DecemberBlue

Hey all-
I'm sure many of you have encounter of BMR/RMR & Total energy expenditure calculator that differ by many hundreds; I know I have, leading to my question. Have anyone found that when they put in their daily living activities and calories burned via exercise (i use a heart rate monitor to get closer to accuracy) and take what they eat out of it; it works for them and have been losing weight. Basically do you believe that the activities section of Fit Day is close enough that it has helped you lose the expected amount of weight by a certain time period? please let me know. if you found yourself having to make adjustments to the total calorie expenditure. what types of adjustment was it? Thanks in advance!

cjohnson728

It was pretty much dead on for me but I tweaked it. For instance, it says that sleep is already included, but I added in my nightly sleep hours every day and did not add daily living activities (maybe these two things canceled each other out; I don't know). The only other activities I added were exercise activities (not driving, shopping, cooking, etc.). With those adjustments, it was pretty much spot on as to how my calorie deficit translated into pounds lost. I do wear a heart rate monitor for exercise and the calories burned were pretty close between it and FitDay.

DecemberBlue

Thanks for the response! that's really interesting. So help me understand how you came to your total calories burned daily. when you calculated your BMR you added your sleep hours to that? I don't have much to compare it to since I haven't heard from anyone else. You seem to have been successful at get to your goal...if you have any other tips send them my way? thanks again!

cjohnson728

When I went into the Activities tab, I chose the activity Sleeping and logged in however many hours I had slept the previous night. If, say, I played tennis for an hour, I would log that in under Activities, also, or did a DVD or got on the treadmill. But I didn't log in all the other stuff, like picking up after my son, driving to the dentist, doing dishes...it was too time consuming.

Someone posted once whether sleep should be logged and the moderator responded no, that it was already taken into account. However, if I didn't log it, I felt that the calories FitDay gave me were too high...I'm 5'2" if I stand up really straight, have a small bone structure, and am 42 years old, so I knew there was no way I was needing 2000 calories a day. Entering sleep knocked off a couple, three hundred. In truth, I think adding sleep just compensates for not putting in the other daily activities. I put sedentary just to be conservative, because my job is basically seated.

I also used this site to have an idea of calories burned: Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs. Once I entered sleep in FitDay, that number was pretty close. Then I just tried to shoot for eating 500 less than I burned every day (for a pound a week). I logged everything (even the naughty stuff) and compensated for it later in the week if I went over. I exercised daily, or almost daily...something, even if not a hard workout. And I posted a lot, asked for a lot of help, and probably whined a lot . I learned that my body works best on 50% carbs, 25-30% protein, and 20-25% fat, but everyone is different. The more you do, the better you learn about what works and what doesn't. Just be patient and you will do great!

DecemberBlue

thanks!sorry for all the questions I just have used some of these sites and gotten sad recommendation that it's set me back a bit.

ok so here's where I'm at with info you provided. when I am in the activities tab, in this there's the lifestyle then a customize it button this is where I input whether I am sedentary or mostly seated with some movement. I posted a thread on this because I was confuse about it. I initially said mostly seated with some movement and was hesitant to select seated all day or sedentary because while I do seat a lot during the day I do move but I wasn't sure what the defining factors are to help me determine where I fit; you know? so I posted a thread on it.

I tried adding in the sleep hours and yes the daily energy expenditure did go down...at least 300...so now the link you posted, you simply entered your info and how often you work out and you felt the maintenance given by was similar to that of Fitday? and then you took 500 off (from food or workout or 250 each?)

Initially I simply put the lifestyle and then the exercises I performed but even then that was putting me at like 2500 and I was only burning like 300 per workout...this was at like mostly seated with some movement....so that's probably too high then? thats starting to make more sense.

cjohnson728

Yeah, I think I put seated with some movement as my activity level in FitDay.

I tried to do a 500 calorie deficit from what FitDay said under total activities minus what I loaded into FitDay for food. I just did 500 for one pound a week because as a shorter person I don't burn that many calories daily to begin with, so more than a 500 calorie cut would take me below 1200 or so. Say, for example, under the activities tab, if my activities (sleep, exercise, and lifestyle) added up to, say, 1875 calories burned, I would try to have about 1375 calories eaten in my food log. But if you are bigger and/or younger and burning 2500 calories according to FitDay, you can go for more of a loss...if you are eating 1500 calories a day, for example, and burning 2500, then you would be losing about 2 pounds per week.

I hope this makes sense. I'm having a hard time explaining it .

DecemberBlue

You're doing great explaining. Thank you for being patient...

Here's where you and I differ.
Age: 27
starting weight: 133
Height: 5 "1".
Life Style: Right now I'm on vacation from school; no job so I usually sit around researching on the comp, hanging out with friends or studying for the upcoming semester & I cook, clean, laundry, and grocery shop, but not every day. I don't have any kids; it's just moi.

When I put in the info I selected mostly seated with some movement at first but then I thought the numbers I got was extremely high...but then I didn't think I fit in the category of seated all day either because I don't usually sit in one place all day you know? (there are some factors of which BMR equation method I select that makes my BMR differ from 1279:mifflin-1397:harris- these are right above the life style selection section; which one did you go with? I'm choosing the ).

I usually exercise 5 days a week and burn approx 300 calories which according to Fit Day puts my total at like 2400 so then I can subtract the deficit to get an approx weekly weight loss? if i add sleep then it put me at 2000 (with exercise) and a little bit over...If this sounds like I'm headed in the right direction then I can play with these numbers and monitor my progress.

Thanks again for your help!

cjohnson728

Yep, I think that's the right track. I put your numbers into the other site I use (and linked in the post above) and came up with the calculation that eating 1500 a day should give you a steady loss, which would make sense given the 2000 you came up with.

It's trial and error beyond that. I guess at this point I would suggest starting with that. Keep a really detailed accounting (on the site or otherwise) about what you eat and burn off and see how that correlates with the weight you are losing. The longer you do it, the better you will get to know your body and how it works to lose, gain, and maintain. The more detailed your records are about what you did, the easier it will be to see the patterns. It's hard to tell until you actually try some different things...above all, find what works for you, because it has to be something you can stick with.

What are you in school for? You really seem to be a detailed numbers person

rpmcduff

Sorry if I am jumping into this late. I just adjusted my metabolism. I am male, 5'-11" and currently 235 lbs. I changed my base from Mifflin of 1941 to a custom 1860. I also changed my activity level to the lowest level-sedentary (I work at a computer all day) from the next higher level. Doing this allowed me to match my average calorie deficit to my actual weight loss. I only add activities for my workouts like Cassie. Unlike her, I didn't want to have to add my sleep time every day.

I had changed because I was at a greater calorie deficit than my goal required but was falling behind my goal. I was still losing weight but not at the rate that I needed too acheive my goal on time.

fairyfootsteps123

so you guys are saying that when you put that you were seated with some movement, FitDay calculated your average calorie burn as too high? Thank you!