extremely frustrated...

[Grabber523]

I have been struggling with my weight for years. I am 35, and according to my Surge, am burning over 5000 calories a day. A week of tracking has revealed an average 1500 calorie a day deficit, but I have only lost 1.3 pounds in 2 weeks, when I should have seen well over 4 by now. I am pretty active, in the military, and running over 10 miles a week, on top of an average of well over 15000 steps a day. If this is supposed to be as simple as calories in vs calories out, why am I not seeing results on the scale? I'm losing my mind...

[Dominique]

Several things come to mind. First, a sudden increase in exercise can lead to water retention that's hiding your weight loss. Secondly, having calories burned counted by an activity tracker isn't exact science: for instance, the One reported 23.253 steps / 2942 calories burned yesterday, the Charge HR 23,988/3247 and the Charge 23.825/3274 (I'm wearing all three trackers). A 500 calorie deficit on the Charge would be a mere 168 calorie deficit on the One. Likewise, there's an error margin on the calorie intake. That is to say, your actual deficit is not necessarily what you counted.

Two weeks is a relatively short period of time. You didn't gain what you want to lose in just a few weeks, so you should allow sufficient time for your weight loss. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. Anyway, on the positive side, the scale is moving in the right direction, albeit not as fast as you'd wish. If you know you are doing the right things, just persevere and you will eventually see results.

One thing you may want to do (if you haven't done so) is take body measurements, eg. on a monthly basis. Your Fitbit account accommodates eight different measurements (waist, chest etc.). You may well see your body shrink before the scale starts moving seriously.

[SS_Sav]

Just keep at it - it took me a while for my body to start burning the extra fat.  In addition - really look at what you are eating, when I went onto mostly dairy free, Tuna and salad for lunch and Berries for breakfast, it made a big difference.  Well done on you 1+ lbs.. it is a start... take a moment to look at your nutritition - it just may help.

[josephz2va]

Also. Analyze what foods you're eating. Several foods can hold you back. Starchy foods, bread foods, candy, chocolates, convenience food, restaurant food, fast food you see sold in cafeterias. Block all that out.

Starbucks, DD, Subway, McD's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, etc. Those are designed to keep you fat for big bucks. Yes. Subway too.

Type in a search engine "foods for lean mass" and write them down. If you have a cafeteria, moderate your portions but eat the healthy editions. Trade a donut for a fruit salad. I eat a pound of fruit salad for 170 to 400 cals. That's one donut, one muffin, or one restaurant food sandwich.

[Shampoohorns]

Something about your numbers don't sound right. I am in the military. I work out 5 days a week, run at least 10 miles, lift weights and elliptical and take 10-15000 steps a day. I don't burn anywhere NEAR 5000 cal a day. I think you might be overestimating by putting too fast a running speed on your exercise log. I average about 2200 cal a day.

[Grabber523]

I have GPS tracking in my Surge. I am in a HAWC running clinic (volunteer, not PT fail). It's accurate based on time and distance ran.

[Grabber523]

I should also add that I'm 220 lbs and it looks like fitbit is basing my calorie requirements on a 1900-ish calorie resting rate.

[Shampoohorns]

But would that be for 220 of muscle? If you're overweight, you're not going to burn that. I think you should ignore the "calories burned" and focus on intake. Keep working out, but keep calories under 2000.

[Dominique]

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@Grabber523 wrote:
I should also add that I'm 220 lbs and it looks like fitbit is basing my calorie requirements on a 1900-ish calorie resting rate.

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Fitbit uses something very close to the Mifflin-St Jeor formula. According to this calculator, as per Mifflin-St Jeor, the BMR of a 35-year-old male 5' 8" tall and weighing 220 pounds would be 1910 calories. For such a guy, TDEE at the most intense exercise level (what they label as "daily exercise + physical work") would peak at 3628 calories.

The TDEE returned by the calculator with exercise level set to "everyday intense or twice daily" (not the highest level, since I'm quite active, but have a desk job) is more or less what my Fitbit One estimates.

[kassdeck]

I agree. 5,000 sounds awfully high.

[RichardCollins]

I was looking for notes on Mifflin-St Jeor and found your message from 13 Feb 2015, "Fitbit Uses Something Very Close to the Mifflin-St Jeor Formula".

Why doesn't Fitbit have the BMR on the dashboard.  I downloaded my activity data for the last couple of months since I have owned the Charge HR and added a column for Calories Burned minus Acivity Calories.  That should be BMR, right?  What we burn in total, minus what we burn through activity, should equal what we burn at rest?

Here is what it looks like, compared to some BMR formulas I found online.  Why does Fitbits data wander all over the place?  Their "calories burned" is not BMR + active calories.  What is going on?