Hi Community,
I have been using the fitbit for some time now, and have always skeptically tolerated the "Calories out/ Calories burned counter." What I would like you all to realize, if you haven't by now, is that this is a very rough estimate of your calories burned. So much so that I would argue invalidates the whole point of having this counter. Now I would like to show you some of my personal data and compare it with how my weight has been changing and fluctuating. Keep in mind that I also hope this educates you to really invest in taking the time to explore how your body personally tolerates your nutrition and health. There truly are some great pieces of technology out there to help you reach your goals.
*I use MyFitnessPal to log all the food I eat daily, and I cook and prepare my meals all ahead of time, and use a digital food scale to measure out everything I eat. So, keep in mind that my calories in will be very accurate (within 90% accuracy considering minor discrepancy)*
Me: 21, Male, 6'0, 186 lbs. as of today, a moderately active individual.
Now I will show you what a commonly accepted BMR(Basal Metabolic Heart Rate) will say about me:
As you can see, these calorie calculators all have me under a maximum of *3585*
Now here is a clip shot of what Fitbit says since approx. February 10:
Sample day of my eating habits:
Breakfast:
Oats, 2%milk, Dark brown sugar, Blueberries
Milk & protein shake post workout
Omega-3 enriched eggs x4, Reduced fat cheese, 96% FF ham,
Lunch:
120g Chicken, 1/2 cup brown rice, Vegitables(negligible calories)
Cranberry pecan Chicken Salad, Large mixed vegitable leafy salad
Dinner:
1/2 cup brown rice, 4 oz. tilapia
1/2 microwave sweet potato, 4 oz. sirloin steak
(negligible mixed vegitables)
Snacks:
Greek Pasta salad, high fiber bread, apple & peanut butter
Summary:
Calories: 2444
Protein: 212g
Carbs: 206g
Fat: 86g
*My days varied nutrionally, obviously, however macronutrient count stayed within this range*
Weight Recording: (taken early in the morning, after a morning piss)
2/10 - 188.0
2/17 - 187.6
2/25 - 187.0
3/10 - 186.4
As you can see from the data, it has me roughly around a highly active individual almost all days(despite Feb. 14 and 28). Which is fair enough because durring this time I truly was highly active (Weights 4x per week, Cardio every day despite 2 days, Sometimes cardio 2x a day). However, the issue comes in where fitbit's "Calories out" seems to be skyrocketed. Wouldn't one argue that these numbers would correlate to a much more dramatic weight loss if they were accurate? Nevertheless, my frustration doesn't help with any matter I'm trying to get across here.
Therefore what I would encourage anyone who happens to be reading this to take away from all of this information, is that experiment yourself. Find out just how your body reacts to the stimulus you put into it. Everyone is different, I know people (and so do you) who gorge themselves on 4000 calories a day and still manage to lose weight! Absolutely insane, right? Well there is still hope for those of us whose bodies cling on to fat for dear life. Educate yourself, and eventually your mileage and hard work will pay off. I know firsthand the impact stress puts on your body and henceforth weight. Put your mental psychi first, and then let your health habits become a manifestation of your mental wellbeing.
Hope this helps and educates anyone out there,
Cheers,
Dan
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