Zone Targets - Calorie counting

[SunsetRunner]

I can see when I’m in the zone of under or over, but that’s not helpful if I can’t find out the calculations behind it. I don’t know what I need to do to stay in the zone...is it low fat? It carbs? I’m under the calorie count but still over target sometimes. I need to know the formula in order for the info to be useful and for me to tailor my diet to being in the zone. Can anyone help?

[emili]

@SunsetRunner hey there. I am going to try to answer your question based on my interpretation of it.. if you want to lose weight and you set your goal weight in the app, it is going to give you your allowance for the day. as the day goes on and you enter what you ate, it is going to tell you whether you are under, in the zone or over. As you burn more calories, this will change based on what you eat. At the end of the day when you are finished eating and moving, you either want to be slightly under or in the zone. I hope this helps... 

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks so much for this. I guess my question is how do I stay in the zone. It’s not helpful to tell me whether I’m over or under or even in the zone if it doesn’t give me direction on how to stay in the zone. So I’m just eating and taking chances on where I end up in terms of the target.

*Please excuse grammatical errors as this was sent from my iPhone

[bikerhiker]

---

@SunsetRunner wrote:
Thanks so much for this. I guess my question is how do I stay in the zone. It’s not helpful to tell me whether I’m over or under or even in the zone if it doesn’t give me direction on how to stay in the zone. So I’m just eating and taking chances on where I end up in terms of the target.

*Please excuse grammatical errors as this was sent from my iPhone

---

Fitbit can sometimes over or under-estimate your caloric expenditure as it uses some general algorithms to calculate your energy output per activity done, so against your food intake it can sometimes be in the zone or over the zone.  Ideally, you should be under the zone or in the zone.  But if you're over the zone and yet your waist line is shrinking as well as your physical weight, then I wouldn't worry about it.  A shrinking waist line is a better determinant of body fat% reduction.

The Fitbit app isn't very good in giving you direction, except maybe if you subscribe towards their fitbit coaching services where you can see in depth details of your food consumption as well as your activities.  There is a free trial option you can try within the desktop app to see if you like to subscribe to it.  Last time I checked, it gives somewhat of a better direction of where you are headed.  Otherwise, the cheaper way would be to use a measuring tape and measure your waist line now and then what it becomes a month later.

[Baltoscott]

I don’t think the zone approach to eating is all that helpful as it is influenced a lot by when you enter your food into the program.  Your calorie burn increases throughout the day (giving you more to eat), and then you go into or out of the ‘zone’ as you enter the food you eat.  If you log at the end of the day, you will be under the zone most of the day.  And if you meal plan, logging at the beginning of the day, you will be over the zone most of the day.

If you log right when you eat (a good idea if you value accuracy!), you are more likely to be in the "zone" most of the day, so maybe that's why Fitbit came up with the zone approach.  But my sense is that not many people actually log when they eat.