of water throughout my working shift and maybe another litre maximum when i get home.

Im useing Fitbits food database to log my food intake,So unless all the calorie data per branded food in the database is wrong then im being misguided.