Fitbit calories burned

[AndShane]

Some trying to figure numbers and during this pandemic want to walk/run a lot to see if I can beat a decent diet. Meaning burn more. So I’m 204 at around 15% bf. what would be a good step count or miles etc to really dig into and burn calories? Just looking for a super high goal to burn fat off. I am not afraid to work hard so just looking for a good number goal on Fitbit.

 

[_Endure_]

You should start with your nutrition and a clean diet and not a guess on steps or the like. Determine your maintenance calories/food intake and then knock that down by about 200-300 calories a day. Get rid of any junk food or sugar. Get some good exercise in on top and adjust as needed based on progression weekly.

 

[Resolve10]

It is always best with these things to figure out where you are then taper up from there. Do you have any recent step counts you've been hitting?

I've used the arbitrary minimum of 10,000 per day as a goal when trying to keep activity up if I have to, but I'll also kind of view it a bit on a weekly level too. Say I do 8,000 one day I may aim for 12,000 the next to make up (but trying not to have huge make ups).

Again that number will depend on the individual. Right now my steps are abysmal compared to when I was working haha

 

[AndShane]

Good on nutrition just wanting some goals that work or shoot for that would really show deficit per say

 

[LeanEngineer]

You should start with your nutrition and a clean diet and not a guess on steps or the like. Determine your maintenance calories/food intake and then knock that down by about 200-300 calories a day. Get rid of any junk food or sugar. Get some good exercise in on top and adjust as needed based on progression weekly.

Agreed on this completely. Diet and adjusting diet based on results will be the key.

 

[AndShane]

So if I burn 4K calories a day and eat 3000 which means I’m in a 7000 calorie Deficit therefore I should lose 2lbs a week?

 

[jrock645]

So if I burn 4K calories a day and eat 3000 which means I’m in a 7000 calorie Deficit therefore I should lose 2lbs a week?

I wouldn't get so caught up in the math. The weight loss is rarely that steady and predictable in my experience. Eat consistently- i.e. the same foods and the same calories each day. Monitor weight loss. Adjust intake as necessary. Don't get bogged down with the math and trying to get too specific. Also, I would completely disregard what the fitbit is telling you regarding calories. These things are rarely accurate- sometimes being off by as much as 40%. Don't get fixated on the number, and don't try to exercise more and more to raise this theoretical number- it's often an exercise in futility. The thing you can control is what you eat, focus on being disciplined with that and adjust every two weeks as necessary. The weight will come off, just let the diet do it's job.

 

[AndShane]

It is math. People count macros which is math. Everyone is different and it requires me to be consistent, but my question is about calories burned. If that is 80% accurate at least it gives me a baseline for how fast I could lose depending on numbers and deficit. But macros and counting is key. Surely we can get amount calories burned in a range

 

[TheMrMuscle]

So ive used Fitbit for several years now and to me it always seems it shows a higher caloric expenditure than what is actually going on. In theory I should be dropping weight with how much its showing ive burnt each day, but I am not. So there is a lot of other variables going on there. But its absolutely a good tool we just have to realize that nothing will be a 100% accurate. I mean even if we measure and weigh everything we eat, the error marginals could be high because of variety in caloric content of food from what the labels tell us.

And just to be clear, i absolutely LOVE the math part. Sitting down and calculating on macros, micros, calories in, calories out etc etc is almost as fun as going to the gym for me. For those who have taken a look in my training log will know this haha.

 

[_Endure_]

I wouldn't trust fitbit or any pedometer, treadmill, stationary bike etc. to provide burned calories within any accuracy. It's all about knowing your macros, documenting training/meals, and measuring your food. You can get your daily maintenance pretty much in ballpark that way and adjust training/meals from there to ensure proper deficit and/or exercise needs for calories.

 

[jrock645]

It is math. People count macros which is math. Everyone is different and it requires me to be consistent, but my question is about calories burned. If that is 80% accurate at least it gives me a baseline for how fast I could lose depending on numbers and deficit. But macros and counting is key. Surely we can get amount calories burned in a range

Feel free to waste your time and be disappointed then. It doesn't work the way youre talking about it, but knock yourself out man.

 

[Derek Wilson]

The Fitbit Surge had the most accurate calories burned calculation among a group of similar devices, with an error rate of just over 25%-from a study.

 

[justhere4comm]

The Fitbit Surge had the most accurate calories burned calculation among a group of similar devices, with an error rate of just over 25%-from a study.

At least use quotes if you’re gonna copy paste.

Error rate of 25%.
...
the mirror is your friend.

 

[_Endure_]

I knew those things weren’t accurate but considering that data they aren’t even in the ballpark yet alone worth even buying. Heart rate and distance might be the only decent reasons but even those you can calculate yourself unless you are just freefooting it on a random hike.

 

[Derek Wilson]

At least use quotes if you’re gonna copy paste.

View attachment 193470

Error rate of 25%.
...
the mirror is your friend.

Boss, I got this somewhere and I mentioned it.