insanity / fitbit calorie counter

[InsanityAsky]

I'm trying to lose 12 lbs - and following fitbits "extreme" meal plan. Which gives me only 800 calories a day. But my RMR is 1500 calories (what it takes to just be alive.) So essentially, I'm taking in a huge deficit, enough to put my body into stravation mode. 

Has anyone else had this problem with fitbit meal plan? 

Is there a reason that they don't take into account your RMR? 

[FoxZee]

I don't think the RMR is accurate. Everyday I take a lot less (<1000cal) than my RMR (1530cal), but I am still able to be alive with a good health.

[InsanityAsky]

You just backed up what I said. 

My resting calories burned is 1500, but the calories FitBit gives me to eat that day (using the 'meal plan') is 800.

So even if I just lay in bed all day I'm still in a major deficit. 

[FoxZee]

Yea, I don't use RMR as a rule. I only try to eat less than 800 every day in order to achieve successful weight loss.

[InsanityAsky]

Do you do any work outs? How is that working for you? Are you losing weight? 

I normally do insanity - and then a run in the afternoon. My doctor said that doing a HIT workout for over 45 min with that calorie defeicit will put your body in starvation mode. He said I should be eating 1500 calories.

[jlynnxo · Accepted solution]

800 cal way too low especially if your doing insanity and hiit, i would go with what your dr said and eat the 1500, 800 cal is going to send your body into starvation mode and then your body will be holding onto everything and you wont lose, i work out 6 times a week, i do 2-3 bootcamp classes a week and i go to the gym 2-3 times a week and do cardio and weight training and i meet with my trainer 1 hour a week, my BMR is 1912, but my trainer just upped my calories to 2400-2600 a day, i was eating below my BMR at around 1450-1750 cal a day after workouts and i was not losing

[InsanityAsky]

Ok thanks! Just making sure I shouldn't listen to fitbit's recommendations - all of their options were wayyyy to low. 

[Heybales]

Didn't you select Fitbit's recommendation that is so low?

And ya, just asking for problems, as well as not getting out of that workout what you could be getting.

I mean, why do it if it's a waste of time and energy not accomplishing what it could?

Because your body is already impared for recovery when in a diet - why make it extreme?

Diet is for weight loss - if done right just fat loss, if done wrong muscle mass loss like other poster is going to get.

Exercise is for heart health and body improvements - if done right may help just fat loss, if done wrong will help muscle mass loss.

http://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/truth-about-metabolic-damage

And the Fitbit is probably underestimating that Insanity workout too, so actually you are burning more. Because that is no where near step based exercise. it's a high carb burning high aerobic/anaerobic exercise.

And don't do HIIT along with it.

During a diet is completly backwards to add more workload, even when you do eat correctly for it.

Another fact to think about with your exercise routine since it sounds like you may believe more is better. That's actually counter productive.

Exercise if done right tears the body down.

Rest for recovery and repair is what builds it back up, stronger if diet allows.

Where is your rest?

Again, in a diet recovery is even longer than at maintenance.

Insanity was designed for certain frequency if you read their material, and that run should be low intensity to just allow blood flow to muscles to aid repair.

[slysam · Accepted solution]

---

@InsanityAsky wrote:

Do you do any work outs? How is that working for you? Are you losing weight? 

I normally do insanity - and then a run in the afternoon. My doctor said that doing a HIT workout for over 45 min with that calorie defeicit will put your body in starvation mode. He said I should be eating 1500 calories.

---

Honestly, I personally don't feel there is any point in eating less than you have to to see weight loss. You are only 12 pounds over your goal--I don't know whether your goal is vanity pounds or you are 12 pounds over your healthy weight range. That makes a difference--a little. If vanity pounds, but you are at a weight your body is comfortable with, you may need to fight for every pound and it may be a slow precess to do it in a healthy way.  If actually 12 pounds overweight... You probably shouldn't choose a high deficit, it can work for some for a short time period. But it can also make it harder to maintain your loss once you are at goal. Your body will adapt to what it is allowed, and some people find intense exercise + very low calories means their metabolism slows so they burn less calories to prevent starvation. (True starvation doesn't relaly stop weight loss--it just is not a healthy method pf loss). The other problem, there is only so much fat the body will release at once and how much depends on your body and also how much actual fat stores you have. So faster losses are usually also lean mass loss. Lean mass is anything in your body that is not fat--retained fluids, digesting foods, muscle, bones, organs, hair, blood, etc. Whenever you lose, it is likely to be soem fat and some lean mass (often water and having less digesting/digested foods in you).  Some will be muscle. Some methods of dieting make it more likely you will lose more muscle and bone density than others. My college nutrition teacher said in her practice she would often see people (usually women) who lost weight following a very low calorie diet that ended up with a higher body fat percent than before they dieted, then they would regain the weight they lost, diet again, and more easily regain what they lost plus some more, etc. She said the yo-yo pattern is less likely with a smaller deficit and with exercise (especially strenght training) and good nutrition (especially enough protein). It sounds like you are fit so that may help prevent some of the lean mass loss. But yes, I agree 800 is too low. 

