Calorie Burn Goal

[Herro]

Just wondering, why is there a pre-determined/default goal for burning calories especially when you haven't input your sole purpose of exercising? I understand that if you've shared that you want to lose weight fitbit will calculate a 'goal' to be burnt to allow for this, but why is there a goal put in place in the first place? Will the goal result in weightloss? Will reaching the goal maintain weight? What does calorie burn goal per day try to achieve? 

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Herro, all very good questions!  I *think* the theory is that this is the number of calories a person your gender, age, height and weight would burn if you achieved the other default daily goals : 10,000 steps, 10 floors, 30 active minutes.

In practice this doesn't seem to be true for many people, and the calorie burn goal seems mostly too high.  For myself, for example, I only achieve the goal that Fitbit sets for me if I walk 21,000 steps. 

Whether the calorie burn goal results in weight loss, gain, or maintenance obviously depends on what you eat.

As I am sure you know, you can change this goal to suit you

[Herro]

Ahhh I see- I completely get the purpose of the activity goal to combat
overall sedentary behaviour and calorie in goal based on the calorie outs
but a calorie goal in general without any context (if you want to lose,
gain or maintain weight) doesn't make sense to me.. Hm. It totally makes
sense if you hit the calorie goal if you met the 10K, 30 min etc but as you
said, it's defaulted so much higher than what those goals should take... so
still I'm baffled!

Thank you so much for bringing some light though!

[YojanaFitbit]

Hey there @Herro! Thanks for joining us to this family, hope you like what find here! I loved the way @Julia_G explained the purpose of the Activity Goal, but I understand your inquiry in regards a calorie goal in general, as you said without any context what so ever it doesn't sound like a very useful tool. 

But taking in count that The American Heart Association recommends 10,000 steps a day to reap the health benefits of walking. Fitbit helps users to set and meet several health and fitness goals including exercise, sleep, water consumption, and of course calories. If you don't set a goal by default Fitbit uses your personal data to generate one from you!

Good thing is that once you realize the benefits of exercising you start to set a goal by yourself. The Fitbit app guides you to create goals through a series of questions. The option to set goals will appear when you first create your account and at other times in your fitness journey.

Hope this help!