With Fitbit settings, I think you should try: change your option to "personalized" and wait a couple days before following, in the mean time try 1500 calories or whatever was suggested. Try either the "easiest" 1/2 pound a week loss (if you don't manually log your workouts) or the one pound a week loss (if you do). Sync your fitbit in the morning, ideally in the afternoon, before dinner and before bed (if you can) and if possible after any workouts/significant activity. This is easy to do if you sync through your phone, but harder for people who sync through their computer. Your allowance will adjust to your activity throughout the day so that is why I suggest this. Check your allowance a few times throughout the day (ideally before meals). You may find you can follow your personalized allowance starting point after it has been on this setting for a few days. If you are not losing, after a week or two of this, try being more strict in your food logging (weighing portions, etc) or try the next higher deficit. If you don't have a heart rate monitor, I would probably log the insanity as "vigorous calisthenics". Some of the exercises are one's fitbit can track and others not. Fitbit doesn't do well with resistance exercises including bodyweight resistance. If I do a burpee, it migh credit a couple steps per burpee (mainly if doing the verison with a jump at the end) but it really doesn't do well with planks/pushups, etc. If doign mountain climbers--I might as well be a asleep according to Fitbit. These types of workouts need to be logged. If not, choose a more conservative (lower) deficit so you are still eating enough but the exercise calorie burn is bonus.

[InsanityAsky]

Even at fitbits recommended eating plan (the highest calorie dosage was 1200) I was coming in WAY under what I needed to even sustain a healthy weight. 

I'm losing weight for both healthy and vanity - I'm considered 'overweight' and want to be healthy. 

I've already consulted with my Doctor, who said FitBit is not a viable option for me. Every meal plan it offers is not logical for someone who does Insanity or with an RMR of 1500. FitBit does not take any of that into account, all it does it just a base recommendation, which is unhealthy. 

My rest day is on Sunday and Wednesday, I obviously don't do that workout daily. I also manually entered my calories burned during the Insanity workouts, using a heart rate monitor, I calculated it myself, since FitBit is highly unreliable for active workouts. 

I eat for my workouts, I know what I'm doing. I just wanted to know if it was normal for fitbit to recommend such a low calorie diet. It seems unhealthy. 

I just use Fitbit as a pedo now. I bought a yr or two ago before I took the time to learn about diet, nutrition, and exercise.

[Heybales]

Your Dr doesn't understand how Fitbit works then, and you must not either for some finer details.

Like any tool, it can be used correctly, it can be used incorrectly.

Guess which way may cause no benefit, or worse, could harm you?

From your workouts with Insanity you've probably seen you can do a lot of work that is NOT step based, which is the only thing Fitbit has to go on. You yourself need to correct Fitbit with calorie burn estimates it is not good at doing - rowing, biking, lifting, Insanity, ect. They explain this in their FAQ and other places.

So I'm glad you are manually entering that in based on HRM, though it will be overestimating your calorie burn.

BTW - HRM formula for estimating calories from HR is totally based on steady-state aerobic exercise, same HR for 2-4 min.

Insanity is opposite of steady-state, and in to the anaerobic zone often.

That leads to inflated calorie burns outside that tools intended use.

If you took that corrected TDEE, and then took 250-500 calories off to lose weight, you'd likely find you are at a much more reasonable level to eat at.

And I'm looking right now at the Fitbit Easier meal plan for that 250 deficit. Since you have a little to lose, but you want max benefit from your workouts, that would be the one to use. I'm not sure why you can't find a meal plan that is reasonable weight loss, which is the 0.5 lb weekly.

Regarding your RMR being 1500.

Was that the 15 min resting test with hood or face mask on measuring your breathing?

Or you got that from a calculator? And did it really say RMR, or actually BMR? What formula - Mifflin, Harris, Katch, Cunningham, Nelson, other?

What is Fitbit using as your BMR, which is 150-250 below RMR?

Go to your Activities - Calories Burned for a 5 min chunk of time during the night or sitting, the even level stands out.

Take those calories / 5 x 1440 = BMR they use as you can see for all non-moving time.

So mine 6.4 / 5 x 1440 = 1843.

And yes, BMR should only be the night time burn, daily time should be the RMR burn level, so they actually underestimate your non-moving calorie burn slightly, depending on how much time you don't move daily.

And my figure above matches my Katch BMR, because I increased my height on Fitbit to make it match to be more accurate.

If you have a measured RMR from test, you can backtrack to what the BMR should be based on that, and then adjust the height so Fitbit is in essence using your RMR. Or you can adjust the height so that the BMR it's using matches the RMR totally if that feels safer.

[InsanityAsky]

Well, even the fitbit easier meal plan still comes in too low. It's as if it's not calculating enough calories for me originally.

I calculated my RMR using Harris-Benedict.

What I'm doing now, following the plan my doctor set up - is working great.

Like I said before, I just use fitbit as a pedometer. It's just a low cost fitness tool, aimed at the masses so it won't work for everyone. I get that. I was just wondering if anyone else had the same experience.

[Heybales]

Not upset at all, I just see something being used incorrectly and enough comments to show a lack of knowledge on a subject, and I'm willing to help educate.

Take it or leave, or go research yourself.

I just didn't want anyone else believing the false info based on individual experience that the tool was worthless or there were no correct options.

For instance, Harris is NOT an RMR formula, it's BMR. Search Google for Harris BMR and find the formula. Now search for Cunningham RMR, and see the difference.

And if you are overweigh, it's inflated at that. Because the study was on healthy weight participants with average fat to non-fat mass. Which when overweight usually the fat mass is higher.

So yes, Fitbit is calculating a lower Mifflin BMR than you did with Harris BMR, the Mifflin BMR in studies was found to be 5% or better more accurate, especially as weight went up.

And a 250 cal deficit should be reasonable for anyone - from a correctly estimated TDEE anyway. Which the Fitbit ,with corrections to some exercise, is going to be as close as you'll get, without actually doing a results based TDEE calculation. That is of course the most correct, but you gotta come in somewhere.

Glad your Dr could help, hope he got more than the 1 required course in nutrition that the US requires. At least he recognized an eating goal too low for activity being done, that's a start. Many would just say eat less, or give you a piece of paper obviously handed out to the masses he talks to.

[DblGee]

...and your doctor actually approves of you living/existing on 800 calories a day? 

I don't think that's safe or healthy by any stretch and am glad this is not my doctor.  I think you can probably look forward to a lot of yo yo dieting and diabetes later in life because you are depending on starvation to lose weight and as you get older - ANYTHING you eat is going to drive your bloodsugar through the roof....a short time later it will bottom out and you won't be able to stay awake...by then your metabolism will be SO screwed up that it will take a really long time and focus on eating what you should when you should weather you want to eat or not to repair it. 

[InsanityAsky]

I'm not sure if you didn't understand? But I said multiple times fitbit only gave me 800 cals.

My doctor gave me 1500.

And yes. You basically repeated everything I said about 800 cals. It's not healthy. I know. Maybe read the messages next time?


Good luck.

[Sue2Lose4Good]

Seems like you are eating too little and this will lower you metabolic rate which will in turn make you burn fewer calories. Eat more often, 3 meals a day INCLUDING breakfast. Make sure all the calories you eat are healthy calories such as vegetables and lean meat and poultry, nuts and seeds, tofu for vegetarians and try to vegetarian a few days a week. Drink lots of water. Stay healthy and good luck

[dancefoxtrot]

Insan...,

Listen Fitbit starts off in the AM suggesting about 800 but as you burn calories through logging activities it increases. If you set your goal to lose a lbs a week then it will give you 500 fewer calories to eat than what you burn.  So walking, dancing biking  etc will bring you more calories. I would not eat less than 1200 most days so you need to burn 1700. If you eat the 1500 your doctor suggested you need to burn at least 2000 calories to loose a pound each week. It is math. 500 a day burned x 7 days = 3500. calories which is what it takes to burn 1 lb. 

Best to you,

Barbara 

[LisefromCanada]

I was trying to understand alll the above messages, but I finally got it when DanceFoxTrot piped in.

Thanks DanceFoxTrot - I get this now.